Cretan Snake Goddess Statue

Cretan Snake Goddess Statue
by Oberon Zell, Mythic Images

The Snake Goddess promotes trance and dream time, the sources of transformation. The energy exuded by the snakes of the Cretan maiden exemplify Sexuality, Regeneration, and the Mysterious Otherworld of Spirit Journeying.

This image is an exact restored replica of the original Snake Goddess image found in Knossos, Crete, by Arthur Evans around the turn of the last century. The original was made of faience around 15 inches tall. There was a second figure, also of a snake goddess or perhaps a priestess, found together in an area of the excavation that Evans called the Triple Shrine. These images date from around 1500 BCE-just prior to the explosion of the volcano Thera and the subsequent earthquakes that wrecked the temple at Knossos.

The Sacred Serpent was honored originally for its practical function as a rodent killer in graineries and beehives. Rather than the personification of evil, these sensuous creatures were seen in both positive and negative aspects: as healers, guardians, and messengers of the Gods on one hand; or as the bringer of retribution to the wrongdoer, on the other. The snakes she holds appear to be the poisonous Asp Viper (Vipera aspis).

It is likely, given a philosophy of immanent divinity, that this image captures her in the moment of epiphany: the instant in which transfiguration occurs and the mortal Priestess is transformed into the personification of the Living Goddess. This image was lovingly recreated by Oberon Zell for the Mythic Images collection. She is simply the most beautifully authentic reproduction of this image available in the world today. Nothing of this precision is available even from the Heracleon Museum on Crete.

The Snake Goddess holding two snakes is cast of polyresin; hand painted and given a slightly aged appearance. She measures approximately 10 3/4 inches tall.