A Tall Order
The snake is huge in symbolism because of its extreme, contradictory, but completely natural associations with life and death that the snake can symbolize so much. In a Jungian sense, the snake is primordial power and a connection to the earliest ages of mankind. It lives in the earth, kills with its venom, lays eggs, and renews itself by shedding its skin. It is feared and courted, worshipped and persecuted; it is god and devil. Its symbolic power is so great that, in cultures where the snake is feared or abhorred, other symbols are judged positive and good based on how well they can kill snakes: the eagle, stork, or falcon. We could globe trot and find the snake in many magical and religious contexts--as the fifth symbol of the Chinese zodiac, the rearing cobra of Buto in the crowns of the pharoahs of Egypt, or even the healing serpents raised up on the pole of the caduceus. Although most people in the west are familiar with the serpent in the Garden of Eden, not as many may have heard of the eight-headed snake of Shinto tradition.
Yamato no orochi
Yamata no orochi is the “eight-branched snake” of Shinto legend, with eight heads and eight tails, who lurks in the Hi river and is about to return and consume the eighth daughter of a very distressed couple of parents, who happen to earth deities. Luckily for them, Susa-no-o lands in their midst, after being banished from heaven for his annoying pranks. After receiving their guarantee that he can marry the daughter when he rescues her, he asks them to fill eight tubs with rice wine. When the giant serpent appears, each head drinks a tub of rice wine, enough to make it drunk and put it to sleep. Susa-no-o is quickly able to dispatch it while it’s sleeping, cutting it into pieces.
As an extra bonus, he finds a miraculous sword hidden in one of its tails, names it Kusanagi (“Grass Mower”), marries the girl, and thereafter lives the responsible life of the warrior god he was destined to be. Although the names and places have changed, the coming of age story of King Arthur, and pulling Excalibur from the stone, are often compared to this legend as is Indra’s slaying of the three-headed demon Visvarupa and Hercules slaying the nine-headed Hydra.
Many Choices
If the snake is your tattoo of choice, you have an endless variety of forms from which to choose. If you like Classic Americana tattoos, you’ll find snakes coiling around daggers and skulls. If you’re a mathematician, you might bend your snake into an infinity sign. If you are a fan of Kuniyoshi, you could choose the Yamato no orochi legend as a theme for a backpiece. Perhaps you’d like a coiled kundalini snake at the base of the spine, or something larger as an armband. Like the symbolic meanings of the wide ranging and all-encompassing snake, there seems to be an infinite number of ways to have the tattoo as well.
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