Snake worship
Snake worship is the worshipping of snakes. The worshipping of snakes occurs in many ancient cultures. In religion and mythology, snakes were often seen as images of strength, or of renewal.
In Hindu mythology, the snake (or Naga) represents rebirth, death and mortality, as the snake sheds its skin and becomes (symbolically) re-born.[1]
There are many snakes in Greek mythology - some myths feature a snake called "ophion" as one of the original rulers of the world.[2]
The snake is to be considered "the god of good" by the Gnostics.
Snake Worship Media
The Caduceus, symbol of God Ningishzida, on the libation vase of Sumerian ruler Gudea, circa 2100 BCE.
A lion-faced, serpentine deity found on a Gnostic gem in Bernard de Montfaucon's L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures may be a depiction of the Demiurge.
Mami Wata, who plays a major role in various African and African-American religions
The classic Maya vision serpent, as depicted at Yaxchilan
The Raimondi Stela from the Chavín culture, Ancash, Peru depicts a fanged and clawed figure with snakes for hair.
Manasa in a village in the Sundarbans, West Bengal, India
Naga Temple Kukke Subramanya Swamy temple, Karnataka
A roadside temple to Snakes, Tamil Nadu, India
References
- ↑ Balfour, Edward (1885). The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures. B. Quaritch.
- ↑ Cavendish, Richard (1970). Man, myth & magic: an illustrated encyclopedia of the supernatural. Marshall Cavendish Corp.
