FIERY SERPENTS

‫ַשּׂ ָרפִים‬
ְ ‫ָשׁים ה‬
ִ ‫נְּח‬

Egyptian fiery serpent or uraeus

 Bar-Ilan University's Parashat Hashavua Study Center

Parashat Chukath 5760/2000

Lectures on the weekly Torah reading by the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. A project of the
Faculty of Jewish Studies, Paul and Helene Shulman Basic Jewish Studies Center, and the Office of the Campus Rabbi.
Published on the Internet under the sponsorship of Bar-Ilan University's International Center for Jewish Identity.
Prepared for Internet Publication by the Center for IT & IS Staff at Bar-Ilan University.
Inquiries and comments to: Dr. Isaac Gottlieb, Department of Bible, gottlii@mail.biu.ac.il

Parashat Chukath 5760/8 July 2000 (15 July abroad)

The Seraph Serpents

Dr. Leah Himmelfarb

Dept. of Bible

The story of the copper serpent is the last in the series of complaints and rebellions of the Israelites on their way from
Egypt to the land of Canaan. [1] In the book of Exodus the complaining rebels are not punished, [2] whereas in the
book of Numbers every story of dissatisfaction is associated with a disaster visited on the Israelites. To wit: "A fire
broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp" (11:1); "the Lord struck the people with a very severe
plague" (11:33); "those who spread such calumnies about the land died of plague, by the will of the Lord" (14:37). [3]
The response to the complaint at hand is that "the Lord sent seraph serpents against the people. They bit the people
and many of the Israelites died" (21:6). Let us investigate why the punishment this time took the form of seraph
serpents. [4]

One approach relates to the wilderness being the principal habitat of seraph snakes.

1) We learn about life in the desert from Moses' speech in Parashat Ekev (Deut. 8:15-16), "[the Lord] who led you
through the great and terrible wilderness with its seraph
serpents and scorpions, a parched land with no water in it, who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock; who
fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers had never known." We learn from here that three dangers
lay in wait for a person in the wilderness: one, attack by vicious animals -- serpents, seraph snakes and scorpions; [5]
two, shortage of water; and three, lack of food. Thus far Divine Providence had warded off these three threats, as
related in Psalms 105:39-41: "He spread a cloud for a cover, and fire to light up the night. They asked and He brought
them quail, satisfied them with food from heaven. He opened a rock so that water gushed forth."

Where, you may ask, is the protection from the snakes? According to the Midrash one of the seven clouds of Glory
"would go before them, ... burning up the serpents and scorpions." [6] But when the people complained that "there is
no bread and no water" (Num. 21:5), the Lord exposed the people to the third danger (listed in Deuteronomy 8:15 as
the first threat) in order to teach them that just as they had been delivered until now by the strength of the Lord from
dangerous reptiles living in the wilderness, so too the other hardships of the desert had been kept from them by the
direct intervention of the Lord who sought to ease their trek through the wilderness.

Therefore Rabbenu Bahyai explains, [7] "It does not say 'seraph serpents,' rather, 'the seraph serpents,' because it was
not a new creation made expressly for this moment; rather, there were already serpents ... in the wilderness." Similarly,
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: [8]
"They had always been in the wilderness, but until then the Lord had restrained them by His will." Rabbi Samson
Raphael Hirsch pays close attention to another point in the text, distinguishing between va-yishlah, in the kal form,
meaning to send on a mission, and va-yeshalah, in piel form, meaning 'to set loose,' 'to free', 'not to restrain or stop'.
"Va-yeshalah et ha-nehashim ha-seraphim" does not mean that the Lord sent the serpents, rather that he set the
serpents free and did not restrain them ... and the serpents of the wilderness did what was natural for them and "they
bit the people."

According to the above explanation, that the serpents appeared was not a miracle. The miracle lay in the fact that until
then no one had been attacked by them.

2) A second option to explain the punishment for the people's sin is a formal one rather than anything to do with
content, along the lines of "measure for measure". Scripture notes: "The people spoke against G-d and against Moses,
'Why did you make us leave Egypt to die
in the wilderness?'" (Num. 21:5). The people were bitter about having been taken out of Egypt in order to die in the
wilderness [9]
; so, the Lord actually repaid them just as they had spoken, and the people indeed died in the wilderness from being
attacked by serpents, as is characteristic of the wilderness. In other words, the people brought their own punishment
upon themselves through their complaint. [10]

Another interpretive approach to the seraph

serpents has to do with the story of the primordial serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Life in the Garden of Eden resembled the life of the Israelites in the wilderness. In both places those involved were
under close supervision of the Lord who cared for their every want; nevertheless, in both cases, human beings sinned
by disobeying G-d. But whereas in the story of the Garden of Eden the serpent led Eve astray by his words, in the
wilderness the serpent punished the Israelites for speaking against the Lord and against Moses. Adam and Eve were
tempted into eating because the serpent enticed them, whereas the Israelites were struck by the serpents due to their
gluttony for food.

In response to the question why the Lord saw fit to bring about their retribution through serpents, the commentaries
and Midrash [11] reveal two themes. One has to do with the sin of the primordial serpent.

Since the serpent was the first to speak evil and was cursed, and they [the generation of the desert] did not learn from
him, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let the serpent, who was the first to speak evil, come and exact the
punishment from those who spoke evil.

The other has to do with the serpent's punishment:

Although the serpent may eat all the delicacies of the world, they turn to dust in his mouth and his entrails, as it is said,
"And the serpent's food shall be earth" (Isa. 65:25); whereas these ate the manna that takes on many flavors, as it is
said, "He gave them what they asked for..." (Ps. 106:15). Therefore let the serpent, that eats many varieties yet they all
have one taste in his mouth and he does not complain to his Maker, let him come and exact punishment from those
who eat a single food yet enjoy in it many flavors.

Finally, a third line of interpretation for the nature of the punishment has to do with the way a serpent bites. In various
sources the serpent is described as killing with its tongue, as in Job, "the tongue of the viper kills him" (20:16). Ahituv
and Loewenstamm explain:

The impression made by the motion of the serpent's forked tongue led to the view that he kills his victim with his
tongue... Therefore it is said of the wicked planning to murder that "they sharpen their tongues like serpents" (Ps.
140:4). [12]

The idea is clear, as ibn Ezra comments on ha-seraphim: "Figuratively they loose their tongue to bite; thus they were
sent against them" (on Num. 21:6). [13]
The complainers in the desert sinned with their tongues, so, measure for measure, they were struck by the same
instrument.

[1]
The complaints in Numbers can be viewed as having a short introductory story (Taberah, 11:1-3) and a short
concluding story (the copper serpent, 21:4-9).
[2] For example, cf. 14:9-1; 15:22-26; 17:1-6.

[3]
In the story of the Waters of Meribah ("Quarrel"; 20:1-13) the Israelites were not punished, but the episode ends with
Moses and Aaron being punished: "therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them"
(v. 12).

[4]
1) Many scriptural references mention being bitten by a serpent as a punishment from the Lord, such as: Deut. 32:24;
Jer. 8:17; Amos 5:19, 9:3; Koheleth 10:8.

2) Many people view the word seraph

as an adjective describing serpents, i.e., fiery snakes, or according to Rashi, "snakes that burn people with the venom
in their teeth." On the other hand, elsewhere in Scriptures seraph is the name of a specific variety of serpent; for
example, "viper and flying seraph" (Isa. 30:6); "serpent, seraph" (Deut. 8:15), the pasek cantillation mark indicating a
pause between the two words to emphasize that Scriptures is referring to two separate items in a list of animals
(contrary to the translation in the New JPS, which renders the text as "seraph serpents").

[5]
Isaiah 30:6, "The Beasts of the Negeb" Pronouncement. Through a land of distress and hardship, of lion and roaring
king-beast, of viper and flying seraph," also indicates that the seraph snake is indigenous to the wilderness in the
southern part of the land of Israel.

[6] Tanhuma Beshalah 3; also cf. variants in Tanhuma Bemidbar 2; Numbers Rabbah, ch. 1; Deuteronomy Rabbah,
ch. 7; Song of Songs Rabbah, ch. 3; and Sifre Be-ha'alotkha 83. [Could it be that the Midrashic language soref
nehashim ve-akrabbim is a play on nahash, saraf, ve-akrav?-ed.]

[7] Rabbenu Bahyai on the Torah with Tuv Taam Commentary, Bnai Brak 1992.

[8] Pentateuch with Commentary of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Jerusalem 1986.

[9]
Challenging the very exodus from Egypt is characteristic of most of their complaints. For example, cf. Ex. 14:11, 16:3,
17:3; Num. 11:5, 11:20, 14:2-4, 16:13, 20:5.

[10]
1) The same was true in the case of the spies (Num. 14:2-3), and with regard to what was said by Dathan and Abiram
(16:12-14).

2) Perhaps the threefold repetition here of "the people" serves to strengthen the formal connection between the sin --
"The people spoke against G-d and against Moses" -- and their punishment -- "the Lord set loose seraph serpents
against the people. They bit the people and many of the people died."

[11] Tanhuma Chukath

§45; variant in Numbers Rabbah, ch. 19. Also Targum Jonathan, Rashi, Rabbenu Bahyai and Kli Yakar.

[12] Nahash, Encyclopedia Mikrait, Vol. 5, p. 822.

[13] Also cf. Sforno on the words, "Make a seraph

figure [alt.:fiery serpent]" (Num. 21:8): "The serpent was burned by his idle words, and likewise was their sin and their
retribution."
Prepared for Internet Publication by the Center for IT & IS Staff at Bar-Ilan University.
Chukat/Balak, 5766

July 8, 2006 vol. 10, no. 37 12 Tammuz 5766

Chukat/Balak, Numbers 19:1–25:9

The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pp. 1,145–1,194; Revised Edition, pp. 1,022–1,067
Haftarah, Micah 5:6–6:8
The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pp. 1,272−1,274; Revised Edition, pp. 1,069–1,071

Healing by Looking: Seraph Serpents and Theotherapy

Fred N. Reiner

FOCAL POINT |

[A]nd the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the
wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food.” The Eternal sent
seraph serpents against the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. The people came to
Moses and said, “We sinned by speaking against the Eternal and against you. Intercede with the Eternal to take
away the serpents from us!” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Eternal One said to Moses, “Make a
seraph figure and mount it on a standard. And anyone who was bitten who then looks at it shall recover.” Moses
made a copper serpent and mounted it on a standard; and when bitten by a serpent, anyone who looked at the
copper serpent would recover. (Numbers 21:5–9)

D'VAR TORAH |

This strange story appears amid noteworthy events: Miriam dies suddenly at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin
(Numbers 20:1). The community rails against Moses and Aaron because there is no food or water, and Moses
commits the famous sin of striking the rock to produce water (Numbers 20:2–13). Moses seeks to traverse
Edomite territory and is refused passage (Numbers 20:14–21). Suddenly Aaron dies and is mourned for thirty
days (Numbers 20:22–29). Now Moses is the sole survivor leading the people, and the people are still
complaining.

How can God break through the continuous complaining and get the Israelites to focus on their journey? What will
cause the Israelites to repent their sinful speaking out against God and Moses? How are we modern readers to
understand these magical serpents that kill and the copper serpent that heals? Does God provide an idol in this
story to save the people?

The magical homeopathic therapy for these snakebites is troubling for us modern monotheists. Did the authors of
the Torah believe in the curative power of looking at snakes?

Snakes were associated with healing in many cultures, especially Egypt. The Greek god of healing is pictured as
a snake in the caduceus insignia of the medical profession. Snakes were also regarded in other contexts: winged
snakes are mentioned by Isaiah (14:29 and 30:6), and erect cobras symbolizing Egyptian royalty were surely
well-known to the Israelites.

In this story, God sends n’chashim has’raphim, “seraph serpents,” perhaps fiery snakes, and the antidote for their
bite is a n’chash n’choshet, “copper serpent.” Most likely the healing serpent was bronze, not copper;
archaeologists have found examples of bronze serpents in the Middle East. Were they cultic objects, idols of the
people?

So it would seem. We read that King Hezekiah “abolished the shrines and smashed the pillars. . . . He also broke
into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time the Israelites had been offering sacrifices
to it; it was called Nehushtan” (II Kings 18:4).

How, then, can we understand this symbol and this story, we who are cautioned so strictly against idolatry?

Over the years I have visited many patients in Catholic hospitals, which usually display a crucifix on the wall of
each room. Some congregants have joked about the symbol in “their” room; others have expressed discomfort
about it; a few have asked that it be removed. Perhaps they find it insensitive for non-Christian patients. Perhaps
they view it as a talisman they do not believe in. Perhaps they want their healing to come from the medical staff
and not the statue on the wall. Most of us would agree.

What is the difference between the serpent and the crucifix? How can we understand the serpent in this story in
Numbers? The Mishnah tells us that looking at the serpent was not what cured the Israelites. Rather it was the
act of looking up to God that cured them (Mishnah Rosh HaShanah 3:8).

Still we may search for a modern understanding of this story. James L. Kugel points out that the bronze serpent
was to be put on a pole (The Bible As It Was [Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998], p. 481). Why?
Because, in the words of the Targum, “when a snake would bite a man, he would look upon the bronze serpent
and direct his thoughts toward God and live” (Targum Yonatan, Numbers 21:9).

We find a parallel passage in Exodus. Earlier in their journey, the Israelites are confronted by the Amalekites at
Rephidim. Moses puts Joshua in charge of the battle, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur sit on a hilltop to watch. When
Moses holds up his hands—with the rod of God in his hands—the Israelites prevail. Whenever Moses puts down
his hands, however, the Amalekites prevail (Exodus 17:8–12). Was there magic at play? Was the rod—or
Moses’s hand—an idol or a talisman? The Mishnah tells us that when the Israelites looked up toward God, they
would triumph. If they did not remember God, they would fail (Mishnah Rosh HaShanah 3:8).

Neither the bronze serpent nor the rod of Moses is an idol in these stories. They are not props for magic, but
devices that lead the people to direct their thoughts to God. In the story of the bronze serpent, the people are not
sick, but sinful. The serpent is elevated to direct the thoughts of the people upward to God and away from the
danger at their feet. Think about that. Even today, we often need something to help us redirect our thoughts
toward God and away from the dangers that confront us.

BY THE WAY |

The Zohar explains that looking at the bronze serpent reminded the people of why they deserved to be
punished, and that is the first step toward repentance and forgiveness [Sh’lach 175]. . . . [Samson Raphael]
Hirsch suggests that the image of the serpent reminded people of how dangerous the journey through the
wilderness was, and how much they depended on God to guide them through it. (Etz Hayim: Torah and
Commentary [New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2001], p. 889)

Now did this serpent actually kill people or heal people? Rather it means that when Moses did so [held up
the serpent], the Israelites looked at him [or “it”] and put their trust in God who ordered Moses so to do:
then God would send them healing. (M’chilta D’Rabbi Yishmael, Amalek 1; cited in Kugel, The Bible As It
Was, p. 480)

Yet the question needs to be asked: Why did not God simply remove the plague as He removed all the
plagues of Egypt? The answer given by tradition is that He resorted to this means in order to test Israel’s
obedience; only those who heeded His command to look at the snake would recover. (Jacob Milgrom on
Numbers 21:8, JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers [Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990], p. 174)
 1. How did the commentators and Rabbis lead readers away from understanding the bronze serpent as an
idol?

2. What are the Jewish values we can extract from this story?

3. Are there things in our own lives that we use as idols? Are there ways that we can use them instead to
invoke a sense of God’s presence in our lives? Think, for example, of a mezuzah or another ritual object.

Fred N. Reiner is senior rabbi of Temple Sinai, Washington, D.C.

www.urj.org
Mundo Judío - 03/07/2008

La serpiente de bronce: ¿un objeto mágico o un símbolo

religioso?
Las Escrituras fueron interpretadas de distintas maneras por los piadosos, volcando en ellas sus anhelos,
sueños y creencias. Y mientras los creyentes sigan encontando inspiración en los antiguos escritos, ellos no
habrán de perder nunca su vitalidad hasta el final de los tiempos.

La porción de la Torá de esta semana nos relata que en ocasión de estar rodeando la tierra de Edom en las
proximidades del Golfo de Akaba, el pueblo de Israel se impacientó por el camino. Y como ya lo habían hecho
en otras oportunidades (cf. Éxodo 14:11-12; 15:24; 16:2-3; 17:3; Números 11:1; 14:2-4; 20:2-4), los israelitas
se quejaron ante Moisés: "¿Por qué nos habéis subido de Egipto para morir en el desierto? Pues no tenemos
ni pan ni agua, y estamos cansados de ese manjar miserable'' (Números 21:5).

Y fue en esa oportunidad, pues, que Dios decidió castigar al pueblo por su ingratitud manifiesta: "Envió
entonces Yahveh contra el pueblo serpientes abrasadoras, que mordían al pueblo; y murió mucha gente de
Israel. El pueblo fue a decirle a Moisés: Hemos pecado por haber hablado contra Yahveh y contra ti. Intercede
ante Yahveh para que aparte de nosotros las serpientes. Moisés intercedió por el pueblo. Y dijo Yahveh a
Moisés: Hazte un abrasador y ponlo sobre un mástil. Todo el que haya sido mordido y lo mire, vivirá. Hizo
Moisés una serpiente de bronce y la puso en un mástil. Y si una serpiente mordía a un hombre y éste miraba
la serpiente de bronce, quedaba con vida'' (21:6-9. Cf. Deuteronomio 8:15).

Esta historia presenta dos cuestiones particularmente intrigantes. La primera tiene que ver con la naturaleza
de las "serpientes abrasadoras''. ¿Acaso eran estos animales naturales o seres mitológicos? Según el
presente texto, las palabras "abrasador'' (en hebreo, saraf) y ``serpiente'' (en hebreo, najash) funcionan como
sinónimos (cf. también Isaías 14:29). Y de acuerdo a su contenido, nada deja entrever que el animal sea otra
cosa que una víbora o culebra muy venenosa. Sin embargo, en el relato sobre la vocación de Isaías el
nombre saraf tiene otro sentido. De acuerdo a este texto, los serafines son seres alados con figura humana,
provistos con seis alas (Isaías 6:2). Y de aquí la posibilidad, pues, que en el libro de Números las "serpientes
abrasadoras'' hayan sido unas víboras mitológicas aladas, como las cobras aladas testimoniadas en el arte
egipcio, o las serpientes con cuatro alas grabadas en sellos del siglo VIII a.e.c., descubiertos en Judea.

La segunda cuestión se refiere al carácter del "abrasador'' colocado sobre el mástil. ¿Esta figura de bronce
era un objeto mágico o una imagen cúltica? Según una lectura simple y llana del texto, la serpiente de bronce
habría sido un objeto de carácter mágico, que por medio de una curación homeopática, habría tenido el
"poder'' de curar a los mordidos por las "serpientes abrasadoras''. (Nota: Una curación "homeopática'' significa
que la misma se produce por medio de aquello que ha producido la enfermedad). La arqueología ha revelado
la existencia física de este objeto. Por ejemplo, figurinas independientes en forma de serpientes de bronce
han sido halladas en el templo cananeo de Tel Mevoraj (en la zona de la costa) y en el templo midianita en
Timna (en el sur de Israel, en la zona de la Aravá, no muy lejos del lugar del relato en Números); en otros
casos, las serpientes aparecen en planchas de bronce en asociación con deidades (Jatzor, en la Alta Galilea).

Según algunos estudiosos, esta serpiente de bronce habría sido un objeto de culto representando a una
divinidad. Un claro ejemplo de ello lo encontramos en la historia del rey Ezequías, rey de Judea (716-687),
cuando en protesta contra las prácticas paganas de Israel, "quitó los altos, derribó las estelas, cortó los cipos
y rompió la serpiente de bronce que había hecho Moisés, porque los israelitas le habían quemado incienso
hasta aquellos días; se la llamaba Nejushtán'' (2 Reyes 18:4). (Nota: El nombre Nejushtán alude a la materia
del objeto [nejoshet = ``cobre''], y a su figura de serpiente [en hebreo, najash].) Según se desprende del texto,
esta serpiente de bronce, ubicada en el Templo de Jerusalén, habría estado asociada con Yahveh y adorada
por los fieles como un dios responsable de la curación (como el caso del dios griego Esculapio, asociado con
el símbolo de la serpiente). (Nota: El carácter terapéutico de la serpiente en el mundo antiguo se asocia a otro
significado de este animal: el simbolismo de la vida y de la fertilidad.)

Ya en la antigüedad el relato de la serpiente de bronce generó no pocas polémicas entre los piadosos. Como
lo refleja esta antigua tradición rabínica presente en la Mishná (siglo II e.c.): "Pero ¿hace morir una serpiente
o hace vivir? Más bien (es para enseñarte) que cuando Israel dirigía su mente hacia lo alto y sometía su
corazón a su padre que está en los cielos era curado y cuando no se desvanecía.'' (Tratado Año Nuevo III, 8;
La Misná. Edición preparada por Carlos del Valle [Madrid: Editora Nacional, 1981] p. 379). En otras palabras,
los sabios de Israel desecharon toda posibilidad de explicar mágicamente el pasaje, interpretando el mismo
en términos monoteístas, a saber: no la serpiente de bronce tenía el poder para curar, sino le fe del israelita
en Dios. De aquí, entonces, que los rabinos interpretaron este objeto como un objeto religioso destinado a
promover la piedad.

Otra estrategia de exégesis la encontramos ya en el filósofo judío Filón de Alejandría (ca. 20 a.e.c. - ca. 50
e.c.), quien interpretó alegóricamente la serpiente de bronce como el símbolo de la templanza (opuesta a la
serpiente del paraíso, símbolo del placer): "Todo aquel, pues, a quien una serpiente hubiere mordido, si
mirare a aquélla, vivirá'' (Números 21:8.) Y es muy cierto esto, porque, si la inteligencia mordida por el placer,
es decir, por la serpiente de Eva, tuviere la fuerza suficiente para mirar espiritualmente la belleza de la
templanza, vale decir, de la serpiente de Moisés, y a través de ella a Dios mismo, vivirá. No ha menester otra
cosa sino ver y reflexionar.'' (Interpretación alegórica II, 79. XX; en: Obras completas de Filón de Alejandría I
[Buenos Aires: Acervo Cultural, 1975] págs. 182-183).

Una tercer interpretación del texto bíblico la hallamos en la literatura cristiana antigua. En el Evangelio de
Juan, la serpiente de bronce es asociada con Jesús y la crucifixión. Según está escrito: "Y como Moisés
levantó la serpiente en el desierto, así tiene que ser levantado el Hijo del hombre, para que todo el que crea
tenga por él vida eterna. Porque tanto amó Dios al mundo que dio a su Hijo único, para que todo el que crea
en él no perezca, sino que tenga vida eterna'' (3:14-16). De acuerdo a esta interpretación, entonces, al igual
que el israelita en el desierto debía mirar a la serpiente para salvarse, de la misma manera el creyente debía
"mirar'' a Cristo en la cruz, o en términos cristianos, creer que Jesús es el Hijo único para obtener vida eterna.
(Nota: Compárese esta exégesis joánica del texto con la interpretación presente en una antigua traducción
jerosolimitana al arameo [llamada, Targum Pseudo-Jonathán] del pasaje en Números: "...sucederá que todo
el que haya sido mordido por una serpiente y la mire [a la serpiente de bronce], vivirá si dirige su corazón al
nombre de la memrá [en arameo, "palabra''] de YHWH...'' [citado por M. Pérez Fernández, Los capítulos de
Rabbi Eliezer [Valencia, 1984] p. 375, nota 8]. Según esta interpretación, entonces, la Palabra de Dios es la
que cura).

Esta misma línea interpretativa fue adoptada por el apologeta cristiano Justino Mártir (siglo II), quien entendió
la historia de la serpiente de bronce como una prefiguración tipológica del Cristo: "Y es que, como ya he
dicho, con esto anunciaba Dios un misterio, por el que había de destruir el poder de la serpiente, que fue
autora de la transgresión de Adán; y a la vez, la salvación para quienes creen en el que por este signo era
figurado, es decir, en Aquel que había de ser crucificado y los había de librar de las mordeduras de la
serpiente, que son las malas acciones, las idolatrías y las demás iniquidades. Porque si no se entiende así,
dadme vosotros razón por qué Moisés puso como signo la serpiente de bronce y mandó que a ella miraran los
mordidos y éstos se curaban. Y eso después que él mismo había mandado no fabricar imagen de nadie
absolutamente'' (Diálogo con Trifón 94:2-3; en: D. Ruiz Bueno, Padres Apologetas Griegos [s. II] [segunda
edición; Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1979] p. 470). De acuerdo a esta exégesis cristológica,
entonces, Justino Mártir vio en la historia bíblica un anuncio figurado-simbólico de la acción salvífica de Jesús,
quien por su intermedio el creyente fue liberado del pecado original.

Cualquiera haya sido el significado original del relato bíblico, una cosa es indudablemente cierta. Al igual que
un vaso puede ser llenado con líquidos diversos, las Escrituras fueron interpretadas de distintas maneras por
los piadosos, volcando en ellas sus anhelos, sueños y creencias. Y mientras los creyentes sigan encontrando
inspiración en los antiguos escritos, ellos no habrán de perder nunca su vitalidad hasta el final de los tiempos.
¡Shabat Shalom!
Dr. Adolfo Roitman
Gesenius’s Lexicon
 Seraphim in Hebrew means "flaming serpents." In Judeo-Christian
tradition, the Seraphim are the order of angels who surround the Throne of the Presence.
They appear by name in the bible only once, in the vision of Isaiah:

"... I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
Above him stood the Seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with
two he covered his feet, and with two he flew."

The Seraphs are also referred in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, and are associated with the
"fiery serpents" who assaulted the Israelites in the Book of Numbers.

A seraph is most often depicted as one to four heads surrounded by six flaming wings, often
covered with a multiplicity of eyes.

In magic, they are associated with the Sphere of Geburah, the spere of justice on the Tree of
Life.

They are possibly descended mythologically from the Egyptian flaming winged uraeus
serpents who guarded the Pharoahs.

Related Symbols:
 Timna: Valley of the Ancient Copper Mines
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/timna.html
"A land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper."

Deuteronomy 8:9

The Timna Valley is located in the southwestern Arava, some 30 km. north of the Gulf of
Eilat. It is a semi-circular, erosional formation of some 70 sq. km., opening in the east
towards the Arava; on the north, west and south it is surrounded by cliffs, about 300 m. high.
In the lower parts of these cliffs and on the slopes in front of them, copper-rich nodules (up to
55% copper) mainly of malachite and chalcocite, were mined in ancient times. Ever since
man discovered, in the 6th millennium BCE, how to turn a `piece of rock' into malleable
metal, copper has been mined and smelted in the Timna Valley - even in modern times, by
the Israeli Timna Mining Company, which is no longer in production.
Extensive remains of human activity during early periods are still visible in the rugged hills.
There is evidence of copper mining in shafts and galleries and copper smelting in furnaces of
various types, and there are remains of camps and several cult sites, including an Egyptian
mining sanctuary.
The existence of the remains of copper production at Timna was known from surveys
conducted at the end of last century, but scientific attention and public interest was aroused
when in the 1930s Nelson Glueck attributed the copper mining at Timna to King Solomon
(10th century BCE) and named the site "King Solomon's Mines"; this theory has not been
verified by subsequent field work.
Surveys and excavations in the Timna Valley were conducted between 1959 and 1990. From
the surprising findings it is now possible to reconstruct the long and complex history of
copper production there, from the Late Neolithic period to the Middle Ages. Mining
activities in the Timna Valley reached a peak during the reign of the Pharaohs of the
14th-12th centuries BCE, when Egyptian mining expeditions, in collaboration with
Midianites and local Amalekites, turned the Timna Valley into a large-scale copper industry.

Copper mining
After an initial phase of surface collection of ore nodules in prehistoric times, the early
miners followed outcropping ore veins underground. These earliest shafts, hammered into
the rock with large and clumsy stone tools, were irregular big holes from which galleries
spread in all directions, following the ore.
The Egyptian miners who came later used metal chisels and hoes and excavated very regular,
tubular shafts, with footholds in the walls for moving down, and up, the shafts. Some of these
shafts penetrated to a depth of 30 m. and more, before reaching the copper-rich sandstone
formation. From the shafts, narrow galleries followed the ore occurrence, widening into
underground cavities where large bodies of ore nodules had to be mined out. As the complex
network of galleries grew, heavy loads of ore had to be dragged along the narrow galleries, to
be hauled to the surface. These sophisticated multi-leveled shaft-and-gallery mines, with
proper underground ventilation, are the earliest systematic mines of this kind discovered to
date.
Mining was abandoned when the concentration of ore nodules declined. The abandoned
shafts and galleries were either intentionally filled with mining waste, or gradually filled up
with wind- and water-carried sand. Evidence of their existence is visible today in saucer-like
“plates” — thousands of them — on the slopes below the Timna Cliffs.

Copper production
The earliest, well-preserved copper smelting furnace dates from the 5th millennium BCE. It
consisted of a small pit dug in the ground, with a low substructure of field stones, and was
ventilated by goatskin bellows. Smelting in these pits was primitive and inefficient.
During the following three millennia, copper was produced with steadily improving furnaces
and control of the metallurgical processes. Already in the Chalcolithic period (4th
millennium BCE), iron ore (available in Timna) was added as flux to the smelting charge of
copper ore and charcoal, which greatly improved the smelting. Another big step forward, in
the early third millennium BCE, was "tapping" the fluid slag out of the hot furnace, which
made continuous smelting possible and saved precious fuel. The metallic copper produced by
this process remained at the bottom of the furnace as an irregular ingot — probably the
earliest copper ingot in history.
There is no evidence of mining or smelting in Timna from the middle of the 3rd millennium
BCE until the late 2nd millennium BCE, when Egyptian mining expeditions arrived. There
are the ruins of numerous work camps, mainly workshops for copper smelting. One of the
larger (400 sq.m.) camps was excavated; in its central courtyard, a stone-lined storage pit
contained copper ore nodules to be crushed on a nearby stone platform. A variety of grinding
tools, such as granite hammers, mortars and pestles, anvils and "saddle-backed" sandstone
querns were found on this platform. Near the smelting furnaces, at a distance from the
workshops, slag heaps, charcoal pits, tuyères, stone tools and potsherds were found.
In the 14th century BCE, during the Egyptian-Midianite copper production at Timna, a very
advanced smelting furnace, consisting of a bowl-shaped smelting hearth dug into the ground
and lined with clay mortar, was in use. It was about 40 cm. in diameter and up to 50 cm. high.
Some of the furnaces had a dome-shaped top. In front of the smelting hearth was a shallow pit,
flanked by two large stones, which served as the slag tapping pit. A clay tube penetrated the
furnace wall opposite the tapping hole and served as a tuyère through which air was blown by
pot-bellows. For each furnace three bellows were needed and the smelting area was littered
with hundreds of tuyère fragments.

The Hathor Temple

At the foot of the huge sandstone formation in the center of the Timna Valley known as
"King Solomon's Pillars," a small Egyptian temple was excavated. Dedicated to Hathor,
Egyptian goddess of mining, it was founded during the reign of Pharaoh Seti I (1318-1304
BCE) and served the members of the Egyptian mining expeditions and also their local
co-workers. The sanctuary consisted of an open courtyard measuring 9 x 6 m., with a naos
(cult chamber), where a niche had been cut into the rock, apparently to house a statue of
Hathor. The temple was badly damaged by earthquake and rebuilt during the reign of
Pharaoh Ramses II (1304-1237 BCE), with an enlarged courtyard (10 x 9 m.) and a new,
solid white floor. The walls were made of local sandstone and granite but the facade was of
white sandstone from the mining area. The temple, with its two square columns bearing
Hathor heads, must have been an exciting sight in the light of the rising sun. In the temple
courtyard there was a workshop for casting copper figurines as votive offerings. Among the
finds in this temple were hieroglyphic inscriptions including cartouches (seals) of most of the
pharaohs who reigned in the 14th-12th centuries BCE. There were also numerous other
Egyptian-made votive offerings, including many copper objects, alabaster vessels, cat and
leopard figurines of faience, seals, beads and scarabs as well as Hathor sculptures, figurines
and plaques. Altogether several thousand artifacts were uncovered in the Egyptian temple.
With the decline of Egyptian control of the region in the middle of the 12th century BCE, the
mines at Timna and the Hathor temple were abandoned. However, cultic activities in the
temple were restored by the Midianites, who remained in Timna for a short period after the
Egyptians left. They cleared most traces of the Egyptian cult and effaced the images of
Hathor and the Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions on the stelae. Other changes were made: a
row of mazeboth (stelae), was erected and a 'bench of offerings' was built on both sides of the
entrance. Remains of woolen cloth found along the courtyard walls provide evidence that the
Midianites turned the Egyptian temple into a tented desert shrine. Among the finds in this
Midianite shrine was a large number of votive gifts brought especially from Midian,
including beautifully decorated Midianite pottery and metal jewelry. Of particular
significance is the find of a copper snake with gilded head. It is reminiscent of the copper
serpent described in Numbers 21:6-9.
The evidence of a sophisticated Midianite culture, as found in Timna, is of extraordinary
importance in the light of the Biblical narrative of the meeting of Moses and Jethro, high
priest of Midian, and the latter's participation in the organization and cult of the Children of
Israel in the desert. (Exodus 18)

The survey and excavations at Timna were conducted by B. Rotenberg, on behalf of the `Arava Expedition'
under the auspices of the Ha'aretz Museum of Tel Aviv, the Institute of Archeology, Tel Aviv University and
(since 1974) the Institute for Archeo-Metallurgical Studies of University College, London.

Source: Israeli Foreign Ministry.

 http://www.andrews.edu/ARCHAEOLOGY/publications/newsletter/21.3/21.3.PDF

When the Israelites left Egypt they apparently did not move along the northern route, as
they would have encountered Egyptian border forts. Hess opts for Jebel Musa or other nearby
mountains as fulfilling the necessary requirements mentioned in the text. Religious parallels
include the horned calf recently found at Ashkelon, which though dating somewhat earlier in
the Middle Bronze Age, nevertheless illustrates what the golden calf ofExod 32 might have
been like. According to Hess, calves are warrior or protector deities often associated with
border sanctuaries like the one mentioned in connection with King Jeroboam I. Other
religious parallels include open sanctuaries, mazzeboth and the bronze snake found at Timna.
Israel’s God is connected with the south in both extra-biblical (the swyhw or“shosu-land of
Yahweh” from as early as the time of Amenhotep III in the 14th century B.C.) and biblical
texts (Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4-5 and Hab 3:3-4). The Israelites are seen as staying in the
wilderness of the Negev for almost 40 years. Research in the Negev has shown that the area is
capable of sustaining a large population for long periods of time, lending credence to the
biblical traditions.

Often represented in Iran and Mesopotamia in association with springs, the snake seems to
have been a symbol of fertility related tosubterranean water,bringing life to plants and herds.
As E.Dhorme suggested,‘‘le symbole du serpent qui change de peau chaque année, qui sort
des sources fécondantes,qui communiqué avec l’apsû et le soussol convient à un dieu de
fertilité, surtout quand deux serpents enlacés suggèrent l’élément mâle et femelle, principes
de vie’’1.
InMesopotamia,the snake was one of the attributes of Ningishzida, god of fertility and
healing,‘‘Lord of the Good Tree’’, who was often represented with two snakes emerging
from his shoulders. In Elam, P.DeMiroschedji has proposed identifying snakes and springs
with Inshushinak, a god of fertility intimately related to the Earth, not of depth and hell, but
of that region which is immediately under the surface, from which the sweet water of springs
and rivers gushes forth 2.
A snake cult also spread throughout these northwestern regions during the Middle and Late
Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age3. Vessels with representations of snakes are recorded in
the Middle and Late Bronze Age levels at Megiddo, Beth Shemesh, and Hazor 4. Small
bronze figurines in the shape of a snake appear at Gezer, Hazor, Megiddo, Shetchem, Tel

1
Dhorme E. Les religions de Babylonie et d’Assyrie. Les Anciennes Religions Orientales. Paris: PUF,
2: 1949: 121.
2
Miroschedji, LeDieu élamite: 16.
3
Koh S.An Archaeological Investigation of the Snake Cult in the Southern Levant: From the
Chalcolithic Period through the Iron Age. Unpublished PhD thesis submitted to the University of
Chicago, 1994.
4
ForMegiddoseeLoudG.Megiddo II:Seasons of 1935–39.Chicago:OIP,62:1948: Pls19.16,119.10,
121.2 and 122.1;forBeth Shemesh see GrandB. Beth Shemesh 1928.AASOR 9:1929:Figs 6, 8; for
Hazor seeYadin Y, Aharoni Y, Amiran R, Dothan T, Dunayewsky I & Perrot J. Hazor II: An Account
of the third and fourth Seasons of Excavations
1957–1958.Jerusalem:MagnesPress,1961:Pls313.10–13,196.13.All these occurrences were compiled
by S. Koh (Koh, An Archaeological Investigation).
Mevorakh, andLachish 5. In the Midianite temple of Timna a gilded figurine of a snake was
discovered, along with a fragment of a votive altar in pottery with a snake crawling alongt
heside 6. At Beth Shan, several cultic stands decorated with snakes and birds (Fig 1.) have
been found together with two votive altars in the temples of stratumV, dated to Iron Age I 7.
According to S. Koh, the snake cult was in the process of standardization when the Israelites
became established in Canaan. This cult then went underground and became overtaken by
the official monotheist religion. It was probably seen as a superstition by the official religion,
as is suggested

Fig 1.
Beth Shan cultic stand.

In Genesis, where the snake is the cause of the fall of man, and by the episode of Hezechiah,
in which the copper snake to which people were offering was broken into pieces 8.
Similar meanings related to healing and fertility seem to have prevailed in the Levant.

5
For Hazor see Yadin et al., Hazor II: Pls 339.8 and 278.20; for Meggido see Loud ,Megiddo
II:Fig.383.
6
Rothenberg B.Timna`.The New Encyc-lopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land
4:1993:1483.
7
Borowski O. Animals in the religion of Syria-Palestine. In: Collins,ed.A His-tory of the Animal
World:Fig.15–3.
8
Koh, An Archaeological Investigation:39–44.
Snakes were feared for their poison: some Ugaritic incantations refer to the healing of snake
bites. The power of the snake as a healer of its own bites is suggested in a passage from the
Old Testament, in which Moses places a bronze snake on a pole, so that anyone bitten by a
snake would be healed upon seeing it (Num.21.6–9). The Ugaritic Goddess Ushara,whose
emblem was a snake, was a deity of healing and the patroness of the consummation of
marriage 9.
S.Koh has shown that in the Canaanite region the symbol of the snake was often associated
during the Early and Middle Bronze Age with plants ,nipples, water,and bulls, all symbols of
fertility 10. During the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I, all of these symbols disappeared,
with the exception of nipples.This suggests that female fertility worship continued in the
snake cult. Close contacts also existed also between Beth Shan and Egypt,where the snake
was an attribute of the goddess Remenutet,‘‘lady of the fertile land’’ and ‘‘lady of granaries’’
11
.
The representations of snakes at Bithnah — and on other sites in the Oman
peninsula—strongly suggest that the snakes depicted were vipers, and most probably as
pecies present in the region. This recalls one of the elements present in the symbolism of the
snake in the Levant: the toxicity of its poison as a source of power over life. Thus, a meaning
related to healing comparable to that suggested in the Levant may also have existed here.
In such a context, the rise of a cult to a fertility symbol closely related to water, soils, and
granaries would not be surprising, as the populations in agricultural villages would have had
the usual preoccupations and values shared by farmers. The rise of a snake cult at just this
period is certainly not a coincidence. It suggests that the ideas and values attached to the
snake symbol in other regions of the Middle East were known, shared, and integrated by the
local population. As a symbol associated with many different deities in the Middle East, the
snake could easily be adapted to a local deity, become one of its attributes, or even represent
it.

9
Koh, n archaeological Investigation:124.
10
Koh,AnArchaeological Investigation:133–137.
11
Lurker M. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt.London:ThamesandHudson,1980:100.
THE DIVINE SERPENT IN MYTH and LEGEND
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/5789/serpent.htm

[AS OF JUNE 1999] Robert T. Mason, Ph.D., D.D.

The Mythic Beginnings

Since the very beginnings of time, on every continent of this earth where humanity
has worshipped divinity the serpent has been recognized and accepted as a god.
From Africa's steaming jungle to the icy wastes of northern Europe; from the
fertile crescent to the deserted outback of Australia the serpent has been
worshipped, feared and adored. Serpent mythology is arguably the most
widespread mythology known to mankind.

We will be dealing with language that is found in myth and legend any discussion
of a divine serpent, so we should take time to explain the use of the myth in
religious and legendary arenas before we begin. When we examine the history of
truth or knowledge in the history of mankind we are faced with the fact that the
0origin of myth lies in the Greek concept of µυτηοσ [ muthos] , which as the
definition of truth or knowledge predates the use of the Greek word Logos [λπγοσ],
from which we derive our word logic. Myth for the early human usually referred
to those realities which were known by experience, be it archetypal , unconscious,
or based upon the cultural and ritual beliefs of human civilization. An esteemed
'egg-head' mathematical scientist , Albert Einstein once said; " Knowledge is
experience; anything else is just information".

In this article the word "myth" will be defined as a story of forgotten or vague
origin, basically religious since we are dealing with the concept of divinity, which
seeks to explain or rationalize an important aspect of the world or a society.

Furthermore, in the context of this article, all myths used are, or have been at
some stage, actually believed to be true by the peoples of the societies that used or
originated the myth. This definition is thus clearly distinguished from the use of
the word myth in everyday speech which basically refers to an unreal or imaginary
story. Myth, as used herein, is also distinctly different from an allegory or parable
which is a story deliberately made up to illustrate some moral point but which has
never been assumed to be true.

Originally myths were not expressed in verbal or written form because language
was deemed inadequate to convey the truth expressed in the story. The myths were
enacted, chanted, painted, costumed, danced, sung and imagined, sometimes in
hypnotic or hallucinatory states. In this manner the creative energies and
relationships behind and beneath the natural world were brought into the
conscious realm The myth was believed to not only to tell about but to create a
chain from the metaphysical world to the physical one.
Later in historical time myth becomes connected to and often identified with
another Greek concept, that of legend, which stems from the Greek Legion or
Logos

[λογοσ] which meant word or language. Myth then became a written form. And
Mythos/Logos is the activity of human consciousness which translates or transfers
the underlying forms and powers from the unconscious to the conscious, from the
dream world to the world of activity.

In our 'modern' world we have so discounted the power and reality of the myth,
denigrating them to the level of 'fairy tales' that we have lost contact with our
ground. We don't know who we are, and so we don't know how to act. We have
thrown out the 'baby', our orienting myths of origin with the 'bath water', non-
useful and unnecessary data which often accompanied these myths.

Joseph Campbell is quoted as saying: " Throughout the inhabited world, in all
times and under every circumstance, the myths of man have flourished; and they
have been the living inspiration for whatever else may have appeared out of the
activities of the human body and mind. It would not be too much to say that myth
is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour
into human cultural manifestation."

I believe that there could be nothing more absurd than to think that our modern
scientific methodology could ever eliminate the poetic and mythic, for science is
closed against certain dimensions of the real which only myth and the poetic can
attain. It is the height of absurdity to imagine that scientific 'knowledge' exhausts
reality !

I would like to use a collective definition composed of many theories which meet
my criteria for mythology framed into a single paraphrase: Myths are stories,
usually, about gods and other supernatural beings. They are often stories of origins,
how the world and everything in it came to be in illo tempore [Eliade]. They are
usually strongly structured and their meaning is only discerned by linguistic
analysis [Levi-Strauss]. Sometimes they are public dreams which, like private
dreams, emerge from the unconscious mind; they more often reveal archetypes of
the collective unconscious [Jung]. Myths are symbolic and metaphorical, and they
orient people to the metaphysical dimension, explain the origins and nature of the
cosmos, and on a psychological plane, address themselves to the innermost depths
of the human psyche. Some of them are explanatory, being prescientific attempts
to interpret the natural world ( such as the shedding of snake skin). As such, they
are usually functional and are the science of primitive peoples. Religious myths are
sacred histories and are distinguished from the profane. But, all tell of the truth
told by human experience which cannot be explained by normal use of language. It
was that great scientist, Albert Einstein, who said " Science without religion is
lame; Religion without science is blind."

The myth in any primitive society, that is in the original living form of the myth is
not a fairy tale but a reality lived. Myths are human experience, and when myths
are narrated it is not usually the speaker who speaks but the wisdom of the
forefathers speaking through him. The principal role of the shaman was the myth
holder and narrator.

In the theories of the eminent Swiss psychologist, Karl Jung, the fantasies of the
collective unconscious stem from the actual experiences of ancient ancestors, and
the development of prehistory as a serious field of study is of considerable
importance to the creators of myth. Certain facts exist in human history, and these
are most often found hidden in myths. I have even been led to muse on the fact that
the usual depiction of the double helix representing DNA is remarkably similar to
the ancient depiction of the serpents guarding the world tree, a figure still found in
the caduceus.

In Jung's view, the snake, as a chthonic and at the same time spiritual being,
symbolizes the unconscious. In particular, according to Jung, the symbolism of the
snake's has sudden and unexpected manifestations and painful or dangerous
intervention in human affairs often has frightening effects. Crucial to the
understanding of the serpent as a libido symbol is a consideration of the biological
characteristics of the actual creature. Jung stresses the fact that the snake is a cold-
blooded vertebrate and with that fact alone the true psychic rapport that can be
established with practically all warm-blooded animals comes to an end. Like the
Gnostics of early Christianity who identified the serpent with the human medulla
and spinal cord, Jung regards the serpent as the psychic representation of the
profoundly unconscious functions which are governed by these organs. I think that
perhaps this is why the serpent is so often seen as a divine creature, a sort of god
which lies behind all human functioning.

The mysterious dynamism of the snake, its extraordinary vitality and its seeming
immortality through the periodic rejuvenation of shedding the old and appearing
new each year must have instilled a sense of awe and invoked a powerful response
in our earliest ancestors, the Neolithic agriculturist. The snake was consequently
mythologized, attributed often with powers that could control the entire cosmos.
Everywhere we find the snake, or its representation, the spiral, on primitive
pottery. Vases show forth gigantic snakes winding over the whole universe, or over
the sun, moon and stars; elsewhere the snake appears below a growing plant or
coils above the belly of a pregnant woman. The snake was the symbol of energy,
spontaneous, creative energy, and of immortality.

Respect and worship of the serpent by humans has been obvious from the time
that both humans and serpents co-habitated the earth.

One must consider, for example, not only the serpent's seeming immortality but
also its ability to periodically desquamate the integument covering its entire body
without bleeding, illness or infection and immediately replete a new body covering.
In accomplishing this 'miraculous' function the serpent liberates itself from scars,
dermatoses and ticks. Such ability is beyond the scope of human efforts. This early
connection between the serpent and healing becomes a permanent facet of serpent
worship.

The wonderful ability of the serpent to shed its skin and so renew its youth makes
it the master of the secret of death and rebirth. The moon, waxing and waning is
the celestial body capable of this same ability. The moon, long associated with the
life-creating rhythm of the female, and therefore of time itself becomes the lord of
the mystery of birth and death and the serpent id the earthly counterpart .

In early rites of initiation where the candidate was seen to die and be reborn, the
moon was the goddess mother and the serpent the divine father.

If we summarize what we expect to find about the divine serpent at the onset
rather than an the conclusion of this work it would look like this:

The Serpent is emblematical;

1. Of wisdom… [Biblical: "be ye therefore wise as serpents "Matt 10:16]

2. Of subtlety…[Biblical: " Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the
field" Gen. 3:1]

The Serpent is symbolical;

1. Of deity: Plutarch et al

2. Of eternity: forming a circle with tail in mouth

3. Of renovation and resurrection: the old becomes young [skin shedding]

4. Of guardian spirits: Greek and Roman temple altars

The Early Years

Even before the Sumerian legends we can find vases with a gigantic snake winding
over the whole universe, or over the sun, moon and stars. The snake can also be
found below a growing plant or above the belly of a pregnant woman. The snake is
thus seen as a symbol of energy and life.

In some of the very earliest of figurine artifacts which have been found we have the
fecund goddess with large belly and pendulous breasts, all of which are indicating
fertility connotations. Almost always accompanying these figurines, either on the
figurine itself or on associated material, we find the spiral. The spiral is one of the
most widespread of the symbols of the goddess. It appears in American Indian,
Asian, African, Australian and European art, most often as a coiled serpent. In
some early Middle Eastern coins and plaques we see spiral designs around the
heads of gods. This is usually regarded the symbol of superhuman life.

In Babylonia as in Egypt the maze is also seen a representing the mystery

surrounding the serpent. Also early ritual dances are thought to have imitated the
tracks of the serpent in motion, chthonic gods in serpentine form. Also snakes were
often seen coming out of holes in the ground, thus perhaps from the Underworld.

When we come to Sumer we meet the most famous of the mythic epic story of
o`lden times, the Gilgamesh Epic. Among other pieces to be found in this tale of a
search for the meaning of life is the tale of the plant of eternal life. According to
the story, Gilgamesh was told that the plant lay at the bottom of a certain lake.
With much effort, he dove to the bottom, retrieved the plant and brought it to the
surface and the shore. While Gilgamesh was resting, before eating the plant and
becoming an immortal, a snake came along and ate the plant. The end result was
that the snake became immortal, and Gilgamesh went home to die.

Early Sumerian and Akkadian artifacts show pictures of a tree or pole which is
called the "axis mundi ", or the world axis. It is intended to be the center and
support of the world. Guarding this tree or pole is a snake or pair of intertwined
snakes. We can see here the beginnings of the association between the snake and
the rod which we will see later in the Bible and the caduceus. Also, in Sumer, we
have a cylindrical seal which has on it the mythical date palm with its two fruits,
life and enlightenment. This tree is copied again in the book Genesis in the Jewish
scripture. This tree is guarded by a serpent. Again, this is duplicated in the Bible.

In these early Sumerian/Akkadian myths we meet Etana, the chosen king, later a
demi-god, who must find the tree which stands at the center of the earth. This tree
is the home of an eagle, who has devoured the young of the serpent who guards the
tree. The serpent appeals to the Father god, Shamash, for justice, and Shamash
shows the tree how to help the serpent capture the eagle. There exists an early
Akkadian seal [ca. 2350BCE] showing the serpent in human form enthroned with
the caduceus emblem behind him and guarding him.

According to one theory, all primordial serpents of myth are derived from a
Sumerian arch-serpent in subterranean waters, whose name was Zu. This old
Sumerian serpent-god, whose other name is Ningizzida, is the ultimate archetype
of the lord of the watery abyss from which mortal life arises and to which it
returns. We might note that among the Celts the underworld serpent, Sucellos,
represented the same dark power. Later, we meet the great serpent by the name of
Tiamat, also named Papohis [ later to be found as the Biblical Leviathan]. In the
beginning there were only the mingled waters of Abzu, the abyss of sweet water
and Tiamat, the serpent of salt water oceans.Abzu and Tiamat were the parents of
the first Babylonian gods, Lahmu and Lahamu, who were the grandparents of the
great gods Anu and Ea.

Tiamat was Chaos and was focussed on destroying the world. I find that a common
theme in early comogonies is that to bring Cosmos out of Chaos, some organizing
agent, usually light and speaking are necessary.

Marduk, to save Babylonian army, and the country, must slay Tiamat and cut him
in half. When he does this, he creates the sky from her [Tiamat is female] top half,
and earth from her bottom half. This story is echoed in the Norse tale of Odin.

It is in Persia that we first meet the great sky serpent Azhi Dahaka, the creator of
all the planets in the sky. Early Mid-eastern myths not only see the serpent as lord
of the sky and earth, he is also a lord of waters. Dwelling in the earth, frequenting
springs, marshes and other water streams, the serpent glides with a motion of
waves. The phallic suggestion is immediate, as it was in the initiation rites.
Likewise a dual association of fire and water attaches to the lightning of the
serpent strike, the forked appearance of the tongue and the lethal burning of the
poison.

The early, pre-Canaanite Phoenicians had a serpent god which was called the
Basilisk. This has been considered an early phallic god, common in ancient
religions. An interesting note is that the work basilisk is where we got the later
word a temple of the phallic god, and eventually a type of church, the basilica. St.
Peter's Basilica in Rome carries a remembrance in the form of a phallic ball on top
of the structure.

The basilisk, though usually considered a serpent, does not always have clearly
defined anatomical features. To look directly at a basilisk is to die, so it is
impossible to picture them accurately. It is almost always an icon of fear. This
ability to kill with a glance is shared by the gorgons of Greek mythology, who may
be the ancestors of the basilisk. The only way to kill a basilisk was the way Perseus
slew Medusa, by use of a mirror-like object in which the reflection could be viewed.

The Roman historian, Pliny the Elder, writes of the basilisk; " The basilisk serpent
has the same power, to kill with its gaze. It is a native of Cyrenaica, not more than
12 inches long. It routs all snakes with its hiss, and moves its body forward in
manifold coils like other snakes".

In the Middle Ages, the basilisk became identifies with the cockatrice, a serpent
mentioned occasionally in Isaiah and other Hebrew scriptures. When we enter the
modern period, and Medusa becomes a innocuous decorative motif, the basilisk
immigrates to the United States and becomes identified with different American
snakes, most especially the rattlesnake. One of the first rattle snakes seen by
European explorers, a tropical variety known as the "Mexican West Coast
rattlesnake" was given the scientific name "crotalus basiliscus", or basilisk snake.

There exists a lovely Elamite painted bowl which shows the guardian serpent of the
World tree coiled up the trunk. There are clear similarities to the divine Sumerian
or Akkadian serpent.

In other early legends, all primordial serpents are derived from the Sumerian
Arch-Serpent which dwelt in the subterranean waters, or chaos. In Greek legend,
Apollo took over the Delphic oracle by killing a serpent already there, at the
earth's navel.

It is not unusual for us to find that in later ages, especially among Semitic and
Indo-European peoples, the dragon [ Greek drakon = serpent] or cosmic serpent is
seen as a symbol of chaos.

It is this chaos, or serpent which must be overcome to create order and maintain
life in any meaningful way. We will see this in our discussion of Biblical texts.

In that land we now call Turkey, Iraq and Syria we find peoples sometimes
referred to a Hurrians . These people set up a short-lived but powerful kingdom
called the kingdom of the Mitanni. It is known that Egyptian pharaohs of the
eighteenth dynasty married Mitanni princesses. These people were Aryan peoples,
and they brought many of the Indian gods and goddesses to the area. One main
god was the serpent god Indra, who became very popular. The Hurrians were
related to and supplanted by, the Hittites, who adopted the Hurrian gods.

We find, for example, Illuyankas, the serpent god and Hedammu, the serpent who
loved Ishtar and was her divine servant. These were powerful and popular Hittite
gods. We cannot help but wonder what influence these people had on the Egyptian
and Israelite peoples with whom they came in contact, and what influence the
serpent gods of India, transferred and transformed here would have later.

AFRICA

Egypt

When we come to the snake as a divinity in Egypt we need look no further than the
great crowns worn by the divine Pharaoh. No matter which crown, the Blue crown,
the informal crown or the great double red and white crown we examine we will
find the snake god of Lower Egypt present. Even when the vulture god of Upper
Egypt is missing, the asp, or Egyptian cobra, is there. The serpent, in Egypt, has a
varied career, the Uraeus, or cobra, and other mythical snakes are all considered
quite differently. The spinal cord was symbolized by the snake and the and the
Uraeus serpent coiled upon the foreheads of the Pharaoh represented the divine
fire which had crawled serpent-like up the tree of life.

The Uraeus, or asp, is a benevolent guardian god, a tutelary god of the delta region
of Egypt. This is probably where this snake was most often found. Even today the
swamp-like areas of the Nile delta is home to the Egyptian cobra. This snake was
also connected to the god Horus, and therefore with the living Horus, who is seen
incarnate in the Pharaoh. The Uraeus rules by day, and therefore is also connected
to the sun god Ra, who is also a god of Pharaoh. It is not an accident of history that
the legendary Cleopatra chose to be joined to the Egyptian cobra, the asp, by being
bitten by the serpent. She is identifying the goddess Isis, whom she represented, to
the sacred Uraeus who was her protector and who would lead her into eternal life
in the western land.

When we come to night and darkness, the crocodile becomes supreme. Ra , the sun
god of Heliopolis is diminished. The solar ship has entered the realm of night and
encountered darkness. The crocodile, in Egyptian legendary, is seen as an aspect of
the serpent rather than a separate creature. There are places in the world where
the great saurians are not seen as serpents, but as a completely separate genus of
creature. The Americas would serve as an example of this, but in Egypt and other
Africa nations which were influenced by Egypt, the crocodile is a serpent, no
matter in what form it is depicted.

In the original Egyptian creation story we find a serpent and the primordial egg,
which contained the " Bird of Light" . In Chapter 175 of the Book of the Dead we
find the prophecy that when the world returns to its original chaos, the hidden
aspect of the supreme god, Atum, will become the new serpent. There is a text I
found in the "Coffin Texts" [ I.161 ff] which contains Atum's description of
himself:
" I am Atum, the creator of the Eldest Gods,

I am he who gave birth to Shu,

I am that great he-she.

I am he who did what seemed good to him,

I took my space in the place of my will.

Mine is the space of those who move along

like those two serpentine circles" [ emphasis mine]

Later in a debate, which can be found in "The Book of the Dead, [chapter 175]
which takes place between Osiris and Atum, [ described here as the "High God",
we find Atum's description of the end of all, when " Then I will be what will
remain, just I and Osiris, when I will have changed myself back into the Old
Serpent who knew - no man and saw no god."

Also, in the Book of the Dead, in the Eleventh section of the Tuat, we find the story
of how the boat of Afu Ra [the sun god] passes the territory of the town of Sais.
"The region to the left of the god is one of fire, and close to the boat stands Horus
who is working magic with the sake-headed boomerang which he holds in his hand,
Before him stands the serpent god, called 'Seth-heh', i.e. the 'eternal Seth'.

Before the boat is the great serpent Ankh-neteru, and twelve amikhiu gods, taking
hold of the tow line, enter this serpent at the tail, and drawing the god in his boat
through the body of the serpent, bring him out at his mouth.

During his passage through the serpent Afu Ra is transformed into Khepera [ the
ancient god associated with the creation of the world] and is now towed into the
sky by 12 goddesses."

The Egyptians also adopted the ancient Persian god Azhi Dahaka, the sky serpent
who formed all of the observable heavenly planets. So, in one sense powerful gods
of both light and darkness are seen as serpents. This may have some connection to
the linking of the snake to the moon in the mythological and psychological areas.

This identification is intensified because of the waxing and waning of the moon,
demonstrating the death of the old and the rebirth of the new and forever young.

One of the chief powers of this darkness is the serpent god Apep, who tries to
swallow the sun ship. Apep [or Apepi or Apophis] is the great primordial serpent
who lived in the waters of the celestial Nile [ the Milky Way] and is considered the
serpent of chaos and destruction. A mighty struggle took place and when the sun
appeared in the east the next day prayers of thankfulness were offered that Ra was
triumphant and the sun would continue to shine. Just imagine what chaos a solar
eclipse would cause !
The serpent Apep is seen in two other forms, or traditions. The first was most
likely the crocodile and was called Typhon, or dragon. Two other serpents
divinities mentioned in Egyptian mythology are Nehebkau, a serpent with human
arms and legs. This fearful god, once he was tamed by Ra, became his faithful
servant. The other serpent god is Am-Mut, the 'eater of souls'. The other, and more
extensive is as Set, or Seth, or Sethos. This is a half-crocodile, half -human creature
who becomes important in the Egyptian pantheon. The serpent Typhon is the
youngest son of Gaea and Tartarus in Greek legend. He was taller than any
mountain, and had great wings, eyes of fire , hands made of dragons, and a lower
body compsed of vipers. He and Echidna gave birth to Hydra, Cerberis, Chimera
and the Nemean lion. The Egyptian Typhon was a more simple serpent lord.

Again, it is important to note here that the dragons we have included in this study
are only those dragons which are seen as serpentine. The classic European dragon
which looks more like a mammal with wings, like the Griffin, are excluded. The
Egyptian and Chinese dragon concepts depict them as serpents, as does the Greek.
[ I will speak more of dragons when I write of the Asian serpents]

Perhaps the most fearsome aspect of Set can be seen in the famous weighing of the
soul picture in the Book of the Dead. Sitting beside the scales, waiting to devour the
sinful soul of a condemned person is a half crocodile, half jackal or hyena creature
who is identified as Set. It was Set, as the brother of Osiris, of course, who slew
Osiris.

Set becomes a powerful god in the Egyptian ' two kingdoms'. The cult of Amun,
later Amun-Ra lasted about twenty dynasties, the cult of Osiris was very short-
lived, although Osiris was venerated for a long time.

The Isis cult lasted into the Christian era as an active mystery cult. But, the
original priesthood of the serpent god, Set, in ancient Egypt survived for twenty-
five recorded dynasties (ca. 3200-700BCE) It became one of the two central
priesthoods of predynastic times, the other being that of HarWer (Horus the
Elder).

Unification under both philosophical systems, one in Upper, and one in Lower
Egypt, resulted in the name of the empire being called the 'Two Kingdoms' and its
Pharaohs wearing the famous 'double crown' of Horus and Set. The vulture ( early
hawk and cobra/asp).

Set was originally a stellar deity, perhaps the cyclical counterpart of the solar
Horus. But, later, the cults of Osiris and Isis recast Set as an evil principle. Set did
return, for a short time during the XIX and XX dynasties, as the patron of
Pharaoh, but by the XXV dynasty a new wave of persecution by priests of Osiris
led to the final destruction of the Set priesthood.

When the Egyptians abandoned the mines in the Timma Valley ( about nineteen
miles north of the Gulf of Aqaba) during the Egyptian decline of the twelfth
century BCE, the Midianites converted the local temple into a Midianite shrine. In
the makeshift Holy of Holies of the shrine, modern excavators have found only one
religious object. They found a molded copper serpent with a gilded head, the
ancient symbol of life and fertility of the Middle East. This would indicate that the
Midianites had a serpent god or goddess in their pantheon. Again. We see echoes
of Biblical stories here.

Before we leave Egypt we must briefly mention two other aspects of the divine
serpent; Nehebu-Kau is the great snake under the world and upon which the world
rests, and there is a winged serpent found in hieroglyphs which may be the
ancestor of our Mesoamerican Quetzalcoatl.

Central and Southern Africa

Traveling further south in the African continent we find the great serpent

"Anyiewo' who comes out to graze on rain and whose refection is the rainbow.
This is found in the Ewe tribe.

The strange, stone-age Dogan people of central Africa have a divine being named
Lebe. Lebe is the first member of those creatures called the living dead, and he
lives as a serpent.

In Dahomey, the Fon people have a great serpent god who is seen as a rainbow
named Danh, the son of Mtawu-Lisa.. This serpent encircles the whole world with
his tail in his mouth, representing unity and wholeness. This god, also called Da
orders the whole cosmos. Da has a dual nature rather than a female-male identity.
When he appears in the rainbow, the male is the red part of the rainbow, the
female the blue. Above the earth Da has 3500 coils, called asa-xasa, and the sme
number of coils beneath the earth; together the support the world. Da is the name
given to this god in action, Mawu-Lisa is the name given the god in thought. This
god was exported to Haiti and Surinam.

The Fon legend says that the world was created by Nana-Buluku, the one god, who
is neither male nor female. This god gave birth to twins, Mawu and Lisa and it is
they who shaped the world, and control it still. Mawu, the female, is the moon and
Lisa, the male, is the In the beginning, before Mawu had any children, the rainbow
serpent, Aido-Hwedo, already existed, and this great serpent assisted in the
creation. For example, all the mountains were formed from the serpent's dung.
Later, because Aido-Hwedo cannot stand heat, the oceans were created for him to
live in. And there Aido-Hwedo has remained since the beginning of time, with his
tail in his mouth [ this tail-in-mouth representation is common]. Nana-Buluku
charged the red monkeys that live beneath the sea to keep Aido-Wwedo fed, and
they spend their time forging the iron bars that are the serpent's diet. When the
monkey's supply of iron eventually runs out the serpent will be so hungry that he
will start to chew his own tail. Then his writhings will be so terrible that the whole
earth will tilt, and then slip into the sea, and that will be that !

In what is now Zimbabwe, there is the legend of the creation of humanity. The first
man, Mwuetsi [ moon] was created by Mwari, the high god. He was given a wife,
Massassi, who gave birth to all the plants of the world. Then he we given Morongo,
who bore goats, cattle, sheep, humans. On the fourth night Moromgo warned
Mwuetsi not to sleep with her, but he did so anyway. She then gave birth to snakes,
scorpions, lions, and all other creatures which harm man. After this the Great
Serpent became ruler and husband of Morongo and fathered a great tribe.

In the land between the present Union of South Africa and Zimbabwe there lives a
people called the vhaVenda, who have a god who is a white crocodile. This
crocodile is viewed as a serpent divinity of great strength and great wisdom who
watches over the peoples. This divine serpent creature is identified with the
vhaVenda chiefs, who may be his sons.

Perhaps the most impressive architecture in ancient Africa, excepting Egypt,

would be the royal city of Benin in Nigeria. The most prominent feature of this
architecture is the form of the serpent. Early artifacts found in this area also
display the serpent motif.

There is a famous legend told among the tribes of central Africa. The tale concerns
two unmarried men, one too mild and one too bad-tempered to find wives.

One day they met the great rock python. Moma. After a gesture of extreme
kindness towards her she rewarded him with a wife, the most wonderful wife in the
whole village. The bad-tempered man was given the same opportunity, reacted
insultingly toward the serpent goddess and was rewarded with an ugly, nagging,
abusive wife.

The Middle East

Before leaving Africa we journey back to the Middle East to spend some time
examining the Hebrew attitude toward the divine serpent. To do so we will use the
best source available, the Jewish Holy Scripture. When the Hebrews emigrated
from Egypt during the XIX dynasty they took with them a caricature of Set and
gave him the title Satan from the hieroglyphic Set-hen which was one of this god's
formal titles.

We first meet the serpent in the Jewish Scripture in the Book Genesis. In Genesis
3:1 we find that " the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts" [1]

We might remember, that in all of scripture only two animals had the gift of
speech; Balaam's ass, [ Numbers 22:30] and the serpent.[Genesis 3] This was a
God-given gift. We might certainly ask why these two beasts, among all the rest,
are singled out for such a distinction. In the case of Balaam's ass the message is
clearly God's, what about in the case of the serpent?

It should be noted, from the beginning, when one carefully examines Biblical
passages regarding serpents, that you will never find anyplace where serpents are
specifically called evil creatures. Rather, the snake is used as a symbol for
everything from the Devil to the highest order of angels; from lying to wisdom.
This symbolism is common to the Bible and should not be taken as a literal
judgment about the snake. The Bible uses the dove, for example, as a symbol of the
Holy Spirit and this does not mean that doves are holy birds.
The Bible uses many Hebrew words to describe the snake: akshub means a coiled
serpent, epheh is a hissing, probably venomous snake, Livyathin [ Levaithan] is the
sea serpent , nachash, a hissing serpent, pethen, a twisting snake, probably the asp,
seraph, the burning serpent, shephiyphon, a snapping serpent, the adder, tsepha or
tsiphoniy is the toungue thrusting snake. We might compare the Greek words for
snake: aspis, drakon, echnida. Herpeton [ from whence we get the classical name
for the study of serpents, herpetology, and ophis which gave a name to an early
Christian sect.

But, to continue with the Biblical picture, the ass was given speech to deliver the
'word of God'. Can we assume that the snake had the gift for any other reason?
We find here the serpent guarding the tree of life and knowledge just like he did in
Sumer. There are too many similarities in the tree and the serpent to be accidental.

It is evident to me that the account of the "fall of man" from Eden was adapted by
biblical writers from pre-Judaic polytheistic traditions in which a divine and
omniscient serpent, representing the female creative nature , was pitted against the
created order of a male oriented divinity. It is for this reason that the serpent is
stressed as demonic, in spite of the fact that the Genesis authors are compelled to
harmonize their account with those of the surrounding peoples, and therefore must
write that the serpent is a creature of God, and "more 'subtil' (sic) [ Genesis 3:1]
than any beast of the field which the Lord God has made."

Here we might suggest that the serpent saves humanity by putting it in touch with
nature; death is recognized as a function of all nature, including humanity, and
this knowledge is necessary for new life to begin. This would bring Jewish legends
into more equivalent to other Near East traditions.

In Genesis the serpent is not only sentient of God's prohibition against partaking
from the Tree of Knowledge; it knows why God will enforce that command; it
knows the gift of the Tree of Knowledge, as if it possessed that gift.

The deific aspect of the serpent is further underscored by the punishment imposed
upon it by God: "upon thy belly shalt thou go……..". Does this mean that before
punishment the serpent had legs or even wings?

We next meet the serpent in Exodus 4:3,4 and Exodus 7: 10-12. In these

passages the snake, presumably the Egyptian asp, is connected to a rod. Aaron's
rod. When Moses doubts that he is really hearing the voice of Yahweh, he is asked
what he is holding in his hand and when he replies that he is holding a rod, he is

commanded to throw the rod down on the ground. When he does this, the rod
becomes a serpent [ Exodus 7:1-16]. When he picks it up it becomes a rod again.

This association between serpent and rod is a very ancient one. Later when Aaron
throws his rod down before Pharaoh, it becomes a snakes. Pharaoh recognizes this
magical association, as do the Egyptian priests, who also change their rods into
serpents. However, to demonstrate the superiority of the Jewish god, Aaron's
snake ate the Egyptian snakes.
Again, when Moses sets the plagues upon Egypt, he does so by stretching forth this
serpent/rod. When Moses parts the sea for the passage of his people, he again does
so with the assistance of this powerful rod/serpent. In the wilderness Moses strikes
the rock with this same rod to create water. This object becomes so

"sacred" that it is one of the objects for which room is made in the Ark of the
Covenant.

Before we examine some more ominous aspects of the serpent in Jewish scripture
we will have to look at Numbers 21:9. Moses, who had thrown a fit when Aaron
made a golden image of the Egyptian goddess of mercy and miners, Hathor

[ Exodus 32: 19-20] claming that God condemned such terrible action, himself
makes and puts on a pole a copper, or brass serpent, claiming that God had
ordered him to make and display this image to cure the people from snake bites.

" Yahweh sent fiery serpents [ seraphim] among the people; their bite brought
death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses we have sinned by
speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us
from these serpents. Moses spoke for the people, and Yahweh replied, ' make a
fiery serpent and use it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will
survive. Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard …..
[ Numbers 21: 6-9]

We are informed , in II Kings 18:4, that this serpent symbol was so popular that
the people continued to revere the bronze serpent until the time of King Hezekiah
[719-691 BCE], who, according to the record "broke in pieces the bronze serpent
that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had burned incense
to it ".

Here we see not only the divine power of the serpent, but also the connection with
healing which pervades this part of the world. This action by Moses might show his
Midianite heritage or the universal recognition of the divinity of the serpent, but it
certainly shows a different Moses. One might ask how can a 'jealous God'
condemn the golden calf and approve the 'brazen serpent '? What is it about the
snake that commands such loyalty?

Perhaps we can find a hint as to the position of power in Judaism when we

discover that one of the most powerful of the heavenly creatures may have
serpentine connections, the Seraphim.

We find in Isaiah 14:29 a description of the highest of all of God's angelic

creatures, the Seraphim. The word 'seraph' [of which Seraphim is the plural] can
be translated " fiery serpent". Therefore there must be significance that the word
used for serpent in Isaiah 14:29, Isaiah 30:6 and in the Numbers 21:8 description
of a serpent, is the word "seraph" Could it be that these "fiery serpents" stood
highest in the hierarchy of angelic beings? There is no doubt that the Hebrew
'shrpm' refers to serpents.
Judeo-Christian tradition, however, comes down very hard on this serpent concept,
perhaps as a part of the conflict between the ancient maternal gods which underlie
and support early matriarchal tribal traditions and the later paternalistic nomadic
traditions. Where early traditions depict the serpent as one of the favorite
theriomorphic forms of gods and goddesses, it becomes with the "fall" of Adam
and Eve the infernal enemy of the so-called "one true God."

The most fearful creature in the Bible is that creation called Leviathan. We have
many mentions of Leviathan in the Jewish scripture. Basically, he appears like a
chaos which underlies the order of creation or like a dragon which threatens order
and creation. Perhaps we should point out that Leviathan is a female and her male
counterpart is Behemoth. We find a lengthily poem about Leviathan in Chapters
40 and 41 of the Book of Job, and a wonderful hymn about Leviathon in Psalm 74.
Where we hear the words:

"…it was you [God] who crushed the head of Leviathan

who left him as food for the seafaring men". [1]

[ Translation from the Tanakh: Jewish Publication Society]

Perhaps the best citation would be Isaiah 27. In this passage Leviathan is described
as the 'elusive serpent' and 'Dragon of the sea'. This latter description can be
translated [ and we find it so in the Tanakh] "The monster which the Lord
vanquished of old; the embodiment of chaos, or perhaps the forces of evil in the
present world.

The Leviathan appears in more than one religion. In Canaanite mythology and
literature, it is a monster called Lotan, the 'fleeing serpent', the coiling serpent, the
powerful with seven heads'. It was eventually killed by Baal. The Leviathan is also
the Ugaritic god of evil.

In Christianity, St. John did draw a comparison between Jesus on the cross and
Moses' snake on the pole, saying that both were lifted up upon a pole for the
salvation of mankind, and I have in my possession copies of art work showing a
crucified serpent with the thorn-crowned face of Christ.

Christians were taught to see the brazen serpent of Moses as divinely

authenticated type of the crucifixion, and an image of saving faith. There is some
indication that there existed early Gnostic Christian sects, especially Ophitic sects

[ from οφισ, serpent] which utilized both nakedness and serpent-worship as part of
the 'love feast' [ agape] worship service.

In Christian tradition Philo of Alexandria, for example, is so impressed with the

serpent's ability to rejuvenate itself, as well as its ability to kill and cure ( an ability
he saw as indicative of the positive and negative cosmic powers that rule the world)
that he saw the serpent as "the most spiritual of animals".
In early Gnostic Christianity there were several systems of though which found
room for serpent worship. The basic idea of these systems was that the origin of
evil coincided with the idea of creation itself. The god of the Old Testament , called
the Demiurge [ δεµιυργοσ], created the world not from nothing [ ex nihilo], but by
engulfing a quantity of light of the infinite true Father. This light, the Spirit, he
lured, conjured or ravished downward into Matter, where it is now trapped. This
was the first descent of the serpent.

The second descent of the serpent was a voluntary down-coming, to release the
spiritual forces; and the Bible story of the serpent in the garden is an account of
this appearance. The serpent in this account caused the male and female, Adam
and Eve, to violate the commandment of the Demiurge, and so commence the work
of redemption. Yahweh struck back by delivering to Moses an impossible set of
moral laws, to which the serpent then replied by coming down as the redeemer and
taking up residence in a mortal Jesus.

German coinage of the 16th century, especially the German golden Thaler , shows a
theme, common among iconography, which shows Jesus on the cross, on the
obverse, compared to a serpent , on the reverse , both depicted on a cross or on a
tree, both lifted up. Thus, the serpent's role as healer is expanded to included
resurrection.

In Book X of Paradise Lost, John Milton demonstrates a vivid example of

Christianity's tendency to concentrate all other gods into a generic, serpentine
form.

I am led also to wonder whether the hood of the snake which is commonly seen as a
protective shield over saviors in other religions [ cf. The Buddha] might not be
similar to the halos found over the heads of Christian holy people? Certainly the
symbols appear to be so similar as to bring up a doubt as to coincidence as the
answer.

This image was often found in the Middle Ages and is seeing a reemergence in the
twentieth century. But, basically the serpent's identification with evil is the one
which caught the Christian imagination, and it was the dragon image which caught
on. In Revelation 12 we find the story of the war in heaven. In this war, Michael,
and his angels, fight the dragon. This dragon is identified as 'that serpent of old
that led the whole world astray, whose name is Satan or the Devil'.

This identification was also picked up in Islam. There is an Islamic myth about the
garden of Eden and the serpent. It seems that Paradise, or Eden, was guarded by a
peacock who was very wise and kept Satan out. Satan, in this myth called Iblis,
wanted to get into paradise to get revenge on Adam, because it was Adam's being
placed first which resulted in Satan being expelled in the first place. The peacock
was too wise. So Satan (Iblis) had the serpent carry him back into paradise hidden
in his mouth.

But, with the exception of Wadd, a pre-Islamic moon god of the Minaean tribe and
state of Southern Arabia, in Islam there was little room for myth. Some of the old
Arabian legends were retained, but the basic philosophy was anthropomorphic
monotheism.

When he considers the place of the serpent. Carl Jung appears like the Gnostics of
Christianity who identified the serpent with the human medulla and spinal cord.
Jung regards the serpent as the psychic representative of the human functions
which are governed by these parts of the body.

The serpent would correspond to what is unconscious and incapable of becoming

conscious, but which, as the collective unconscious seems to possess a wisdom of its
own and a knowledge that is often felt to be supernatural.

In that area of civilization which flourished between Asia Minor and Europe we
see the serpent goddess prominent in the Minoan culture of Crete. In a repository
in the second Palace of Knossos ( @ 1600 BCE) we find many statues of the
goddess Ariadne, a large busted woman, wreathed in snakes, and a similar goddess
in many other burial and temple sites on Crete. There is a connection between
Ariadne and Dionysus as that goes back to 5250 BCE, and ancient serpent
connection indeed.

This goddess was supposedly the daughter of Minos, the founder of the Minoan
civilization and brother to the Minotaur.

She depicts the benevolence and sacred power of the life force. Ariadne is
definitely a very important goddess of fertility. And in that she may be a local
aspect of Ishtar or Astarte who has become identified with serpents.

EUROPE:

Greece

In Greece, Zeus, the father of the Greek pantheon of gods is one of the few Greek
gods who never appears attended by a snake. But, the Olympian Zeus known as
Zeus Meilichios assumes the form of a serpent to attend the spring rites of the
mother-goddess Earth. Zeus, as a serpent coiled with Rhea, who had also taken the
form of a snake. The snake from then on becomes the symbol of earth and water.

Ophion, one of the Greek Titans means literally "serpent". It is claimed that Zeus
took the form of a serpent to escape from the murderous aggression of his father,
Chronos.

It is said that Zeus became unquestioned father of the gods by his conquest of
Typhon, the serpent of the cosmic sea, just as Yahweh conquered Leviathan in
Biblical lore. The resemblance of both of these victories to that of Indra, king of
the Vedic pantheon is, to me, beyond question.

In Greece, Cecrops, [Kekrops], the founder of Athens and of all Greek civilization,
supposedly sprang half-man, half- serpent from the Greek soil. In Athens, the
temple of the city guardian, Athena, contains serpents as divine presences. Athena,
herself, bears a serpent on her shield, ad is often identified with that creature of
the gods.

In Greece, as we have briefly mentioned earlier, a great snake, named Python

which lived at the center of the world, and held it together, guarded and controlled
the shrine of the oracle Gaia at Delphos [Delphi] in the period of time before
Apollo became the patron of that oracle. Python was the child of Gaia, and had
been born

of the slime and mud that was left on the earth by the great flood of Deucalion. No
one dared approach this divine beast and the people asked Apollo for help. He
came down from Mount Olympus and killed Python, using his silver bow and
golden arrows. After this, he was known as the Pythian Apollo.

The term 'Delphos means womb, and Delphos was considered the womb of the
world. Also, the oracle was situated in a cave, and the Greek word for cave is also
the word for vagina. This great snake, then, somehow is connected with the very
birth and source of life of the world. The sibyl or Pythia told prophecies after
inhaling volcanic fumes from the center of the world guarded by the divine Python.

There was a serpent shrine at Epirus, dedicated to Apollo, but in effect a pre-
Hellenic Aegean shrine. The snakes at this shrine were said to be the descendants
of the great Python of Delphi.

Also, in Greece, we find the Medusa Gorgon, the Goddess of Righteous Wrath. In
some traditions she was a serpent of the Libyan Amazons and represented female
wisdom. In other traditions she was an Anatolian Sun Goddess. This Medusa is
very similar to the destroyer aspect of the dark Egyptian goddess Nieth. She was
also one member of the triple personae of the North African goddess An-Ath. She
was imported by the Greeks as patroness of Athens, and her fierce visage was
embossed on Athena's shield. We find the best statues of Medusa at Corfu.

In Greece we also discover the cult of Dionysos, the god of wine and the vine.
Dionysos was born to Persephone, daughter of Ceres, and Zeus , and was born in
the form of a serpent.

This serpent-god is, therefore, half brother to Apollo. After being slain and
swallowed by two Titans sent by Hera, Dionysos is reborn in human form.

The Greek Daemons [δαεµοναε] were the invisible divine beings which were
assigned by Zeus to every god and every important human being as sort of a
guardian angel creature to give good advice and lead them properly. The Daemons

( from which, of course we get our word demon) could appear as a handsome
young youth or as a wise serpent.

It is Greek mythology which gives us the most memorable heavenly divine serpent.
By heavenly, I mean literally, since I am speaking of the constellation Draco or the
Dragon. One only has to look at this constellation to realize that this "dragon" is a
serpent in every aspect. Draco is the pet of Zeus. Cadmus was trying to find his
sister, Europa. who had been kidnapped by Zeus. After Cadmus slew Draco, he
was told by Athena ( who understood serpents and their powers) to plant the
dragon teeth into the soil. An army arose, who fought a great war until only five
men were left. With these five men Cadmus founded the famous Greek city of
Thebes. Then Cadmus married Harmonia and assumed the Illyrian throne. .

Zeus transformed them both into serpents and demanded serpents as offerings.
Zeus immortalized Draco by placing him in the sky. I could also be pointed out
that the largest of all the stellar constellations is also a serpent, the Hydra, a
lengthy string of stars.

The Greeks had additional serpent deities and demigods. The Chimera, for
example had a serpent for one of its three heads.

Finally, in Greek mythology, we find the serpent guardian figure from Sumerian
or Akkadian times. A great and wise serpent, called Ladon, guards the tree of the
golden apples of the Hesperides. This mythic tree is guarded by an immense
horned serpent which coils up around the tree , rising from a cave in the earth.
Herodotos documents winged snakes as divinely appointed guardians of the spice-
bearing trees of Arabia.

Coiled snakes are found on much of the best ancient Greek jewelry. After the
goddess Demeter initiates Triptolemus into the mysteries of Agriculture, he
spreads the wisdom on his chariot drawn by serpent servants. Hecate, the Greek
goddess of witchcraft, is dressed in serpents. The Hydra, a mythic monster, is
essentially a serpent.

Rome

In Roman ruins we discover the remnants of Etruscan culture in a strange figure,

the Chimera. This creature has the body of a lion, the head of a goat sticking up
from its back, and a snake for a tail.

Appearing in both Greek and Roman mythology is The god of healing, Aescepulus
or Askepulus. This god appeared to the Romans in the form of a snake.

It is written that Aescepulus learned the art of healing by watching snakes.

This might be a good place to include a snake symbol which was Greek, Roman
and is in constant use today, the caduceus, or to give it its original Greek name, the
Kerykeion [Κυρκηιον]. The caduceus, which is recognized internationally as the
symbol of medicine, began as the token of Hermes, the Greek messenger of the
Greek gods, and god of healing. This winged tipped, snake entwined rod is
reminiscent of the very early Sumerian and Akkadian tree of life and knowledge
guardian images. Jewish mythology linked the snake and the rod in the Aaron
stories. It is interesting to note that the snakes of the caduceus are intertwined
much like the intertwining of snakes in mating. This twisted intertwining, bearing
as it does the connotation of sexual congress is the common symbol used to depict
the DNA helix.
This symbolic rod was then carried by the Roman Hermes , Mercury. It was also
carried by Roman soldiers during a flag of truce. The serpents may come from the
tradition that Sesculapius, the god of medicine appeared during a plague in the
form of a serpent. Romans, like most ancients, not only believed that snakes held
the secret of eternal life, since they shed their skins and appeared new each year,
but they also believed that snakes as being able to search out health-giving
medicinal herbs. Thus, this combination of rod, wings and snakes represented
speed, authority and peace. The caduceus is still the common symbol of the
medical profession.

In Roman mythology the familiar spirit of protection for a place is often depicted
as a caduceus, reminiscent of the guardian spirit of the Sumerian/ Akkadian
guardians of the world tree.

There is not much of a legendary divine serpent presence in southern Europe. We

do find a legend of a dreadful god-like snake Erensuge which lived between the
Pen de Orduna and the caves of Balzow and Montecristo. This dreadful monster
attracts humans with his breath and then devours him. It would seem that this
legend refers to a snake not a dragon. He carries the Basque name Herren-surge,
and he has seven horrible heads.

In the mountainous country of Georgia there exists the myth of Mindia, the snake-
eater, a member of the mountain tribe of the Khevsurs. When Mindia was taken
prisoner as a youth he noticed that his captors ate snake meat from which they
derived supernatural powers. One day, he is so hungry he eats a piece of the snake
meat and acquires great physical and intellectual powers. When he finally escapes,
he takes the practice back to his tribe. These people recognize that snakes are
stronger and wiser than humans.

As we travel further North in Europe the snake god is not so powerful, perhaps
because snakes were less common. Welsh had a giant red serpent spirit called Dewi.
The Balts revered a serpent called Zaltys who was the lover of the sun-goddess,
Saule. The Norse did have a snake demi-god called the World Serpent, and other
serpent gods, which we will discuss separately.

Celtic

In Celtic legends there is probably none better known than the tale of Saint
Patrick ridding Ireland of its snakes. This tale is often told, and too often taken as
literal truth. In fact of matter, Ireland never had any significant serpent
population, and one tiny snake still makes it home among the shamrocks.

The tale of Patrick and the serpents must be taken as allegorical, and refers to the
conflict between good and evil, between Christian sanctity, represented by Saint
Patrick, and pagan non-Christian gods, who would, in early Christian eyes
represent evil. The serpent is also seen as a frequent symbol of the attributes of the
Celtic version of the War God.

However, it should be noted that in that great illuminated Celtic masterpiece, The
Book of Kells, the illumination of St. Matthew's account of the crucifixion of Christ
"then there were crucified with him two thieves", we find the cosmic self-
consuming, self-renewing serpent.

Long before even the Celts arrived on Irish shores, probably around 3000 years
ago, Ireland was pantheistic. God was to be found in everything and nature was
the Church. The Irish paganism was probably female in character. Goddess
worship and consecrated priestesses would have been the norm of worship. When
it was decided to unify Ireland under the Christian rule, this strong bastion of
paganism had to be defeated. The first thing was to draw the lines; Paganism must
be evil if Christianity was to be the good. Therefore, we must identify paganism
with the evil forces of the universe. What better than Satan, that wily old serpent ?
Also, the Irish people had a tradition of bawdiness, and the focus on female
goddesses and priestesses ran contrary to current Christian tendencies.

There are few good sources for the serpents that Patrick "drove' out of Ireland.
The bloody cult of Crom Cruaich in County Caven demanded human sacrifice to a
serpent deity and the dismantling of that cult may now be remembered as " snakes
being driven out of Ireland".

Sex, often associated with snakes was part of the picture. Patrick, the epitome
celibate monastic priest-bishop is given the task of 'driving out' the snake of
acknowledged feminine spiritual power, and introduce the concept of Original Sin,
and the power of the Church.

One serpent was allowed to remain. A giant water serpent, now called the Lough
Derg Monster was tricked by Patrick to stay at the bottom of Lough Derg until La
Luain, which the snake understood as Monday, but, in Irish language can mean
the Apocalyptic Last Day. So the snake is confined for ever and a day, and the lake
is a pilgrimage site.

Pre-Christian, pagan gods were very popular in early Ireland, and continued to be
popular in any place where Celtic influence was felt. They were often called the
'old ones'. Usually they were nature gods.

The early, nature, gods could not be directly attacked without creating a terrible
back lash, so the Christians chose that ancient foe, Satan in the form of the snake
as the enemy. So, we have set the stage for the drama of the conflict between
"good" and "evil" , between Saint and Satan, between Patrick and snakes. Celtic
mythology informs us of the expected result. Patrick's mission in Ireland, then, was
to put a male name on Celtic worship.

One version of the legend would see Celtic paganism as female centered. Goddess
worship, consecrated by priestesses had been the order in pre-Christian Ireland.
There was the cult of Anu has deep roots in Celtic memory by the time of Patrick.
Brigid took her place, and the serpent, the acknowledged feminine spiritual power
was driven out, and original sin was introduced.

Saint Patrick is often represented in iconography as standing upon a snake. He

does not appear to be crushing the snake as supported by it. One must remember
that Patrick died under the care of Saint Brigid at Sahhall, ( now Saul in County
Down). Brigid can be viewed as a personification of the Triple Goddess. She is
deeply associated with fertility and healing, and so is the snake symbol.

When St. Patrick ' drove the snakes out of Ireland', he did not banish the
serpentine dragons, but commanded that they remain in the waters which they
inhabited. Later, during the medieval times, dragons gradually left the water and
became land-dwelling creatures. With this migration the dragon slowly lost its
serpentine characteristics and became more animalistic, looking more like lions,
griffins, etc. An example of this transformation is the wyvren.The wyvren has
metaporphicized into a creature looking somewhat like a cross between a winged
lion ( the front half) and a serpent ( the back half). It acts like a creature with both
animalistic and serpentine characteristics.

Norse:

When we journey further north in Europe and examine Norse mythology, we find
that Odin was the first of the three gods ( or the son of the first god ] exposed from
the ice licked by the cosmic cow. His universe was upheld by the "World Ash,
Yggdrasil" whose shaft was the pivot of the revolving heavens.

There is a Norse legend which says that from the beginning Odin had a thirst for
knowledge and wisdom [ much like the Biblical Solomon] and he questioned all
living things to learn. He learned most from his uncle Mimir, who guarded the well
of knowledge, but he had to sacrifice an eye for the privilege of drinking from the
well. Odin, who was fond of the poetic arts, went to great lengths to acquire that
talent. Odin put himself into bondage who lived in an underground cave. After
drinking a potion, which gave him poetic artistry, he found that he was trapped in
the cave. Knowing, with his great wisdom, that only the serpent had sufficient
wisdom to escape, Odin changed himself into a wise serpent and slithered through
a hole in the cave, whereupon he changed back into a man. Odin ever after
honored the serpent.

On top of this great tree sat an eagle, and the great cosmic serpent gnawed at its
roots while guarding it. We seem to have here similarities with ancient Babylon !

The serpent, or worm, that eats its own tail was seen by Viking culture as a symbol
for the natural forces of land , sea and sky. Ouroboros was and is the name given
the Great World Serpent, encircling the earth.

The word Ouroboros encompasses many cultures, beside the Norse legends. For
example, there is the serpent or dragon gnawing at its own tail. From this we see
the symbolic connection to the returning cyclical nature of the seasons; the
oscillations of the night sky; disintegration and re-integration; the Androgyne; life
and death. Born from this symbolic concept, there are many different cultures
which share this serpent symbol. The serpent Jormungand from the myth of
Yggdrasil, is just one. I might be helpful to remember that the Ouroboros is what
Carl Jung would refer to as an archetype.

The most famous divine serpent in Viking or Norse mythology was Jormungand,
the son of Loki. Loki was the closest thing the Teutons have to a Satan. The
Vikings imagined the world completely surrounded and supported by the Great
Divine World Serpent, Jormungand . There is another serpent, Nidhogg, one of the
serpents at the base of the world-tree, who will devour the bones of the whole
fallen humanity.

There is an old Norse tale which tells of Thor combating this great serpent, called
the Midgard Serpent. Midgard [ middle-world] is the realm where human bengs
live. Midgard, the Earth, was created from the flesh of the primeval giant Ymir. In
Norse mythology Midgard is conceived of as a gigantic tree, called the World tree
or Yggdrasil, around which existed nine realms at different levels. This tree had its
roots embedded in, or resting upon the World Serpent.

The Norse go, Loki, troublesome brother of Thor, had three offspring: Fenris the
wolf, Hel, who had a house roofed by guardian serpents, and the Midgard serpent,
who lives in the sea and is o large it spans the world. The gods decreed that Thor,
son of Odin should slay the Midgard Serpent before it grew too terrible and would
rule the gods. Thor went out of Asgard and enlisted the help of the giant Hymir.
The two went fishing, and when Hymir would not share his bait with Thor. Thor
killed Hymir's largest ox and cut off its head. Thor took the ox head as bait, made
a very strong line and a large hook. The Midgard serpent took the bait and Thor
drew it to the boat.

The serpent glared at Thor and belched poison. Hymir, frightened cut Thor's line
and let the serpent loose. As the serpent sank back into the sea, Thor threw his
hammer after it. Some versions of the legend say that the hammer struck and
killed the serpent, other versions say that the Midgard serpent is still alive and
lying in the depths.

There is also an old German myth which tells of a snake called the "great worm"
who carried the name of Fafnir. Fafnir had great magical and mystical powers.

There are other dragon stories to be found in Europe, and some of them would
indicate a dragon of divine powers, but these dragons are not serpentine dragons
so we will omit them in this study. The European dragon usually is portrayed with
a thick, long body, scaly skin, four legs, two bat-like wings, wedge shaped heads
and long necks. Included in this category are usually found the Wyverns, the
'Faerie Dragons', and sometimes the Hydras. These may, or may not be considered
serpents, depending on how wide one is willing to spread the definition of serpent.

NORTH AMERICA:

Native Americans

When we reach the Americas we find that the gods are anthropomorphic.
Therefore, we will find no snake god among the North American Native Americans.
We will find many stories about snakes, their wisdom, cunning and danger. In
Central America the god reappears.

When Moses was busy coming down the mountain with an explanation of values
for the Israelites, Native Americans were sculpturing beautiful and mysterious
figures on hilltops and dotting the countryside with tall mounds to connect their
dead to heaven. Easily one of the strangest and most unearthly Native American
sites in North America is the incredible Serpent Mound in the Amish country of
southern Ohio. Possibly constructed by the Adena culture around 700 BCE,
Serpent Mound is a narrow band of earth which uncoils over a quarter mile
expanse atop a wooded hill. This mound appears, from above, to be a snake ready
to swallow a frog. A snake skeleton enshrined leaves little doubt that the mound is
meant to be the replica of a snake- the creature of mythic proportions to these
early mound builders, as well as indigenous people across the Americas. This is one
of the "effigy" mounds in Ohio. It lies on a plateau overlooking the Valley of Brush
Creek, Ohio.

There is a serpent legend among the Northern Cree, in and around Bulkley Lake
in British Columbia. This legend tells of a boy named Fast Bird, who was the
messenger for his village. On one perilous trip he met an evil serpent. An old
woman gave him three special arrow points and he was able to kill the serpent, and
go on to become chief.

There are other such stories. A Chippewa story tells of a hero, Nanabozho, who
lived on the shore of Lake Superior. At the bottom of the lake lived the Great
Serpent, along with a number of evil spirits, who were his servants. Nanabozho
decided to kill the Great Serpent after the Great Serpent killed his cousin.

He caused the water of Lake Superior to boil, forcing the snake out into the forest,
where he fell prey to the arrows of Nanabozho. Before the Great Serpent died he
caused a great flood to come upon the whole earth to kill everything. Nanabozho
built a raft and saved mankind and the animals, just like Noah had done with the
ark.

The Brule Lakota [ Teton Sioux tribe] Sioux never kill rattlesnakes, because there
is an old legend about how three brothers who disobeyed the Great Spirit by
taking a buffalo hide instead of giving it back to the spirit world. The Great Spirit
turned them into rattlesnakes.

As they took up a life as snakes they told their youngest brother to tell the people
that they would remain faithful Sioux. So, the Brule Lakota revere their brothers
the rattlesnake.

The Comanches of south-western USA inherited the worship of the Jaguar god
from the Mayan Indians to the south, and they also had a sacred parrot; but hey
also believed in great serpent god, who lived in the center of the earth and whose
coiling and uncoiling could shake the mountains

The most divine-like snake story is that which tells of the creation of the natural
wonder called the 'Wisconsin Dells'. A great snake wriggled down from his home
near the 'big lake' and formed the Wisconsin River as he crawled. When he came
to the sandstone ridge where the Dells begin he merely pushed his head into a
crevice in the rocks and pushed them aside to form the narrow, winding passage
we call the Dells.
The amazing thing is, that in spite of the myriad of snakes in south-western US,
except for the Comanches previously mentioned, I have found no sound references
to the divine serpent in that area. We do find the reference to rattlesnake being the
faithful hound of Coyote, the divine trickster and voice of the Great Sprit.

Caribbean Islands

Before we discuss the serpent legends of Central America, we should point out that
we do find mentions of divine serpents among Voudon [Voodoo] religionist of the
islands of the Caribbean.

Simbu is the very powerful snake god of darkness. Even more powerful perhaps,
certainly more widespread, is Dambala, another serpent god. These gods are
morally neutral, and will work for good or evil depending upon for whom they are
working.

In Haiti, Dambala is given the title Le Bon Dieu , the good god. An aspect of this
serpent spirit in Haiti is the god of the farmers called Dan Petro. Dambala' wife,
Avida, is also an object of worship.

Damballa created all the waters of the earth, in the form of a serpent. The
movement of his 7000 coils formed hills and valleys and brought forth stars and
planets in the heavens. He forged metals from heat and sent forth lightning bolts to
form the sacred rocks and stones. When he shed his skin in the sun, releasing all
the waters over the land, the sun shone in the water and created the rainbow.
Damballa loved the rainbow and made her his wife, Aida-edo. `

In the islands we also find a creature called El Cuchilu, from cuchu = pig and vilu
= snake, who appears from the sea. This is an evil god who invades and destroys
fishing weirs. It eats the fish inside the weir and kills human fishermen.

Central America

If we travel only a short distance further south, into Central America, the
references are many-fold are rich. As barren as Northern North America is for
finding the divine snake, Central America, or Mesoamerica is equally rich. For
example, we find very early Olmec carvings depicting a priest/ruler enveloped and
caresses by a powerful serpent, and we have many other early serpent gods.

Not only do we have the primitive Mayan god Labna, but we also find, at differing
ages and places Kulkulcan and Queztalcoatl, and his two similars Tezcatlipoca and
Huitzilopotchili . Each of these later manifestations of the feathered serpent are
much like Quetzalcoatl, with minor changes or additions. For example,
Huitziilpotchili is often called the "trickster" because he loves to play pranks
which would normally be considered quite un-godlike.

Among the Qiche Maya we find the serpent god who brought civilization and
agriculture to the Maya who is called Gucumatz.
The god Kulkulcan was one of the major gods of the Maya, and was inherited by
the Toltec as equally significant. Not only was he a god of the four elements, he was
also the creator god and the god of resurrection and reincarnation. He may have
originated from Toltec myth, where he was a divine hero who taught the Toltec
laws, fishing, healing, the calendar and agriculture. His name means

"the feathered serpent" and the Aztecs merged him with Quetzalcoatl.

Whether it was imposed on them or adopted by choice, the Maya of Chichen Itza
incorporated much of the Toltec culture. Although no absolute connection has
been established, the emergence of Kulkulcan . the Mayan version of the feathered
serpent coincided with the dusk of the Toltec civilization. The legend of the priest-
king Quetzalcoatl of Tula and his self-imposed banishment to the east has been
frequently linked to the emergence of the Mayan god Kulkulcan and the
assimilation of Toltec culture at Chichen Itza. Feathered rattlesnake images are
found everywhere at Chichen Itza.

The main pyramid in the Mayan/Toltec ruins of Chichen Itza is "El Castle", the
pyramid of Kulkulcan. This pyramid is often mistakenly called the pyramid of the
sun because of its astronomical orientation, but it is clearly dedicated to Kulkulcan,
the feathered serpent. It was original built by Mayans about 600 CE, and
improved by Toltecs around 1000 CE. The astronomical detail is interesting,
showing the connection of the Great Serpent and the cosmos: There are 365 steps
[ the number of days in the solar year]; 52 panels [one for each year in the Mayan
cyclical century; 18 terraces, one for each month in the Mayan religious year].

All four sides of the Feather Serpent Pyramid was originally covered by an
elaborate facade of stone carvings. These carvings express the main visual
messages of the Ciudadela [ sacred city]. The main motif in both the rectangular
panels

[ tablero] and the trapezoid panels [ talud] were undulating feathered serpents,
depicted in profile and having rattles on the ends of their tails. A quite similar type
of feathered serpent head, sculpted in high relief, was also attached to the
balustrades of the staircase.

I have personally witnessed the unusual effect of the descending serpents

bordering the main stair case. At sundown the light strikes these magnificent
serpents so as to make them appear to be alive and slowly descending the stair case.

In the ruins of the early Mayan city of Teotihuacan, we find another significant
pyramid dedicated to the feathered serpent. Although significantly smaller in size
than both the Sun Pyramid and Moon Pyramid, it was one of the most elaborate
monuments of the city. Each of these pyramids, unlike the Egyptian pyramids
which were tombs, were solidly filled with rubble, and were, in fact, artificial
mountains, on top of which stood a temple to the feathered serpent.

All four sides of this Feathered Serpent Pyramid had also been covered by an
elaborate facade of stone carvings which included a series of large sculptural heads.
Three of the four sides have deteriorated, but the fourth, and principal face, the
western, was covered by a platform and the facade is in good shape. The main
motif of the pyramid is undulating feathered serpents, depicted in profile and
having rattles on the ends of their tails.

The heads of serpents are various deities: Tlaloc, the Storm god, Youalcoat;, a form
of Quetzalcoatl, Cipactli, a crocodilian figure, and Xiuhcoatl, or the Fire Serpent.

The supreme god and creator of the Maya was Hunab Ku . He is the head of the
Mayan pantheon and called 'god of the gods'. Hunab Ku rebuilt the world after
three deluges, which poured from a great sky god, who is depicted in the form of a
serpent. Even the Mayan war god was seen as a snake charmer.

The Aztec god of creation is both male and female, Ometeotl, the creative force,
the god of fire and of time, is both father and mother of all. Ometeotl' four sons are
aspects of himself. Each is associated with a color and a direction. ( This
symbolism can be also found in the Native Americans of the U.S.) The black
Tezcatlipoca is the biggest and "baddest" of them all. His direction is north. The
white Tezcatlipoca whose direction is the setting sun, is also called Quetzalcoatl.
Aztec legends tell of how Quetzalcoatl becomes the sun and rises in the east.

When the Aztec replaced the Maya and Toltec as lords of Mesoamerica, the
feathered serpent stayed s an important god figure. The Aztec feathered serpent
carried the name Quetzalcoatl. He symbolized the blending of heaven and earth.
He is associated with the planet Venus, the wind and breath of life [ cf. Biblical
concept of wind, breath of life, spirit connection], the discovery of maize [corn], the
invention of writing , birth and renewal. There exist codices which identify
Quetzalcoatl with Kulkulcan. It is my contention that the Quetzalcoatl of the
Mixtec codices and the Kulkulcan of the Chilam Balam are one and the same.

The two highest-ranking priests of the Aztecs ministered, respectively,to the war
god and the god of rain. Both bore the title quetzalcoatl, or "feathered serpent", to
elevate their status by association with the great god Quetzalcoatl and the Toltec
god-king of that name. One was called "quetzalcoatl priest of our lord" and the
other "quetzalcoatl priest of Tlaloc". Neither demanded human sacrifice.

It is very surprising how Quetzlalcoatl, who is often called Kulkulcan, Gucumatz,

in Guatamala, Viracocha to the Incas, is so wide-spread among all of the cultures
of precolumbian Mexico. And all describe it the same, with only small variations.
This god, that tormented Cortez with guilt and remorse, is considered the Christ
figure of the precolumbian civilization, since he proclaimed the existence of only
one god, and the refusal of sacrifices, which were typical of Mayan and Aztec
religions.

Interestingly, this indian deity is described as having " white skin, with hair on the
face and beautiful emerald eyes". In other words, Quetzalcoatl may have been
Caucasian; Viking perhaps [ from ancient memories]? Topiltzin-Quetzalcoatl,
whose mythical achievements are interwoven with the Great Feathered Serpent, is
credited as having infinite knowledge. He taught his people how to plant the maize
and all plant life. Cotton and cacao trees are also attributed to him.
Quetzalcoatl legends seem to have spring from Tula, and traveled to the holy city
of Cholula, and then in 987 CE they sailed across the Gulf of Mexico to the land of
the Maya. Legends said that since the Great God came from the East, when he left
he sailed East, amd it was from the East he would return.

The tale runs something like this. There lived once in Tula a king called
Quetzalcoatl. He had the name and qualities of the ancient feathered serpent, so he
was called "Quetzalcoatl Topiltzin, "our prince". He was totally pure, innocent
and good. No task was too humble for him. He even swept the paths for the rain
gods so they could come and rain. Quetzalcoatl's cunning brother, Tezcatlipoca,
was infuriated by his goodness and, with some friends decided to play a dirty trick
on him. They gave Quetzalcoatl a human face and body. As soon as Quetzalcoatl
looked in a mirror he felt himself possessed by all the worldly desires that afflict
mankind.

But Tezcatlipoca wasn't done. He gave Quetzalcoatl wine, which he said would
cure his malady. After including getting drunk on cactus wine which cause him to
disgrace himself and bring calamities to the Toltec, he knew he must leave his
people and go into exile. When he came to the eastern coast, he wove snakes
together to make a raft. Then he sailed eastward and disappeared across the sea.
Some say he ascended into heaven and became Venus, the morning star. It was
said that Quetzalcoatl would return in the same year he disappeared, the year One
Reed. Cortez landed in year One Reed.

Quetzalcoatl could transform himself into the shape of a man, and many pictures
show him in both guises. His arch enemy was Tezcatlipoca, the god of darkness,
which would lead us to connect Quetzalcoatl to the sun, as had Kulkulcan before
him. After one especially difficult battle Quetzalcoatl fled to the eastern shore with
the enemies right behind him. He sailed away, making a boat from the bodies of
intertwined serpents, promising to return in triumph. When strange ships were
seen coming from the east, with pale, shining men, it seemed that the prophecy had
come true. It was not Quetzalcoatl, it was Cortes. End of Aztec civilization !

The Aztec also saw serpents as controlling the weather, especially the clouds and
storms. The Cloud Serpent for the Aztec was Mixcoatl. This god created weather
by conspiring with [having sex with ?] the Earth Serpent Goddess Coatlicue.

Coatlique is the mother of the Aztec creation story. She was first impregnated by
an obsidian knife and gave birth to Coyolxanuhqui, the goddess of the moon
[ again showing the association between the serpent and the moon]. She later gave
birth to the fiery god of war who was aided in his efforts by a fire serpent

[ a seraph?] The Aztecs believed that Coatlique was the earth itself. She provided
for all their needs, and at death takes them back into her body.

In Mexico, under the Aztec rule of Moctezuma, the second most important person
in the ruling hierarchy was Cihyuacoatl, also called Tlacaelel, the snake woman
who was seen as the incarnation of the earth and mother goddess who assisted
Quetzalcoatl in creation. She was born on the same day as the emperor,
Moctezuma ( or Motecuhzoma) the Great. They had the same father but different
mothers. This male character turned down the opportunity to become emperor
and went on to serve three rulers as prime minister or Cihuacoatl, literally Woman
Snake.

SOUTH AMERICA:

In Columbia There is a creator deity of the Chibcha culture named Chiminigagua,

who lives as a serpent in a lake of serpents. In Brazil there is the goddess serpent
Iara , who is also know as ' mae d'agua ( mother of the waters) . According to myth,
Iara was not a siren, but a water snake, also called mboicu =

mboi = serpent, and acu = big, in the Tupi language.

Even further south the Inca had Chalchiuhtlicue, the serpent mother goddess. She
is a goddess of fertility. She is most often depicted with beautiful and magnificent
robes, made of shell mosaics and serpent skin edged with small white feathers. The
Peruvian Incas had a god called the 'Weeping god'. This god holds two snakes as
part of his cosmic image.

In Paraguay, the Guarani peoples have a divine serpent called Mboi-Tu'I, the
snake-parrot. This is an enormous, divine serpent with the bill, or complete head
of a parrot. This god is the protector of aquatic animals, amphibians, dew and the
flowers, and is seen as a friendly god. As a general observation, we might state that
most of the serpent divinities found in Central America appear to be benevolent
and beneficent. The few exceptions are either tricksters or ambivalent.

Oceania

On the way from the Americas to Asia we can stop off in Oceana. Throughout the
circum-Pacific culture zone the great serpent, the cosmic divine serpent, as spouse
of the goddess and as a variously manipulated motif in art is a prominent feature.

In the Solomon Islands. Here we find a great serpent got Aguna, who is the
paramount god of the area. So important is Aguna that all other gods are
considered to be only aspects of her. She is the supreme force and divine influence.
The first coconut from each tree is sacred to Aguna.

Also in The Solomons we find the great serpent god Kahasusibware,. We are not
sure of the relationship between the male Kahasusibware and the female Aguna.

This divine serpent can also be found in the Admiralty islands.

On the island of Fiji we hear about a god named Degei. sometimes called Ndengel,
a serpent god who lives in the Kauvadra hills and who appears to be the supreme
god of the island group. The story is told of how in the beginning, the snake god
lived alone, without friends or companions, and the only living creature he knew
was Turukawa the hawk. Although the hawk could not speak she was the constant
companion of the god.

When the hawk , who was feminine eventually laid eggs which when hatched
produced two tiny human beings. Degei nurtured these creatures and taught them
how to cultivate bananas and root crops. From there on the story sounds like the
story of Adam and Eve.

When a person dies, his soul faces a long journey from the sunny land of the living
to the cold, misty land of the dead. Upon the soul's arrival, Degei will interrogate it.
Idle men, recognized by their long nails, will be punished. Industrious souls will be
rewarded. When the soul is judged, it is thrown into a deep lake. It will sink for a
long time until it reaches Murimuria, a sort of Purgatory. There some will be
rewarded and others will receive punishment. Only a few are chosen by the god to
go to Burotu, the land of eternal life and joy.

Also on Fiji we find Ratu-Mai-Mbula, the snake god who is ruler of the dead.
Elsewhere in Polynesia, we find a legend about a monster snake [ or perhaps here
an eel] among the Tuamotua peoples. The symbol of the serpent can often be
depicted as an eel, a creature more familiar to island people than the water snake
and certainly more common than any land snake.

The same sort of god found in the Gilbert Islands is called Riiti . Hina, who can still
be seen in the moon was the wife of the monster snake Te Tuna [ the 'phallus'] She
ran away from him and became the wife of Maui, who then killed Te Tuna, and on
the advice of her mother, planted his head, from which grew the first coconut tree.

The Daribi people, who live in the highlands of New Guinea have legends which
present snakes as superior to humans. The snake shed its skin and so they
rejuvenate themselves, whereas human skin ages and shows the mark of mortality.
These same people and these legends are also found in New Britain.

The Philippine Islands are rife with serpent beings. The distinguishing traits are
basically that of a snake or crocodile with scales, and the head of a fierce animal or
bird. We find the birdlike serpents: baua and minokwa; the fishlike: baconauaua;
the saurian = the buwaya and the pure snakelike = mameleu, marcupo. Macupo
and sawa. This does not count the many dragons.

In the islands of Melanesia we find Koevasi, a snake goddess, and Walutahanga, a

fire snake god. The people of New Guinea have a snake god among their pantheon,
called Wunekau, and we also find a Kiribati sea snake god named Ruki

In the New Hebrides Islands we have a group of serpent spirits called the Mae
These are serpents who can appear in other disguises, and are seen as guiding
spirits of all who encounter them. If a young man returns home after a day of
fishing, at sunset he might see a young girl sitting on a rock , her head covered with
flowers . She will beckon him to climb the steep cliff and when he approaches her
he will notice that she has the face of a girl from his own village. Afraid that she is
a Mae he will look closer and see that her elbows and knees are on backwards; this
betrays her true nature and the young man will run away. Should he, however, hit
her with the leaf of the dracaena she will assume her true form and slip away as a
snake.

East of Indonesia, Melanesia and Australia, throughout the island-studded triangle

of Polynesia, which has Hawaii at its apex, New Zealand at one angle and Easter
Island at the other, the mythological image of the murdered divine being whose
body became a food plant has been adjusted to the natural elements of an oceanic
environment. Snakes, by and large, are unknown in the islands. The role of divine
serpent has to be played, therefore, by the closest possible counterpart of the
serpent, a monster eel. The force of the serpent role has been greatly increased
rather than diminished by this substitution.

Plant origin legends abound using either the monster eel or another serpent figure.
The breadfruit tree first appeared, for example, according to Hawaiian myth when
a man named Ulu, who lived near Hilo, died of famine. He and his wife had a
sickly baby by whose life was in danger from the famine. The baby was taken to a
temple at Puueo whose resident god was a mo'o which is a Hawaiian word
meaning reptile.

The only reptile in Hawaii is a harmless, even affectionately regarded little lizard
that runs up and down the walls of houses catching insects. The manner in which
the mythological system of the islands has magnified this innocuous little creature
into the proportions of a dangerous, powerful divine serpent-dragon is a good
example of the mythological process and the power of the serpent in divine
symbolism.

ASIA:

China

In Asia we have one rich source and more leaner sources. China, for example, with
its concentration on social ethics and personal behavior [ Confucianism and
Taoism] has little room for gods or goddesses. We do find reference to the AO or
four Dragon kings; Ao Chi'in, Ao Kuang, Ao Jun and Ao Shun. [ These four main
kinds of Lung had alternate names: Tien-Lung, the Celestial Dragon, who protects
the places of the gods, Shen-Lung, the Spiritual Dragon, who controls the wind and
the rain, Ti-Lung, the Earth Dragon, who controls the rivers, and Fut's-Lung, the
Underworld Dragon who guards precious metals and gems] The commander of all
the River Dragons is Cien-Tang, who is blood red, has a fiery mane and is 900 feet
long. These great serpent/dragon kings were the faithful servants and guards of Y-
Huang-Shang-Ti, the "Father Heaven, the supreme Emperor of Jade who ruled all.
One time, according to legend. When the land was enduring famine because of
drought, the dragons appealed to the Jade Emperor for rain. The emperor stalled
and the dragon, upset, carried water to the people in their mouths. The emperor
was furious at the disobedience of the dragons and had them imprisoned under
four mountains. Determined to do good for the people forever, they turned
themselves into for rivers, which flowed past high mountains and deep valleys,
crossing the land from west to east until finally emptying into the sea.
And so China's four great rivers were formed: the Heilongijan [Black Dragon] in
the far north; the Huanghe [Yellow River] in central China; the Yangtze [ Long
River] farther south and the Zhujiang [Pearl] in the very far south.

Also, related to to Ao, we find Lung, a benevolent serpent bringer of rain, who is
held in high regard. Fuxi, a creature with human top and serpent bottom is seen as
the father of mankind. He is the first of the "Three Sovereigns" and the inventor
of the trigrams used in Chinese divination.

The Chinese dragons were shape-shifters, who could make themselves as large as
the whole universe or as small as a silkworm. They could also change color and
disappear in a flash. The classic work, I-Ching, uses the symbol of the serpent to
illuminate the truths of inner growth of the person, the society and the universe.

These Eastern dragons are usually portrayed as good, kind and intelligent.
Oriental dragons have the most recorded history in the world, stretching back
thousands of years. It has been said that the worst flooding in Asian history were
caused when a mortal has upset a dragon. We can differentiate the Eastern
dragons easily. The Chinese dragon, or Lung, always has 5 claws, curling from its
feet. It has 117 scales, 81 infused with yang [seen as the good], and 36 infused with
yin [here seen as evil]. The Korean dragon has 4 toes and the Japanese has 3. The
Chinese dragon is an emblem of the emperor and the yellow dragon can only be
worn by him.

We might take a small interlude here to describe other dragons. In China we find
the "Musical Serpent" which is very serpentine, with even a snake's head, but has
four wings. This dragon makes a noise like the musical stone. We also find the
Chih Dragon, the dragon of the North, and the wingless pure serpent-like the Kua
Shih. The Kung Kung is a serpent/snake with nine heads, and full of wisdom.

The Vietnamese dragon , called the Long, is a fabulous beast with the head of a
camel, horns of a deer, eyes of a fish, ears of a buffalo, scales of a carp, claws of an
eagle and feet of a tiger. Most important, however, is that it has the body and neck
of a snake. A long barb hangs down on each side of its mouth, and a jewel adorns it
tongue. Long has a crest of 81 scales running down the length of its backbone. It
can live in the sky, the water or underground and is immortal. The "Giao Long",
which are half lizard and half snake automatically become dragons after 1000
years. The dragon is a symbol of power and nobility to the Vietnamese, and is the
special symbol of the emperor, who was considered to be the son of heaven.
Vietnamese dragons can have either five toes [reserved for the emperor] or four
toes [ for lesser dignitaries]. The symbol was always worn on official court dress.

In Asian calendar astrology the dragon correlates to the western sign Aries.

The dragon, a mythological creature has been worshipped in the Orient since
primordial times. The serpentine dragon is a creature of much power. The year of
the dragon is a time of ambition, power and daring. Events seem as if they were
magnified threefold with increased intensity.
Dragon years are excellent tikes to start a business, marry, have children and take
incredible risks. On a global level, we could expect extreme earth changes, such as
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tidal waves.

There are five dragon years in a cycle: The green, red, yellow, white and black
dragons. The next scheduled dragon year is the year of the white dragon, from
February 5, 2000 to January 23, 2001.

In addition to the dragon years [ and I would point out that oriental dragons are
serpents] there are serpent years.

The Chinese Serpent goddess Nu Kua formed the first people from yellow clay
from the banks of the Yellow River. This serpent is also associated with the gods
who help women in childbirth and bless children.

The year of the serpent is a time of introspection, planning, and seeking answers.
People will ponder and think before they act. Goo taste will prevail in fashion,
theater, film and all the arts. Serpent wisdom influences contributions in the
sciences. There are five serpents, like the five dragons; the blue, purple, gold,
solver and gray serpents. The next serpent year will be the year of the Silver
Serpent, from January 24, 2001 to February 11, 2002.

Comparing these serpentine "good" dragons with others around the world we find
similarities and differences. The Mexican winged dragon, known as an Amphitere,
has the tail of the serpent but the wings of the quetzal bird. The Polynesian dragon
is a trickster, whose name means " great sea creature' and who steal and move
oysters to different lands. There is of course the famous Scottish serpent known as
"Nessie", the Loch Ness Monster. On the other hand, the Welch dragon has two
wings and two, or four legs. This beast is usually considered a Wyvren, and has
little serpentine qualities. The dragon of Greek mythology had three heads, a lion's
head, a goat's head on its back and a serpent's head at the end of its tail. This is not
the Hydra which had all of its heads sprouting from necks.

The earliest European dragons were all giant serpents and are best described by
using the German name for these creatures, the Lindworms. The most familiar
dragon symbol, however is not a serpent. This combination of a lion and an eagle,
with the face of a man sometimes, is well known in Western mythological art. It
may have the tail of a scorpion at times.

Japan

In Japan we encounter one minor, but reasonably beneficent serpent god and one
major, evil god. The minor god is Sarawati [ borrowed from the Hindu Bneten]
who is a river goddess. She is married to a serpent King. The Japanese people
believed that the seas around the Japanese Islands were full of serpent people who
had great powers.

The kami concept of Japanese religious thought also makes the snake a sacred
person, but I am not considering this, only those who qualify as genuine divinities
in and of themselves.
Japan has an important serpent divinity, and this one is evil. The Japanese serpent
god Susa-No-Wo is one of the two main players in the chief drama of Japanese
mythology.

It seems that one day Susa-No-Wo insulted the great sun goddess Amataratsu omi
kami and made her very angry. She hid herself in a cave and refused to shine,
whereupon the crops failed and famine set in. The other divine being, with the
exception of Susa-No-Wo, lured Amatarats0u out of her cave and tied her to a tree
with straw ropes. Especially helpful was a very bawdy dance performed by the god
Ama-No-Uzume.

The importance of this story can be seen in that the Kanji [character] for
Amataratsu Omi Kami added to the Kanji of the tree together are the Kanji for
Japan, and Japan is called the 'Land of the Rising Sun'. The serpent king god is
banished to the 'out islands' and becomes a non-persona in Shinto.

There is also the Great Eight-forked Serpent of Koshi. This enormous serpent had
eight heads and eight tails. Its size was such, that as it crawled, it stretched out
over eight valleys and eight hills. Its eyes were red, like the winter cherry. Pine
trees and moss grew on its back, and firs sprouted from each of its heads. It was
fond of devouring young maidens. After eating seven daughters of a king in seven
years The serpent was killed. Rivers of blood flowed from its eight necks. A sword
was found in its tail that is still in the great shrine of Atsuta in Japan. Japanese
currency commemorates this serpent.

One additional story in Japanese Bushido legends tells of Yamato , the noble
warrior. He was confronted, during his wanderings, by the ghost of the Great

Serpent. The serpent demanded the return of the magic sword, Cloud Cluster.
Yamoto, protected by the sword, refused. Later, after leaving the sword with his
lady love, Iwato-hime, he met the Great Serpent again. This time the serpent as
able to kill Yamato, but as he died he turned into a white bird and flew away.

India and S. East Asia

In Indian philosophy the paradigmatic character of the union of opposites [ or, as I

sometimes like to say- the wholeness of the result of the dialectic process]
constituted one of the most significant characteristics of Indian religious thought
long before it ever became an object of systematic theology.

In the Hindu sacred books there is a myth that appears frequently, of the gods and
titans cooperating under the supervision of the two supreme deities, Vishnu and
Shiva, to churn the Milky Ocean for its sacred butter. They took the World
Mountain as a churning stick and the divine World Serpent as a twirling rope, and
wrapped the serpent around the mountain. Then the gods taking hold of the head
end of the snake and the demons the tail, they churned for a thousand years and
produced in the end the Butter of Immortality.

The so-called Harappa stage of the great cities of Mohenjodaro, Chandu-daro and
Harappa ( ca 2500-1200 BCE) burst abruptly into view and showed many signs of
inspiration from the earlier high centers of the West blended with native Indian
traditions. The presence of serpents in the attitude of worshippers indicates that
the well-known serpent, or naga motif that plays such a significant role in later
Indian religion had already been evolved, probably from the primitive theme of
the Great Serpent of the abyss. We find very early imagery of the god Vishnu
reclining on the Cosmic Serpent, which is in turn resting on the Cosmic Waters.
The supporting energy and substance of the universe, and consequently of all
humanity. Is imaged in India in the figure of the serpent.

The a little later in Hindu history, The Aitareya Brahmana states that the serpent
Ahi Budhnya is invisibly what Agni, [the 'furious serpent'] is visibly. In other
words, the serpent is a virtuality of fire, whereas darkness is nonmanifested light.
Again, when the sun rises at dawn, he 'frees himself from night …just as Ahi frees
himself from his skin'.

It is in India where we again meet the significant divine serpent in many aspects.
In India the cobra has long been considered sacred, and even those cobras used by
'snake charmers' are not injured in any way, not defanged, and when they are
used for while they are safely returned to the wild. The "Naga" which is the divine
aspect of the cobra is found in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In some
passages, King Varuna is regarded as being among the most preeminent of the
Nagas,

and he is included in the discussion of these mythical divine serpents. [Mahabarata

1.26.1. and 25.4] The 'naga' is a divine serpent who is a son of Kadru, the daughter
of Daksha.

The word naga is a Sanscrit word which means "serpent". Nagas are believed to
live in palaces [Patala] in the underground city Bhogavati. They are considered the
protectors of springs, wells and rivers.

The Naga brings rain [ similar to the Chinese Lung dragons] and therefore fertility,
but can also bring disasters such as floods and drought. In Malay myths nagas are
many-headed dragons of enormous size. On Java and Thailand, the naga is a
serpent-god, a ruler of the netherworld who possesses much wealth. In Java they
are also called Sesas. In Thailand the naga can have five heads, much like the
Hindu Naga Kanya.

Nagas are often divided into four classes: heavenly, divine, earthly or hidden,
depending upon their function in guarding the heavenly palace, bringing rainfall,
draining rivers or guarding treasures. They have the ability to make humans
invisible in water, and female nagas may sometimes marry mortals. Nagas have
been know to sing and dance. Some of them are many headed, like Muchalinda or
the Naga Kanya. Sesha, the king of the nagas, has 1000 heads and dresses in purple.
We also find this 1000 headed naga in Buddhism under the name Ananta where
his coils encircle the the basis of the world axis.

In Mexico we find the word "Nagal" which describes a class of serpent guardian
spirits. The avenue leading to the main temple at Ankhor Wat is lined with seven-
headed nagas. The Chinese claim to be able to speak Naga-Krita, the language of
the serpentine gods. For a place that has no serpents, Tibet, the naga are still
known in a symbolic sensand are called "Lu' which is the Tibetan translation of "
naga". For example Nagarjuna is called Lu-truh in Tibet.

To begin; the god Vaskul is the naga-god of Mount Kailasha, which is also deemed
to be the home of the god Shiva, on-third of the Trinity of Brahma aspects. We
have pictorial and statuary representations showing snakes around Shiva's neck.
These are naga bushana and they symbolize death, the power of which Shiva is
beyond, and which he controls. They also represent that energy coiled at the base
of the spine which yoga practitioners say is the base for all self-realization.

The Naga represents cosmic power; they are a manifestation of the Vedic god Agni,
or fire, and as such becomes the 'fierce spirit' who is the guardian. The cobra/naga
is a mount of Vishnu and as such represents knowledge, wisdom and

eternity. As Vishnu sleeps on the cosmic ocean, he sleeps on the coiled serpent on
the primordial waters. Two serpents with downward and upward movement
represent the divine sleep and divine awakening. The Naga and Nagni are serpent
kings and queens, which are divine in their own right. They are depicted as either
fully human, fully snake, humans with cobra heads and hoods, or as humans from
the waist upwards and snake below that.

The naga as a god is widespread and significant in all of Southern Asia. As far
away as the Malay peninsula we find Raja Naga, or King Naga. Who is the king of
all of the many sea snakes which populate the area. In India the chief function of
the naga is apparent in temple architecture; they guard the doors.

The Great Naga Kanya, the most common friend/companion of Vishnu is this
latter form. Naga Kanya can also be seen with nine serpent heads with expanded
hoods. As the great god Vishnu sits his head and shoulders are protected by these
nine serpent heads . Some say that this multiheaded snake is an animal
counterpart of the sleeper himself.

Vishnu, the preserver aspect of the Trinitarian Brahma principle, is recognized as

one of the most important and most revered of the deities of the Hindu pantheon.
He is most often depicted as reclining on a the coils of the great serpent. The Great
Naga, Ananta [ the 'endless'], also called Sesha. Ananta has 1000 hooded heads
which form a canopy for Vishnu.. Ananta represents the cosmic ocean.

The symbol for water, in Hindu mythology, is the serpent [naga]. So that, not only
the gigantic anthropomorphic form and the boundless elemental sea are Vishnu,
nut the naga is also Vishnu. He is man, ocean and snake. All are one. Springing
forth from the navel of Vishnu is a lotus stem, and on the flower at the end of the
stem sits the god Brahma who creates the world. Ananta spits out venomous fire at
the end of each Kalpa [age] to assist Shiva in destroying the creation.

There is another image of a human resting upon a snake. There is the myth of the
boy Naranua, a Hindu god of the spirit, who is depicted as a handsome youth,
recumbent upon a coiled snake couch, lying with his toe in his mouth.
Nagas are recognized as superior to humans. They inhabit subaquatic paradises,
dwelling at the bottoms of rivers, lakes and seas. A most important function of
these divine serpents is their function as guardians. We find them at the doors of
Hindu and Buddhist shrines. They van not only frighten ordinary human
intruders with their dangerous aspect as cobras, they can as divinities, discern and
repel any divine invader.

There are many legends in South-east Asia regarding the serpent. The myth of
Indra and the dragon is an example. This tale casts the serpent in an evil posture,
who swallowed Indra. Indra tickled its throat and leaped out to resume the battle
which finally ended in a truce.

Another legend tells of Krishna and the Cosmic Serpent. As an adolescent Krishna
defeated the cosmic serpent by dancing on its head. This was one of the most
important tests of Krishna's god-like powers. Krishna borrows on a text from the
Rig Veda [ II, 12, 1-5, 13] , which says about the god Indra:

" Who having slain the Serpent released the seven streams,

who drove out the cows by the unclosing of Vala,

Who between rocks has produced fire,

victor in battles: he, O men, is Idra.

Krishna tells Arjuna all about 'divine' serpents. [ Bhagavad-Gita Ch. 11].

Finally, in Hinduism, Balaram is Lord Krishna's half-brother ,the avatar of Lord

Vishnu's serpent companion whom some call Vasuki and others call Adhisesha.
Lakshman, Prince Rama's brother, is also an incarnation of the serpent.

There is a festival which is kept annually in India called the Naga Panchami
Festival. In 1997, this festival was observed on August 8th. His Holiness, Sri
Swamiji gave a widely circulated speech from which I should like to snip some
fargments:

" Today is Naga Panchami. Pancha means five in Sanscrit. Five is auspicious. Naga
means snake. Both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva have snakes with them. Vishnu
has Adi Shesha as his bed while Lord Shiva has a snake around his neck.

In India Naga Panchami is celebrated by feeding milk to snakes…………"

Sri Swamiji continues his speech with many tales of the interaction between divine
serpents and two of the three persons in the Hindu tri-theistic godhead.

We find the serpent in Buddhism, including the Buddhist god, Magoraga, but the
further Buddhism moved from its Hindu roots and the more philosophical it
became the less room there was for any god, much less a serpent god. However, we
do have this one story: After his period of sitting under the Bo tree [ or Bodhi tree
= Tree of Enlightenment] he sat for seven days under a great banyan tree. Then he
left that tree and went to a tree called 'The Tree of the Serpent King, Muchalinda.'
Muchalinda is a huge cobra who dwelt in a hole amongst the tree roots. As the
Buddha meditated, unmindful of his surroundings, a large storm arose.

Muchalinda crept out of his hole wrapped himself seven times around the Buddha,
and with his great hood, kept his head dry. The serpent represents a reconciliation
between antagonistic principles. It symbolizes the life force that motivates birth
and rebirth, and the concept of savior.

Even in the extremely ascetic off-shoot from Hinduism, the Jains have a serpent
tradition. The founder of Jainism, Nataputta Vardhamana earned his honorific
title Mahavira [or "Great Man"] by overcoming a great serpent who guarded the
ford which Mahavira saw as " The Way".

One final look in Asia before we leave. In Cambodia [ Kampuchea] we have the
legend that the kingdom was founded by a serpent king [ or serpent kings]. I have
not been able to research this to any depth as yet. We do have temple statuary and
art at Angkor Wat showing figures with serpents.

Also, when the god Indra installed Duttabaung upon the golden throne as king of
Burma he insisted that he take as one of his two queens, the Nagini Besandi, one of
the Nagas or divine serpent spirits.

AUSTRALIA:

Our final continent to be examined for the divine serpent is Australia. Australian
aborigines have lived on this continent for more than 50,000 years according to
most anthropologists. In that time they have had little or no contact with peoples
from the 'outside world'. Yet, here too, we find a divine reptile. The Rainbow
snake, variously named: Julungul, Galeru, Ungur, Wonungur, Worombi,
Yurlungeur, Kalseru, Langal, Ungud, Wullunqua or Muit. Depending upon which
aboriginal tribe one contacted, was a character in the 'Dreamtime'. He was the
creator of many of the things which are found in the landscape of the Australian
outback.

The story is that in the beginning the earth was flat, formless and gray. The
Rainbow Serpent wound his way over the surface of the land and his body pushed
up mountains and dug paths for rivers. He was the biggest of all of the Dreamtime
beings, all other creatures stayed well away from him. When he tired of shaping
the earth, he dragged his body into a water hole and sank into its depths.

"Dreamtime" or Alchera, is the name given to that time also called the ' time
when', at the beginning of time, before time really was counted, back when
everything was created, when men and animals could converse, and when the gods
walked the earth.

The Rainbow Serpent is one of the most powerful mythological figure for all
aboriginal people throughout Australia. Characteristics of the rainbow serpent
may vary from group to group and tribe to tribe, but the significance of the
serpent is never questioned. Aboriginal people today respect and are the
caretakers of the sacred sites where the rainbow serpent is said to reside. Often
these sites are considered taboo, or too sacred for normal activities.

One tale tells of the time that the great serpent traveled through Australia, looking
for his tribe. He traveled from North to South until he reached Cape

York. Goorialla, which was the name of this rainbow serpent, created animals,
plant life and all natural features of the earth.

There is a snake important in the rituals surrounding the making of a medicine

man or shaman among the aborigine. Since the key perquisite to becoming a
shaman is to meet death and to return, able to speak to the god or gods, this ritual
is important. The postulant is mourned as dead by his tribe. He goes to a water
hole where two shamans cover his eyes and throw him into the ' jaws of the
serpent' which swallows him.

The postulant remains in the serpent's belly for an indefinite time. Finally the
other shamans bring two kangaroo rats as an offering to the serpent, whereupon
the serpent ejects the postulant. This ceremony represents death and rebirth and
was essential to becoming a shaman. The serpent was seen as a divine spirit,
cooperating with mankind to make life better.

Mircea Eliade states that :" the ritual swallowing by the Snake is to be interpreted
as a return to the womb- on the one hand because the Snake is often described as
female, on the other, because entering the belly of the divine also carries a
symbolism of return to embryonic state. ….It represents not so much a ritual death
followed by resurrection as a complete regeneration of the initiate through his
gestation and birth by the Great Mother" .[ Rites and Synbols of Initiation].

The hermaphrodite serpent aboriginal god, Ungud. of Northwest Australia is

associated with this ceremony, specifically with the erection of the medicine man.

There is also a great snake worshipped by the Kabi people of Queensland. This
snake called Dhakhan, appears as a rainbow with an end in each waterhole.

We have other snake gods in Australia. Bobbi-Bobbi is one of the ancient gods of
the Binbinga people of Northern Australia. Bobbi-Bobbi once sent a number of
flying foxes for men to eat, but these bats escaped. So the snake-god, underground,
watching, threw one of his ribs up, where men caught it as a boomerang. They
could use this serpent-generated weapon to catch game, and so be fed.

Ulanji is the divine snake ancestor of the Binbinbea people of the same area. And
Yorlunger is the great copper python of the Murngin people of Northern Australia.
Yorlunger's voice is the thunder, and his honor title is "Great Father". He is the
center of a fertility cult, and the initiation from boy to man includes being
swallowed and disgorged by Yorlunger. The Maori have a father god, who is also
chief of all the reptile gods who bears the name Tu-Te-Wehiwehi. This god is the
most important god in the Maori pantheon.
We have, obviously, merely scratched the surface in our quest for the divine
serpent. The road ahead may be longer, and more difficult than the road so far
traveled. But, for now, it is time again to stop writing and begin research. There is
a whole world of sea serpents, for example which needs to be plumbed.