What can a snail's shell teach us, and how do snail's teach us to ask for what we want?
- Pranita Rao
- May 16
- 3 min read
Snails teach us self-love
Yesterday, I was in between my evening walk, and it began to raining. I didn't want to go home, so I thought of playing with a snail for some time. I was fortunate to find a land snail (Mr. Snail) in my society garden. I took Mr. Snail in my palm and walked towards an enclosed area in my garden. At first, Mr. Snail took some time to come out of its shell. When I took the flower closer to it, it came out of its shell. I sat with Mr. Snail and watched it eat that flower. I am not sure what flower I was feeding Mr. Snail, but I saw it lying on a wall and thought it would make a good snack for Mr. Snail.
'Food...yum,' it might have thought.
After playing with Mr. Snail for a while, I realized that it had stopped raining. I spoke a few words with Mr. Snail and told it goodbye. As I began walking towards where I had picked Mr. Snail up, I began feeling a nudge on my palm. The nudge felt like a gentle pressure from Mr. Snail, asking me to stop.
As a highly sensitive person and an energy worker, I am used to sensing and understanding energy. So, it was natural for me to understand Mr. Snail's energy.
When I stopped, I realised that Mr. Snail was asking me to feed it a Jasmine flower that was lying on a wall. I remembered, of course! Mr. Snail likes the Jasminium flowers more than other flowers. I realised that it was Mr. Snail's way of telling me that I must also ask for what I want in life. I must not shy away, even if I have something that is a replacement for what I want. It was almost like Mr. Snail was telling me that it was my birthright to ask for what I wanted, like it did for the Jasminium flower.
Isn't it marvelous? Isn't it marvelous how snails teach humans about self-love?
Observing snail shells — A blissful experience
Now, have you ever wondered about observing a land snail?
I know that when we think of spending time with a snail, we may wonder, but what do I look at? What do I start with? Well, one way to start is by starting to observe the most significant part of a snail — its shell!
Research suggests that colors and patterns of snail shells can be helpful during identification and studying snails. One must remember that empty shells can look different from shells with snails in them.
Often, opaque snail shells allow some light through them, especially if the source of light is extremely radiant.
Some other ways to study shells are to observe surface sheen and shell textures. The shell sheen can be waxy, silky, or glassy-glossy. Some can have a matte appearance too. The texture of snail shells can be smooth or slightly rugged. The snail shells can have growth lines too that run transversely or coarsely. Some land snails can have rib-like spines or prickles on their shells, too, creating criss-cross patterns seen under a microscope.
Takeaway
In my experience, nature lovers can find bliss in observing snail shells. Their patterns are beautiful and their textures differ from each other, even among the same species.
If you are interested in receiving from snails, I encourage you to spend time with them. I assure you that it will help you relax and understand the beauty of nature more. You've got nothing to loose. Only a new friend to gain :).
Until next time!
-Don't be a stranger,
Pranita
Science Communicator | Author | Energy worker
P.S. - I use the term Mr. Snail affectionately to describe the snail that I feed on particular days :). To respect the content in this post, I humbly request readers to look at snails and angels as sacred beings that are equal to human beings.
Reference: Eversham B. IDENTIFYING LAND SNAILS.; 2018. Accessed May 16, 2025.
Please note: Please visit and subscribe to my blog 'Snail Territory' to read more about snails, snail research, and human-snail friendship.
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