Snake Plant Care and Your Energetic Well-Being

Snake Plant (Dracaena trifasciata) also known as Mother-in-Law’s Tongue and Sansevieria, is a magical Plant hiding in plain sight. I know, all Plants are magical. I mean they do transform sunlight into food and make this world habitable for us, among many other gifts. However, Snake Plant’s gifts are special and once you recognize how Snake Plant cares for you, you will want ki* in your home. Which means that you also need to know how to care for Snake Plant, as we want to have respectful, reciprocal relationships with our Plant kin.

How Snake Plant Cares for You

Indoor air pollution is a major concern for our health. Many of the materials used in our buildings and furniture (and other items) contain known toxic chemicals including formaldehyde and VOCs. Potted Plants and the microorganisms in their soil are well known to help clear the air in our buildings and reduce the toxic load. Since the ‘80s when NASA completed a clean air study, Snake Plant has regularly been listed among the top air purifying Plants helping to reduce formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, xylene, and others. The added bonus is that Snake Plants are easy to grow and thrive in low light areas like offices and public buildings and require little attention.

Snake Plant and Your Energetic Well-Being

While the physical benefits of having Snake Plant in our homes and offices are wonderful. Snake Plant’s real magic is ki’s impact on our energetic well-being. Snake Plant is a superb protector Plant. In addition to protecting, ki clears unwanted energies from our bodies and buildings. (Learn how protection and clearing your energy can improve your life in this article.) Given the enormous amount of negative energies that are flying around, we could all benefit from simply having Snake Plant growing in our homes.

As an introvert and someone who is sensitive to energies, I get excited whenever I see Snake Plant growing in a public place. I immediately know that ki is acting as a buffer absorbing toxins and helping to clear negative energies. Seeing Snake Plant reminds me that magic and support are everywhere, even when we are not aware.

To benefit from Snake Plant’s protective and clearing gifts, I have them growing next to the main entrance of my house, in my classroom space, and in my office. Snake Plant often sits next to me when I do interviews (as can be seen in videos of me). It feels really important to have Snake Plant’s support because a lot of unwanted energies are transferred via the interwebs. Which is one reason why zoom calls tend to exhaust me.

In Ecuador, the Shamans we worked with for Egg Limpias cleared auras by briskly fanning a Snake Plant leaf through a person’s energy field. You can do the same when you are feeling chaotic, overwhelmed, ungrounded, or just off. Ask Snake Plant if you may harvest one of ki’s leaves. If yes, starting at the top of your head, briskly fan Snake Plant throughout your energy body (or better yet, ask someone else to do this so that you can simply relax and release). When complete be sure to discard the leaf away from your house. I like to give these to a Tree or sometimes people place them in running water. Do not place them in your compost.

Healing Gifts of Snake Plant Spirit Essence

While Snake Plant is easy to grow, we might not want to carry the Plant wherever we go. Fortunately, ki’s Spirit Essence (or Flower Essence) enables the protecting and clearing gifts of Snake Plant to be more accessible. I often include several drops of Snake Plant’s Spirit Essence in my clearing sprays.

Snake Plant’s Spirit Essence supports the rising of Kundalini energy and has a particular affinity for the 6th or first eye chakra. Here, Snake Plant supports our intuition and helps us to see a broader picture. 

The Spirit Essence of Snake Plant also helps to increase our flexibility. The flexible, protective nature of Snake Plant assists us in navigating challenging situations and when necessary, helps us to blend in, an important skill when working in energetic realms.

Of course, if you have a relationship with the Spirit of Snake Plant, you can simply ask ki to assist you as needed.

How to Care for a Snake Plant

While we can access the gifts of Snake Plant via a Spirit Essence or through ki’s Plant Spirit, growing ki gives us the added benefit of purifying our air. Plus, there is something really sweet about being surrounded by your Plant allies.

Fortunately, as I mentioned Snake Plant requires very little maintenance. Snake Plant prefers indirect light and low water. The different varieties have slightly different needs. Snake Plant is very forgiving, as long as you do not repeatedly overwater, which results in the Plant rotting.

Growing up my grandmother always had Snake Plants in her living room. I inherited a number of them and they now grow around my house. These are relatively short and form cup like clusters. I’ve learned to water directly into the cup rather than at the base of the Plant. This limits rotting. 

I have another variety known as Starfish. While these are said to be drought tolerant, I find that they require more water than the other varieties that I grow. While they survive lower water conditions, they become very thin. Giving them a bigger drink helps their leaves be nice and plump.

One word of caution, Snake Plant does not like to be transplanted, especially if you are separating Plants. It can be done; however, best to limit this and of course, warn the Plant ahead of time. 

Snake Plant Care

With so much focus on negativity and the intense energies flying around, it is wonderful to remember that the Plants are happy to support us. Simply growing protective and clearing Plants like Snake Plant improves our built environments. Forming a relationship with these incredible allies, opens us to more guidance and support.

Plants give us so much and yet we often take them for granted. Yes, growing ki and meeting their needs is important AND we want to show our gratitude for the many ways in which Snake Plant cares for us. Talk to Snake Plant, sing to ki or whisper sweet words, Plants love to be lavished with our attention. Essentially, thank Snake Plant for all of their care and support.

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* ki is an animistic, genderless third person pronoun which recognizes the aliveness of our more-than-human kin. To the best of my knowledge, in her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer was the first to suggest using ki.