Snakes in mythology 4270223 198188340 2008-03-14T13:41:56Z Buxbaum666 5131712 Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/209.80.153.114|209.80.153.114]] identified as [[WP:VAND|vandalism]] to last revision by [[User:From-cary|From-cary]]. using [[WP:TWINKLE|TW]] '''[[Snakes]]''' were central to many [[mythology|mythologies]] because of their perceived quality of being both familiar and exotic. The behaviour of snakes and their facial features (e.g. the unblinking, lidless eyes) seemed to imply that they were intelligent, that they lived by reason and not instinct, and yet their thought-processes were as alien to humans as their ways of movement. In some cultures snakes were fertility symbols, for example the [[Hopi]] people of [[North America]] performed an annual snake dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth (a Sky spirit) and Snake Girl (an Underworld spirit) and to renew [[fertility]] of [[Nature]].During the dance, live snakes were handled and at the end of the dance the snakes were released into the fields to guarantee good crops. In other cultures snakes symbolised the [[umbilical cord]], joining all humans to [[Mother Earth]]. The [[Great Goddess]] often had snakes as her [[familiars]] - sometimes twining around her sacred staff, as in ancient [[Crete]] - and they were worshipped as guardians of her [[Sacred Mysteries|mysteries]] of [[birth]] and regeneration. ==Snakes and [[immortality]]== Some cultures regarded snakes as [[Immortality|immortal]] because they appeared to be reincarnated from themselves when they sloughed their skins. Snakes were often also associated with immortality because they were observed biting their tails to form a circle and when they coiled they formed spirals. Both circles and spirals were seen as symbols of [[eternity]]. The circle was particularly important to [[Dahomey]]an myth where the snake-god Danh circled the world like a belt, corsetting it and preventing it from flying apart in splinters. In [[ancient Egypt]], the snake biting its tail symbolised the [[sea]] as the eternal ring which enclosed the world. ==Snakes and [[creation (theology) |creation]]== Snakes were a common feature of many [[creation myth]]s, for example many peoples in [[Africa]] and [[Australia]] had myths about a [[Rainbow Serpent|Rainbow Snake]], which was either [[Mother Earth]] herself giving birth to all animals or a water-god whose writhings created rivers, creeks and oceans. In [[History of India|ancient India]]n myth, the drought-serpent [[Ahi (Hinduism)|Ahi]] or [[Vritra]] swallowed the [[primordial ocean]] and did not release all created beings until [[Indra]] split the serpents stomach with a [[thunderbolt]]. In another myth, the creator [[Brahma]] slept on the coils of the world-serpent [[Shesha]] (or '''[[Ananta]] the endless'''; a part of [[Vishnu]], the child of the primordial waters). Shesha in turn was supported on [[Kurma]] (another part of Vishnu) and when Kurma moved, Shesha stirred and yawned and the gaping of its jaws caused [[earthquakes]]. [[Greek mythology|Greek cosmological myths]] tell of how [[Ophion]] the snake incubated the primordial egg from which all created things were born. In [[Egyptian mythology|Egyptian myth]], the state of existence before creation was symbolised as [[Amduat]], a many-coiled serpent from which [[Ra]] the [[Sun]] and all of creation arose, returning each night and being reborn every morning. ==Snakes and the [[underworld]]== Snakes were regularly regarded as guardians of the Underworld or messengers between the Upper and Lower worlds because they lived in cracks and holes in the ground. The [[Gorgons]] of Greek myth were snake-women (a common hybrid) whose gaze would turn flesh into stone. In [[Indian mythology|Indian myth]] [[Naga (mythology)|nagas]] and naginis were human-headed snakes whose kings and queens lived in jewel-encrusted underground or underwater paradises and who were perpetually at war with [[Garuda]] the Sun-bird. In [[Nordic mythology|Nordic myth]], [[evil]] was symbolised by the serpent [[Nidhogg]] (the 'Dread Biter') who coiled around one of the three roots of [[Yggdrasil]] the Tree of Life, and tried to choke or gnaw the life from it. Similarly, in Egyptian myth every morning the serpent [[Aapep]] (symbolising [[chaos]]) attacked the Sunship (symbolising order). Aapep would try to engulf the ship and the sky was drenched red at [[dawn]] and [[dusk]] with its blood as the Sun defeated it. In ancient Slavic paganism a deity by the name of Volos presided over the underworld. He is almost always portrayed as a serpent or dragon depending on the particular myth. The underworld was part of a mythical world tree. The roots of this tree (usually growing in water) were guarded by Volos the serpent God. The idea of snake-people living below the Earth was prominent in [[American mythology|American myth]]. The [[Aztec]] underworld, [[Mictlan]], was protected by python-trees, a gigantic alligator and a snake, all of which spirits had to evade by physical ducking and weaving or cunning, before they could start the journey towards immortality. In [[North America]], the Brule [[Sioux]] people told of three brothers transformed into [[rattlesnake]]s which permanently helped and guided their human relatives. The [[Pomo]] people told of a woman who married a rattlesnake-prince and gave birth to four snake-children who freely moved between the two worlds of their parents. The [[Hopi]] people told of a young man who ventured into the underworld and married a snake-princess. Amongst the [[Navajo people|Navajo]] people is a tale of Glispa, a girl returned with magical healing lore after spending two years with the Snake People by the Lake of Emergence in the underworld. Healing and snakes were also associated in ancient Greek myth with [[Aesculapius]], whose snake-familiars would crawl across the bodies of sick people asleep at night in his shrines and lick them back to health. ==Snakes and [[water]]== Snakes were also commonly associated with water especially myths about the primordial ocean being formed of a huge coiled snake as in [[Ahi (Hinduism)|Ahi]]/[[Vritra]] in early Indian myth and [[Jormungand]] in [[Nordic mythology|Nordic myth]]. Sea monsters lived in every ocean from the seven-headed crocodile-serpent [[Leviathan]] of [[Hebrew mythology|Hebrew myth]] to the sea-god Koloowisi of the [[Zuni]] people of North America and the Greek monster [[Scylla]] with twelve snake-necks. In some cultures, eels (which spend their early lives in freshwater before returning to the sea as adults) were regarded as magical creatures. Rivers and lakes often had snake-gods or snake-guardians including Untekhi the fearsome water-spirit of the [[Missouri River]]. Until recently, some northern European communities held '''well-dressing''' ceremonies to appease the snake-spirits which lived in village wells and told legends of saints defeating malevolent lake-snakes e.g. [[Saint George]] killing a maiden-devouring serpent or [[Saint Columba]] lecturing the [[Loch Ness Monster]] which then stopped eating humans and became shy of human visitors. Carved stones depicting a seven-headed [[Cobra]] are commonly found near the sluices of the ancient irrigation [[tank]]s in [[Sri Lanka]]; these are believed to have been placed as guardians of the water.[http://www.pdn.ac.lk/acfmx/file%201.pdf] ==Snake-gods== The anthropomorphic basis of many myth-systems meant snake-gods were rarely depicted solely as snakes. Exceptions to this were the [[Fiji]]an creator-god Ndengei, the dozen creator-gods of the [[Solomon Islands]] (each with different responsibilities), the Aztec Mother Goddess [[Coatlicue]], and the [[Voodoo]] snake-spirits [[Damballah]], Simbi and Petro. Snake-gods were more often portrayed as hybrids or [[Shapeshifting|shape-shifters]]; for example, North American snake-spirits could change between human and serpentine forms whilst keeping the characteristics of both. The most important American snake-god was the Aztec spirit of intelligence and the wind, [[Quetzalcoatl]] ('''Plumed Serpent'''), who was balanced by the evil spirit of sacrifice, the Serpent of Obsidian Knives which was one of the four pillars supporting the sky. In each case, the association with snakes was based on imagery rather than snake-like qualities. The [[Maya civilization|Mayan]] sky-goddess was a common attribute<!-- unsure of meaning -->. However, in her case, the snakes leaned into her ears and whispered the secrets of the universe (i.e. the secrets of herself). In Indian myth, [[Shiva]] had a cobra coiled on his head and another at rest on his shoulder, ready to strike his enemies. Egyptian myth has had several snake-gods, from the 'coiled one' Mehen who assisted [[Ra]] in fighting [[Aapep]] every day to the two-headed [[Nehebkau]] who guarded the underworld. ==Snakes and [[wisdom]]== Snakes were associated with wisdom in many mythologies, perhaps due to the appearance of pondering their actions as they prepare to strike, which was copied by [[Medicine man|medicine men]] in the build-up to [[prophecy]] in parts of West Africa. Usually the wisdom of snakes was regarded as ancient and beneficial towards humans but sometimes it could be directed against humans. In [[East Asia]] snake-dragons watched over good harvests, rain, fertility and the cycle of the seasons, whilst in ancient Greece and India, snakes were considered to be lucky and snake-amulets were used as talismans against evil. In northern Europe and West Asia, snakes were associated with healing whilst in parts of South Asia, snakes are regarded as possessing [[aphrodisiac]] qualities. Greek myth held that people could acquire second hearing and second sight if their ears or eyes were licked by a snake. [[Tiresias]] gained a dual male-female nature and an insight into the supernatural world when he killed two snakes which were coupling in the woods. Hebrew myth relates that in the [[Garden of Eden]], the [[Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil]] had a snake-guardian; a story which was extended into the corruption of [[Adam and Eve|Eve]] in Judaic and Christian teachings and has led to the common perception in the West that humans and snakes were eternal opponents - a view shared by few myth-systems across the world. In the state of Kerala, India, snake shrines occupy most households. Snakes were called upon by the creator of Kerala, Parasurama, to make the saline land fertile. The Mannarasala Shri Nagaraja Temple is one of the main centres of worship. The presiding deity here is Nagaraja - a five-headed snake god born to human parents as a blessing for their caretaking of snakes during a fire. It is believed that Nagaraja left his earthly life and took Samadhi but still resides in a chamber of the temple. ==See also== * [[Aapep]] * [[Ahi (Hinduism)|Ahi]]/[[Vritra]] * [[Atum]] * [[Bobbi-Bobbi]] * [[Illuyankas]] * [[Leviathan]] * [[Jormungand]] * [[Tefnut]] * [[Serpent (symbolism)]] ==References== {{Unreferenced|date=March 2007}} [[category:legendary serpents]] [[category:dragons]] [[Category:Snakes]]