How could I not have snake oil? I am trying to do a lot of things with this one. First I honor the Snake totem, a guide for transformation, wisdom, knowledge, eternity, immortality. Then I am paying homage to the old huckster purveyors of “snake oil” also known as patent medicines. While snake oil came to refer to any patent medicine (most of which were just distilled liquor disguised as medicine), it appears that some of the patent medicine salesmen did import real snake oil from China, e.g., the rendered fat of snakes. Ewwwgh! It was sold for pain relief, especially for arthritic complaints. It has been hypothesized that the high content of Omega-3 fatty acids in snake fats may have been responsible for a clinically therapeutic anti-inflammatory affect. With the long spine and jillions of bones and vertebra and fluid motion of the snake, it is also easy to see the Doctrine of Signatures speaking in this animal, offering itself for relief of aches and pains of the bones and joints. This oil is not a perfume. Valerian and Omega-3 fatty acids are the therapeutic ingredients.

Snake, or Serpent has many mythical understanding which are not always in agreement. Most common are the observation of the snake shedding its skin, becoming like a new, fresh being. We can find ourselves with Snake as a totem when we are undergoing some sort of healing or renewal transformation like this. There are also many depictions of cosmic Snake, Snake and Universe Egg, or the Oroboros Snake which eats itself by its own tale, thereby representing Eternity and immortality. On the darker side are the Judeo-Christian myth of the Serpent of the Garden of Eden, which introduces sin into Paradise and the human condition. We are tempted to eat from the Tree of Knowledge by this Serpent. This is pretty open to religious/political interpretation, since Snake has been associated with wisdom, prophesy and knowledge in many civilizations including the ones around the Fertile Crescent.