Snake Tattoo

Object contributed by Kate Eddens (Bloomington)

Acquired in St. Louis Missouri. Acquired on ca. 2014.

Snake TattooSnake Tattoo

About This Object

On the surface, other than a piece of artwork, this tattoo just looks like a hand holding a snake; however, the meaning of it, and the 1.3 run deeper. The 1.3 represents a line in Yoga Sutra that says: “Then the seer becomes established in its true nature.”1 The snake and the woman’s hand are representitive of not only Kate’s love for snakes, but also her view about them and their ability to shed their skin and, as Kate says, they are “a symbol of transformation… I like that they can show that humans are often going through a lot.”

I have multiple tattoos on one arm that reflect my identification of a community of people who seek comfort in the esoteric. —Kate Eddens

A History Harvest Perspective

Tattoo Culture

Tattoos have become more popular over the past few years, and roughly 38% of people have at least one tattoo before they reach 30 years-old.2

This growing trend has led to a growing industry where not only clinets can express their creative freedom and connections to a band, idea, animal, cultire, etc., but also the artists that physically tattoo it on the body. If you would like to read more on the study of tattoo culture, more information can be found here.

Yoga Culture

Roughly 20.4 million Aerican’s practice yoga (roughly 9%).3 Here in America, the most common reasons for one to start practicing yoga were to improve not only flexibility, but also their conditioning, stress relief, and improve their health overall. If you want to read more about the benefits of yoga, more information can be found here.

  1. Study And Download Yoga Online.. yogainternational.com. 

  2. Newman, Meredith. “Report: More Young People Have Tattoos and Piercings than Ever Before.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 20 Sept. 2017. 

  3. “HOW Many Americans Practice Yoga?” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2012. 

Dublin Core

Title

Snake Tattoo

Subject

Tattoo

Description

A tattoo of a snake wrapped around a woman's hand in black, blue, and orange, with a *1.3*.

Creator

N/A

Contributor

Kate Eddens

Date

Type

Physical Object