Snakes & Ladders Was Never a Game: An Ancient Map of Consciousness with Polina Rud

Dear Friends,

What if Snakes and Ladders was never meant to be a children’s game?

In this episode of Gateways to Awakening, Yasmeen Turayhi sits down with Polina Rud, art historian, therapist, and guide of the ancient Indian oracle gyān caupar (also known as Snakes and Arrows). Polina shares the little-known origin story behind the board we all remember: an archetypal map of consciousness designed to reveal patterns in the psyche, karmic loops, and the hidden forces shaping our choices.

Together, they explore how this “theater of fate” becomes a real-time mirror for your inner world: the role of intention (and why you have to get radically honest to enter the game), what it means when you keep landing on the same squares, and how “snakes” symbolize shadow—not as punishment, but as an invitation to integration and transformation.

They also go deeper into why ancient cultures encoded spiritual wisdom into play, how randomness can soften the ego’s grip, and why intuition must be trained—especially in a world flooded with noise, misinformation, and external authority.

This is a conversation about destiny, discernment, shadow work, compassion, and the profound spiritual intelligence hidden inside a simple board game.

In this episode, we cover:

• The ancient origins of Snakes and Ladders as gyān caupar / Snakes and Arrows

• How to use the game as an oracle (and why intention matters)

• Why repeating squares reveals repeating life patterns

• “Good company” vs. “bad company” and the psychology of truth-telling

• What snakes symbolize: shadow, projection, compassion, and growth

• Why play is foundational for mental health (and how it helps metabolize trauma)

• How to strengthen intuition without outsourcing your authority to divination tools

• Why compassion can take you further than “service” alone
  

About Polina Rud Polina Rud is a doctoral candidate in art history, an art curator and lecturer, and a therapist with training in mental health and suicide risk. She specializes in cross-cultural symbolic systems including runic oracles, theosophy, and Hindu astrology, and she guides clients through gyān caupar as a tool for self-knowledge, decision-making, and transformation.

Connect with Polina

• Website: polinarud.com (as mentioned in the episode)

• Social: “It’s Not the End”

• NGO: theworldhurts.com (free psychosocial support and resources, including support for activists)

Tune in to Gateways to Awakening for more conversations with leading thinkers, creators, and spiritual pioneers shaping the future of consciousness. For more from me: follow my writing on Substack (substack.com/@therealyasmeent), find me on Instagram @TheRealYasmeenT, or visit InnerKnowingSchool.com.