Does the snake symbolize the instinctive side of Zarathustra the archetype,
Mrs. Jung: Does the snake symbolize the instinctive side of Zarathustra the archetype, too? Does it belong only to Nietzsche the man?
Dr. Jung: Well, that is a question.
As far as I know we have no proof that the eagle and the serpent played a particular role with Zarathustra himself, but it is a fact that Zarathustra was a philosopher or teacher whose aim was to establish the predomination of the spirit.
In the centuries before Christ we find traces everywhere of the effort to make the spirit predominate over matter.
So one could say Zarathustra was already such an eagle, overcoming the earth principle.
Now, the question whether the eagle and the serpent symbolize the instincts of Nietzsche is just what I was asking.
How do you like this symbolism, where the snake appears to be coiled round the neck of the eagle?
This is a very unusual formulation, not at all classical; as far as my knowledge goes, it is usually wriggling in its claws, overcome by the eagle. ~Zarathustra Seminars, Page 229
Carl Jung Depth Psychology Blog
