The Sun and the Serpent

Product Information

In Greek and Roman mythology, the snake symbolizes a guardian spirit and was inscribed on many altars. In the temple of Athena in Athens, a snake held in a cage was believed to be the reincarnation of Erichthonius, an early king in ancient Greece. A snake was likewise kept at the shrine of Apollo where it was tended to by a naked virgin. In Greek mythology, Medusa and other gorgons (female creatures) had sharp fangs and live snakes for hair. The association of women and serpents extended to Medea, who was pulled in a chariot led by serpents, as well as the Minoan snake goddess who held a snake in each hand. Celtic, Norse and Native American Beliefs In 1990 Hamish and Ba launched into an epic 10-year journey across Europe with Paul Broadhurst and Vivienne Shanley, this time following another pair of intertwining currents which they named the “Apollo” and “Athena”. This 2,500 mile journey took them from the Skelligs off south-west Ireland to Cornwall and across Europe, to Mount Carmel in Israel. The record of this extraordinary dowsing adventure resullted in The Dance of the Dragon (2000), now sadly out of print, but a set of beautiful, hand-illustrated maps produced by artist Vivienne Shanley, is still available to buy. Towards the end of the book there is a summary of how this ancient wisdom has been driven underground, replaced by power and control structures who use the energies for a different gain. How our loss of connection with Nature is our downfall, and that the industrialisation of the western world has progressively created a situation where humanity works against Nature instead of with it. How we now stand at a crossroads of evolution and we each have a role to play in the great turning… Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 672, "The Serpent's Crown": a snake takes off its crown to bathe in the lake. The crown is stolen by a human, who discovers the crown can grant special abilities (most often, the knowledge of animal languages). [57]

According to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, the serpent can appear in this capacity in the following tale types: [43]Coedès, George (1971) [1968]. Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. translated by Susan Brown Cowing. Honolulu: Research Publications and Translations Program of the Institute of Advanced Projects, East-West Center, University of Hawaii. p.48. ISBN 0-7081-0140-2. Main article: Snake worship The "libation vase of Gudea" with the dragon Mushussu, dedicated to Ningishzida (twentieth centuryBCE short chronology). The caduceus is interpreted as depicting the god himself. [21] John Bathurst Deane, The Worship of the Serpent, London: J. G. & F. Rivington, 1833. ( alternative copy online at the Internet Archive)

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 Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 612, " The Three Snake-Leaves": a man kills a snake. Its mate brings three magical leaves to resurrect it. This inspires the man to find a similar herb to use on his deceased bride/wife. [56] 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 figured prominently in archaic Greek myths. According to some sources, Ophion ("serpent", a.k.a. Ophioneus), ruled the world with Eurynome before the two of them were cast down by Cronus and Rhea. The oracles of the Ancient Greeks were said to have been the continuation of the tradition begun with the worship of the Egyptian cobra goddess Wadjet.

Sick morality after rejected as a kid

Snake cults were well established in Canaanite religion in the Bronze Age, for archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo, [22] one at Gezer, [23] one in the sanctum sanctorum of the Area H temple at Hazor, [24] and two at Shechem. [25] The Egyptian symbol of a snake in a circular shape, eating its own tail, represented renewal and resurrection. It was called the Ouroboros and was depicted on a shrine on Tutankhamen’s tomb. In alchemy, the Ouroboros symbol appears again. The alchemical cross also features a crucified snake and represents the mythical potion, the Elixir of Life. In India The serpent, when forming a ring with its tail in its mouth, is a clear and widespread symbol of the "All-in-All", the totality of existence, infinity and the cyclic nature of the cosmos. The most well known version of this is the Aegypto-Greek ourobouros. It is believed to have been inspired by the Milky Way, as some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. The Ancient Egyptians associated it with Wadjet, one of their oldest deities, as well as another aspect, Hathor. In Norse mythology the World Serpent (or Midgard serpent) known as Jörmungandr encircled the world in the ocean's abyss biting its own tail. Segal, Charles M. (1998). Aglaia: The Poetry of Alcman, Sappho, Pindar, Bacchylides, and Corinna. Rowman & Littlefield. p.91; 338. ISBN 978-0-8476-8617-9. The serpent Hydra is a star constellation representing either the serpent thrown angrily into the sky by Apollo or the Lernaean Hydra as defeated by Heracles for one of his Twelve Labors. The constellation Serpens represents a snake being tamed by Ophiuchus the snake-handler, another constellation. The most probable interpretation is that Ophiuchus represents the healer Asclepius.