Your Card

Snake

This is one of those cards which can have strong, instant meaning for many people. You are asking about a friend you don’t trust? You are being told – she’s a snake. A snake in the grass. Poisonous.

(At least if a snake has those connotations for you).

Creeping

To go back to the origins of the word ‘snake’ and its ancient meaning, we have to go to – sneak, crawl and creep.

Serpent is from the French – to creep. And of course, the Lenormand is a French deck.

No legs, so you can’t hear them. At most, a hiss. The Snake card shows something or someone which is hard to detect. In long grass, hard to see. You don’t know it’s there until you spot it. Their skin can camouflage them. Or – you will know a snake has been there all along, when you walk on it. Or, worst case scenario, it bites you.

Yet, most snakes slither away from humans.

They are predators. They have forked tongues. They smell their prey. This is scientific fact, yet it informs our common idea about snakes and snake-like people. Snakes also shed their skins. This is a strong, strong symbol for you to read, in The Modern Lenormand Oracle.

Shedding Skin

Snakes molt. They can shed their skin four or five times a year. This may have particular meaning for you, depending on your question.
‘What should I do, to win this promotion?’ Shed your old professional skin. Think about a new look. Get rid of the old you.

‘What is (insert name of a celebrity) really like?’ Well, she changes her look every couple of months. She keeps a low profile. You only know she’s there, when you see a photo of her, shedding her latest old skin. She may have regular cosmetic surgery. A face-change. Her enemies might think she’s creepy!

Fangs and Venom

Not all snakes harm, but cobras, vipers and other near relatives use venom to paralyse, injure or kill their prey.

Thus, the rightful fear of snakes and the natural caution you should feel when you draw this card.

The only creatures which can defeat these venomous snakes have developed an immunity to the toxin. Some birds, animals and other snakes (for example) are not affected. So, they prey safely on the predator.

This brings in questions about immunity. We might also start thinking about poisonous situations, or toxic people. Who can take them on?

Snakes in winter disappear into burrows, under rock piles or fallen trees. They hide. Thus, this card can talk to you about who (or what) is hidden from view, for months at a time, but still has its fangs and venom. And yes, some snakes can spit venom.

There is something repulsive about snakes to many people. We can be phobic about them. A photograph of a snake which has consumed an egg whole, with a bulging body, is hardly appealing. Watching a snake eat an animal can be repellent, even from the safety of your armchair, watching television.

The forked tongue, the spitting venom, the hiding, the camouflage – it all adds up to something or someone to beware of. Especially if this individual or organisation seems to shed skins on a regular basis.

And yes, there are constrictors to think of too. What kind of snake do you think you might be dealing with here?