West Woodhay Down Formation: Snake, Rattle and Roll!  The West Woodhay Down formation, July 29, when understood from the symbolic point of view, portrays an event or events that are profoundly significant for the world. Its dramatic appearance conveys importance and urgency, and also, the necessity for our own alertness and awareness. There is a definite warning component to this image since the snake in the image is a dangerously venomous one.   Once again, we see the familiar circle, divided into two major areas and finally into four areas.  The two main dividing elements are a serpent that divides the large circle into two spaces reminiscent of yin-yang shapes.  The serpent is actually a really good image of a rattlesnake, with the triangular head, the markings indicated by the sequence of circles within the snake, and the rattles that are highlighted by another circle ‘halo’. Let’s not overlook the interesting forked tongue of this serpent.  It is not a naturally found snake tongue; it is a trident, symbol of both Poseidon/Neptune, Graeco-Roman gods of the sea and the depths, and Shiva, the Hindu god of Destruction and Transformation.  Another line cuts across the serpent form, and joins three small circles. Two of the small circles could be seen as the ‘dots’ in the large spaces; the centre circle is the heart of the whole formation.     The snake’s forked tongue looks more like the tridents of Poseidon/Neptune, gods of the sea and depths of the psyche, and Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and transformation.  The large circle seems to be broken into pieces, scattered apart, with the small circle ‘centres’ of the yin-yang shapes thrown into extreme positions. It is unnerving to say the least. The event moving across the circle and through its still centre is the great undulating serpent energy.   The serpent is a highly complex and universal symbol associated with the Creative Primal Initiatory Energy.  It is a polyvalent symbol: “it can be male, female or self-created.” It can symbolize death and destruction as well as life and resurrection. Its coils and undulations are related to the cycles of manifestation. (Cooper 146)   Let’s begin with the positive aspect of the serpent symbol. “Since the androgenous Primal Serpent condensed out of the ‘female’ cosmic ocean it was alternately a Serpent ‘Goddess’. As the first contraction of infinite Spirit, this androgenous Serpent ‘Goddess’ was the first form of God and the vehicle of the deity’s wisdom and power.” (Pinkham 317) “Mythologically, the serpent is always a female divinity.” In India, the title, ‘Serpent Queen’ or ‘Sarparajni’, belongs to the ‘Mother of All that Moves’ and Goddess of the Earth. In ancient Egypt, She is Uazit or Buto, the Celestial Serpent, giver of the food of eternal life and Mehen, who through her sexual powers, renewed the Sun god Ra’s power to shine for the next day.  In the ancient Middle East the female serpent was considered the embodiment of enlightenment or wisdom, as with the Gnostic sects of the early Christian era. The serpent also symbolizes the inner power of the human body as the female serpent Kundalini. (Walker 387-388)   As the amazing Creator Serpent is depicted in the West Woodhay Down crop circle, it seems to be moving in undulating waves through the circle of life. The usually protecting circle has been disturbed into sections.  The Creative Action causes some disturbance or destruction of the previous state. The action is taking place as Nature’s energy moving within and on the Earth. Although it has a menacing aspect, it also carries the possibility for the enlightenment and evolution of humanity. As the serpent’s tongue informs us, this process is one that involves both destruction and renewal. The sea and the depths of the oceans were always thought to be the source of life, yet they can at times be treacherous. The image of the god Shiva shows him accompanied by a snake. Shiva’s only reason to destroy old paradigms/creations is so that a new one can arrive in its place. It is all somehow a destiny.  The symbol of the serpent is found around the world and is related to creation, the running of the cosmos and the maintenance of the cycles of life.  The serpent is also found to be a symbol for healing, transformation and the innate power of the body for these phenomena.  We cannot overlook the fact that the serpent form in this West Woodhay Down crop circle really does look like a rattlesnake.  Rattlesnakes are found in the Americas. The Mojave and Diamondback Rattlesnakes that resemble this formation the most, are found in the southwestern United States.  These two snakes are extremely dangerous and cause many deaths each summer. For the purposes of understanding the message at West Woodhay, a few characteristics of these snakes are important to understand.  The rattle serves as a warning before an intruder gets too close and risks being bitten. These snakes are ‘pit vipers’ meaning that they have heat detecting ‘pits’ located between each eye and nostril, so that when a victim’s heat is detected, the snake will strike.   When these traits are applied to the crop circle snake, we might conclude that the movement of the snake is a dangerous one as well as a life transforming one. Yet, we are being warned of the importance and the dangers that may accompany this upheaval by the fact that a circle ‘halo’ highlights the tail rattle. The idea of the heat detection fits when we consider that to get ‘all heated up’ about issues, whether social, political, economic or religious global issues, or personal relationship or psychological issues, causes more damage than the problem that needs to be solved.  Given that, in these very trying times of change for the Earth itself, the increased flare activity on the Sun, and the weakened state of Earth’s electro-magnetic fields, living creatures, like we humans, tend to react to the stress and loss in different ways. Perhaps it is important for us to look for solutions that can help us ‘stay cool’. A certain alertness and awareness is required for this to work.  Rattlesnakes are lethally dangerous even though they usually only strike when provoked or threatened.  In the line of small circles there may be a suggestion as to how to ‘stay cool’. First of all, this line is the most visually stable element of the design.  The three circles are held in direct relationship to one another by the straight line they sit on.  The outside circles seem to be pushed to extreme outside limits in relation to the large circle, yet they are held within the design by the line that delineates the diameter of the large circle. The small centre circle is the meeting point of the whole line element. The meaning of ‘diameter’ is ‘Goddess Mother’, in reference to ancient creations myths in which the body of the world mother herself was divided into upper and lower halves. (Walker 5) The centre circle represents the spark of creation as in the bindu, or, from its actual placement in the heart of the formation, it can literally represent the Heart of the Matter.   So the stability in all this movement and change can be found in the refuge of trust in the Creative Power of the Goddess Mother, in other words the positive surge towards a renewed existence.  Our personal refuge is within us: our hearts, intuition, the inner self and the soul. This is where the fortitude and wisdom to act for positive change will be found. Danger is met when we react in opposition, without reflection through projection of negative thought forms. To be aware of our own tendencies to react or blame too quickly, to relate with compassion and understanding, to accept differences are some examples of how we can live from our heart.  On a global level, this same approach might be applied using genuine interest and concern for all human beings, finding the balance of specific interests through compromise, and understanding that the wellbeing of each nation/state now depends on the wellbeing of other nation/states.    There is a synchronistic point about this crop circle that evaded me until I got a message from a group called ‘Go Gratitude’. In their last message I was reminded that the Mayan Fifth Day of the Ninth Wave of Unity Consciousness begins on July 31st, 2011.  That 5th ‘day’ (July 31 – August 17) is called ‘budding’, but the 5th ‘night’ (August 18 – September 4) is called ‘destruction’. The next ‘day’ and ‘night’ (September 5 – October 10) are called ‘flowering’. So, even in this system, the message of West Woodhay Down is borne out.   Thank you to Go Gratitude, Blooming Humans for this calendar outline.  The ‘event’ could be general or specific, perhaps even globally personal. This formation may even refer to the perceived very immediate crisis that looms because of debt default all over the globe, in particular in the United States. As the Go Gratitude Group, Blooming Humans suggest, there are ways to look at ‘destruction’ so that it can be positive: “When one considers 'Destruction' from the perspective of release, clearing, and transmutation, we gain a sense of the GIFT of releasing the past.  Allowing what is BUDDING ...to BLOOM.”    In any case, at West Woodhay Down, we are being told to BE AWARE! LISTEN TO THE RATTLE! DON’T GET HEATED AND STEP INTO DANGER! STAY COOL! ROLL WITH IT!  Michelle Jennings Sources: Bruce-Mitford, Miranda. The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols. Reader’s Digest. Montreal. 1996. Cooper, J.C. An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols. Thames & Hudson. London. 1978. Chevalier, Jean & Alain Gheerbrant. The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Penguin Books. London. 1996. Encyclopédie des symboles. Michel Cazenave, dir. Le Livre de Poche. France. 1996. Julien, Nadia. The Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols. Robinson Publishing. London. 1996. Pinkham, Mark A. the Return of the Serpents of Wisdom. Adventures Unlimited Press. Kempton, Ill. 1997. Walker, B. The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects. Castle  Books. Edison, NJ. 1988.  Go Gratitude and Blooming Humans http://www.ehow.com/way_5175815_rattlesnake-identification.html#ixzz1TVCcv4pY http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/Rattlesnake-sounds.htm http://www.24indnews.com/2011/03/maha-shivratri-sms-maha-shivaratri.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anonymous-Fuxi_and_Nüwa3.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:YaxchilanDivineSerpent.jpg