Year of the Snake – a Question of Identity

Last week, people around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year. In the Chinese Zodiac, 2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake. It marks a time of growth, letting go, transformation, renewal, wisdom, and adaptability.

It’s definitely a year for change, encouraging people to reflect on their paths.

How appropriate is that for this time on our planet?!

It also resonates with this chapter in my life. How about you?

I go much more in depth about the symbolism of the snake in my 2020 blog post about this painting, “Letting Go”.

Basically, its skin is too small to contain its growth, so the snake rubs its head against something hard to cut it open. Then it wriggles its way out by crawling through tight places, leaving its inside-out skin and parasites behind.

If done properly and gently, the moulting process is painless, leaving the snake with a healthy vibrant new skin.

Gently and properly…. If not, it causes discomfort and anxiety for the snake.

What a great lesson!

Reading my 2020 painting post again, my heart said “Yes!” to the words:

“Created from a thick layer of golden mica chips, (the snake shape is) infused with the energy of love & compassion. True letting go is not about rejection, anger, new layers of hatred, or disgust. Rather, it’s about loving compassionately enough to recognize what we’ve outgrown and what needs to be left behind.”

Thinking of what’s happening on the world stage, I truly hope people connect to love vs. fear and all the emotions that it can spark.

As human consciousness rises and the skins of old beliefs, patterns, and negative behaviours fall away, may humanity shine more vibrantly.

As we wriggle out of discomfort using tight spaces to our advantage, may we all embrace this time of renewal with greater adaptability and wisdom.

May our moulting process, as a species, lead to new growth, free of all that no longer serves us. So be it.

Who am I? Truly.

A few times after receiving Guidance to move in with my father in Ottawa, I stood along the Rideau River to just feel…

The capital of Canada is my hometown, yet I haven’t resonated with its energy for decades.

Don’t get me wrong, Ottawa is a beautiful city filled with opportunities, and I’m always grateful for so much when I’m there.

I just need to discover what my place is in this city energetically and in the present. And I’ll need to give my highly sensitive new skin time to adjust. 

In Newfoundland, I can instantly connect to my roles as a spiritual teacher, artist, nature-walker, soul sister, etc.

But in Ottawa, I’m not sure yet what my identity will be beyond daughter and helper. Will I paint? Where? Will I look for part-time work? Will I continue to develop and deliver online offerings?

It’s a mystery. And that’s OK.

I might need to let go of much of what I’ve used to identify myself to myself and the world for a while. Non-attachment and transformation! Let’s see what it brings!

I’m willing to follow continued Guidance to let go of layers, skins, careers, hobbies, in-person friendships, roles, routines, and hopefully a few bad habits like Netflix in bed…lol. Whatever feels inspired!

So what’s left? The vibrant healthy new skin underneath will bring me back to simply being an individualized expression of the Divine (as we all are).

And that’s a great place to start. The rest will emerge or re-emerge in divine timing if I keep Listening.

There’s no need to concern myself about the details. I just need to pray that I’ll let go of what doesn’t serve me and keep / welcome all that does.

I surrender all my worries about my life and the world to God and my Team of Divine Helpers. 

I know I’ll be inspired to act when and how I can make a difference.

I also have faith that Ottawa will support my growth – inwardly, and outwardly.

That’s what I learned in my first few weeks in Newfoundland, back in 2011, during a Peruvian shamanism retreat.

From a Peruvian shamanistic perspective, returning to one’s hometown is seen as reconnecting with the powerful, supportive energy of the land, including water, mountains, and ancestral spirits.

The land itself, often viewed as sacred, holds healing and grounding energy that can nurture and guide individuals. Mountains, or in my case the Gatineau Hills, are seen as protectors, while water symbolizes purification and connection.

Returning to familiar places can offer emotional healing, re-alignment with ancestral wisdom, and a deeper sense of belonging, as it restores balance and reconnects us to the energies that sustain us.

Thank you, Snake Energy, for reminding me that as I shed my old skins during this time of transition, I will do so with grace and patience, making space for the vibrant new life that awaits me.

What skins do you need to shed in order to glide forward into the sunlit path of new possibilities? May you move forward with ease and purpose dear one.

Remember. You are an individualized expression of the Divine. The details may change, but the essence remains.