Limbless, formidable, poisonous, powerful, and awe-inspiring, snakes have never failed to fascinate me. Apart from male physique, looking at and reading about snakes is what makes my adrenaline rush and my heart pump more blood. It does turn me on. Call it a snake fetish if you wish. :-) I am so fascinated by them that on one winter day in 1998 I decided to have an extra large Southeast Asian python tattoo. This baby crawls from my upper right back across my right shoulder, entangles his body around my right arm, and finally rests his head upon my upper right chest.

These poor creature, nonetheless, have been condemned throughout the histories of mankind and deities--since time unknown. It can be assumed that the collective fear and loathing of snakes in people is partly a result of the Bible associating the idea of Adam and Eve being tempted to consume the Fruit of Knowledge with the snake that represents Satan or Lucifer. Looking up my Encarta Encyclopedia yields brief info about the issue:

Beliefs regarding Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. In Christian theology, original sin refers to the consequences of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The most important of these consequences was the loss of immortality for Adam and Eve and their descendants. In Christian belief, the effects of original sin are remedied by the sacrificial death of Christ. Here, in the engraving Adam and Eve (1504), by German artist Albrecht Dürer, Eve offers the forbidden fruit to her mate.

It is my personal opinion that such condemnation is so unfair. Adam and Eve are believed to be our ancestors. They were expelled from heaven because of their so-called Original Sin. That means God doesn't want them to be exposed to knowledge. God wants to keep the ignorance intact by holding back knowledge from all. When they ate the darn Fruit, God became so upset that he chased them away. The Archangel Lucifer was also demoted to become Satan, because he only wanted us to learn and become knowledgeable! Lucifer thus has my pathos.

That's all a Scorpio like myself wants to say about snakes. I, by the way, like scorpions because they represent ambition, strength, resilience, and grace. They arachnids never lower their venomous stingers and graceful claws. They are tiny but deadly. Plus, about 1400 species of these arachnids exist all over the world in diverse geographic features ranging from tropical lands to desert.

So VENOMOUSLY--my charming little realm infested with snakes and scorpions--is the expression of my love for those magnificent creatures and my art dedicated to them.

Proceed with care: Not for the squeamish type!