In 1990 I realized that my yin/yang energy was way out of balance. I was too sensitive, I cried too much, I couldn’t think logically, only emotionally. I was having a very difficult time coping with life.

I began to pray and ask for guidance and balance regarding this. I happened to be at the Heritage Store while visiting the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach and I asked a sales clerk if there was a rock or stone that could help me. She suggested chrysocola, a green and white rock, and I bought a big chunk of it. 

The next full moon, I went out in my yard and laid down on Mother Earth and put the rock on my belly and prayed for guidance. It was a cloudy nite, but I knew if I focused on Grandmother long enough she’d come out from hiding and show me her glory. So, I lay there, coaxing her to come out and talk with me.

Before long, the sky cleared around her and I was enjoying her beauty (this happened to be a blue moon.) Shortly after that, I saw a giant squiggle, resembling a sperm crawling towards her and merging with her.

            (I swear I was not on drugs!)

A few days later, I was walking amongst pine trees and I heard a scraping noise. When I looked up I saw two young, thin-trunked pine trees with the same base, growing side by side. One tree had a small branch rubbing into the trunk of the other tree, resembling a penis and vagina.

That summer on my birthday, I took my annual vision quest on the Outer Banks. I got in my kayak, paddled about a mile across the sound and spent the nite on the beach by myself, praying and meditating. I built a big bonfire with driftwood and sat beside it for many hours contemplating my life. I knew I was ready for a spiritual name and was asking what that name would be.

I had made a shield that past winter of deerhide in the traditional Native American way and I was wondering how to decorate my shield, so I started drawing in the sand. Grandmother Moon was shining down on me. The fire and ocean were roaring and I was the only human on the beach. I drew my shield in the sand and then drew a snake squiggling across it.

At that moment, I had the inspiration for MoonSnake. The spirit messages I had been receiving fell into place. The full moon and the giant sperm, the male and female tree and now, the moon and snake once again.

There was a very big “Ah-ha” when this revelation came thru. I’d been working with snake energy for some time thru yoga and Native American teachings. The name suited me quite well.

Many years later, I think eight, I was reading, “Mysteries of the Dark Moon,” an astrology book by Demetra George on ancient mythology as it relates to psychology and women today. I turned a page a saw a drawing of a snake draped over the Cosmic Egg. As I read further, I realized that while out there on that vast lonely stretch of deserted beach years ago, I had tapped into an ancient symbol of creation – yin/yang, female/male, moon-womb/snake-sperm.

As a Gemini Sun and Libra Moon, balance is something that I strive for constantly. Gemini is the sign of the twins, Libra the two scales.At the time I was receiving these images, I realized that I had cut myself off from healthy male energy. I was surrounded by women, unwilling to risk dating and in a state of deep depression. I needed some healthy, logical, get-up-and-do-what-needs-to-done guy energy in my life.

Since then, I’ve seen the MoonSnake image a few times here and there. It helps me remember that I am the twins and my job is balance, balance, balance.

Peace