EARTH MOTHER -The Goddess Collection - THE SNAKE GODDESS Although it has become known as the Snake Goddess, this figure probably represents a Priestess in the religion of ancient Crete. Snakes are a symbol of eternal life. In the lore of ancient European cultures, they do not die, but rather merely shed their skins, their outermost parts. Their inner being never dies. It is a metaphor for eternal life, and the teaching of rebirth. This happens, it was told, under the ground in the womb of the Earth Mother. Her Priestess, like the Hopi Indians, may have handled snakes in a sacred, ceremonial way. It was the destiny of one and only one statue of Her Priestesses bearing the sacred snakes from that vanished culture to survive to the present, and now it is one of the most popular images in modern women’s spirituality. Pendants come on Legend Cards with a 33-inch-long black cord. Fine Lead-Free Pewter. Packaged on Recycled paper cards.