Bud Jetsun Posted January 18, 2016 Lots of ancient paintings and sculptures feature beings with a halo of light, as well as a coiled snake perched upon the upper perimeter of the head looking forward.  Snakes seem to be generally cooperative beings.  While it may be that golden crowns that looked like snakes are all that was preserved through history, perhaps a change to symbolic golden crows was only done for a matter of practical convenience.  Perhaps someone has experiences to share with snakes coiled on heads?   Unlimited Love, -Bud Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daeluin Posted January 18, 2016 Movements in taiji quan are snakelike: watery, fluid, seamless, sensitive, coiling. A strike issues forth like lightning and always returns back to its center afterward. Taiji begins with slow motion to tap into these watery flowings, gently coaxing them out of hiding, building and refining their tides by integrating them with the light of the spirit until the heaviness of the water is no longer a burden, but moves with a mysterious light. Â The snake is territorial and very sensitive to threats, but also shares burrows with other creatures and is humble, ever resting upon the lowest places, its body not lifted away from the surface of that which supports it. Cold-blooded, yet needing warmth to live, ever seeking to soak in the rays of the sun. Calm, still, patient. Â In daoist alchemy the light-nature and the life-essence are merged back as one. There are multiple layers of merging. Among them are the hun and po, the upper and lower souls. The hun is likened to wood: light, expansive, opening, floating, innocent. It is easily pushed away and upon death is said to leave until it returns again in reincarnation, ever seeking to unify with the po yet unable to force the po to accept itself. The po is likened to metal: dense, heavy, easily contaminated, shaped into patterns and hardened like a tool. It is sensitive and easily hurt, holds onto traumas, becoming ever more heavy and hardened by each one. Â When the hun and the po merge, the substance and medicine of the spiritual embryo is formed. The golden elixir is likened to the metal of the po that has been heated, softened, purified, so that it can embrace the light of the hun as something that is beyond tarnish and contamination, much like gold. Â Perhaps this golden snake worn about the head can be likened to the heavy, shadowy metals of the lower emotional soul that have been accepted, refined, purified, and fused with light. Â No doubt there are parallels to many beliefs, all united in truth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheshire Cat Posted January 18, 2016 Some info on wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uraeus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nungali Posted January 18, 2016 Lots of ancient paintings and sculptures feature beings with a halo of light, as well as a coiled snake perched upon the upper perimeter of the head looking forward.  Snakes seem to be generally cooperative beings.  While it may be that golden crowns that looked like snakes are all that was preserved through history, perhaps a change to symbolic golden crows was only done for a matter of practical convenience.  Perhaps someone has experiences to share with snakes coiled on heads?   Unlimited Love, -Bud   Only as a crown ,  as in above post.  real snakes ... I  dont let them go higher than coil around the arm as 'my' snake is the  Rainbow Serpent or eastern diamond python (I dont pick up and handle others types)  and that is a constrictor  ... and they can get pretty big .  Best to keep them away from the neck ... they can get a bit too 'enthusiastically cuddly ' at times. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blue eyed snake Posted January 19, 2016 this is an image that i like  http://www.blackvibes.com/features/blogs/newsngossip-shabaka-stone-pharoah-neturs/ 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
