serpents, snakes, dragons, reptiles

I am noticing a lot of conflicting information about the role of scaly beasts in mythology and nwo theories. The western world seems to see them as evil, while the eastern world (particularly the chinese) see them as life bringing sources of wisdom.

I have seen theories associating the serpent with woman, volcanic activity, satan, and the feathered serpent of south american legend. As well as being race memories of dinosaurs.

Please post all info here

Have to agree with you arc!

Lets take some examples:

In Ancient Egypt, Ra, the sun god was portrayed by the symbol of an entwined snake.
He was a very powerful god and feared during the night.

Hathor, goddess of childbirth and said to be the wife and sister of Ra. She is represented by a horned cow and is said to have been able to seduce men into joining her worhip and bed!

Thats why, if you don't like another woman, she is called a cow!!

Saying that, many people believe that certain animals have connections with their gods and worship them so, why should we take the crap out of their beliefs?

While reading this post i came up with the best dipiction of mythical creatures to be used for todays conflicts!

If you know the story of Bellerophon and Chimera, then you'll know what i'm talking about, if not, then here is a small recap:

Bellerophon was a greek prince who became a great hero because of his duty to the gods. One night, he was summoned by Apollo and asked to complete one task before he left for his wife back in Athens.

His task was to kill a beast roaming the countryside near Carthridge. The beast had a head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent. She spat flames from her mouth and venom from her tail.

The god Apollo sent him Zeus' winged horse, Pegasus, to help him and off they went!

After many attempts at trying to kill it with blows to the head and arrows, he left and hid in the cave until daybreak. Hephaestus, blacksmith of the gods, came to him in a dream and gave him and idea to destroy the Chimera.

All that night, Bellerophon cast molton metal into a special spear and sword and made metal lumps for his second assault.

The next day, he flew out on Pegasus and attacked the beast, a single slice of his sword cut off the head of the serpent tail and he thrust his spear into it's mouth, coating the blade with venom. He then repeatedly stabbed the monster and threw the metal lumps down its gaping throat. He knew that the monster breathed fire and when he came in close, it tried to fry him and chocked on the melting metal, soon dying when she leaped into the ocean.

This is Mel Brooks ending, my fingers are getting tired!!

Went back to Cathridge, found his wife in bed with 2 others, was outcast from his palace and died from a massive bang to the head by sleeping under the skeleton hull of the Argo!

Nice one...save the place and get killed by a piece of wood!!!

I was getting carried away from the main subject there!!

Think of America as Bellerophon and Iraq as Chimera!!

Lets just hope that the ending doesn't happen?



[Edited on 15-3-2003 by RavenStar]

Yeah, it doesn't seem too logical, does it? In Europe & America wolves have suffered from religious persecution too...And yet, where do you think that domesticated dogs came from?

Cats have also been persecuted in the name of religion too, even though they were treated as sacred animals in ancient Egypt. Yet Christianity linked cats to satan & witchcraft & parts of the world *still* reel from that blow.

There's similar examples of such religious persecution on particular animal species all over the world...And yet the same animals are considered sacred in diffent cultures as well. Look at the difference between how the common cow is treated in India & the tribal herders of Southern Africa compared to how the rest of the world treats them.

As far as trying to *understand* how animals have been persecuted & for what reasons, I'll never get it...

Many past civilisations viewed the serpent as a source of Wisdom. Certainly the Greek image of the intertwined serpents around the staff of Hermes illustrates this.

The feathered serpent is one of the most venerable images in the whole corpus of mesoamerican art and to explain it fully would require a whole book. It appears in all cultures from the Olmec to the Aztec. It probably carried many different meanings in different contexts. One can only speculate. It does not mean that mesoamericans worshiped serpents. The temple it appears on was named the Temple of Quetzalcoatl in the first years of this century when these figures were first uncovered. Quetzalcoatl, as a Nahuatl word (the language of the Aztecs) means literally "feathered serpent". The term has Aztec references both to the planet Venus, a supernatural associated with the planet, with wind, and with a number of other things, and to a mythological human who was a Toltec ruler. We do not know what the Teotihuacan people called it. As part of a double-headed image it may refer to the Milky Way or to the zodiac.


The Aztecs reported that the source of this doctrine of non-violence and cosmic gnosis was a god-king known as Quetzalcoatl - " the plumed serpent ". He had ruled they said , in a remote golden age , having come to mexico from a far-off land with a group of companions . He had taught , quite specifically , that living things were not to be harmed and that human beings were never to be sacrificed , but only " fruits and flowers of the season ".

His cult was absorbed with the mysteries of life beyong death and he was said to have made a journey to the underworld and to have returned to tell the tale ."

"What makes Feathered Serpent a king is his determination to alter the course of his existence, to initiate a journey to which he is forced only by inner necessity. He is Sovereign because he obeys his own law instead of that of others; he is the source and origin of movement." - Laurette Sejourne

Certainly the ancient Egyptians also vererated the serpent in the form of the cobra, that adorned the Pharoah's headress.

So many cultures have, and still do, worship the serpent image that this could easily be a study within itself.

Interesting that Christianity equates the serpent with Satan and therefore considers it an evil thing.

Personally, I am terrified of snakes and detest the sight of them. However, that doesn't stop me from exploring what, and how, the serpent image has always been so significant to many cultures.

Deep

First chapter of Genesis, the serpent is evicted from the Garden of Eden. This may be read to mean that serpent worship was overthrown.

Western culture, Christian, Jewish and Moslem, is derived from a common source. These religions, and the cultures that derived from them, have Genesis in common. In Genesis the serpent was the bad guy. Ergo, half the world hates, fears, loathes, despises and reviles reptiles.

I think that this particular incident is especially important. The Garden of Eden is like Waco. Everyone has got a different story.

Try again reasearcher, the "Genesis" story began in Sumer and was passed down with the Jews as they migrated from mesopotamia before they ever were Jews. Has nothing to do with casting out "serpent worship".

This actually is one of the points for Sitchen's theory, that serpents mean an actual "people", Sitchen feels it was aliens but whatever.

I can't say for certain so will someone tell us all if the Sumers had any form of "Serpent" worship, and then "cast it out" or such, thus shunning serpent worship?