Grasp its Tail

"And He said, 'Cast it to the ground,' so he cast it to the ground and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from it. And YHWH said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand and grasp its tail.' So he stretched out his hand and caught hold of it, and it became a staff in his palm. 'That they may believe that YHWH the God of their ancestors has appeared to you, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'"

Brief teaching by Ohad Pele:

The serpent represents the shadow, particularly sexual shadows.
The staff represents leadership.

How do we know if a leader is divinely sent? How do we trust their mission is honest and sacred?

If they know how to grasp the serpent's tail, we can trust them.

To grasp the serpent's tail means to take ownership of our shadows, particularly our sexual shadows.

The very fact that a leader dares to be vulnerable and take ownership of their sexual shadows is itself evidence their leadership is divine.

Moses's initial reaction upon seeing his staff transform into a serpent—revealing unconscious sexual shadows in his leadership—was to flee. To distance himself as far as possible from it. It's frightening to discover a 'serpent' in our 'staff.' No one wants to be identified with this serpent. We want to distance ourselves from our sexual shadows, claiming these things aren't related to us, our words were taken out of context etc. But God's instruction at the burning bush is opposite: "Stretch out your hand and grasp its tail!" Only by overcoming defensive recoil and agreeing to take ownership of the sexual shadows within your leadership—meaning the subtle ways you use your power to serve the hidden “serpent” beneath the staff's disguise—only then are you proven a worthy leader.

Notice that the serpent itself becomes the staff of leadership. 

When those shadows become conscious, they can create sacred leadership. 

Moreover, leadership requires humility (Anava) and Anava isn't self-diminishment but standing powerfully in our created purpose. When Moses says "Who am I to go to Pharaoh?" he diminishes himself—and that's not Anava. Anava is knowing that the divine is with us in our soul mission, and therefore — "Who am I to NOT go to Pharaoh??" Who am I to refuse my destiny? Anava is inner surrender combined with power and sacred audacity that won't compromise with anything but our deepest truth. Only then, when we're humble enough to fulfill our soul's role, does God tell us, as told to Moses: "I will be with you." 

Paradoxically, when Moses grasps the serpents tail, he “grasps” divine presence that tells him —"I will be with you”. 

I will be with you, said God, because you grasped your inner serpent's tail instead of evading it.

But when leaders like Moses, or prophets like Jonah, deny their role through self-diminishment, their staff becomes a serpent. Meaning — their leadership power and charisma can turn shadowy. Repressed soul-purpose-power can harm self and others, just like a lurking snake.

However, when a leader dares to be vulnerable and humble, taking ownership of their shadows and grasping the serpent's tail, the serpent itself transforms back into a leadership staff (tail, by the way, is also a sexual symbol of itself). When a leader acknowledges their inner serpent and grasps its tail, all the serpent's shadow powers can transform into staff-powers fulfilling their destined role in the world.

The need for "perfect" leaders, especially "spiritual leaders," is an infantile need projected from the child's hope for a flawless parent.

Our maturity shows in our ability to accept spiritual leadership that isn't flawless, isn’t perfect but instead constantly perfecting. 

A perfecting leader admits they have shadows in the way they hold the power of their leadership. It is simply admitting to be human… A human being holding true power inevitably has a "serpent," inside, erotic untamed powers that contain potential poison as well as potential medicine. They're aware and don't pretend infantile "enlightenment." 

Vulnerable leadership is coming from deep attunement to fulfilling our soul’s mission through deep humility, truth-acknowledgment, and willingness to walk the path and "Go to Pharaoh”… 

The staff of vulnerable leadership does not come from ambition. It can only come from the power of the inner hidden Serpent and our willingness to grasp its tail, with Anava (a wonderful word in Kabbalistic Hebrew that stands for the paradoxical cocktail of Humility, Surrender and Sacred-Audacity).

(Pele, Mallorca, November 8th, 2024)