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“DON’T. STEP. BACKWARD,” my mother whispered forcefully to my father. He froze in place, camera in hand. Accordingly, my sister and I also ceased moving, two kids poised precariously atop a steep outcrop somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. We had all been mid photo op, recording a moment that now stands eternalized on grainy Super 8 film.
But someone is notably missing from that image—the western rattlesnake who my father nearly trod on. Yet, his memory lived on throughout my youth, as Amy and I were repeatedly warned about the dangers of snakebites. This conditioning did little to assuage us from our curiosity about them, though, and our amazement at how serpents could shed their skin in entirety.
Because although rattlesnakes expand and lengthen, their skin does not. And so, when they outgrow this piece of themselves, they merely shed it … and move on.
In this way, the slithering ones can inspire helpful New Year’s resolutions.
SHEDDING STORIES
Admittedly, our humankind has a long history of snake shaming through both sacred and secular stories—from the Bible’s Garden of Eden to Rudyard Kipling’s fear-inducing cobra couple Nag and Nagaina in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi to Lord Voldemort’s massive companion snake in the Harry Potter series.
この記事は Spirituality & Health の January/February 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Spirituality & Health の January/February 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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LET'S NOT LIMIT NATURE
\"NATURE IS MY CHURCH!\" she exclaims. And I cringe. That may surprise many of you, what with my constant ecological and spiritual musings about squirrels, monkeys, and other nature-y creatures. My conundrum with this often-uttered sentiment is the artificial boundary the word nature creates. Let me explain.
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QUEEN DIAMBI KABATUSUILA SHEDS A NEW LIGHT ON AFRICA
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Over the MOON About Helping Animals (and Their People)
Since I was a child, I've had a ritual: Every night, I go outside and search the sky for the moon and stars. I marvel at the magnificence of a dark, crisp, clear, midnight blue sky and its symphony of constellations, occasional meteors, and the glorious moon herself-each illuminating the vastness. This simple practice always gives me the deepest peace and centeredness. It aligns my internal compass every night before bed.
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ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVES: AMANDLA STENBERG CHANNELS 'THE FORCE'
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The Beatles were more than musical masters-they were spiritual pioneers.
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ANTI-RACISM IS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
GROWING UP in very charismatic and evangelical Christian spaces, I was told that the Devil's greatest trick was convincing us that he didn't exist. I feel a similar vibe when it comes to the big three systems of oppression-capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy-in New Thought and other spiritual spaces. These systems managed to convince some of us that they don't exist, we are immune from them, talking about them isn't helpful, or we will overcome them just by doing our spiritual practices.