Snake tattoos and their meanings
The snake is one of the oldest symbols in existence, that have appeared long before any form of written language. The snake can be a symbol of life and at the same time a symbol of death. It is both friend and enemy. Snake symbolic meaning depends on culture, national religion and even climate.
The concept of the snake as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge goes back a long way. According to legends of the most ancient civilizations, the planet was created by the sacred serpent.
The ancient Egyptian myth, which is older than 3500 years, describes a huge serpent which survived by devouring its own tail. That symbolizes the endless cycle of renewal or the modern concept of infinity. In Greek mythology, the serpent is associated with the goddess of the moon, who brings knowledge to mankind. The Hindus worship the snake, as the goddess of fertility and prophecy, considering that its energy is at the base of backbone. There are many myths among the American aborigines, that tell of snake people who are living underground, both as guardians of the underworld, and people helpers .The snake with feathers is regarded as the god of weather, fertility and the master of life. Many nations consider the snake as a goddess of mystery, birth and death, revival and immortality. It was believed that rivers were protected by the snake-spirit, that lived in a well. The Australian Aborigines thought that the giant rainbow serpent was a symbol of creation. Mountain python is regarded as a sacred snake in Africa. However, in Christianity the snake, that was defeated by Lord, symbolizes the perennial humans’ problem.
People born under the sign of the snake are usually wise, charming, romantic, with great intuition. But also they can be a little bit lazy and vain. The different types of snakes, especially the most poisonous serpents in the world such as cobra and rattlesnake, which are considered sacred among many cultures, are used to make variations in the snake tattoos. In India the cobra was a symbol of authority. In Egypt it was a representative of some ancient gods and personification of relations with afterlife. Also cobra was a symbol of protection among the Egyptians.
The American Indians believed that the rattlesnake personified fertility and potency (the male symbol of creation) and was associated with rain which gave life by spilling on the ground, as well as with death and transformation from the physical world to underworld.
In the modern world the snake tattoo is a symbol of natural and supernatural power as well, revival, wisdom, temptation (according to a myth about Adam and Eve in paradise garden) and female sexuality.
Because of fluidity and dynamism of snake’s forms, these tattoos can be easily combined with other tattoo designs and aesthetically emphasize flexible lines of human body. You can see snake tattoos that ‘twine’ around the arm, shoulder, hip, or "creep" along the backbone, neck or abdomen. This feature distinguishes snake tattoos from the other and largely explains their popularity among both women, and men.
Most people prefer realistic style of snakes depicting , because these creatures don’t need to be adorn with any fantasies as they have perfect forms and colors. Due to the variety of myths and legends about snakes , different scenes with their participation can be depicted in tattoos. Flight of fancy here is unlimited.
The majority of people are afraid of snakes and try to avoid them at any cost, but it is impossible not to respect them and to be absolutely indifferent towards these creatures.