VI.-THE SERPENT
"It is fate itself, swift as disaster, deliberate as retribution, incomprehensible as destiny."
No symbol is more frequently met with in ancient religious art, and none has so contradictory a meaning.
It typifies wisdom, power, life, reproduction, eternity; it is also associated with everything low, base, dark, evil. It is one of the universal attributes of the creative principle. It is common to both elements, earth and water, is closely connected with groves and tree worship, and from earliest times was an inseparable feature of sun worship.
The fact that the Serpent was believed to be androgynous added to its reverence. Its annual sloughing of its skin made it a symbol of being born anew.
