The snake is a common element in Pictish art, occurring on many stones, often as a symbol, at other times as part of the design.
As a Pictish symbol, it is sometimes present on its own, for example on Aberlemno no.1, and on the Inchyra stone, now in Perth Museum. It can also be combined with a Z-rod, as at St. Vigeans no.2, the Tarbat stone and Logierait no.2, among others.
But the Picts carved snakes and serpents in many different ways.
At Meigle, for example, no.44 has an interlaced pair gripping each others tails - perhaps representing eternity. Then there is the spiral of three snakes each biting the one in front, found on recumbent no.26. Another interwoven pair on the side of the massive red sandstone no.11 appear to be entering the leg and mouth parts of a body, while the upright grave slab no.5 has a snake dangling from the beak of an eagle. There is also a possible part of a ram-headed snake on one of the smaller fragments, so that in all, they occur on at least six of the twenty-odd stones in the collection.
Elsewhere, on Iona no.2, Adam and Eve flank the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, around which coils the serpent, while the Golspie stone has two fish-tailed snakes which are twisted together, as at Meigle. The Dogtown stone has a pair grasping each others jaws, with their bodies forming three knots below, and ending in crossed tails.The Nigg stone features curious bosses of interwoven strands, as does Meigle no.26. Could these be the famed "Glain", or magical snakes eggs, formed by the hatchlings coiling together in the nest and sought after by the Druids for use in their magic ceremonies?
So did the Picts see the snake as a symbol of good, evil, or both?
At Canna, on the stone displayed outside Canna house, is a carving of a man wearing a short tunic and with bare legs. A snake rears up between his thighs. In Perth Museum, on another fragment, a pair of snakes bite the genitals of two men - perhaps symbolic of lust. Certainly their phallic shape would encourage that interpretation.
Christianity was definitely responsible for representing snakes as creatures of evil, from the serpent in the Garden of Eden to St. Patrick casting the snakes out of Ireland. But possibly the Picts viewed them, along with many other ancient peoples, as magical, wise, eternal creatures.
SNAKES IN MYTHOLOGY
SCANDINAVIA
THE SERPENT MIDGARD, HIDDEN IN THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA, CAUSED
TEMPESTS BY SHAKING ITS COILS
THE GUNDESTRUP CAULDRON, FOUND IN A DANISH BOG, SHOWS CERNUNNOS
HOLDING A RAM-HEADED SNAKE IN HIS LEFT HAND
MEDITERRANEAN
ASCLEPIAS, GOD OF HEALTH, SON OF APOLLO AND CORONIS, WAS
SOMETIMES REPRESENTED AS A SERPENT
HERMES WAS DEPICTED WITH A CADUCEUS AROUND WHICH TWO SNAKES WERE
TWISTED
AESCULAPIUS WAS THE SERPENT GOD OF EPIDAURUS
TYPHON WAS THE SON OF HERA
DEMETER HAD ATTRIBUTES OF POPPIES, SHEAVES OF CORN AND SNAKES
MINOAN GODDESSES ARE SHOWN CARRYING SNAKES IN EACH HAND
EGYPT
SNAKES WERE VENERATED AND MUMMIFIED
THE CROWN OF EGYPT, THE URAEUS, FEATURED A REARING COBRA
INDIA AND FAR EAST
THE NAGAS ARE A FABULOUS RACE OF SNAKES THAT INHABIT THE
UNDERWORLD, AND ARE STILL WORSHIPPED IN THE SOUTH OF INDIA
KALI IS SOMETIMES PORTRAYED WEARING A NECKLACE OF SNAKES
MANASA IS A SERPENT GODDESS
VASUKI IS A GREAT SERPENT WHO PRODUCES THE MILK OF IMMORTALITY
NORTH AMERICA
MOUNDS WERE RAISED IN THE SHAPE OF SNAKES
SNAKE DANCE OF THE HOPI INDIANS
SOUTH AMERICA
QUETZALCOATL, THE GOD OF THE WIND, WAS A COMBINATION OF SNAKE AND
BIRD
THE MAYA HAD SERPENT DEITIES