As enter we enter the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Snake, I’ve been ruminating on them.
Snakes, I’ve never been truly terrified of them. One day as child, I saw my first one up close.
A small grey snake lying motionless on the stone steps next to the house. I was usually
more curious than fearful and approached the fallen serpent, which looked like I might
have lost a conflict with a bird. I left the snake’s body where it lay and excitedly went to tell
my father. He, who had always encouraged my curiosity, suggested putting the snake in a
jar with alcohol and presenting it my science teacher. So I did. There I was, this little blond
kid, riding on the school bus holding a snake in a jar. It was placed on a classroom shelf
with other specimens under glass,
Whether coiled in the branches of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, around the
caduceus of Hermes or biting its own tail in the Ouroboros, the Eternal Return, snakes have
symbolized both poison and healing, famously shedding their skin in transformation for
new scales. When touching snake for the first time, I remember the smoothness of the
skin, not the slimy sensation one might expect. I’ve grown to respect the way serpents can
use their often considerable muscular strength or venom strategically. In some way, I’m
still that kid on holding a snake in a jar.
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