The power of life causes the snake to shed its skin, just as the moon sheds its shadow. The serpent sheds its skin to be born again, as the moon its shadow to be born again. They are equivalent symbols. Sometimes the serpent is represented as a circle eating its own tail. That’s an image of life. Life sheds one generation after another, to be born again. The serpent represents immortal energy and consciousness engaged in the field of time, constantly throwing off death and being born again. There is something tremendously terrifying about life when you look at it that way. And so the serpent carries in itself the sense of both the fascination and the terror of life.
Furthermore, the serpent represents the primary function of life, mainly eating. Life consists in eating other creatures. You don’t think about that very much when you make a nice-looking meal. But what you’re doing is eating something that was recently alive. And when you look at the beauty of nature, and you see the birds picking around — they’re eating things. You see the cows grazing, they’re eating things. The serpent is a traveling alimentary canal, that’s about all it is. And it gives you that primary sense of shock, of life in its most primal quality. There is no arguing with that animal at all. Life lives by killing and eating itself, casting off death and being reborn, like the moon. This is one of the mysteries that these symbolic, paradoxical forms try to represent.
-Joseph Campbell
- INGREDIENTS: 88% forest fiber from acacia, eucalyptus, poplar, pine, spruce, beech, birch, and maple trees grown on tree farms in Eastern Europe, 12% spandex for stretch.
- FIT: These cuties fit like sailor pants: a high waist that sits just above your belly button, a somewhat tighter fit at the butt/thighs, and loose throughout. They are a flood length at 27" inseam for all sizes.
- WE CARE DEEPLY: Black with gold moon phase snake and white twinkles printed with water based ink. Cut, sewn, dyed, and printed in downtown Los Angeles by small family owned shops where creators are paid more than minimum wage.
