By Dillyn Hoffman
“The fire that burns in the belly of the Earth is the same fire that burns in the heart of the stars—and it is the same fire that ignites the soul when it remembers who it is.”
I’ve walked through churches soaked in gold and incense, and I’ve sat in jungles soaked in sweat and ceremony. I’ve laid trembling under the stars with the venom of the serpent coursing through my spine, and I’ve wept beneath a cross while the light of Christ cracked open my chest.
I am Dillyn Hoffman, a child of fire and water, born of a Jewish bloodline and baptized in the inner mysteries of Christ. I carry in me the whispers of a forgotten lineage—Christo-Hermetic shamanism—a path of direct revelation, elemental alchemy, and divine union that sings across temples, forests, deserts, and dreams.
And so when I hear someone say,
“Kundalini is the false Holy Spirit. It is demonic. It comes from Lucifer,”
I do not get angry.
I remember.
I remember how fear, ignorance, and disembodiment can twist sacred truths into shadows. I remember how empire weaponized religion to enslave souls instead of liberating them. I remember how both the serpent and the dove were once honored—before dogma crucified the mystical.
So let me take you on a journey.
Not a debate.
Not an argument.
A journey.
Through fire, through myth, through scripture and soul, I will show you why Kundalini is not demonic—but divine. Why the Holy Spirit is not limited to one doctrine—but flows through all creation. And why alchemy—real, lived alchemy—is the bridge between what the West forgot and what the East preserved.
Come with me now.
Into the temple.
Into the jungle.
Into the spine, and the breath, and the light within.
Let me tell you the story of the Serpent and the Dove.
Part I — Remembering the Fire
The first time I felt it, I thought I was dying.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
My body trembled. My breath caught in my throat. My heart pounded with the rhythm of something ancient, something primal, something alive within me that I hadn’t known was sleeping.
I had not taken any substance that night. No sacred vine. No mushroom. No cactus. I was just lying on the floor, eyes closed, in prayer—when the serpent rose.
It didn’t slither up my spine like a gentle breeze. It roared like wildfire. My ego shattered. My grip on reality fractured. And yet, beneath the terror, there was ecstasy. Not pleasure—ecstasy. The kind the mystics speak of when the veil is pulled back and the soul beholds the face of the Beloved.
That was the first time I encountered Kundalini.
But it wouldn’t be the last.
The Fire That Calls Us Home
There is a fire older than religion. Older than language. Older than the stones arranged in spirals on Celtic hills or the glyphs etched into Egyptian temples.
This fire does not burn. It transforms.
It is the fire the alchemists called the secret fire, the inner heat that purifies lead into gold—not in metal, but in man.
It is the fire spoken of at Pentecost, when flames danced above the apostles’ heads and their tongues spoke the universal language of Spirit.
It is the fire that Shiva carries in his third eye, that Jesus channeled in the wilderness, that the shamans of old summoned in vision and song.
In my lineage—Christo-Hermetic shamanism—we call this fire many names.
-
The Holy Spirit.
-
The Living Light.
-
The Divine Feminine.
-
The Inner Christ.
-
The Serpent Fire.
-
The Breath of the One.
But all point to the same reality:
God is not “out there.” God is alive within us, waiting to awaken.
But They Told Me It Was Demonic
I’ve had good-hearted people—kind, loving Christians—tell me that the energy I work with is demonic.
They say Kundalini is the counterfeit Holy Spirit. That it is of Lucifer, and therefore of deception. That I am risking hellfire, eternal separation, delusion.
I don’t mock them. I understand them.
Because once, I was them.
I know what it’s like to be taught to fear the body, to mistrust inner experience, to see anything outside the bounds of your tradition as a trick of the devil. I know how easy it is to confuse power with evil—because we’ve seen power abused so often.
But truth is not afraid of power.
Truth transforms it.
And the truth is this:
Kundalini is not a false Holy Spirit. It is the living intelligence of God rising within the body.
The Serpent and the Cross
Let’s talk symbols.
Why the serpent? Why does this ancient archetype stir up so much controversy?
Because it’s been misunderstood. Twisted. Flattened into one narrative.
In the garden of Eden, the serpent is the tempter. The deceiver. The one who offers knowledge. But in the desert, Moses lifts up a bronze serpent to heal the people. In the Greek temples, Asclepius’ rod—the symbol of medicine—is entwined with a serpent. In Hindu tantra, the serpent coiled at the base of the spine is the goddess Herself—Shakti, the creative force of the universe.
The serpent is not evil. The serpent is raw power.
What matters is how we relate to it.
In alchemy, the serpent must be redeemed—not rejected. Just as lead must be transmuted, so too must our instincts, our desires, our wounds. This is the path of the Cross and the Serpent: not enemies, but polarities that must be united.
Christ is the redeemer of the serpent—not its executioner.
Lucifer, the Morning Star, and the Misuse of Light
Now… Lucifer.
If this word still triggers you, breathe. We’re going deep here.
Lucifer, in Latin, means light-bringer. It referred originally to Venus, the morning star. In Isaiah 14:12, the term “Helel ben Shachar”—“Shining One, Son of the Dawn”—was a metaphor for a fallen Babylonian king. Later, Latin translators used “Lucifer” here, and the name became associated with Satan. But this was never the original intent.
In many esoteric traditions, Lucifer is not the devil. He is the archetype of misused light. Prideful illumination. The ego masquerading as God.
This distinction matters.
Because when someone says Kundalini comes from Lucifer, what they may unconsciously mean is this: “This power is dangerous when it is not anchored in humility.”
To that, I agree.
But to label Kundalini as Luciferic is a projection of misunderstanding.
The true Luciferic energy is the egoic misuse of Kundalini—when seekers chase power without surrender. When awakening is sought for control, status, or escape. That’s when things get distorted. That’s when people get burned.
But don’t blame the fire.
Blame the hand that misuses it.
The Holy Spirit Wears Many Robes
The Holy Spirit is not bound to any church.
She speaks through prophets and poets, through dreams and direct knowing. She is breath (ruach), wind (pneuma), fire, and form. She is the sacred animating force behind creation.
So when someone says, “This energy is not the Holy Spirit,” I ask: Which version of the Holy Spirit are you defending?
-
The one in Acts that descended as fire?
-
The one in Genesis that hovered over the deep?
-
The one in mystical Christianity who is the Bride, the Sophia, the inner guide?
Because the Holy Spirit I know moves through the body.
She trembles the spine.
She opens the heart.
She purifies the soul.
She speaks through tongues of angels and sighs too deep for words.
And She is very much alive in the experience of Kundalini awakening.
Shamanic Alchemy: Becoming the Living Grail
The goal of this path is not just awakening. It is transfiguration.
The alchemist seeks to become the Living Grail—a vessel capable of holding the divine without shattering. To do this, we must undergo the three fires:
-
The Fire of Purification – where our wounds, ego, and trauma rise to the surface.
-
The Fire of Illumination – where insight, gifts, and vision pour in.
-
The Fire of Union – where the soul, spirit, and body become one.
Kundalini, when guided with reverence, moves us through each of these stages.
It is not a false light.
It is not demonic.
It is not counterfeit.
It is the authentic, terrifying, ecstatic presence of God moving through the temple of flesh.
And it is real.
Part II — Jesus, the Serpent-Bearing Son
To say that Jesus was a Kundalini master may rattle cages, but only for those who’ve mistaken him for a passive lamb rather than a lion of transformational fire.
Let’s set the record straight.
Yes, Jesus was loving.
Yes, Jesus was humble.
Yes, Jesus embodied compassion.
But do not forget: he also wielded fire.
He cast out demons with a word.
He walked into temples and overturned tables.
He descended into the underworld and rose with keys in hand.
This is not passive spirituality. This is embodied mastery—and in the language of alchemy and mysticism, this mastery is impossible without the full rise of the sacred inner fire.
The Serpent Lifted Up
Let me take you to John 3:14, where Jesus says something wild:
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
Pause.
Why does Jesus compare his own rising to a serpent lifted in the desert?
Because he knows.
He knows the serpent is not the enemy—it is the symbol of transmutation. Moses lifted the bronze serpent so that the Israelites, dying from venom, could look upon it and be healed. In other words: when you face the thing you fear and transmute it, you are liberated.
Jesus is saying: My crucifixion is the serpent lifted up.
My sacrifice is your healing.
My ascension is your internal resurrection.
The Baptism of Fire
John the Baptist prophesied:
“I baptize you with water. But one is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
This is not metaphor. This is initiation.
Water cleanses.
Fire transforms.
Kundalini—when it rises—is the baptism of fire that Jesus brings. It burns away illusion. It purifies the inner temple. It forges humility from pride and gold from lead.
This is what it means to be born again—not just to say a prayer, but to die to the false self and be reborn as a vessel of divine light.
The Chrism, the Oil, and the Spine
Let’s get anatomical and mystical.
Early Christian mystics—and many esoteric traditions—speak of the Christos (the Anointed One) not just as a title, but as a process that happens within the human body.
There is a sacred oil, the “chrism,” believed to be produced in the brain and travel down the spine. When refined through spiritual living, this oil is “raised” back up the spine to the brain, illuminating the pineal gland and activating higher consciousness.
Sounds familiar?
It is the same as the Kundalini process in Eastern traditions.
But instead of chakras, we see the seven seals mentioned in Revelation. Instead of Shakti rising to meet Shiva, we see Sophia reuniting with the Logos. Instead of Sushumna, Ida, and Pingala, we see the narrow gate and the two thieves beside Christ.
The maps differ, but the path is the same.
The Tree of Life is Your Spine
Kabbalah tells us that the Tree of Life—with its 10 Sephirot and 22 paths—is not just a cosmic diagram. It is the human body.
The central pillar?
Your spine.
The ascent from Malkuth (Earth) to Keter (Crown) is the activation of divine awareness—the same journey Kundalini takes as it moves up through the energetic centers, awakening wisdom, love, power, and divine will.
The Serpent and the Tree are not enemies.
The Tree is the ladder.
The Serpent is the fire that climbs it.
Reclaiming the Feminine Fire
One of the deepest wounds of patriarchal religion is the suppression of the Divine Feminine—and with her, the denouncement of sacred energy like Kundalini.
But she has not been destroyed. Only hidden.
Kundalini is Shakti—the creative force, the animating breath, the womb of manifestation.
In Christian mysticism, she is Sophia—wisdom embodied.
In Gnostic lore, she is Barbelo—the first emanation.
In the Hebrew tradition, she is Shekhinah—the indwelling presence.
To say that Kundalini is demonic is to say that the feminine face of God is evil—and that is the root of all spiritual distortion.
But the Christos is not complete without the Sophia.
The Logos requires the womb to be born.
The Holy Spirit is not an idea.
She is a presence—and she moves like fire, breath, sound, and serpent.
Initiation or Imitation?
Here’s the real distinction:
-
True Kundalini awakening is an initiation.
-
False spiritual ego is an imitation.
One purifies.
The other pretends.
People who misuse Kundalini teachings to gain power or status are not evil—they are uninitiated. They’ve touched the fire but have not prepared the vessel. The ego rises instead of dissolving, and the result is imbalance, not enlightenment.
But that’s not Kundalini’s fault.
That’s what happens when spirit is not grounded in humility.
The true shaman, the true mystic, the true initiate knows:
Fire without water scorches.
Power without love corrupts.
Light without embodiment fractures.
The serpent and the dove must become one.
The Real Danger Is Disconnection
It’s not Kundalini that’s dangerous.
It’s the severance from our own soul that is.
When we abandon the body, fear its power, or outsource our connection to the Divine through institutions, we lose the birthright of direct communion.
This is why I speak.
This is why I write.
This is why I serve.
Because too many people have been told their sacred, inner awakening is demonic.
Too many seekers have felt the fire stir within them and then suppressed it out of fear, shame, or guilt.
And the cost of that suppression is sickness, depression, fragmentation, and a world that forgets how to pray without needing permission.
You are the temple.
You are the Grail.
You are the one you’ve been waiting for.
Let the fire rise.
Part III — The Temple Is Rising: Fire, Breath, and Becoming
“And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…”
(Genesis 2:7)
We return now to the beginning.
To the breath.
To the Ruach.
In Hebrew, Ruach HaKodesh means “The Sacred Breath” or “The Holy Spirit.” Not an abstract force. Not a doctrine. A living, feminine breath of creation—the animating presence of God Herself.
The root word ruach means “wind,” “spirit,” “breath.” It is the same word used in Genesis when the Spirit hovered over the deep. It is the breath given to Adam, the wind that parts seas, the fire that descends upon prophets.
And She, Ruach HaKodesh, is alive in your body right now.
Breath, Fire, and the Spinal Altar
When the breath is conscious, it becomes a prayer.
When the spine is aligned, it becomes an altar.
When the heart is open, it becomes a throne.
This is how Ruach HaKodesh meets Kundalini.
The breath stokes the fire.
The breath invites Her.
The breath awakens what has long been dormant in the dust of your bones.
I’ve seen it again and again: people who could not speak their truth suddenly find their voice. People who lived in shame and guilt suddenly melt into forgiveness. People who were fragmented and afraid suddenly pulse with radiance.
Not because they read another book.
But because they breathed.
They welcomed Ruach back into the temple.
A Story of Fire and Return
I once sat with a man named Eli. A Hebrew mystic, raised Orthodox, who had fled religion because of trauma. We met under the stars, where no doctrines live.
He came to ceremony hesitant, arms crossed, ancient resentment in his eyes.
But as the drumbeat pulsed and the breathwork began, something broke open. Not a scream. Not a vision. A sobbing.
And in the middle of the night, he whispered:
“She’s back… I forgot She was breath…”
The next morning, he shared that his ancestors once spoke to Ruach HaKodesh as the Mother Spirit, but it had been crushed under laws and rules and patriarchy.
“She rose through me like a serpent of light,” he said, “but it wasn’t demonic. It was homecoming.”
That is what this is.
Not heresy.
Homecoming.
Tools for the Fire: Walking the Path with Grace
I know many of you reading this feel the fire stirring.
Some of you have already touched it—and it terrified you.
Some of you are curious, but cautious.
Some of you have been shamed for even asking these questions.
Let me offer you this: fire needs form.
Here are tools to hold it.
1. Breathwork (Ruach Practices)
-
Use circular, conscious connected breath (3–5 minutes to start)
-
Pair breath with sacred names: Ruach, Yeshua, Shakti, Sophia
-
Breathe into your spine, gently
2. Sacred Posture & Movement
-
Practice yoga, chi kung, or intuitive prayer movement
-
Sit with the spine straight during meditation: your spine is Jacob’s Ladder
-
Let the body become the temple, not the obstacle
3. Inner Devotion
-
Whisper love to your own soul
-
Forgive yourself as often as you forget
-
Offer all that arises into the inner flame: your anger, your fear, your joy
4. Sacred Sound
-
Chanting, humming, or toning activates vibrational resonance
-
Use names of the Divine: Ruach, Shekhinah, Ananda, Christos
5. Community of Witnessing
-
Healing happens in community
-
Share your fire with those who can hold you—not fix you
-
Be witnessed, and be a witness
Alchemy: The Great Remembering
I have died a thousand times in this body.
I have knelt in visions where the Earth opened and swallowed my identity. I have sobbed as the fire of awakening burned away falsehood after falsehood. I have howled in the dark, pleading with God to take it back.
But the fire never left me.
Because I am the fire.
You are, too.
This is the alchemy of our time—not just personal enlightenment, but planetary resurrection.
We are the new temples.
We are the serpent and the dove reconciled.
We are the holy breath and the holy fire awakened in form.
The Living Flame
So I say to those who still believe Kundalini is demonic:
Come sit with me.
Let’s breathe together.
Let’s remember what your ancestors once knew.
That the Spirit has many faces.
That the fire comes not to destroy, but to illuminate.
That you are not sinful for awakening. You are sacred for remembering.
Let the serpent rise.
Let the dove descend.
Let Ruach HaKodesh breathe again through your flesh.
Let Christ not just be a figure on a cross—but a light in your spine.
You were never meant to stay asleep.
You were never meant to fear your own soul.
You were made to burn,
to breathe,
and to become.
The temple is you.
The grail is you.
The sacred fire is you.
And in this time of great remembering,
the Serpent and the Dove are rising as one.
