Serpents in Religion

Today I’m going to talk about the meaning of snakes and serpents throughout the bible. We have several mentions of them throughout, as well as in many other religions. There are over 20 verses in the Bible that have the word serpent within, so let’s take a look at some of them.

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden

Within Genesis, the serpent is the one who had tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. It often represents Satan at times, while other times it represents good. It is a dual meaning throughout religions. The Hopi tribe actually perform an annual snake dance to celebrate Snake youth and Snake Girl, and to renew the fertility of nature. The snake is a symbol of eternity when known as Ouroboros.

We know from some points in the that the snake can be referred to as Satan, but it is actually a symbol of sexual desire. When Eve tempted Adam with the “fruit” it is actually symbolical of this, as we were not meant to reproduce, so once this happened Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden.

The rod known as Caduceus was of Hermes, a messenger of the Gods in Greek mythology, was a symbolism of two snakes coiling up to the winged top. In fact, it is also a symbolism for modern day medical symbols. It was adopted by the Annunaki and Moses. And as we know, Moses at one point or another, threw down his staff and it had turned into a snake against the Pharaoh.

In The Gospel of John 3:14-15; Yeshua makes a direct comparison between the raising up of the Son of Man and the act of Moses in raising the serpent as a sign, using it as a symbol associated with salvation.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Now in some places, such as Africa, there was a kingdom called Dahomey that was entirely dedicated to serpent worship. They treated the animal with high respect. Every python of the danh-gbi (the life giving snake) was treated this way and death was a penalty for killing one, even if by accident. Now, this is a BIG reason that the Lord would hate this. Idol worship and murder. Not much different from Baal worship aside from the fact that people weren’t usually sacrificed to them. At the Babylonian New Year’s festival, the priest was to commission from a woodworker, a metalworker and a goldsmith two images one of which “shall hold in its left hand a snake of cedar, raising its right [hand] to the god Nabu” This was also practiced at places such as the Ancient Near East (such as Sumerian areas) Ancient Europe, Australian mythology to the “God” Wollunqua, multiple deities in Hindu including Nagaraja, the King of Serpents, Korean mythology, several North American tribes including the worship of Quetzalcoatl. There is a large number of “Snake Gods” Throughout these cultures and more, the list goes on and it is very displeasing to the Lord.

Now going back to Genesis, we have the tree of knowledge within the Garden of Eden, in the same area as the Tree of Life and the Serpent. Within Greek mythology, we have Ladon, a serpent-like dragon, coiled around the tree in the garden of Hesperides protecting golden apples.
In the Genesis story of the Torah and Biblical Old Testament, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is situated in the Garden of Eden together with the tree of life and the Serpent. In Greek mythology, Ladon coiled around the tree in the garden of the Hesperides protecting the entheogenic golden apples. In Norse mythology, we have Nidhogg eating from the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life. In a Buddhist story, we have beneath the Bodhi tree of Enlightenment. Buddha was sat in meditation below when a storm rose up and the serpent king Mucalinda rose up from beneath and enveloped Buddha for seven days so the storm wouldn’t break his meditation. In Mayan Mythology there is the Vision Serpent, a symbol of rebirth lying at the center of the world being “The center axis atop the World Tree” And of course we have the Sumerian depiction of two snakes entwined around a rod that symbolizes the fertility god, Ningizzida, who was also sometimes depicted as a serpent with a human head.

There is yet ANOTHER symbol of the snake called “The Cosmic Serpent” which is depicted by a snake eating its tail. It is a symbol for “All-in-all” the totality of existence in the cosmos and is what is also known as what I had mentioned previously the Ouroboros. This cosmic snake is throughout many cultures as well including Norse as Midgard, Egyptians associated it with Wadjet, Hindu speaks of Vishnu riding the cosmic waters on Shesha, the Aztecs would also sometimes have Quetzalcoatl biting his own tail just like the main symbol.

These are just a few of many ways the serpent has been represented throughout our history. It is a symbol of good, of evil, of creation, of health, of fertility. It is used to symbolize power, defense, desire and more. It is a much more important symbol than some realize, but certainly not worth worship. Take this knowledge and be well.

Image Sources
https://doomsdaydeliverancedisciples.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/the-animal-kingdom-according-to-genesis/
https://almightygodblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/the-serpent-satan-and-the-hebrew-bible/
http://ijustwanttodance.weebly.com/the-hopi-snake-dance-by-dakota-jones.html
https://cindyannehbu.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/the-truth-about-sex-is-it-good-is-it-bad-and-can-it-truly-determine-our-worth/
http://www.thetattoohut.com/kundalini-chakra-tattoo/a3VuZGFsaW5pLWNoYWtyYS10YXR0b28/
http://www.hermanarasmussen.com/blog/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ningishzida
http://www.divinenaturearts.com/imported-products/cosmic-serpent-mandala-art-print-by-ramona-snow-teo-quetzalcoatl name, amen.

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