Serpentine has been used as a protective amulet for thousands of years. This mostly green stone carries various patterns and hues, but its name is derived from pieces that are veined and mottled like snakeskin. This is a quietly powerful stone and well worth a place in your collection.

When we took a holiday in Cornwall UK, we stayed on the Lizard Peninsula which is the Southernmost tip of mainland Britain. This is a wild area with fantastic rugged coastlines and subtropical gardens. As a crystal lover I couldn’t leave without a souvenir piece of Cornish serpentine. I chose a bowl, polished on the inside and rugged on the outside, which was hand turned in a tiny workshop situated on the Lizard Point itself. Serpentine has varied patterning and hues and most of the Cornish serpentine was dark green with splashes of red, however I chose a light green bowl with classic reptilian markings, which I felt most drawn to and was highly appropriate as it was sourced from the Lizard! You can see a photo of the bowl on my Blog here.

Sitting with the bowl I received the following message:

I bring you the blessings of Serpentine. Through the millennia I have been used to protect humanity from fear, whether that be from serpents or from unseen forces that disturb the mind and emotions. Use me to bring a sense of security and well-being. I harmonise your mind, body and spirit and gently encourage you to release as much of the old patterning as you are capable of at this time, not just from this lifetime, but also the miasms and traumas of the past. I will not over-stimulate you for I am a peaceful stone. The transformation I bring is easy to assimilate.

I take you out of victim mentality and into your true power. Situations that caused you anxiety will melt away like snow in sunlight when you look at them from the perspective of your true Self. Whether you hold real or imagined terrors hold me and KNOW that you have the power within yourself to resist the forces of darkness, now and forever more.

Other sources often draw on the likeness of serpentine to snakeskin. The ancient use of serpentine for protection and remedy from poisonous bites is well documented and features in this poem attributed to the legendary Orpheus:

No more the trailing serpent's tooth to fear.
Let him who by the dragon's fang hath bled,
On the dire wound Serpentine powdered spread,
And in the stone his sure reliance place,
For wounds inflicted by the reptile race.

These days I would advise getting poisonous bites treated medically!

Several authors also suggest using serpentine for easing the flow of the serpent like energy Kundalini and it make be worth trying if your Kundalini is rising, but is blocked and giving you pain. I would not advise trying to awaken your Kundalini with serpentine as this powerful force is best left to awaken in its own time.

Dorothy Roeder, in Crystal Co-Creators, channels that
Serpentine is an old energy that has helped humanity through many cycles. It has a particular ability to help you move through transitions, personal or cosmic, in a balanced way.
My copy of Crystal Co-Creators is so well used that the covers are dropping off. I rate this as one of the best channelled books available for crystal lovers.