Serpents in Myth: Renewal, Knowledge and Danger
Serpents in myth can participate in stories of renewal, knowledge, danger, temptation, protection or awakening. Their significance is established by a particular narrative or image. Joseph Campbell frequently uses the serpent to discuss life continuing through changes of form, especially the shedding of skin.[1]
The value of comparison lies in explaining how the same kind of creature can enter different relationships. It does not require a single hidden meaning common to every appearance of a snake.
Renewal and the discarded skin
In the 1981 interview, Campbell connects the serpent's discarded skin with the moon's disappearance and return. He treats these as images of continuity within time.[1] The comparison is symbolic: the moon does not literally shed a skin, and the snake does not become a different individual whenever its outer covering is replaced.
The relationship between continuity and visible change gives the image its interest. Something recognisable remains while a former surface is left behind. A reading can therefore distinguish the continuing animal, the discarded covering and the process by which separation occurs.
Everyday expressions such as “shedding an old identity” draw attention to a similar pattern. They can also simplify it. A former social role may continue to affect relationships after it has been abandoned, whereas a discarded skin is represented as something the animal can leave behind.
Knowledge and consequence in Genesis
In Genesis 3, the serpent speaks with the woman about the prohibited fruit. Eating is followed by awareness of nakedness, responses to divine questioning, judgements and eventual expulsion from the garden.[2]
The serpent's narrative role here is not explained by skin-shedding. Speech, prohibition, trust and the consequences of eating are more immediately relevant. A reading concerned with knowledge should identify what the characters are told, what they do and what changes afterwards.
Campbell places the biblical serpent alongside other serpent images in “The Message of the Myth”.[3] His comparative interpretation is distinct from the narrative itself and from the many theological interpretations of that narrative.
Coiling, rising and directed movement
A coiled serpent and a moving serpent offer different arrangements. Coiling gathers length into a compact form. Rising introduces an axis and a change of level. Encircling establishes an inside and an outside. Crossing a path creates an encounter between routes.
These descriptions are useful before assigning a symbolic meaning. They specify what the image actually presents. Whether a coil represents rest, readiness, constraint or something else depends on its context.
In Campbell's lectures on kundalini, serpent imagery belongs to an account of awakening and an ordered sequence of centres in the subtle body.[4] Kundalini as a Symbolic Journey in Campbell's Lectures examines that specific interpretive use. It should not be treated as a universal explanation of serpent imagery elsewhere.
Threat and protection
An animal's capacity to harm can support more than one narrative role. A dangerous creature may threaten entry, guard a valued place, repel intruders or become a source of power for another character. The question is who encounters the danger and from which position.
For example, a serpent guarding a boundary might appear as an obstacle to someone approaching from outside and as protection to someone within. The physical arrangement is unchanged, but the relationship to it differs. “Dangerous” does not by itself identify which role the creature plays.
A story may also change that relationship through recognition, an agreement or an altered task. An apparent enemy can become a helper. Such changes are lost when the first appearance determines the symbol's meaning for the entire narrative.
A comparison that preserves differences
| Feature selected | Possible analytical focus | Evidence to seek |
|---|---|---|
| Discarded skin | Continuity through visible change | What remains and what is left behind |
| Speech or advice | Knowledge, persuasion and trust | What is said and how another character responds |
| A guarded boundary | Access and protection | Who can pass and whose interests are served |
| Coiling and ascent | Concentration and an ordered change of position | The named tradition and the sequence it describes |
These are interpretive questions, not a symbol dictionary. A defensible account identifies the version, describes the action, and explains why a particular comparison fits those details. It also leaves room for features that the comparison does not explain.
Related pages
- Joseph Campbell: Reading and Listening Guide
- Garden of Eden
- Dragons, Treasure and the Thou Shalt
- Metamorphosis, Cocoons and Shedding Skins
- Death and Renewal in Myth and Metaphor
- Fences, Boundaries and Borders
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, “Myths to Live By, Part One” (1981), published interview transcript, discussion of serpent, moon and renewal.
- ↑ Genesis, chapter 3, especially verses 1–7 and 14–24. The narrative sequence can be read in the King James Version or compared across named translations.
- ↑ Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers, “The Message of the Myth”, The Power of Myth (1988), published transcript.
- ↑ Joseph Campbell, “Kundalini: The Serpent Power”, Pathways with Joseph Campbell, episode 11, Joseph Campbell Foundation archival audio.