Hello Kimo, your description does not sound like my experience of kundalini. In fact most descriptions of kundalini today do not seem to match my experience or that described in ancient religious literature. Have you read my essay
Energy, Kundalini, vîrya, viriya Understanding the Charismatic Experience?
Often today kundalini is confused with the spiritual crisis. It is also often times confused by its metaphors. The snake is one of its common metaphors, but not the only one. I am not quite sure at this moment why the snake is a common metaphor for the kundalini, because my experience of it is not snake-like at all, nor is the description of it in key literature, such as the
Yoga Sutras and the
Buddhist sutras. In both bodies of literature the term 'kundalini is not used. The terms 'vîrya' or 'viriya' are used instead, which is related to our term 'virtue.' Virtue, and 'vîrya' or 'viriya' have the nuance of energy, and spiritual power, not snakes. So if you are experiencing energy, or power in your meditation, then that is more likely kundalini.
With a few hours more reflection on this subject, I believe the origin of the snake metaphor for the kundalini begins with recognizing that the kundalini is associated with the spine. Certainly the experience of energy (Virtue, vîrya, viriya) moving along the spine is observed by the subject; and if we were to do some gross human anatomy of the human body, and extract the brain and spinal cord without damaging them, or their connection, then we would see a snake-like object.
Nonetheless, when we examine the case histories of the religious experience there are numerous references to a tactile feeling of energy, and it is often associated with the spine. The feeling reported around the chakras and aura are also often described in terms of 'energy' or 'vibration.'
Thus, one who is experiencing kundalini will experience feeling a tingling, or vibratory, sensation along the spine. And, the subject will find wakefulness, alertness, youthful energy, etc. also associated with this experience.
There is a class of subjects who find spontaneous, sinusoidal movements along the spine, and often times those movements can be accentuated to the point that the subject might find him or herself writhing on the floor snake-like. But, spontaneous movement is called 'kriya,' and not kundalini; however, the question of what is moving has been discussed in the literature, and the conclusion is it is the kundalini that is in motion, which I believe is reasonable; however spontaneous movements during the religious experience are not typically sinusoidal.
Another interesting way to look at the history of the religious experience, and particularly the arising of energy during the religious experience is to examine another term that appears in Indic literature for the kundalini. In the Shivait literature the term 'shakti' is frequently used instead of kundalini. It is worth noting that the mythology around Shiva, who is the deity of the Shivait cult, is his consort was a woman by the name of "Shakti."
While we are on Shiva, then it is also worth noting that he is associated with snakes, the dead and the underworld. And, his pictorial representations typically are: his skin is blue, like the dead, he has snakes wrapped around his body, he carries a pitch fork, and he has a crescent moon upon his head representing the new moon (dark moon). If we put that package together in an Abrahammic context, then we have a pretty good description of the Devil, which I believe was just a way of demonizing the people on the other side of the mountain.
In later Shivait literature, art and iconography another female consort for Shiva is described. Her name is "Kali." And, Kali, like Shiva, is associated with snakes, the dead and the underworld. Her pictorial representation is typified by a fearsome looking youthful woman, with bare breasts, black skin, four arms, one of which is holding a sword dripping with blood, and another of her arms holds a severed head, and her foot rests upon the chest of a baby boy. That baby boy is Shiva, and the iconography is intended to represent that Kali is the power of Shiva, who is powerless without her.
Here I believe it is important to associate the image of Kali back to Shakti, and you will see why. Kali, aka Shakti, aka kundalini aka Virtue, or 'vîrya' or 'viriya' is the power of Shiva.
It is also worth noting here that there are a number of ways in which the Shivaits express devotion to Shiva. One of those is in fire alone, with no other iconography. In fact the earliest examples of Shivait worship suggest that they were aniconic, and only used the fire as a representation of the sacred.
Here it is relevant to bring up Zoroastrianism /ˌzɒroʊˈæstriənɪzəm/, also called Mazdaism and Magianism, is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra in Avestan) and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in the eastern part of ancient Greater Iran. Zoroastrianism in its earliest form was an aniconic, monotheistic religion that expressed its scared in the form of a fire only. This becomes relevant later.
It is worth noting here that when the biblical prophet Daniel was a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity where he was educated in Chaldean thought. And, part of his story is he saved the Magi, from persecution by Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king. The Magi were Zoroastrian priests. And, Jesus' "three wise men" were Magi, and therefore Zoroastrian priests. So, we have a clear connection from Judaism to Zoroastrianism, to Christianity and history shows at various times peoples from the western nations conquered India and vice versa.
Now, let us go back to the Abrahammic religions. There are several terms used in the Hebrew Bible for God. One of those terms is 'Shekhinah.' Shekhinah is used in the Hebrew Bible for the experience of God. It just so happens to be feminine. It is also worth noting that the earliest representations in the bible for worship are just in a fire alone, with no other iconography. So, I am arguing that the Hebrew term 'Shekhinah' clearly has more than phonological similarities to the Sanskrit name 'Shakti.' They are both feminine and represent the religious experience in two religions that are both ancient and aniconic, which emerged on either side of the same mountain range, with Zoroastrianism in the middle, all 3 peoples conquered each other at different periods. Thus, it is my belief that the Shekhinah of the Bible is none other than the Shakti of Hindu Shivait cult. And, just for fun here, the "Holy Spirit of the Greco-Roman trinitarian belief system of Christianity is a direct reference to the Shekhinah, and thus kundalini; not that many Jewish Rabbis, or Christian priests, or ministers accept that.
