The Sun and the Serpent

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The Rainbow Serpent (also known as the Rainbow Snake) is a major mythological being for Aboriginal people across Australia, although the creation myths associated with it are best known from northern Australia. In Fiji, Ratumaibulu was a serpent god who ruled the underworld and made fruit trees bloom. In the Northern Flinders Ranges reigns the Arkaroo, a serpent who drank Lake Frome empty, refuges into the mountains, carving valleys and waterholes, earthquakes through snoring. At Angkor in Cambodia, numerous stone sculptures present hooded multi-headed nāgas as guardians of temples or other premises. A favorite motif of Angkorean sculptors from approximately the 12th centuryCE onward was that of the Buddha, sitting in the position of meditation, his weight supported by the coils of a multi-headed nāga that also uses its flared hood to shield him from above. This motif recalls the story of the Buddha and the serpent king Mucalinda: as the Buddha sat beneath a tree engrossed in meditation, Mucalinda came up from the roots of the tree to shield the Buddha from a tempest that was just beginning to arise. Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband" and ATU 425A, " The Animal Bridegroom": a maiden is betrothed to an animal bridegroom (a snake, dragon or serpent, in several variants), who comes at night to the bridal bed in human form. The maiden breaks a taboo and her enchanted husband disappears. She is forced to seek him. [49] Example: The Green Serpent, French literary fairy tale; The Snake Prince, Indian fairy tale; The Enchanted Snake, Italian literary fairy tale; The Serpent Prince, Hungarian folktale. Frazer, James G. "The Language of Animals". In: Archaeological Review. Vol. I. No. 3. May, 1888. D. Nutt. 1888. pp. 166 and 175-177.

When not driven by horses, the chariot of the Greek sun god is described as being pulled by fiery draconic beings. [37] The most notable instance of this is observed in the episode in which Medea is given her grandfather's chariot, which is pulled by serpents through the sky. Apollon, Python". Apollon.uio.no. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012 . Retrieved December 7, 2012.

Segal, Charles M. (1998). Aglaia: The Poetry of Alcman, Sappho, Pindar, Bacchylides, and Corinna. Rowman & Littlefield. p.91; 338. ISBN 978-0-8476-8617-9. Isbell, L. (2009). The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03301-6. Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel; Le Goff, Jacques. "Mélusine maternelle et défricheuse". In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 26ᵉ année, N. 3-4, 1971. pp. 593-594. doi: 10.3406/ahess.1971.422431 Sometimes the Tree of Life is represented (in a combination with similar concepts such as the World Tree and Axis mundi or "World Axis") by a staff such as those used by shamans. Examples of such staffs featuring coiled snakes in mythology are the caduceus of Hermes, the Rod of Asclepius, the Staff of Moses, and the papyrus reeds and deity poles entwined by a single serpent Wadjet, dating to earlier than 3000BCE. The oldest known representation of two snakes entwined around a rod is that of the Sumerian fertility god Ningizzida, who was sometimes depicted as a serpent with a human head, eventually becoming a god of healing and magic. It is the companion of Dumuzi (Tammuz), with whom it stood at the gate of heaven. In the Louvre, there is a famous green steatite vase carved for King Gudea of Lagash (dated variously 2200–2025BCE) with an inscription dedicated to Ningizzida. Ningizzida was the ancestor of Gilgamesh, who, according to the epic, dived to the bottom of the waters to retrieve the plant of life. But while he rested from his labor, a serpent came and ate the plant. The snake became immortal, and Gilgamesh was destined to die. In some Abrahamic traditions, the serpent represents sexual desire. [12] According to some interpretations of the Midrash, the serpent represents sexual passion. [13] In Hinduism, Kundalini is a coiled serpent. [14] Guardianship [ edit ] Meditating Buddha being shielded by the naga Mucalinda. Cambodia, 1150 to 1175

In folk and fairy tale traditions all over the world, the serpent and the snake appear as characters in several fairy tales, either a main character in animal fables and magic tales ( Märchen), or as the donor who grants the protagonist a special ability or impart him with some secret knowledge. In Late Antiquity, as the arcane study of alchemy developed, Mercury was understood to be the protector of those arts too and of arcane or occult "Hermetic" information in general. Chemistry and medicines linked the rod of Hermes with the staff of the healer Asclepius, which was wound with a serpent; it was conflated with Mercury's rod, and the modern medical symbol—which should simply be the rod of Asclepius—often became Mercury's wand of commerce. Another version is used in alchemy where the snake is crucified, known as Nicolas Flamel's caduceus. Art historian Walter J. Friedlander, in The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine (1992), collected hundreds of examples of the caduceus and the rod of Asclepius and found that professional associations were just somewhat more likely to use the staff of Asclepius, while commercial organizations in the medical field were more likely to use the caduceus. In Central America, the ancient Mayan book, Chilam Balam, claims that the first people to inhabit the Yucatan were the Chanes or People of the Serpent. Sources cite the Chanes as being led across the sea by the serpent god Itzamna, who ruled by his esoteric knowledge rather than strength. Feathered serpents were also depicted in much of their art, possibly implying the creatures had the ability to fly. After the Maya, the Aztecs too worshiped a serpent god. Quetzalcoatl was a plumed serpent god who brought the knowledge of science and mathematics to his people. In China Once a physiotherapist and a researcher for Hamish’s projects, Ba Miller continues to participate in local dowsing activities. Always energetic, she is able to beat anyone walking up the slopes of Trencrom hill, still plays a mean game of tennis and remains undaunted by the care of the land that she and Hamish planted with trees over the decades.

Plan and pyramids

Eremina, Valeriia. 2010. “An International Tale-Type: ‘The City of Babylon’”. FOLKLORICA - Journal of the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Folklore Association 15 (July): 99-128. doi: 10.17161/folklorica.v15i0.4027. Medusa and the other Gorgons were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes whose origins predate the written myths of Greece and who were the protectors of the most ancient ritual secrets. The Gorgons wore a belt of two intertwined serpents in the same configuration of the caduceus. The Gorgon was placed at the center, highest point of one of the pediments on the Temple of Artemis at Corfu. Uther, Hans-Jörg. Handbuch zu den "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" der Brüder Grimm: Entstehung - Wirkung - Interpretation. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter. 2008. pp. 200-201. ISBN 978-3-11-019441-8 Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 672, "The Serpent's Crown": a snake takes off its crown to bathe in the lake. The crown is stolen by a human, who discovers the crown can grant special abilities (most often, the knowledge of animal languages). [57]

Following the Christian context as a symbol for evil, serpents are sometimes featured in political propaganda. They were used to represent Jews in antisemitic propaganda. Snakes were also used to represent the evil side of drugs in such films as Narcotic [59] and Narcotics: Pit of Despair. [60]R.A.S. Macalister, Gezer II, p. 399, fig. 488, noted by Joiner 1968:245 note 3, from the high place area, dated Late Bronze Age. Similarly Níðhöggr (Nidhogg Nagar), the dragon of Norse mythology, eats from the roots of the Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

Glinka, Lukasz Andrzej (2014). Aryan Unconscious: Archetype of Discrimination, History & Politics, Great Abington, UK: Cambridge International Science Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907343-59-9. E.A. Speiser, Excavations at Tepe Gawra: I. Levels I-VIII, p. 114ff., noted in Joines 1968:246 and note 9. Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 673, "The White Serpent's Flesh": the main character learns the language of animals by eating the flesh of a white serpent. [58] Example: The White Snake, German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Behr-Glinka, A.I. " Folk-Tale Type ATU411 in Eurasian Folk Tradition: Some Remarks to the “Typological Index of Folk-Tale Types” of H.-J. Uther" [Siuzhetnyi tip ATU411 v skazochnoi traditsiiEvrazii: nekoto rye zamechaniia k “Tipologicheskomu ukazateliu skazochnykh siuzhetov” H.-J. Utera]. Etnograficheskoe Obozrenie, 2018, no. 4, pp. 171–184. ISSN 0869-5415 doi: 10.31857/S086954150000414-5 Ji pagrįstai gali būti laikoma baltų – lietuvių ir latvių – pasaka, nes daugiausia jos variantų užrašyta Lietuvoje ir Latvijoje." Bagočiūnas, Saulis. ""Eglė žalčių karalienė": pasakos topografijos paieškos" ["Eglė - the Queen of Serpents": in search of the tale's topography]. In: Tautosakos darbai [Folklore Studies]. 2008, 36, p. 64. ISSN 1392-2831 [2]This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)