Last week I was approached by old colleagues to collaborate on a pitch for branding the ad campaign of a hybrid car. What an awesome opportunity to apply all the research and readings I have been doing lately!

The subject matter and the Zeitgeist are realy coming together on this one and I having “logo-rrhea'  and “picto-rrhea” and fresh ideas… additionally with Al Gore appearing on all mediums on the subgect of the environment –NYTimes, WIRED, his film, etc. The Oil crisis, researching all the Green sites and publications which have been sprouting right and left, it's a bit overwhelming… but I think I have been distilling a good set of concepts in order to put out there simple but potent messages of a new conciousness of healing and balance, ulterior to the comercial imperative.

The idea of our civilization's anima as an aspect to be acknowledged and embraced, the feminine side of the socio-economic system, the emotional, compasionate, sentient side of business, it's socializing and nurturing potential. The surrendering of patriarchies, the resusitation of long forgotten or missapplied archetypes, put to a better symbolic use. The recognition of the relevance of eastern philosophies and values, as well as those of native cultures which have had a more profound connection to nature and community.

I though of Kojaniskaatsi, the Hopi word meaning “Life morally corrupt and in turmoil,” and the eponimous film from 1983. I though of symbols of healing and rebirth, such as the snake and its representation in almost every ancient culture. It is Good and Evil, anima and Kundalini. It represents dynamized energy and positive spirit… In greek and Egiptian culture there is the 'caduceus' (the intertwined fighting snakes the Greek God Hermés separated and which came to symbolize peace), or the 'uroboros' (a snake swallowing it's own tail) a symbol for integration and assimilation of the opposite (it is said of the uroboros that he slays himself and brings himself  to life, fertilizes himself and gives birth to himself). And how christianity turned it into a sign for evil, when in fact snakes always stood for knowledge and the harbinger of potentiality and protection.  what a great ambasador of nature!

I grew up with snakes. Large and short ones . Green and red ones , Desert and water ones… I always was mystified by their stealthy personality. Nothing seemed to pertub their reptilian swagger, their pearcing gaze… until it was that time of the year when they shed their skin. They would turn anxious, nervous, and agitated, irritable until their epidermis detached from the underskin and they started the process of rubbing against the rocks, so the dead skin would catch and they'd emerge from it shinny and radiant, peaceful like a Buddha, docile like a lamb, focused and mindful.

I feel I have recently shed my own skin. The last two years where of such turmoil and slowly I begin to feel the sheen of a new skin, the lucidity and mindfulness that nurture inspiration.

Turns out I was born on the Chinese calendar's year of the wood snake….  go figure.. I guess I'm biased!  

An image I found online, is taken in the town of Cocullo outside Naples where snakes take center stage in a yearly procession which takes place, coincidentaly, on the first thursday of May (Today!) .


Fz.S