05/15/2017 at 08:13
Hello dear friends!
For man, the snake has always been considered a zone heightened danger and close attention. Perhaps this is due to human, whose roots may go back to the previous ones, or her composure. But many earthlings are terrified of reptiles!
But one thing creature, and completely different - the symbol of the tailed one, which is able to work miracles! The snake is also a symbol of Feng Shui, which has an amazing and extremely versatile meaning.
Snakes have long symbolized the presence of wisdom, knowledge, but besides this, they have always been compared with longevity, eternal youth and the ability to resurrect.
What secrets does he keep totem sign? What story is hidden in the guise of a beautiful creature? And moreover, how do the peoples of the world relate to the image of a snake? About this and not only in today's article!
Where can you most often find snake symbol ? The most popular images of "cold-blooded" symbols are figurines, talismans and paintings that convey the entire supply of the sign's energy potential.
They can be made from various materials: wood, metal, stone, glass and even polymer clay! It is worth noting that this can be a handmade pillow or a children's toy that harmoniously fits into the interior space of your home.
What is the symbol of the mysterious snake capable of? Before answering this question, I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the meaning of the sign and understand the nature of its influence on space.
Meaning of different symbols
Exist different forms characters, for examplea snake swallowing its own tail.The fact is that the serpent means the eternal cycle. He has hisits ancient name Ouroboros, coiled snakeand biting his own tail. Its purpose is to show a person that being has certain cycles of its development and that everything is endlessly repeated.
There is no end as such! Creation passes to destruction, life - is replaced by death. But death is physical plane- this is a birth on a subtle plane (as well as a birth on the physical - probably resembles death on the subtle ones ...). Can't say for sure...
But Kundalini is the most powerful life energy that rises along the spine and is depicted as two intertwining snakes. These two snakes symbolize energy channels that cross. And where they intersect, there are chakras (7 main and a huge number of smaller ones).
This energy is in each of us, but only in a dormant form. But in order to awaken an avalanche of flow, you need to work on your beginning and physical shell, practicing sacred yoga, cleansing the body of toxins and methods for clearing the mind of unnecessary, I would say, false beliefs.
The serpent is a multifunctional symbol (like all symbols in general!)! He manages to combine both male and female, and androgenic beginning. Also refers to the number of male totem signs expressing strength. He is often ranked among the phallic symbols, calling him "the husband of all the fair sex."
If we consider a cold-blooded creature as a killing machine, then we can attribute it to the herald of death and extermination, but if we think of it as a skin-changing creature, we can find subtext in the form of transformation of the living, resurrection and life.
When a person uses symbolism correctly, understanding its original duality, he can count on the acquisition of certain benefits and the strongest protection. The snake can become for you both a symbol of universal good and a sign of global evil. The choice is yours, but I still advise you to choose the positive!
In medieval Christian art, the symbol of a snake nailed to cross . This frightening image is not as violent as it seems. The sign is fraught with a certain message, which contains a key meaning - the resurrection and the superiority of the spirit over primitive flesh.
Caduceus
Caduceus is a symbol of total mediation and agreement in agreement. It can be found in the form of an image, an emblem of trade. But if you look into the past, then the caduceus was an integral attribute of the messenger, which managed it for me to ensure the safety of the owner.
If we consider the symbol from the point of immersion in atm about realm of ancient traditions,then there the caduceus transformed into rod of Hermes , the messenger of the gods themselves! He could give people prophetic dreams and act as a symbol that unites the world.
At first, it looked like an olive branch, with two shoots on top, which was richly decorated with garlands. But later the sign was presented in the form 2 bound snakes that wrap their body around a rod on both sides.Over time, it was decorated with wings, to give Hermes the speed of movement with the mark "participation in heaven." The Caduceus of Hermes also symbolizes the Kunadalini energy and spiritual awakening.
It is worth noting that the caduceus has more than one interpretation. There is a staff of Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing, which is also surmounted by a representative of the cold-blooded, wrapped around bowl . He gained universal fame, because to this day he is a symbol of the doctor and medicine.
The symbol of the snake among the peoples of the Earth
For example, in Africa, snakes form the emblem of power, also symbolize the chariot of immortality and the embodiment of the dead. Among the American Indians, this creature was considered mythical, gifted with the power of creation. She was called the mistress of lightning, the mistress of the rain, the spear of the God of War himself.
The Aborigines of Australia consider the presence of a snake to be a sign from above about an upcoming pregnancy. But the Aztecs managed to combine a snake and a feathered one. For them, it is a symbol of the Sun, harmony, the movement of wind, water and the space enveloping the Earth.
The famous Wheel of Samsara, decorated inside the circle with a snake. she personifies malice, although sometimes she can be associated with the Buddha himself, taking on the form naga (snakes). And when sores, famine and devastation come into this world, it is the serpent that will heal the earthly people.
In China, the reptile is one of the five poisonous creatures. It is for this reason that she rarely differs from the dragon they are accustomed to. And if this happened, then the only thing that it can symbolize is a negative, evil and rather deceitful phenomenon.
Christianity attributed the sign to ambivalent symbols. That is, it is Christ, ascended on the Tree of Life to atone for human sins, while combining wisdom and virtue, as well as the personification of the devil!
The image of a snake can also be found in Egypt. Most often they were applied to the sarcophagus. The serpent Apol, belonging to the forces of darkness and gloom, drank water from the fertile Nile, in the hopeoppose god at Ra, who emerged victorious from battle every night.
The sign of the sacred snake Uraeus is a sacred, Egyptian symbol, considered the embodiment of the great deity Atum.It was applied to the headdresses of the pharaohs and was a symbol of their power.
But the snake symbol arose in civilizations for a reason! Already in ancient times, snakes were in great reverence. And the Atlanteans who escaped the catastrophe, 12.5 thousand years ago, spread this symbol and others among almost all the peoples of the Earth!
On this I will put an end!
See you on the blog, bye bye!
In various mythological and folklore traditions, snakes are the guardians of the sources of life and immortality, as well as the highest spiritual values, symbolized by hidden treasures. The snake can represent the forces of evil and destruction. Lying in wait for travelers in the desert, she is a symbol of deceit. In accordance with the general symbolism of the desert as the space of the spirit and the abode of the righteous, it is associated with the devilish temptation.
The Gnostic Ouroboros, a snake biting its own tail, illustrates the connection between the image of the snake and the symbolism of the circle and emphasizes the duality of the latter; like the Chinese symbol of the duality of being, the yang-yin circle, it is divided into two halves - dark and light.
The "energetic" aspect of the image is most vividly illustrated by the yogic concept of Kundalini, the snake in the human body. Kundalini, curled up in a ring and staying at the bottom of the spine - an analogue of the world vertical, as a result of special practices, awakens and rushes up through the chakras until it reaches the highest of them, located at the crown; at this moment the absolute is revealed to man. Perhaps this concept symbolically conveys the idea of the need to spiritualize the material principle.
Among other symbols with which the snake is associated is the world tree. The biblical tree of the knowledge of good and evil with a serpent lurking near it grows on the soil of a deep mythological tradition and ascends to the cosmic vertical of the world tree, symbolizing, like the serpent, the marriage union of earth and sky. The tree corresponds to the masculine, while the snake to the feminine; in biblical mythology, they are images of Adam and Eve, respectively. Caduceus snakes, because of their symmetrical arrangement, are, first of all, a symbol of the balance of the two principles of being.
In many religions of the world, snakes act as the embodiment of deities and an object of worship. The cult of snakes is known among the peoples of pre-Columbian America. Among the Aztecs, the snake becomes a symbol of strength, wisdom, earth and time. Serpents were revered animals in Hinduism and Buddhism, but their meaning is expressed ambivalently.
In India, snakes were associated with sea waters. According to Hindu beliefs, the cosmic serpent Shesha sustains the earth; the fire it spews destroys the world at the end of each kalpa; Shesha Ananta ("infinite") is also a symbol of infinity. Serpents (nagas) were considered the guardians of the teachings of the Buddha; at the same time, a green snake is depicted in the center of the wheel of being as a symbol of anger that prevents liberation from the chain of dependent origin. The headdresses of the rulers of the Indian area were in the form of a coiled snake, which suggests a connection between this image and the symbolism of power. In Mithraism, the snake symbolizes the element of earth; in Zoroastrianism it is a demonic being.
Vishnu on the Serpent Shesha
Among the ancient Phoenicians, a West Semitic people, the snake was considered the personification of the sky god Taavt and a symbol of the universe and was depicted biting its tail; perhaps initially it was presented as a cosmic serpent like the Scandinavian Midgard, and later turned into an emblem of eternity, the cyclical development of the world (Ouroboros - a Gnostic snake devouring its own tail).
The bronze serpent in the Bible, which healed those bitten by snakes, reflects the ambivalence of the symbolism of the snake, associated, on the one hand, with fertility and rebirth, healing, and on the other hand, with destruction and evil.
AT Ancient Egypt the serpent Apop represents the forces of evil and darkness; his image is found on sarcophagi. In the representations of the ancient Egyptians, he drinks all the water from the underground Nile and confronts the sun god Ra, who fights with him every night and defeats him. In the guise of the serpent Uraeus, the Egyptian primal deity Atum will return at the end of the world to the chaos from which it arose; the sign of the sacred snake Urey was a symbol of the pharaoh and was an element of the headdress of the rulers.
In ancient mythology, the snake was a symbol of Asclepius, huge hand snakes lived in temples dedicated to him and were considered his incarnations. Athena had one of the attributes of a snake and was considered the patroness of snakes, also (in the early stages of the cult) she herself was sometimes identified with a snake. The ancient Italians dedicated the snake to Juno and considered it a symbol of the fertilizing principle.
In the Christian tradition, the positive aspect of the symbolism of the serpent (wisdom) was associated with Christ. However, the image of the serpent turns out to be predominantly rethought in terms of the personification of cosmic evil and correlated with Satan - on the basis of a well-known biblical episode. Also, the serpent is steadily associated with the feminine and with sexuality. According to Jewish legend, the seduction of Eve by the serpent was precisely sexual seduction; in the tradition of asceticism, the formula “an ancient serpent played with me” appears, conveying sexual temptation.
In Scandinavian mythology, the image of the world serpent Jörmungand (“giant staff”, or Midgardsormr “middle worm”) arose; this is a chthonic animal, the offspring of the evil god Loki, which “was thrown into the sea surrounding the earth, and there it grew so huge that it now surrounds the earth, biting its tail” (“Younger Edda”). Probably, it was originally perceived as a “support "of the world (as evidenced by its second name).
Common to many traditions is the motif of the struggle between the eagle and the serpent, representing the top and bottom of the world's vertical. In contrast to this, in Nietzsche the eagle and the snake are the animals of Zarathustra; symbolizing the unity of the two principles of being, which were traditionally divorced.
A serpent, a snake, a symbol represented in almost all mythologies, associated with fertility, earth, female productive power, water, rain, on the one hand, and a hearth, fire (especially heavenly), as well as a male fertilizing principle, on the other. Images related to the end of the Upper Paleolithic, and the reflection of the cult of snakes in the religions of the peoples of Africa, Asia, America, Australia, allow the composition of the "" idea of the early stages of development of the image of 3mea. Originally mythological 3mei appearance was close enough to ordinary snakes, differing from them significantly large sizes. In the future, the image of 3mea acquires some characteristic features of animals that are opposed to it in the most ancient mythological plots. Thus, the well-known opposition of snakes and birds in the art of the Upper Paleolithic, which was continued in Early Eurasian art (birds and snakes as animals of the Upper and nether worlds,) and reflected in later mythological plots (the enmity of the Garuda bird with the Naga Serpents in Hindu mythology, etc.), is replaced by the image of a flying, winged or “feathered” (as in ancient Mexico) Dragon Snake, which combines the signs of a snake and a bird ; the juxtaposition of the symbols of the 3mei and the horse, characteristic of some Upper Paleolithic images, later leads to the creation of the mythological image of the 3mei - a dragon with a horse's head and a snake's body. The idea of beings with a snake body and human head developed in Hindu (nagas), Elamite and some other mythologies. For Japanese and a number of Indian traditions, the image of a horned 3mey is characteristic. In the archaic cosmogonic myths of Eurasia and America, 3mea brings about the separation and connection of heaven and earth. According to the myths of the Indians of Eastern Bolivia, the sky once fell to the ground, but the 3mei, entwined around them, again separated them and continues to keep them separated. A similar motif in Aztec mythology is associated with Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, who turned into two 3mei in order to break into two parts a gluttonous earthly monster (the ancient Mexican analogue of the Mesopotamian Tiamat), floating in the neck in the original ocean. From one part of the monster they made the earth, from the other - the sky. Quetzalcoatl floated on the water on a raft made of snakes. In ancient Egypt, the image of a snake was attached to the forehead of the pharaoh as a sign of his reign in heaven and on earth.
The earliest cosmic image of the Heavenly 3mey is the symbol of the Rainbow Serpent, associated in Australia with fertility, the progenitor-earth and rain (and often opposed to fire and the sun). The symbol of the Rainbow Snake - the owner of the rain, drinking heavenly water (and thus sometimes causing innumerable disasters), is widespread both in the mythologies of the peoples of Southeast, East and South Asia (Rainbow Serpent, which, according to Munda mythology, stopped the fiery rain , sent by the creator to earth to exterminate people, etc.), and in Indian mythologies (3mei, left by his mother, ascended to heaven and turned into a Rainbow there; 3mei Boyusu, who appears in the form of a rainbow during the day, at night in the form black hole among the Milky Way, according to the myths of the Indians of the Amazon basin; two Twin Serpents in the myths of the Indians of Brazil, etc.). In the myths of the peoples of Africa, the Rainbow Serpent most often acts as an absorber of water, which sometimes fights with the son of the sun. The Egyptian myth about Apope, who drinks all the water of the underground Nile every night, is struck down for this by the sun god Ra, to this common African mythological motif. The same plot scheme, opposing 3mey as the embodiment of the elements of water and fire, underlies the Old Testament symbolism of 3mey, and is also reflected in the story of the Mahabharata about the struggle of the fire god AGNI with the Serpent. Takshakiya (AGNI sets fire to the Khandava forest seven times, where Takshaka and other Serpent Nagas live).
For Africa (including for Ancient Egypt), South Asia (in particular, India), Central Asia, including South Turkmenistan; for Australia, Oceania, Central and South America and a number of other regions also have in common the mythological motif of 3mey - the guardian of springs and reservoirs. According to the beliefs of some African tribes (Lake Victoria region), the water level in them depends on the sacred 3mei living in the rivers (cf. the corresponding representation in the Kashmiri medieval chronicle of Rajatarangini and others).
Ideas about the connection of 3mey with rain are reflected in the rites of honoring 3mey or sacrificing snakes during the rainy season (or waiting for rain during a drought) among many peoples of the world. These rites correspond to myths about the victory of a serpent fighter (in Indo-European mythology, often a thunder god) over a 3mey or a dragon, after which a thunderstorm, rain or flood begins (for example, in the ancient Peruvian myth about 3mey, who was killed by the three sons of the first man and vomited water that flooded the whole world).
The cult significance of 3mey as a symbol of fertility is one of the most characteristic features of the early mythological symbolism of the most ancient agricultural cultures of South-Eastern Europe of the 6th-4th millennium BC. e. Cult vessels and painted pottery with images of snakes (often two) are also characteristic of the cultures of Asia Minor (Hajilar) and Syria (Tel Ramad) of the 6th-5th millennium BC. e.
A possible continuation of the ancient Balkan snake cult (in connection with the goddess of fertility) are the early Cypriot and Cretan images of women (“priestesses”) with 3me. (most often two) in the hands, associated with other traces of the widespread cult of snakes as an attribute of the chthonic deities of fertility (as well as the goddesses of death) in the Aegean world. The Egyptian goddess of fertility and grain harvest Renenutet was depicted in the form of a cobra or a cobra-headed woman. The snake was one of the attributes of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena (cf. also the idea of 3mea as a symbol of wisdom among other peoples), a number of features of which go back to the Cretan-Mycenaean goddess with snakes.
According to ancient authors and archaeological data, in the Scythian-Iranian tradition, the idea of a goddess with snake legs and two snakes growing from her shoulders is known. Somewhat typologically similar are the Aztec names of the goddesses Coatlicue (in the Nahuatl language “dressed in a snake dress”, the chthonic deity of fertility), who walked along the mythical “Snake Hill”, and Chikomecoatl (in the Nahuatl language “nine snakes”).
The ancient Indian world 3mei (Shesha) was presented as holding the earth on itself. A similar cosmic function of the world 3mey is known in Scandinavian (3mey of Midgard - Ermungand, living in the ocean and encircling the whole earth) and Egyptian (3mey of Mekhent - Surrounding the Earth) mythologies. In many traditions, the chthonic nature of 3mey is reflected in its name, formed (as in the Slavic languages) from the name of the earth (Ethiopian, arwe medr "beast of the earth", Egyptian Sata "son of the earth" or "life of the earth" as descriptive designations of 3mey and etc.). In Egypt, the earth god Geb was sometimes depicted with the head of 3mea. The idea of riches or treasures that he protects in the ground or under the ground and can bring into the house (in Africa, India, among the Slavs, etc.) is also associated with the chthonic nature of 3mey. The chthonic features of the healing land are clearly seen in the image of the Greek god of healing Asclepius, who was represented as a snake (the snake was also an attribute of Asclepius). At the same time, the chthonic deity - 3mea is associated with the underground dwelling of the dead (the snake goddess Meritseger, "loving silence", in the Theban necropolis in Egypt).
If in archaic mythologies the role of the 3mea, which connects heaven and earth, is most often dual (he is both beneficent and dangerous), then in developed mythological systems (where the 3mea often wears the features of a dragon that outwardly differs from an ordinary snake), its negative side is often found first of all. role as the embodiment of the lower (water, underground or otherworldly) world; the connection of 3me with the feminine is then most often comprehended in the spirit of the motive of bringing a woman (girl) as a tribute to 3me. In the developed vertical three-term models of the world (such as the Sumerian, Indo-European and historically related to it ancient Germanic, Indo-Iranian, Slavic), the cosmic 3mei is confined to the bottom in opposition to the top and bottom: the Sumerian 3mei at the roots of the world tree, the ancient Indian " serpent of the depths”, identical in origin and name to the Greek Python and Slavic badnyak. The ancient image of 3mey near a tree (most often at its roots, as in the mythology of the Rig Veda and Edda, in Slavic folklore, etc.) acquires a negative meaning (sometimes in connection with the phallic symbolism of 3mey).
3mei, associated with the lower (water) world and the element hostile to man (forest), is often associated with other creatures that were considered hostile. So, twins, who were presented at the early stages of the development of twin myths as beings dangerous to humans, can be identified with 3me: in the Ngbandi language (Central Africa) ngo is a snake, a twin; u dan ( West Africa) twins contacted a black snake; among the Bamileke (Cameroon), at the birth of twins, they sacrifice to a toad and a snake.
In Germanic mythology, the 3mea ("worm") of the middle world, as the main embodiment of cosmic evil, plays a major role in the forthcoming death of the world. Similarly, in Egyptian eschatology, the primordial deity Atum at the end of the world must return in the form of the evil snake Uraeus to the chaos from which it once arose. In these eschatological motifs, one can see a rethinking of the archaic cosmogonic symbol 3my in the spirit of understanding 3my as the embodiment of a negative principle (cf. the role of 3my in the Old Testament story about the "fall").
The later stages of the evolution of the 3meus symbol include a negative rethinking of the 3meus image in Greek mythological ideas about the Lernean hydra with nine snake heads and snakes on the head of the Greek gorgon Medusa (and the corresponding Etruscan deity), etc., as well as the establishment of a connection between 3mea (as well as a dragon) with the king as a symbol of "water control"; cf. the ancient Khmer legend about the nightly connection of the king of Cambodia with the naga (snake) - the progenitor, on which the well-being of the country depends, similar ancient Chinese ideas, the name of the first god - the king of Aksum - Arwe (“serpent”), etc.
The use of the 3me symbol as a social classification (according to
the origin of the totemic) sign distinguishing the sacred king, characteristic of Ancient Egypt (the sign of the sacred snake Urey as a symbol of the pharaoh), the countries of the Indian area (headdresses in the form of a coiled snake among members of the royal family of Chhota Nagpur), the Inca kingdom (image of snakes on the coat of arms of the supreme Inca) .
In most of these cases, archaic totemic representations associated with 3me. king as a symbol of fertility, are rethought in the spirit of the ideology of the later "irrigation" societies, whose economy is based on artificial irrigation. In these cultures, images of the sacred 3mei are often placed near artificial reservoirs.
It is a cult custom to have a sacred snake in the house, royal palace or
The temple was preserved for a long time in the Mediterranean countries (including Greece and Rome). But in individual cases(e.g. in the ancient Hittite tradition) the symbol of 3mei coming to the palace or city is interpreted in a negative spirit. An example of rethinking archaic ideas is the story of the Brazilian Indian tribe of their Karyan about the anaconda, which was kept in a cage in the water and fed by a woman on the day when the patroness did not bring . meat, the snake ate it. The Indians killed the anaconda, after which the heavy rain(“At the same time, it rained, the wind-winner blew, the winner of the big snake-anaconda” Mythological ideas about the Serpent as a dangerous beginning find ritual correspondence in the rituals of treating snake bites (in Central India, the corresponding rituals are performed in front of the altar of the monkey god Hanuman) Conspiracies from snakes and their bites, dating back to ancient shamanic traditions, have been preserved by many peoples (including among the Eastern Slavs); the most archaic texts of conspiracies of this type (in particular, ancient Egyptian ones) contain direct references to the myth of the struggle of a snake fighter with 3mey .
The snake is one of the most important ancient symbols, surprisingly combining orpoMHoe a number of conflicting meanings. Many primitive peoples, who blessed this extraordinary mysterious creature, completely unlike any other terrestrial animal, and revered the snake as an ancient progenitor cBoero, made it the most powerful symbol of life and magical power, wisdom and divination, earth and fertility, patronage and protection, healing and renewal. Other peoples of antiquity, who experienced a panic fear of slippery, hissing poisonous hells, saw in them a frightening embodiment of danger and threat, the personification of darkness, chaos and death. The snake received the most negative assessment in Christianity.
The obsessive reptiles have always attracted the close attention of a person, excited his feverish imagination, aroused interest and curiosity, mixed with fear. About snakes
thousands of myths and legends were composed, and there is nothing surprising in this: no matter what feelings they inspire people with admiration and admiration or disgust and chilling horror, no one would be indifferent to them.
In the mythology of the ancients, snakes bred in incredible numbers: fantastic World snakes are found here, and fights in snake form, and guardian snakes, and totem snakes, and all kinds of snake-like monsters, like the Lernaean hydra, Scylla, snake-haired
gorgon, etc. rantian World Serpent, squeezing the whole world in the rings of its arms,
associated in myths with the support of the universe. The dual reputation of the snakes is clearly manifested already in this case: some of them act as helpers of demi-bovines, and others as their main opponents. In Hindu myths, the large snake Vasuki helps the boas in churning the World Ocean, the snake Ananta serves as a support for the demiur Vishnu, but Indra is forced to fight for the sun with the serpent Vritra, personifying primeval chaos. 
The theme of serpent fighting is characteristic not only of Indian mythology: the Slavic roman Perun defeats the monstrously Serpent Volos; The Egyptian solar forest Ra every night enters into single combat with the serpent Apep and, having overcome Bpara, makes the waters of the sources of the Nile drunk by him spew; and the Scandinavian thor, in the battle before the end of the world, kills the serpent Yermunand, but he himself suffers from the poison he vomits. The great fights themselves are not averse to getting into a snake skin, completely or only half: in the image of a snake in Egyptian mythology, the “mistress of fertility”, the “ruler of the bins” Renenutet and Nehebkau, guarding the entrance to the underworld, appear in the image of a snake, and in the myths of the Aztecs, a bean ¬Demiurr Quetzalcoatl "Feathered Serpent"). The serpent Kekrop, the patron of Attica, and the Scythian goddess of the land Api, whose legs and shoulders replace snakes, half retain their human appearance. However, the most original is the Chinese “Wriggling Serpent” Weishe, the lord of ropbi Jiuishan “ropa of Nine Doubts”). This is how the “Book of Rop and the Seas” describes this miracle-yudo: “There is a deity, Hero has a human face, the body of a snake. The body of ero is bifurcated like lobes, heads are on the right and left. It wears purple clothes and red caps."
In mythology, the snake can appear as a symbol of protection and protection. In many myths and fairy tales, snakes, more often Bcero cobras, guard caves with countless treasures. This story is connected with some ancient beliefs. One of them says that a precious stone is born in the snake's head, allowing it to live for about a thousand years. According to another legend, precious stones are nothing more than drops of frozen snake saliva. The Indian Har, a cobra, tending a scattering of sparkling gems, symbolizes the preservation of spiritual values. Hindus and Chinese believed that the guardian snake kills only rpex seekers of easy money, and it generously rewards virtuous people for purity of soul and selflessness.
The snake's ability to shed old skin has made it a symbol of rejuvenation and longevity, and the healing properties of snake venom have made it a modern emblem of Medicine. The prototype of the latter was a serpent wrapped around the staff of Asclepius, the speech god of healing. Two serpents wrap around the Cadyceum, the magic wand of the bora, the envoy of the repmeca. In the Old Testament, the Copper Serpent, made by Moses at the direction of the god Yahweh after the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, became a symbol of healing: in some miraculous way, the Copper Serpent healed people who were stung by poisonous snakes, crossing the Sinai desert that was teeming with them.
In the religion of many peoples of Asia, Africa and America, the snake acts as a totem animal. The Zulus believed that snakes were the incarnations of their long-dead ancestors. Special respect not
the Tian tribes of South and West Africa surrounded the Rantian pythons. They considered the killing of a python a terrible crime, for which a terrible punishment was imposed: those accused of this sacrilege were burned along with the house.
Progenitor and queen of all snakes North American Indians recognized the rattlesnake. The Indians worshiped the dangerous reptile in full confidence that it could send a fair wind or tame a storm.
The cult of snake-totems was most widespread among the ancients. The Scythians, for example, deified the already mentioned Api, the serpent progenitor of their people; the Chinese revered the snake-like deities Nuwa and Fuxi; the Koreans were kind in front of the big snake - the totem of Kuronya, etc.
In ancient times, sacred reptiles lived next to a person - it was believed that this provides the house with wealth and well-being. In addition to Toro, snakes also brought practical benefits by hunting mice. Mothers let their children play with indoor snakes, and in extreme heat, women used them as living air conditioners and left the house with a snake around their necks. Of course, all this applies to non-venomous species of snakes. Even in some European countries, such as Austria and Switzerland, people kept snakes in their homes, because they were convinced that the snake reliably guards the house from vapors and evil spirits.
The ancients dedicated many magnificent temples to the divine snakes: the rivers worshiped them in the temple of Asclepius; the Natchez Indians worshiped the snakes in the Temple of the Sun; the Prussians kept sacred snakes in the sanctuary of Potrimps, bores and springs. Among the Druids, even the very walls of the temples built in honor of the dying and resurrecting god writhed like snakes. Many ancient temples, adorned with amazing reliefs, are true masterpieces of architecture and sculpture. Thus, the reliefs of the ancient Indian sanctuary in the village of Sanchi depict many figurines of serpent worshipers, bowing respectfully before the five-headed serpent deity. These people are led by a raja or priest whose headdress is adorned with a five-headed serpent.
But enough praise for the divine serpents. Not all nations sang praises to them. In Babylonia, poisonous reptiles were perceived as the embodiment of evil and death; among the Iranian Mazdeists, the snake was associated with the gloomy Ahriman, and its appearance was regarded as the worst omen. In Tibetan Buddhism, the "green snake" personifies one of the most disgusting animal qualities inherent in man, hatred. In Christianity, the snake is a symbol of evil, sin, temptation and devilish deceit, and even Satan himself is referred to in the Bible as the “ancient snake.” 
In Western Folklore, the forked snake tongue is interpreted as the personification of monstrous slander, hypocrisy and lies. In Russian folklore, the Herative symbolism of the snake is even more pronounced. “Podkolnaya snake” personification of a dangerously hidden enemy; the snake, sniffing at the rpydi, is a bright symbol of the blackest ingratitude; The “green serpent” is the embodiment of the destructive demon of drunkenness, which takes possession of a person and poisons him with the poison of alcohol.
In Hindu and Buddhist iconography, sacred cobras are a symbol of protection. Usually they guard the rest of the resting hogs: Vishnu is depicted reclining in the ring of a sacred cobra, and the Buddha sits in the shadow of a fantastic cobra, which has opened its seven hoods over him.
The snake in the hands of the Cretan Mother Goddess represents the earth. The Aztec warrior Huitzilopochtli, seated on a rum ball in front of a tripod, holds a snake as a symbol of the magical powers that rule over life and death.
In Christian iconography, the snake appears, of course, in the darkest light. In the scene of the fall, the tempter serpent, identified with the devil himself, is the embodiment of universal evil, sin and deceit. The snake at the foot of the Cross is a symbol of original sin, redeemed by Christ on the cross. A snake is trampled by a deer or an elephant, it is held in cats or in its beak by an eagle, the Virgin Mary tramples on it with its feet - all these are Christian emblems of victory over evil. The poisonous snake is an attribute of several Christian saints. A black snake crawling out of the cup of the Evangelist John and from a loaf of St. Benedict, is an allerium of poison, with the help of which the enemies tried in vain to kill them. Another thing is the snakes of St. Patrick. Church tradition tells how this saint, who preached the Word of God in Ireland, turned all poisonous reptiles into stones by the power of his faith. Since then, not a single snake has been seen on the island. In connection with this legend, it would be useful to cite the testimony of the English traveler Andrew Burd (1490-1549), who left detailed description medieval Ireland: “Amazing things are happening in Ireland .... There you can not see any echidna, no snakes, no toads, no lizards and nothing like that. And I saw stones that had the shape and form of a snake and other poisonous joys. The people in those places say that these stones used to be hells, and that they were turned into stones by the will of God and the prayers of St. Patrick.
In the visual arts, the symbolism of the snake is extremely contradictory, since the artists endowed both negative and positive alleric characters with a snake appearance. The first are the personifications of two mortals rpexoB: envy and laziness. Envy has the snake as its main attribute, because it eats snake meat and exudes poison like a snake, and lies are depicted as a snake with a female head sticking out a deceitful forked tongue. However, as a symbol of wisdom, the snake is an attribute of Prudence. This tradition is based on the authority of the Evangelist Matthew, who instructed those who believe: "Be wise as serpents."
As a creature that never leaves the earth, the snake is an attribute of the allegorical figure of the Earth and the Greek goddess of earth and fertility, Demeter (Roman Ceres). Satyrs (Fauns) were sometimes depicted with snakes. The ominous shadow of a snake flickers in the death scenes of some legendary and historical characters: Eurydice, Cleopatra, Olera's Thing, etc.
In the history of ancient Egypt, a special place belongs to the uraeus, the sacred snake of the pharaoh, the main symbol of ero unlimited power over life and death. Urey made of gold and
enamel, adorned the headdress of the pharaoh, and in some cases, the ero beard.
The Koreans depicted fantastic fantastic snakes with four wings on the sides on the battle banners. The snakes on the flags symbolized magical powers giving the warriors victory.
The Scythians decorated their quivers, shields and armor with images of the serpent Api. The ancient historian Arrian described the curious military emblems of the Scythians, which were stuffed orpomic snakes sewn from colored patches and planted on long poles. When the Scythian cavalry swiftly attacked the enemy, these snakes, blown by the wind, wriggled as if alive and emitted a sharp whistle, acting on the psyche and frightening the enemy.
In ancient emblematics, the snake belongs to one of the most prominent places. The Eastern emblem of divine patronage depicted a snake wrapped around a solar disk, or a cobra with a lion's head. The snakes on the wands of the ancient Greek hogs, Asclepius and repMeca, served as the prototypes for two modern emblems: the first of them, depicting a snake wrapped around a bowl, is the emblem of medicine, the second, the caduceus of the bora Hermeca, is the emblem of trade.
The medieval emblem of victory over evil in the form of God's right hand, stretched out from a cloud and cutting a snake with a sword, was used centuries later by the guards of the Soviet military counterintelligence "Smersh" "Death to spies"), however, in a slightly modified version: God's right hand, for obvious reasons, from it was removed, leaving only a punishing sword that cuts the snake.
In the Middle Ages, the nostic emblem of Ouroboros acquired the most important significance - a snake that flashed into a ring and biting its own tail, a symbol of eternity and divine perfection. In medieval alchemy, the spiral-shaped emblem of a snake, harvesting upwards, was used, a symbol of the danger posed by poisonous arsenic vapors. 
In modern times, several more important "serpentine" emblems were born. Among them is a snake wrapping around an ear, the emblem of the plant protection service, as well as a snake on a bowl with a green twig growing from it against the background of a nuclear fish, an ecological emblem of protecting the environment from nuclear explosions.
In medieval European heraldry, the emblem of the right hand of God, cutting a snake, was most widely used. It was also reflected in the Russian heraldry. In Russian urban heraldry, the snake was used only as a “talking” emblem (for example, in the coat of arms of the Zmiev family, which depicts a golden crowned snake).
In the tribal emblems of the Russian nobility, the emblem of a snake is an extremely rare, almost exclusive phenomenon (the emblems of Cherkassky, for example, are decorated with two intertwined snakes).
Serpent, snake- a symbol presented in almost all mythologies, associated with fertility, earth, female productive power, water, rain, on the one hand, and the hearth, fire (especially heavenly), as well as the male fertilizing principle, on the other. Images relating to the end of the Upper Paleolithic and the reflections of the cult of snakes in the religions of the peoples of Africa, Asia, America, and Australia allow us to get an idea of the early stages of development of the image of the snake.
Initially, mythological snakes in appearance were quite close to ordinary snakes, differing from them in much larger sizes. In the future, the image of the snake acquires some characteristic features of animals that are opposed to it in the most ancient mythological subjects. For example, a flying, winged or "feathered" dragon serpent ( Quetzalcoatl among the Indians of Central America), combining the signs of a snake and a bird; Japanese and a number of Indian traditions are characterized by the image of a horned serpent.
AT In the archaic cosmogonic myths of Eurasia and America, the Serpent separates and unites heaven and earth. According to the myths of the Indians of Eastern Bolivia, the sky once fell to the ground, but the serpent that coiled around them again separated them and continues to keep them separated. A similar motif in Aztec mythology is associated with Quetzalcoatl (Quetzalcoatl) and Tezcatlipoca (Tezcatlipoca), who turned into two snakes in order to tear into two parts a gluttonous earthly monster (the ancient Mexican analogue of the Mesopotamian Tiamat), swimming in the original ocean. From one part of the monster they made the earth, from the other - the sky. Quetzalcoatl floated on the water on a raft made of snakes. In ancient Egypt, the image of a snake was attached to the forehead of the pharaoh as a sign of his reign in heaven and on earth.
H The earliest cosmic image of the Heavenly Serpent is the symbol of the rainbow serpent, associated in Australia with fertility, the progenitor earth and rain (and often opposed to fire and the sun). The symbol of the rainbow snake - the owner of the rain, drinking heavenly water (and thus sometimes causing innumerable disasters), is widespread both in the mythologies of the peoples of Southeast, East and South Asia (the rainbow snake, which, according to the mythology of Munda, stopped the fiery rain sent by the creator to earth to exterminate people, etc.), and in Indian mythologies (a serpent left by his mother, ascended to heaven and turned into a Rainbow there; Boyusu's snake, which appears in the form of a rainbow during the day, and at night in the form of a black hole in the Milky Way , according to the myths of the Indians of the Amazon basin; two twin snakes in the myths of the Indians of Brazil, etc.). in the myths of the peoples of Africa, the rainbow serpent most often acts as an absorber of water, which sometimes fights with the son of the sun. The Egyptian myth of Apope, who drinks all the water of the underground Nile every night, is struck by the sun god Ra for this, can probably be raised to this pan-African mythological motif. The same plot scheme, opposing the snake as the embodiment of the elements of water and fire, underlies the Old Testament symbolism of the snake, and is also reflected in the Mahabharata story about the struggle of the fire god Agni with the serpent Tekshaka (Agni sets fire to the Khandava forest seven times, where Takshaka and others live). naga snakes).
D For Africa, South America, Central Asia, Australia, Oceania, Central and South America and a number of other regions, there is also a common mythological motif of a serpent - the guardian of springs and reservoirs. According to the beliefs of some African tribes (the area of Lake Victoria), from sacred snakes. Living in rivers, the water level in them depends.
P ideas about the connection between the serpent and the rain are reflected in the rituals of worshiping the serpent or sacrificing snakes during the rainy season (or waiting for rain during a drought) among many peoples of the world. These rites correspond to myths about the victory of a serpent fighter (in Indo-European mythology, often a thunder god) over a serpent or dragon, after which a thunderstorm, rain or flood begins (for example, in the ancient Peruvian myth about a serpent killed by the three sons of the first man and vomited water, flooding the whole world).
To The cult significance of the snake as a symbol of fertility is one of the most characteristic features of the early mythological symbolism of the most ancient agricultural cultures of South-Eastern Europe 6-4 thousand BC.
AT A possible continuation of the ancient Balkan cult of the snake (in connection with the goddess of fertility) are the early Cypriot and Cretan images of women ("priestesses") with a snake (most often two) in their hands, associated with other traces of the widespread cult of snakes as an attribute of chthonic deities of fertility (as well as and goddesses of death) in the Aegean world. In the form of a cobra or a cobra-headed woman, the Egyptian goddess of fertility and grain harvest Renenutet was depicted. The snake was one of the attributes of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena (there is also an idea of the snake as a symbol of wisdom among other nations), a number of features of which go back to the Cretan-Mycenaean goddess with snakes.
P According to the information of ancient authors and according to archaeological data, in the Scythian-Iranian tradition, the idea of a goddess with snake legs and two snakes growing from her shoulders is known. Somewhat typologically similar are the Aztec names of the goddesses Coatlicue (in the Nahuatl language "dressed in a snake dress", the chthonic deity of fertility), who walked the mythical "hill of snakes", and Chikomecoatl (in the Nahuatl language "nine snakes").
D the ancient Indian world serpent (Shesha) was presented as holding the earth on itself. A similar cosmic function of the world serpent is known in Scandinavian (the serpent of Midgard - Jörmungandr, living in the ocean and encircling the whole earth) and Egyptian (the serpent of Mekhent - Surrounding the Earth) mythologies.
AT about many traditions, the chthonic nature of the snake is reflected in its name (as in the Slavic languages) from the name of the earth (Ethiopian arwẽ medr "the beast of the earth" as a descriptive designation of a snake, etc.). In Egypt, the earth god Geb was sometimes depicted with the head of a snake. The chthonic nature of the snake is also associated with ideas about the riches and treasures that it protects in the ground or underground and can bring into the house (in Africa, India, among the Slavs, etc.). The chthonic features of the healing land are clearly seen in the image of the Greek god of healing Asclepius, who was represented as a snake (the snake was also an attribute of Asclepius). At the same time, the chthonic deity - the snake is associated with the underground dwelling of the dead (the snake goddess Meritseger, "loving silence", in the Theban necropolis in Egypt).
E If in archaic mythologies the role of the snake, connecting heaven and earth, is most often dual (it is both beneficent and dangerous), then in developed mythological systems (where the snake often wears the features of a dragon, outwardly different from an ordinary snake), its negative role is often found first of all. role as the embodiment of the lower (water, underground or otherworldly) world; the connection of the snake with the feminine is then most often comprehended in the spirit of the motive of bringing a woman (girl) as a tribute to the snake. In developed vertical three-term models of the world (such as the Sumerian, Indo-European and historically related to it ancient Germanic, Indo-Iranian, Slavic) the cosmic serpent is confined to the bottom in opposition to the top and bottom: the Sumerian serpent at the roots of the world tree, the ancient Indian “serpent of the depths”, identical in origin and the name of the Greek Python and the Slavic badnyak. The ancient image of a snake near a tree (most often at its roots, as in the mythology of the Rigveda and Edda, in Slavic folklore, etc.) acquires a negative meaning (sometimes in connection with the phallic symbolism of the snake).
W mei, associated with the lower (water) world and the element hostile to man (forest), is often associated with other creatures that were considered hostile. So, twins, who were presented at the early stages of the development of twin myths as beings dangerous to humans, can be identified with a snake: in the Ngbandi language (Central Africa) ngo - snake, twin; u dan (west africa) twins contacted black snake; among the Bamileke (Cameroon), at the birth of twins, they sacrifice to a toad and a snake.
AT In German mythology, the serpent ("worm") of the middle world, as the main embodiment of cosmic evil, plays a major role in the forthcoming death of the world. Similarly, in Egyptian eschatology, the primordial deity Atum at the end of the world must return in the form of the evil snake Uraeus to the chaos from which it once arose. In these eschatological motifs, one can see a rethinking of the archaic cosmogonic symbol of the snake in the spirit of understanding the snake as the embodiment of a negative principle (cf. the role of the snake in the Old Testament story about the "fall").
To The later stages of the evolution of the snake symbol include a negative rethinking of the image of the snake in Greek mythological ideas about the Lernaean hydra with nine snake heads and snakes on the head of the Greek gorgon Medusa (and the corresponding Etruscan deity), etc., as well as establishing a connection between the snake (like the dragon) and the king as a symbol of "water management"; cf. the ancient Khmer legend about the nightly connection of the king of Cambodia with the naga (snake) - the progenitor, on which the well-being of the country depends, similar ancient Chinese ideas, the name of the first god - the king of Aksum - Arwẽ ("serpent"), etc.
And the use of the snake symbol as a social classification (by origin totemic) sign that distinguishes the sacred king is typical of Ancient Egypt (the sign of the sacred snake Urey as a symbol of the pharaoh), the countries of the Indian area (headdresses in the form of a coiled snake among members of the royal family of Chhota Nagpur), the kingdom Incas (image of snakes on the coat of arms of the supreme Inca).
AT In most of these cases, archaic totemic ideas that connect the king with the snake as a symbol of fertility are rethought in the spirit of the ideologies of later "irrigation" societies, whose economy is based on artificial irrigation. In these cultures, images of sacred snakes are often placed near artificial reservoirs.
To The cult custom of having a sacred snake in a house, royal palace or temple was preserved for a long time in the countries of the Mediterranean (including Greece and Rome). But in some cases (for example, in the ancient Hittite tradition), the symbol of a snake coming to a palace or city is interpreted in a negative spirit. An example of the rethinking of archaic ideas is the story of the Brazilian Indian tribe Ihkaryana about an anaconda that was kept in a cage in the water and fed by a woman. On the day when the patroness did not bring meat, she ate it. The Indians killed the anaconda, after which it began to rain heavily (“at the same time it rained, the victorious wind blew, the winner of the big anaconda snake”).
M mythological ideas about snakes as a dangerous principle find ritual correspondence in the rituals of treating snake bites (in Central India, the corresponding rituals are performed in front of the altar of the monkey god Hanuman). Conspiracies from snakes and their bites, dating back to ancient shamanic traditions, have been preserved among many peoples (including the Eastern Slavs); the most archaic texts of conspiracies of this type (in particular, ancient Egyptian ones) contain direct references to the myth of the fight between the serpent and the serpent.
used materials from the "Myths of the peoples of the world. Encyclopedia." Chief editor S.A. TokarevSerpents, or Serpentes in Latin, are one of the suborders of the class of reptiles, with an elongated body covered with scales without limbs. In total, there are about 3 thousand species of snakes on the planet, which, in turn, are combined into 23 families, such as snakes, vipers, rattlesnakes and others.
Snakes live everywhere except Antarctica, and most of all in Asia, Africa and Latin America. There are snakes that are absolutely harmless, as well as dangerous to humans. Snakes live in areas with a hot tropical climate, in forests and steppes, as well as in foothills and mountainous areas.
Some types of snakes live in water, some live in trees and in the ground. All of them are predators, they feed on small mammals, frogs, fish, and insects. The prey is usually either swallowed whole alive, or before that it is strangled or poisoned with poison.
The color of snakes is the most diverse, they can be of various colors, and the surface of their skin is decorated with various geometric shapes. The length of snakes varies from 8 cm to 12 m.
The snake has an articulated spine, to which up to 145 pairs of ribs can be hinged. The ends of the pairs of ribs are connected by muscles to the scales on the belly of the snake. It is these scales that help the snakes move, because the edges of the plates repel the snakes from irregularities on the surface of the earth and move forward.
The teeth of snakes are sharp and thin, and poisonous snakes, in addition to them, there are also poisonous teeth bent back on the upper jaw bones. Inside such teeth there is a channel through which poison enters the wound when bitten. A special role in snakes is played by their thin and sensitive tongue, which is a receptor associated with the Jacobson organ located in the sky, where the information received by the tongue is processed. Hearing and vision in snakes are poorly developed, and during the molting period, snakes practically do not see, because. not only from the body, but also from their eyes, the stratum corneum of the skin comes off. By the way, the eyes of snakes are always open, they are protected only by fused eyelids that resemble transparent "glasses".
The largest king cobra reaches a length of 5 meters and is found in South-East Asia. She eats other snakes, lizards. Her bite is extremely dangerous, she always attacks without delay. The poison of an ordinary cobra begins to act a couple of minutes after the bite. No less dangerous is the tiger cobra that lives in Australia.
Blind snakes live in the soil in tropical and subtropical climates, and often they are only 10 cm long. Such blind snakes are found in Transcaucasia. The largest snakes are boas and pythons. These reptiles have rudiments of the lower limbs near the root of the tail, which proves that in ancient times they moved on their paws, but lost them in the process of evolution. The largest snake in the world is the anaconda, reaching a length of 10 meters. The reticulated python, which is found in Southeast and South Asia, also has a length of 8 meters.
The snake is a symbol of wisdom and rebirth
Since ancient times, the snake has been a symbol of wisdom and immortality, fertility and vitality, and, at the same time, a symbol of evil and duplicity. It was the snake that was the sacred animal of the ancient goddess of wisdom, Athena, the daughter of Zeus. In ancient Egypt, the snake was a symbol of the Sun and an attribute of the god Osiris, and the goddess Isis was depicted as half woman, half snake.
In China, Tchi-Seu, the villain who was proud of the Almighty, was a giant serpent. In Scandinavian mythology, the son of the god of fire, Loki was the personification of evil, and was represented in the form of a snake that sought to wrap the world in rings and poison all living things. And in ancient Russian myths, valiant heroes fought with the Gorynych snake, cutting off his head.
At the same time, the snake is a dual symbol: on the one hand, the snake that kills its victim represents death, on the other hand, the snake is an animal that periodically changes its skin, symbolizes life and resurrection. In connection with this property, the snake is a symbol of medicine, because. it is believed that she owns the secret of eternal life, and knows the healing properties of plants. It is the snake wrapped around the staff that is the symbol of the Greek Asclepius, the god of healing, who could resurrect the dead. A snake wrapped around a cup of medicine is a symbol of modern medicine.
