Aarne, Antti. Verzeichnis der Märchentypen. Folklore Fellows Classification 3. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Toimituksia, 1910. p. 8. [1] Balaji Mundkur, The Cult of the Serpent: An Interdisciplinary Survey of Its Manifestations and Origins, Albany: State University Press 1983.

Some Native American tribes give reverence to the rattlesnake as grandfather and king of snakes who is able to give fair winds or cause tempest. [ citation needed] Among the Hopi of Arizona the serpent figures largely in one of the dances. [ citation needed] The rattlesnake was worshiped in the Natchez Temple of the Sun, [ citation needed] and the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl was a feathered serpent-god. In many Meso-American cultures, the serpent was regarded as a portal between two worlds. The tribes of Peru are said to have adored great snakes in the pre-Inca days, and in Chile the Mapuche made a serpent figure in their deluge beliefs. [ citation needed] In Late Antiquity, as the arcane study of alchemy developed, Mercury was understood to be the protector of those arts too and of arcane or occult "Hermetic" information in general. Chemistry and medicines linked the rod of Hermes with the staff of the healer Asclepius, which was wound with a serpent; it was conflated with Mercury's rod, and the modern medical symbol—which should simply be the rod of Asclepius—often became Mercury's wand of commerce. Another version is used in alchemy where the snake is crucified, known as Nicolas Flamel's caduceus. Art historian Walter J. Friedlander, in The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine (1992), collected hundreds of examples of the caduceus and the rod of Asclepius and found that professional associations were just somewhat more likely to use the staff of Asclepius, while commercial organizations in the medical field were more likely to use the caduceus. Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 560, "The Magic Ring": a poor man either buys or rescues four types of animals, a cat, a dog, a mouse and a snake. This snake is the son of the king of serpents. It takes the boy to its father's court to reward him a wish-granting object (usually a magic stone or ring). [55] Example: The Enchanted Watch, French fairy tale. Uther, Hans-Jörg. Handbuch zu den "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" der Brüder Grimm: Entstehung - Wirkung - Interpretation. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter. 2008. pp. 200-201. ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 Similarly Níðhöggr (Nidhogg Nagar), the dragon of Norse mythology, eats from the roots of the Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

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This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) In some cultures, snakes were fertility symbols. For example, the Hopi people of North America performed an annual snake dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth (a Sky spirit) and Snake Girl (an Underworld spirit) and to renew the fertility of Nature. During the dance, live snakes were handled, and at the end of the dance the snakes were released into the fields to guarantee good crops. "The snake dance is a prayer to the spirits of the clouds, the thunder and the lightning, that the rain may fall on the growing crops." [5] To the Hopi, snakes symbolized the umbilical cord, joining all humans to Mother Earth. The Great Goddess often had snakes as her familiars—sometimes twining around her sacred staff, as in ancient Crete—and they were worshiped as guardians of her mysteries of birth and regeneration. [6] Evolutionary origins [ edit ] Serpents are connected with venom and medicine. The snake's venom is associated with the chemicals of plants and fungi [15] [16] [17] that have the power to either heal or provide expanded consciousness (and even the elixir of life and immortality) through divine intoxication. Because of its herbal knowledge and entheogenic association, the snake was often considered one of the wisest animals, being (close to the) divine. Its divine aspect combined with its habitat in the earth between the roots of plants made it an animal with chthonic properties connected to the afterlife and immortality. The deified Greek physician Asclepius, as god of medicine and healing, carried a staff with one serpent wrapped around it, which has become the symbol of modern medicine. Moses also had a replica of a serpent on a pole, the Nehushtan, mentioned in Numbers 21:8.

Henderson, J. L.; Oakes, M. (1990). The Wisdom of the Serpent. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02064-8. Medusa and the other Gorgons were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes whose origins predate the written myths of Greece and who were the protectors of the most ancient ritual secrets. The Gorgons wore a belt of two intertwined serpents in the same configuration of the caduceus. The Gorgon was placed at the center, highest point of one of the pediments on the Temple of Artemis at Corfu. Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband" and ATU 425A, " The Animal Bridegroom": a maiden is betrothed to an animal bridegroom (a snake, dragon or serpent, in several variants), who comes at night to the bridal bed in human form. The maiden breaks a taboo and her enchanted husband disappears. She is forced to seek him. [49] Example: The Green Serpent, French literary fairy tale; The Snake Prince, Indian fairy tale; The Enchanted Snake, Italian literary fairy tale; The Serpent Prince, Hungarian folktale. The Sumerian deity, Ningizzida, is accompanied by two gryphons Mushussu; it is the oldest known image of two snakes coiling around an axial rod, dating from before 2000BCE.In some Abrahamic traditions, the serpent represents sexual desire. [12] According to some interpretations of the Midrash, the serpent represents sexual passion. [13] In Hinduism, Kundalini is a coiled serpent. [14] Guardianship [ edit ] Meditating Buddha being shielded by the naga Mucalinda. Cambodia, 1150 to 1175 Native American Indian tribes regarded the snake as a symbol of fertility and rebirth. In their mythology, Unhcegila was a giant serpent-like creature that could swallow a human in one gulp! Native American mythology also included a symbol that represented a snake deity called Avanyu that brought storms to the land. Isbell, L. (2009). The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03301-6. Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. p. 144.

Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 485, "Borma Jarizhka" or "The City of Babylon": a tsar sends a brave knight to the city of Babylon to retrieve three symbols of royal power (a robe, a crown, a scepter). The city is surrounded by snakes and ruled by a princess with snake-like attributes. [54] The word serpent comes from the Latin serpens, meaning a creeping thing or snake. The symbol is one of the oldest and most commonly used across a myriad of ancient cultures to symbolize wisdom, death, resurrection, fertility and procreation. In Africa and America Although the SUN and the SERPENT was first published in 1989 I did not get my hands on a copy of the 1998 edition until meeting Hamish Miller in 2004 on a dowsing workshop. Being new to the phenomenon of dowsing and the relevance of the magnificent structures along the St Micheal Line it was fortuitous to be able to take this book away and read at leisure. In addition to being full of interesting and relevant information illustrated throughout, the SUN and the SERPENT is also an exciting read as MILLER and BROADHURST recount their flamboyant adventures of discovery as they tour around the countryside being led by nothing but intuition and a metal rod!Jane Ellen Harrison, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, 1912. cf. Chapter IX, p.329 especially, on the slaying of the Python.