Snake as Totem Animal, as Fiber Art, as Teacher and Spiritual Guide...

A Whimsical Snake Named Beatrix
Comes Into My Life To Teach Me
The Totemic Lessons of Snakes...


The name "Beatrix" means
"Bringer Of Joy," and she has
brought me so much already...

Wisdom, Healing, Initiation

"This a powerful totem -- it is the symbol of transformation and healing.
The Snake is wisdom expressed through healing.
The Snake is the symbol of eternity.

It is a protector and guardian totem, along with its sister totems,
the Dragon and the Serpent.
If a snake totem has come into your life, your creative forces are awakening.
Your intuition will sharpen and be more accurate.
Snake energy is the energy of wholeness, cosmic consciousness,
and the ability to experience anything willingly and without resistance.
It is the knowledge that all things are equal in creation.
It also signals a transition in your life. New opportunities and/or changes.
Snake is fire medicine, the medicine of transmutation.
On a material level, it is vitality; on an emotional level, it is ambition and dreams;
on a mental level, it is intellect and power; on a spiritual level (the highest level),
it is wisdom, understanding and wholeness."

(Click here to read more...)






I have been spending the last 6+ weeks with
a snake named Beatrix coiled around me
while I work on bringing her into reality and
she teaches me the wisdom of the snake.
The incredible crochet hook in my hand is
a Gulliver Hook made by Noreen and Jim
Crone-Findlay... The Crone-Findlay tools
are the only tools I use in my work...









Beatrix teaches me the lessons of sight, smell,
and taste, and the sacredness in each, as her
face takes shape, with vintage buttons for eyes,
a nose to teach me the delicacy and wisdom of
our amazing sense of smell as I crocheted it,
and her handspun, tightly curled tongue ran
delicately along my finger to teach me that
those things that we are afraid of can also
give us great power...






Beatrix waiting patiently, having shed her old
skin, she is now getting another. I am finishing
her new skin with a beautiful sari silk yarn I
handspun with several wools and a long, pain-
staking shredding, separating and spinning in
the gorgeous silk from vintage saris... (You
can see the dark fat edge underneath and to
the right of her body. That is the new sari
yarn. It will go all the way around her
8' body...






A picture of the sari silk being pulled directly off the
spindle and crocheted along the sides of Beatrix using
one of my favorite Gulliver Hooks who is a charming
Gnome lady...






Beatrix on the work table next to my desk with Sampson
under table, guarding her against any harm. She is a
very long snake, a very big girl, but she is rather innocent
and very charming. She was different and never quite fit
with her own kind. I'm thinking she's kind of thinking
she is a pug, appearances to the contrary... but that's
not so unusual with our third pug coming from pug
rescue this week!






Sometimes I need to take a break but Lady
Gnome is always there, on the job...






And so now I continue on, and Beatrix will
be finished today or tomorrow...



Being an artist who is open to the magic, the wondrous, the awe, and the spiritual teachings coming in from every direction, I have graciously accepted the Snake as a totem animal and she has come at the perfect time. And she is great fun. At 8' long she can be worn like a "boa" or long scarf twined around your neck and shouders, or laid out on the back of the couch, hung on the wall, wrapped around a Christmas tree, coiled in an unsuspecting place or curled up at night. She is very thick and soft and squishy, and being made of all handspun, hand-dyed yarns (except for two lovely cotton handpainted yarns) she is very much of the earth and grounding too.

Beatrix is the bringer of joy. It's not only what her name means, it's what she has brought me in my life...

Blessings and Joy to one and all,


Maitri & Beatrix


P.S. Beatrix is already sold and money gone to Pug Rescue. There will be many more snakes coming to the etsy store very soon.