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{{See also|Snakes in mythology}}
{{Short description|Mythological symbol}}
The serpent, or [[snake]], is one of the oldest and most widespread [[mythology|mythological]] [[symbol]]s. The word is derived from Latin ''serpens'', a crawling animal or snake. Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to humankind.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apollon.uio.no/vis/art/2006_4/Artikler/python_english |title=Apollon, Python |publisher=Apollon.uio.no |access-date=December 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119041817/http://www.apollon.uio.no/vis/art/2006_4/Artikler/python_english |archive-date=January 19, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Robbins |first1=Lawrence H. |last2=Campbell |first2=Alec C. |last3=Brook |first3=George A. |last4=Murphy |first4=Michael L. |title=World's Oldest Ritual Site? The 'Python Cave' at Tsodilo Hills World Heritage Site, Botswana |journal=Nyame Akuma |volume=67 |date=June 2007 |publisher=Bulletin of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists }}</ref>
They represent [[Dualism in cosmology|dual expression]] of [[good and evil]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Malkowski |first=Edward F. |title=The Spiritual Technology of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Inner Traditions/Bear |date=October 3, 2007 |isbn=978-1-59477-776-9 |page=223 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mimobile.byu.edu/?m=5&table=books&bookid=46&id=255 |title=Savior, Satan, and Serpent: The Duality of a Symbol in the Scriptures |publisher=Mimobile.byu.edu |access-date=December 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129121439/http://mimobile.byu.edu/?m=5&table=books&bookid=46&id=255 |archive-date=January 29, 2013}}</ref>
The historian of religions Mircea Eliade observed in ''The Myth of the Eternal Return'' that "the serpent symbolizes chaos, the formless and nonmanifested".<ref>{{cite book |last=Eliade |first=Mircea |title=The Myth of the Eternal Return |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1954 |isbn=978-0-691-23832-6 |pages=19 |___location=New York}}</ref>
In ''The Symbolism of the Cross'', Traditionalist René Guénon contended that "the serpent will depict the series of the cycles of universal manifestation", "the indefinitude of universal Existence," and "the being's attachment to the indefinite series of cycles of manifestation."<ref>{{cite book |last=Guénon |first=René |title=The Symbolism of the Cross |publisher=Sophia Perennis |year=1931 |publication-date=2001 |___location=Hillsdale, New York |isbn=0-900588-65-9 |pages=122–124}}</ref>
Recent academic book-length treatments of serpent symbolism include James H. Charlesworth's ''The Good and Evil Serpent'' (2010)<ref>{{cite book |last=Charlesworth |first=James H. |title=The Good and Evil Serpent: How a Universal Symbol Became Christianized |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-300-14082-8 |___location=New Haven and London}}</ref> and Charles William Dailey's ''The Serpent Symbol in Tradition'' (2022).<ref>{{cite book |last=Dailey |first=Charles William |title=The Serpent Symbol in Tradition: A Study of Traditional Serpent and Dragon Symbolism, Based in Part Upon the Concepts and Observations of René Guénon, Mircea Eliade, and Various Other Relevant Researchers |publisher=Arktos Media Ltd. |year=2022 |isbn=9781914208683 |___location=London}}</ref>
Across cultures, the serpent has been revered and feared as a symbol of duality, transformation, and the eternal cycle. In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, serpents appear as nāgas—guardians of treasures and waters—and are linked to kundalini energy, the spiritual force coiled at the base of the spine. In Mesoamerican mythology, the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl symbolizes renewal, wisdom, and the union of earth and sky. The African Vodun tradition reveres the rainbow serpent Dan as a cosmic balancer, while Aboriginal Australian mythology sees the Rainbow Serpent as a creator being central to Dreamtime stories.
In psychology, Carl Jung interpreted the serpent as an archetype of the unconscious and personal transformation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jung |first=Carl G. |title=Man and His Symbols |publisher=Dell Publishing |year=1968 |isbn=9780440351832}}</ref>
The alchemical symbol of the ouroboros—a serpent eating its own tail—represents eternal return, unity of opposites, and the cyclic nature of the cosmos.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eliade |first=Mircea |title=Patterns in Comparative Religion |publisher=Sheed & Ward |year=1958 |___location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Guénon |first=René |title=The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times |publisher=Sophia Perennis |year=2004 |isbn=978-0900588673}}</ref>
These representations reflect the serpent's enduring presence in religious, mystical, and philosophical thought as a symbol of power, rebirth, and the unknown.
==Evolutionary origins==
The anthropologist Lynne Isbell has argued that, as [[primate]]s, the serpent as a symbol of death is built into our unconscious minds because of our evolutionary history. Isbell argues that for millions of years snakes were the only significant predators of primates, and that this explains why fear of snakes is one of the most common [[phobia]]s worldwide and why the symbol of the serpent is so prevalent in world mythology; the serpent is an innate image of danger and death.<ref name=Isbell>[[#refIsbellL|Isbell, ''The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent'']]</ref><ref name=Haycock>[[#refHaycockDE|Haycock, ''Being and Perceiving'']]</ref>
Furthermore, the psychoanalyst [[Joseph Lewis Henderson]] and the ethnologist Maude Oakes have argued that the serpent is a symbol of initiation and rebirth precisely because it is a symbol of death.<ref name=Henderson>[[#refHendersonJL|Henderson, ''The Wisdom of the Serpent'']]</ref>
Using phylogenetical and statistical methods on related [[Motif-Index of Folk-Literature|motifs]] from folklore and myth, French comparativist Julien d'Huy managed to reconstruct a possible archaic narrative about the serpent. In this Paleolithic "ophidian" myth, snakes are connected to rains and storms, and even to water sources. In regards to the latter, it blocks rivers and other water sources in exchange for human sacrifices and/or material good offerings.<ref>d'Huy, Julien. "Première reconstruction statistique d'un rituel paléolithique: autour du motif du dragon". In: ''Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée'' [New Comparative Mythology] (3) 2016: 1-34. En ligne: http://nouvellemythologiecomparee.hautetfort.com/archive/2016/03/18/julien-d-huy-premiere-reconstruction-statistique-d-un-rituel-5776049.html. ⟨halshs-01452430⟩</ref>
==Values==
===Fertility and rebirth===
Historically, serpents and snakes represent [[fertility]], [[health]], or a creative life force. {{citation needed|date=April 2025}} As snakes shed their skin through [[sloughing]], they serve as symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Sa-Sp/Serpents-and-Snakes.html |title=Myths Encyclopedia: Serpents and Snakes |publisher=Mythencyclopedia.com |access-date=December 7, 2012}}</ref> The [[ouroboros]] is a symbol of [[eternity]] and continual renewal of life. {{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
In some [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic traditions]], the serpent represents [[sexual desire]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VD1YAAAAMAAJ |title=The American Journal of Urology and Sexology |page=72 |date=January 1, 1984 |access-date=December 7, 2012 |last1=Spooner |first1=Henry G.}}</ref> According to some interpretations of the [[Midrash]], the [[serpent in the Bible|serpent]] represents sexual passion.<ref>Barton, SO "Midrash Rabba to Genesis", sec. 20, p. 93</ref> In [[Hinduism]], [[Kundalini]] is a dormant energy lying like a coiled serpent.<ref name="MetaModernEra">Her Holiness Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi Srivastava: "Meta Modern Era", pages 233–248. Vishwa Nirmala Dharma; first edition, 1995. {{ISBN|978-81-86650-05-9}}</ref>
The [[Hopi]] people of [[North America]] performed an annual snake dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth (a Sky spirit) and Snake Girl (an Underworld spirit) and to renew the [[fertility]] of [[Nature]]. {{citation needed|date=April 2025}} During the dance, live snakes were handled, and at the end of the dance the snakes were released into the fields to guarantee good crops. "The snake dance is a prayer to the spirits of the clouds, the thunder and the lightning, that the rain may fall on the growing crops."<ref>{{cite book |last=Monsen |first=Frederick |title=Festivals of the Hopi, and dancing and expression in all their national ceremonies |url=http://www.adwr.state.az.us/Adjudications/documents/HopiContestedCaseDisclosure/Hopi%20Initial%20Disclosure/HP1535%20-%20HP1549.pdf}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> To the [[Hopi]], snakes symbolized the [[umbilical cord]], joining all humans to [[Mother goddess|Mother Earth]]. {{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
===Guardianship===
[[File:Buddha shielded by Naga.jpg|upright|thumb|Meditating [[Buddha]] being shielded by the naga [[Mucalinda]]. [[Cambodia]], 1150 to 1175]]
Serpents are represented as potent guardians of temples and other sacred spaces. This connection may be grounded in the observation that when threatened, some snakes (such as [[rattlesnake]]s or [[cobra]]s) frequently hold and defend their ground, first resorting to threatening display and then fighting, rather than retreat. Thus, they are natural guardians of treasures or sacred sites which cannot easily be moved out of harm's way.
At [[Angkor]] in [[Architecture of Cambodia|Cambodia]], numerous stone sculptures present hooded multi-headed [[nāga]]s as guardians of temples or other premises. A favorite motif of Angkorean sculptors from approximately the 12th century CE onward was that of the [[Gautama Buddha|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.
The [[Gadsden flag]] of the American Revolution depicts a rattlesnake coiled up and poised to strike. Below the image of the snake is the legend, "Don't tread on me." The snake symbolized the dangerousness of colonists willing to fight for their rights and homeland, and was also symbolic of their separation from Europe, as it was an animal unique to America. The motif is repeated in the [[First Navy Jack]] of the US Navy.
===Venom and medicine===
Serpents are connected with [[snake venom|venom]] and medicine. The snake's venom is associated with the chemicals of plants and fungi<ref>{{cite book| author=Virgil| author-link=Virgil|title=[[Aeneid]] |page=2.471}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = [[Nicander]] Alexipharmaca 521 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Pliny Natural History 9.5}}</ref> that have the power to either heal or provide expanded consciousness (and even the [[elixir of life]] and immortality) through divine intoxication. Because of its herbal knowledge and [[entheogen]]ic association, the snake was often considered one of the wisest animals, being (semi-) divine. Its divine aspect combined with its habitat in the earth between the roots of plants made it an animal with [[chthonic]] properties connected to the afterlife and immortality. The deified [[Greek language|Greek]] physician [[Asclepius]], as god of [[medicine]] and healing, carried [[Rod of Asclepius|a staff]] with one serpent wrapped around it, which has become the symbol of modern medicine. [[Moses]] also had a replica of a serpent on a pole, the [[Nehushtan]], mentioned in Numbers 21:8.
==Associated animals==
===Chthonic serpents and sacred trees===
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2013}}
In many myths, the [[chthonic]] serpent (sometimes a pair) lives in or is coiled around a [[Tree of Life]] situated in a divine garden. In the [[Book of Genesis|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 (biblical)|tree of life]] and the [[serpents in the Bible|serpent]]. In Greek mythology, [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]] coiled around the tree in the garden of the [[Hesperides]] protecting the golden apples.
[[File:Nidhogg.png|thumb|[[Níðhöggr]] gnaws the roots of Yggdrasil in this illustration from a 17th-century Icelandic manuscript.]]
Similarly [[Níðhöggr]] (Nidhogg Nagar), the dragon of Norse mythology, eats from the roots of the [[Yggdrasil]], the World Tree.
Under yet another tree (the [[Bodhi Tree]] of Enlightenment), the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] sat in ecstatic meditation. When a storm arose, the mighty serpent king [[Mucalinda]] rose up from his place beneath the earth and enveloped the Buddha in seven coils for seven days, so as not to break his ecstatic state.
The [[Vision Serpent]] was a symbol of rebirth in [[Maya mythology]], with origins going back to earlier Maya conceptions, lying at the center of the world as the Mayans conceived it. "It is in the center axis atop the [[World Tree]]. Essentially the World Tree and the Vision Serpent, representing the king, created the center axis which communicates between the spiritual and the earthly worlds or planes. It is through ritual that the king could bring the center axis into existence in the temples and create a doorway to the spiritual world, and with it power."<ref>Schele and Friedel, 1990: 68</ref>
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 {{BCE|3000}}. The oldest known representation of ''two'' snakes entwined around a rod is that of the [[Sumerian religion|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 [[Dumuzid|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 to {{BCE|2200–2025}}) with an inscription dedicated to Ningizzida. Ningizzida was the ancestor of [[Gilgamesh]], who, according to the [[Epic of Gilgamesh|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.
[[File:Ningizzida.jpg|thumb|left|The Sumerian deity, [[Ningizzida]], is accompanied by two [[gryphons]] [[Mushussu]]; it is the oldest known image of two snakes coiling around an axial rod, dating from before {{BCE|2000}}.]]
Ningizzida has been popularized in the 20th century by Raku Kei ([[Reiki]], a.k.a. "The Way of the Fire Dragon"), where "Nin Giz Zida" is believed to be a fire serpent of [[Tibet]]an rather than Sumerian origin.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} "Nin Giz Zida" is another name for the ancient [[Hinduism|Hindu]] concept [[Kundalini]], a [[Sanskrit]] word meaning either "coiled up" or "coiling like a snake". "Kundalini" refers to the mothering intelligence behind [[yoga|yogic awakening]] and spiritual maturation leading to altered states of consciousness. There are a number of other translations of the term, usually emphasizing a more serpentine nature to the word—e.g. "serpent power". It has been suggested by [[Joseph Campbell]] that the symbol of snakes coiled around a staff is an ancient representation of Kundalini physiology. The staff represents the [[spinal column]], with the snake(s) being energy channels. In the case of two coiled snakes, they usually cross each other seven times, a possible reference to the seven energy centers called [[chakra]]s.
In [[Ancient Egypt]], where the earliest written cultural records exist, the serpent appears from the beginning to the end of their mythology. [[Ra]] and [[Atum]] ("he who completes or perfects") became the same god, ''Atum'', the "counter-Ra", associated with earth animals, including the serpent: [[Nehebkau]] ("he who harnesses the souls") was the two-headed serpent deity who guarded the entrance to the underworld.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} He is often seen as the son of the snake goddess [[Renenutet]]. She often was confused with (and later was absorbed by) their primal snake goddess [[Wadjet]], the [[Egyptian cobra]], who from the earliest of records was the patron and protector of the country, all other deities, and the pharaohs. Hers is the first known [[oracle]]. She was depicted as the [[uraeus|crown]] of Egypt, entwined around the staff of papyrus and the pole that indicated the status of all other deities, as well as having the all-seeing [[eye of Horus|eye]] of wisdom and vengeance. She never lost her position in the Egyptian pantheon.
The image of the serpent as the embodiment of the wisdom transmitted by ''[[Sophia (wisdom)|Sophia]]'' was an emblem used by [[gnosticism]], especially those sects that the more orthodox characterized as "[[Ophites]]" ("Serpent People"). The chthonic serpent was one of the earth-animals associated with the cult of [[Mithras]]. The [[basilisk]], the venomous "king of serpents" with the glance that kills, was hatched by a serpent, [[Pliny the Elder]] and others thought, from the egg of a [[rooster|cock]].
Outside Eurasia, in [[Yoruba mythology]], [[Oshunmare]] was another mythic regenerating serpent.
The [[Rainbow Serpent]] (also known as the Rainbow Snake) is a major [[mythology|mythological]] being for [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] people across [[Australia]], although the [[creation
==
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2013}}
The serpent, when forming a ring with its tail in its mouth, is a clear and widespread symbol of the "All-in-All", the totality of existence, [[infinity]] and the cyclic nature of the cosmos. The most well known version of this is the Aegypto-Greek [[ourobouros]]. It is believed to have been inspired by the [[Milky Way]], as some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. The Ancient Egyptians associated it with [[Wadjet]], one of their oldest deities, as well as another aspect, [[Hathor]]. In [[Norse mythology]] the World Serpent (or [[Midgard]] serpent) known as [[Jörmungandr]] encircled the world in the ocean's abyss biting its own tail.
[[File:Anantavishnu.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Vishnu]] resting on Ananta-Shesha, with [[Lakshmi]] massaging his "lotus feet"]]
In [[Hindu mythology]] Lord [[Vishnu]] is said to sleep while floating on the cosmic waters on the serpent [[Shesha]]. In the [[Puranas]] Shesha holds all the planets of the universe on his hoods and constantly sings the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as "Ananta-Shesha," which means "Endless Shesha". In the [[Samudra manthan]] chapter of the Puranas, Shesha loosens [[Mount Mandara]] for it to be used as a churning rod by the [[Asura (Hinduism)|Asuras]] and [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] to churn the [[ocean of milk]] in the heavens in order to make [[Soma (drink)|Soma]] (or [[Amrita]]), the divine elixir of immortality. As a churning rope another giant serpent called [[Vasuki]] is used.
In pre-Columbian Central America [[Quetzalcoatl]] was sometimes depicted as biting its own tail. The mother of Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec goddess [[Coatlicue]] ("the one with the skirt of serpents"), also known as Cihuacoatl ("The Lady of the serpent"). Quetzalcoatl's father was [[Mixcoatl]] ("Cloud Serpent"). He was identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several [[Mesoamerican]] cultures.
The [[demigod]] Aidophedo of the West African [[Ashanti people]] is also a serpent biting its own tail. In [[Dahomey mythology]] of [[Benin]] in West Africa, the serpent that supports everything on its many coils was named Dan. In the [[West African Vodun|Vodou]] of Benin and [[Haiti]], [[Ayida-Weddo]] (a.k.a. Aida-Wedo, Aido Quedo, "Rainbow-Serpent") is a spirit of fertility, rainbows and snakes, and a companion or wife to Dan, the father of all spirits. As Vodou was exported to Haiti through the slave trade, Dan became [[Damballa|Danballah]], Damballah or Damballah-Wedo. Because of his association with snakes, he is sometimes disguised as Moses, who carried a snake on his staff. He is also thought by many to be the same entity of [[Saint Patrick]], known as a snake banisher.
The serpent [[Hydra (constellation)|Hydra]] is a star [[constellation]] representing either the serpent thrown angrily into the sky by [[Apollo]] or the [[Lernaean Hydra]] as defeated by [[Heracles]] for one of his Twelve Labors. The constellation [[Serpens]] represents a snake being tamed by [[Ophiuchus]] the snake-handler, another constellation. The most probable interpretation is that Ophiuchus represents the healer Asclepius.
===Dragons===
[[File:Anonymous-Fuxi and Nüwa.jpg|thumb|upright|An ancient painting of [[Nüwa]] and Fuxi unearthed in [[Xinjiang]] ]]
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2013}}
Occasionally, serpents and [[dragon]]s are used interchangeably, having similar symbolic functions. The venom of the serpent is thought to have a [[Fire (classical element)|fiery quality]] similar to a fire-breathing dragon. The Greek [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]] and the Norse [[Níðhöggr]] (Nidhogg Nagar) are sometimes described as serpents and sometimes as dragons. In [[Germanic paganism|Germanic mythology]], "serpent" ([[Old English]]: ''wyrm'', [[Old High German]]: ''wurm'', [[Old Norse]]: ''ormr'') is used interchangeably with the Greek borrowing "dragon" (OE: ''draca'', OHG: ''trahho'', ON: ''dreki''). In China and especially in [[Indochina]], the Indian serpent [[nāga]] was equated with the ''lóng'' or [[Chinese dragon]]. The [[Aztec]] and [[Toltec]] serpent god [[Quetzalcoatl]] also has dragon-like wings, like its equivalent in [[K'iche' people|K'iche']] [[Maya mythology]] [[Q'uq'umatz]] ("feathered serpent"), which had previously existed since Classic Maya times as the deity named [[Kukulkan]].
== Mythology and religion ==
{{Main|Snakes in mythology|Dragon}}
===African mythology===
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2013}}
[[File:Mami Wata poster.png|thumb|upright|[[Mami Wata]], important in [[culture of Africa|African]] and [[African-American]] religions<ref>Jell-Bahlsen 1997, p. 105</ref><ref>Chesi 1997, p. 255</ref>]]
In Africa the chief centre of serpent worship was [[Dahomey]], but the cult of the python seems to have been of exotic origin, dating back to the first quarter of the 17th century. By the conquest of [[Kingdom of Whydah|Whydah]] the Dahomeyans were brought in contact with a people of serpent worshipers, and ended by adopting from them the beliefs which they at first despised. At [[Ouidah|Whydah]], the chief centre, there is a serpent temple, tenanted by some fifty snakes. Every python of the ''danh-gbi'' kind must be treated with respect, and death is the penalty for killing one, even by accident. ''Danh-gbi'' has numerous wives, who until 1857 took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; a python was carried round the town in a hammock, perhaps as a ceremony for the expulsion of evils.
The rainbow-god of the [[Ashanti people|Ashanti]] was also conceived to have the form of a snake. His messenger was said to be a small variety of [[Boidae|boa]], but only certain individuals, not the whole species, were sacred.
In many parts of Africa the serpent is looked upon as the incarnation of deceased relatives. Among the [[Zulu people|amaZulu]], as among the [[Betsileo people|Betsileo]] of Madagascar, certain species are assigned as the abode of certain classes. The [[Maasai people|Maasai]], on the other hand, regard each species as the habitat of a particular family of the tribe.
===Ancient Near East===
{{Main|Snake worship}}
[[File:Ningizzida.jpg|thumb|The "libation vase of [[Gudea]]" with the dragon [[Mushussu]], dedicated to [[Ningishzida]] (twentieth century BCE [[short chronology]]). The [[caduceus]] is interpreted as depicting the god himself.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>]]
In [[Mesopotamia|ancient Mesopotamia]], [[Nirah]], the messenger god of [[Ištaran]], was represented as a serpent on ''[[kudurru]]s'', or [[boundary marker|boundary stones]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992">{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |first2=Anthony |last2=Green |title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |___location=Austin, Texas |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1992 |isbn=0-7141-1705-6 |pages=166–168 }}</ref> Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in [[Sumerian art]] and Neo-Sumerian artwork<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> and still appear sporadically on [[cylinder seal]]s and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BCE.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> The horned viper (''[[Cerastes cerastes]]'') appears in [[Kassites|Kassite]] and [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] kudurrus<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> and is invoked in [[Assyria]]n texts as a magical protective entity.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian period]] until the [[Hellenistic period]] (323 BCE–31 BCE).<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> This creature, known in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] as the ''[[mušḫuššu]]'', meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> It seems to have originally been the attendant of the underworld god [[Ninazu]],<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> but later became the attendant to the [[Hurrian religion|Hurrian]] storm-god [[Tishpak]], as well as, later, Ninazu's son [[Ningishzida]], the Babylonian [[national god]] [[Marduk]], the scribal god [[Nabu]], and the Assyrian national god [[Ashur (god)|Ashur]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>
Snake cults were well established in [[Canaanite religion]] in the [[Bronze Age]], for archaeologists have uncovered serpent [[cult object]]s in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at [[Tel Megiddo|Megiddo]],<ref>Gordon Loud, ''Megiddo II: Plates'' plate 240: 1, 4, from Stratum X (dated by Loud 1650–1550 BCE) and Statum VIIB (dated 1250–1150 BCE), noted by Karen Randolph Joines, "The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult" ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' '''87'''.3 (September 1968:245–256) p. 245 note 2.</ref> one at [[Gezer]],<ref>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.</ref> one in the ''sanctum sanctorum'' of the Area H temple at [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]],<ref>Yigael Yadin et al. ''Hazor III-IV: Plates'', pl. 339, 5, 6, dated Late Bronze Age II (Yadiin to Joiner, in Joiner 1968:245 note 4).</ref> and two at [[Shechem]].<ref>Callaway and Toombs to Joiner (Joiner 1968:246 note 5).</ref>
In the surrounding region, serpent cult objects figured in other cultures. A late Bronze Age [[Hittites|Hittite]] shrine in northern Syria contained a bronze statue of a god holding a serpent in one hand and a staff in the other.<ref>Maurice Vieyra, ''Hittite Art 2300 - 750 B.C.'' (Alec Tiranti Ltd., London 1955) fig. 114.</ref> In 6th-century [[Babylon]], a pair of bronze serpents flanked each of the four doorways of the temple of [[Esagila]].<ref>Leonard W. King, ''A History of Babylon'', p. 72.</ref> 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]]".<ref>Pritchard, ''[[Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament|ANET]]'', 331, noted in Joines 1968:246 and note 8.</ref> At the tell of Tepe Gawra, at least seventeen Early Bronze Age [[Assyria]]n bronze serpents were recovered.<ref>E.A. Speiser, ''Excavations at Tepe Gawra: I. Levels I-VIII'', p. 114ff., noted in Joines 1968:246 and note 9.</ref>
====Bronze and Iron Age United Arab Emirates====
[[File:Snake decoration on pot from Rumeilah, Al Ain.jpg|thumb|Snake decoration on [[Bronze Age]] pot from [[Rumailah, UAE|Rumailah]], [[Al Ain]]]]
Significant finds of pottery, bronze-ware and even gold depictions of snakes have been made throughout the [[United Arab Emirates]] (UAE). The [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] metallurgical centre of [[Saruq Al Hadid]] has yielded probably the richest trove of such objects, although finds have been made bearing snake symbols in Bronze Age sites at [[Rumailah, UAE|Rumailah]], [[Al Bithnah|Bithnah]] and [[Masafi]]. Most of the depictions of snakes are similar, with a consistent dotted decoration applied to them.
Although the widespread depiction of snakes in sites across the UAE is thought by archaeologists to have a religious purpose, this remains conjecture.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thenational.ae/uae/brushing-off-sands-of-time-at-the-archaeological-site-of-saruq-al-hadid-1.150378 |title=Brushing off sands of time at the archaeological site of Saruq al-Hadid |last=Gornall |first=Jonathan |date=31 July 2016 |work=The National |access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>
====Abrahamic Religions====
=====Jewish beliefs=====
[[File:Tissot The Brazen Serpent.jpg|thumb|''The Brazen Serpent'' (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by [[James Tissot]])]]
{{Main|Serpents in the Bible|Fiery flying serpent}}
In the [[Hebrew Bible]] the serpent in the [[Garden of Eden]] lured Eve with the promise of being like God, tempting her that despite God's warning, death would not be the result, that God was withholding knowledge from her.
The staff of [[Moses]] transformed into a snake and then back into a staff ([[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 4:2–4). The [[Book of Numbers]] 21:6–9 provides an origin for an [[Nehushtan|archaic copper serpent, ''Nehushtan'']], by associating it with Moses. This copper snake according to the Biblical text is put on a pole and used for healing. Book of Numbers 21:9 "And Moses made a snake of copper, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a snake had bitten any man, when he beheld the snake of brass, he lived."
When the reformer [[King Hezekiah]] came to the throne of Judah in the late 8th century BCE, "He removed the high places, broke the sacred pillars, smashed the idols, and broke into pieces the copper snake that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|18:4|KJV}})
=====Christian beliefs=====
{{expand section|date=May 2015}}
In the [[Gospel of John]] 3:14–15, Jesus makes direct comparison between the raising up of the [[Son of Man]] and the act of Moses in raising up the serpent as a sign, using it as a symbol associated with [[salvation]]: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have [[Eternal life (Christianity)|eternal life]]".
Christian Tradition also identifies [[Satan]] as a talking serpent in the Old Testament's [[Garden of Eden]] who had tempted Eve with a fruit from the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil]]. Eve, as well as her consort Adam, were then punished by [[YHWH]] for their disobedience to commandments outlined prior to this; had lifespan decreased, for women to suffer in birthing, as well as other torments.
=====Islamic beliefs=====
[[File:Flying Snake "Arabhar" from arabic legend.jpg|thumb]]
The serpent is a recurrent motif in Islamic thought, appearing in both sacred texts representing evil and works of art. The creature is often seen as a symbol of evil and punishment. The serpent is a complex figure in Islamic thought, appearing as both a symbol of evil and a figure of wisdom. Djinn, which are likewise figures of great potential mixed with danger, are also believed to appear in the form of snakes on occasion. <ref>{{Cite web |title=The World of the Jinn - Notes from Muhammad Tim's Lectures |url=https://notes.muhammadtim.com/ruqyah/worldofthejinn |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=notes.muhammadtim.com |archive-date=2023-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202182512/https://notes.muhammadtim.com/ruqyah/worldofthejinn |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Arabian Flying Snakes, also known as [[Flying snake|Arabhar]], are a part of Arabian folklore and are said to live near the Arabian Sea. These snakes are believed to have the ability to fly, and their name "Arabhar" means "Arab snake."
The Islamic serpent generally follows in the tradition of earlier Abrahamic myths as a symbol for the seductive draw of wisdom.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mundkur |first=Balaji |title=Ayya in Islamic Thought |date=October 1980 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.1980.tb03415.x |journal=The Muslim World |volume=70 |issue=3–4 |pages=213–225 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1980.tb03415.x |issn=0027-4909|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This symbolism is reflected in various stories and parables, such as the tale of the snake-catcher and the serpent from [[Rumi]], which uses the serpent as a symbol for the sensual soul within human beings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-03-03 |title=Two Tales from Rumi: The Snake-Catcher and the Serpent and The Elephant and the Travellers |url=https://simerg.com/parables/two-tales-from-rumi-the-snake-catcher-and-the-serpent-the-elephant-and-the-travellers/ |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=Simerg - Insights from Around the World |language=en}}</ref> Another story from Arabian mythology features the giant serpent [[Falak (Arabian legend)|Falak]], which is said to live below the fish known as Bahamut and is mentioned in the [[One Thousand and One Nights]] as a dangerous monster.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nair |first=Nitten |date=2022-03-28 |title=Discover the Mystical World of Falak Mythology at Mythlok |url=https://mythlok.com/falak/ |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=Mythlok |language=en-US}}</ref> It is said that Falak only fears God's greater power, which prevents it from consuming all of creation.{{Empty section|date=January 2022}}
===Ancient Iran===
[[File:Serpent on a jewelry box from Shahdad, Iran, 2700 BC.jpg|thumb|Serpent on a [[Casket (decorative box)|jewelry box]] from [[Shahdad]], Iran, 2700 BC]]
Serpents are sacred and powerful in the thought of prehistoric [[Culture of Iran|cultures of Iran]], having been portrayed as patrons of fertility, water and wealth in the ancient objects of Iran. They seem to have been worshipped along with the [[fertility goddesses]] from the fourth to first millennia BC, when their presence as mighty patrons and source of life and of immortality is seen in the art of [[Tall-i Bakun]], [[Chogha Mish]], [[Tepe Sialk]], [[Jiroft culture]], [[Shahr-e Sukhteh]], [[Shahdad]], [[Elamite]] art, [[Luristan bronze|Luristan]] art, etc.
However, it seems that the symbolic concept of the serpent was corrupted in the cultures of the [[Iranian plateau]] over time by Western influence. In [[Abrahamic traditions]], the serpent represents sexual desire, as he lured [[Eve]] with the promise of forbidden knowledge in the [[Garden of Eden]]. As a result of such influence, Aryan religions call the serpents diabolic; [[Zahhak|Azhi Dahake]] in the [[Avesta]] is a scary serpent, and [[Zahhak]] in the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' is an infernal creature with two snakes on his shoulders. This replacement might be due to communication between the inhabitants of Iran and believers in [[Abrahamic religions]], and beyond that the conversion of [[matriarchy]] into [[patriarchy]] as the social structure of Iranian plateau cultures.<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://jfava.ut.ac.ir/article_56378_0.html |title = Inversion of a Symbol's concept |date = 2015 |publisher = Tehran: Honarhay-e Ziba Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3. |last = Taheri |first = Sadreddin |access-date = 2018-07-24 |archive-date = 2018-07-24 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180724183610/https://jfava.ut.ac.ir/article_56378_0.html |url-status = dead }}</ref>
===Chinese mythology===
{{Main|Snakes in Chinese mythology}}
In Chinese creationism mythology, [[Nüwa]] is the mother goddess who created humans from clay. She is depicted as a half snake being.
===Greek mythology===
{{See also|Dragons in Greek mythology}}
[[File:Centre Close Up of the West Pediment from the Temple of Artemis in Corfu.jpg|thumb|The [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] [[Gorgon]] at the [[pediment]] of the [[Temple of Artemis, Corfu|Temple of Artemis]] as shown at the [[Archaeological Museum of Corfu]]. She wears a belt of intertwined snakes, a fertility symbol.<ref name="Aglaia">{{cite book |last= Segal |first= Charles M. |title= Aglaia: The Poetry of Alcman, Sappho, Pindar, Bacchylides, and Corinna |year=1998 |publisher= Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8476-8617-9 |page= 91; 338 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JSVrgar7gScC}}</ref>]]
The [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Snake Goddess]] brandished a serpent in either hand, perhaps evoking her role as source of wisdom, rather than her role as Mistress of the Animals (''[[Potnia Theron]]''), with a [[leopard]] under each arm.
Serpents figured prominently in archaic Greek myths. According to some sources, [[Ophion]] ("serpent", a.k.a. Ophioneus), ruled the world with Eurynome before the two of them were cast down by [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]. The oracles of the Ancient Greeks were said to have been the continuation of the tradition begun with the worship of the Egyptian cobra goddess [[Wadjet]].
[[Typhon]], the enemy of the [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian gods]], is described as a vast grisly monster with a hundred heads and a hundred serpents issuing from his thighs, who was conquered and cast into [[Tartarus]] by [[Zeus]], or confined beneath volcanic regions, where he is the cause of eruptions. Typhon is thus the chthonic figuration of volcanic forces. Serpent elements figure among his offspring; among his children by Echidna are [[Cerberus]] (a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and a serpentine mane); the serpent-tailed [[Chimera (mythology)|Chimaera]]; the serpent-like chthonic water beast [[Lernaean Hydra]]; and the hundred-headed serpentine dragon [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]]. Both the Lernaean Hydra and Ladon were slain by [[Heracles]].
[[Python (mythology)|Python]] was the earth-dragon of [[Delphi]]. She always was represented in the vase-paintings and by sculptors as a serpent. Python was the chthonic enemy of [[Apollo]], who slew her and remade her former home his own oracle, the most famous in Classical Greece.
[[File:Statue of Asklepios NAMA 263 (DerHexer).JPG|thumb|upright|left|Statue of [[Asclepius]] ]]
The [[Gorgon|Gorgons]] - [[Stheno]], [[Euryale (Gorgon)|Euryale]], and [[Medusa]] - were three monstrous sisters with sharp fangs and living, venomous snakes for hair, and 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, Corfu|Temple of Artemis at Corfu]].
[[Asclepius]], the son of Apollo and [[Coronis (lover of Apollo)|Coronis]], learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another (which Asclepius himself had fatally wounded) back to life with healing herbs. To prevent the entire human race from becoming immortal under Asclepius's care, Zeus killed him with a bolt of lightning. Asclepius' death at the hands of Zeus illustrates man's inability to challenge the natural order that separates mortal men from the gods. In honor of Asclepius, snakes were often used in healing rituals. Non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept. The ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' claimed that [[Athena]] gave Asclepius a vial of blood from the Gorgons. Gorgon blood had magical properties: if taken from the left side of the Gorgon, it was a fatal poison; from the right side, the blood was capable of bringing the dead back to life. However, [[Euripides]] wrote in his tragedy [[Ion (play)|''Ion'']] that the Athenian queen [[Creusa of Athens|Creusa]] had inherited this vial from her ancestor [[Erichthonios]], who was a snake himself and had received the vial from Athena. In this version the blood of Medusa had the healing power while the lethal poison originated from Medusa's serpents.
[[Olympias]], the mother of [[Alexander the Great]] and a princess of the primitive land of [[Epirus]], had the reputation of a snake-handler, and it was in serpent form that Zeus was said to have fathered Alexander upon her.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm |title=Lucian of Samosata: Alexander the False Prophet |publisher=Tertullian.org |date=August 31, 2001 |access-date=December 7, 2012}}</ref> [[Aeëtes]], the king of [[Colchis]] and father of the sorceress [[Medea]], possessed the [[Golden Fleece]]. He guarded it with a massive serpent that never slept. Medea, who had fallen in love with [[Jason]] of the [[Argonauts]], enchanted it to sleep so Jason could seize the Fleece. (See [[Lamia]]).
When not driven by horses, the chariot of the [[Helios|Greek sun god]] is described as being pulled by fiery draconic beings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html |title=HELIUS (Helios) - Greek Titan God of the Sun (Roman Sol) |website=www.theoi.com |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref> 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.
In artwork snakes are occasionally associated with [[Hecate]], the goddess of [[witchcraft]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Oskar Seyffert|title=A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities: Mythology, Religion, Literature and Art|url=https://archive.org/details/b3135841x/page/270/mode/2up?view=theater|publisher=[[William Swan Sonnenschein|Swan Sonnenschein and Co]]|edition=6|date=1901|page=271|access-date=2022-01-02}}</ref>
===Hindu mythology===
[[Image:Naga182.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Hoysala]] sculpture of a Naga couple, [[Halebidu]] ]]
{{Main|Nāga}}
{{See|Hindu mythology|Vedic mythology|Buddhist mythology}}
''Naga'' ([[Sanskrit]]: नाग) is the [[Sanskrit]]/[[Pāli]] word for a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very large snake, found in [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Jainism]]. The ''naga'' primarily represents rebirth, death and mortality, due to its casting of its skin and being symbolically "reborn".
Hindus associate the ''naga'' with the deities [[Shiva]] and [[Vishnu]]. [[Shesha]] is one of the two mounts of Vishnu, upon which the deity rests. [[Vasuki]] is a serpent coiled around the neck of Shiva. The snake represents freedom in [[Hindu mythology]] because they cannot be tamed. In Buddhism, the serpent [[Mucalinda]] is associated as the protector of [[Buddha]]. In Jainism, serpent is associated with the 23rd Tirthankara [[Parshvanatha]].
=== Hindu symbolism ===
In Hindu mythology, serpents ('''Nāgas''') are considered powerful semi-divine beings associated with '''water, fertility, and the underworld'''. Nāgas are also linked to '''cosmic energy (Kundalini)''' and feature prominently in astrology as the basis for '''Rahu and Ketu''', the lunar nodes representing karmic influences and eclipse-causing shadow planets.<ref>Zimmer, Heinrich (1946). ''Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691017785.</ref>
====Nagas of Indochina====
Serpents, or ''[[Nāga#Indonesia|nāga]]s'', play a particularly important role in [[Khmer mythology]]. An [[origin myth]] explains the emergence of the name "Cambodia" as resulting from conquest of a naga princess by a [[Kambojas|Kambuja]] lord named [[Kaundinya]]: the descendants of their union are the [[Khmer people]].<ref>Chandler, ''A History of Cambodia'', p. 13.</ref> [[George Cœdès]] suggests the Cambodian myth is a basis for the Thai legend of [[Rocket Festival#Nang Ai, Phadaeng, and Phangkhi|"Phra Daeng Nang Ai"]], in which a woman who has lived many previous lives in the region is reincarnated as a daughter of Phraya Khom (Thai for Cambodian) and causes the death of her companion in former lives who has been reincarnated as a prince of the Nagas. This leads to war between the "spirits of the air" and the Nagas: Nagas amok are rivers in spate, and the entire region is flooded.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coedès |first= George |editor= Walter F. Vella |others= translated by Susan Brown Cowing |title= The Indianized States of Southeast Asia |publisher=Research Publications and Translations Program of the Institute of Advanced Projects, East-West Center, University of Hawaii |orig-year=1968 |year=1971 |___location=Honolulu |isbn=0-7081-0140-2 |page=48}}</ref> [[Rocket Festival#The Myth of the Toad King|The Myth of the Toad King]] tells how introduction of Buddhist teachings led to war with the [[sky deity]] Phaya Thaen, and ended in a truce with nagas posted as guardians of entrances to temples.<ref>{{cite book |title=Tossa, Wajuppa and Phra 'Ariyānuwat |year=1996 |publisher= Bucknell University Press London|___location= Cranbury, NJ |isbn=0-8387-5306-X}}</ref>
===Native American mythology===
[[File:Featheredserpentnotchedplatevol2mississip86.png|thumb|right|Ancient North American serpent imagery often featured rattlesnakes.]]
{{See|Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas}}
Some [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribes give reverence to the rattlesnake as grandfather and king of snakes who is able to give fair winds or cause tempest.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} Among the [[Hopi]] of [[Arizona]] the serpent figures largely in one of the dances.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} The rattlesnake was worshiped in the [[Natchez people|Natchez]] [[Temple of the Sun]],{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} and the [[Aztec]] deity [[Quetzalcoatl]] was a feathered serpent-god. In many Meso-American cultures, the serpent was regarded as a portal between two worlds. The tribes of [[Peru]] are said to have adored great snakes in the pre-Inca days, and in [[Chile]] the [[Mapuche]] made a serpent figure in their deluge beliefs.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
A [[Horned Serpent]] is a popular image in Northern American natives' mythology.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
In one Native North American story, an evil serpent kills one of the gods' cousins, so the god kills the serpent in revenge, but the dying serpent unleashes a great flood. People first flee to the mountains and then, when the mountains are covered, they float on a raft until the flood subsides. The evil spirits that the serpent god controlled then hide out of fear.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indians.org/welker/greatflo.htm |title=Great Serpent and the Great Flood |publisher=Indians.org |access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> The [[Mound Builders]] associated great mystical value to the serpent, as the [[Serpent Mound]] demonstrates, though we are unable to unravel the particular associations.
===Nordic mythology===
{{See also|Jörmungandr}}
Jörmungandr, alternately referred to as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent, is a [[sea serpent]] of [[Norse mythology]], the middle child of [[Loki]] and the [[Jötunn|giantess]] [[Angrboða]]. According to the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', [[Odin]] took Loki's three children, [[Fenrisúlfr]], [[Hel (being)|Hel]] and Jörmungandr. He tossed Jörmungandr into the great ocean that encircles [[Midgard]]. The serpent grew so big that he was able to surround the [[Yggdrasil|Earth]] and grasp his own tail, and as a result he earned the alternate name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent. Jörmungandr's arch enemy is the god [[Thor]].
In the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', Odin tells of eight serpents gnawing on the roots of [[Yggdrasil]]: [[Nidhöggr]], Gravvitnir, Moin, Goin, Grábakr, Grafvölluðr, Svafnir and Ofnir.
==Folklore==
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 (''[[Fairy tale|Märchen]]''), or as the [[Donor (fairy tale)|donor]] who grants the protagonist a special ability or impart him with some secret knowledge.
According to the [[Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index]], the serpent can appear in this capacity in the following tale types:<ref>Sundermann, Werner. "VII. Friedmar Geißler (f), Erzählmotive in der Geschichte von den zwei Schlangen". In: ''Ein manichäisch-soghdisches Parabelbuch''. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2022 [1985]. pp. 57-68. {{doi|10.1515/9783112592328-007}}</ref>
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 155, "The Ungrateful Animal (Serpent) Returned to Captivity": a farmer rescues an animal (snake) from a trap ([[Pit cave|pit]]). Now free, the animal wants to eat (bite) its saviour, who tries to delay this fate. He consults with other creatures and finally to a trickster animal ([[fox]] or [[jackal]]). The trickster animal feigns innocence and wants to understand the origin of the problem, so the ungrateful animal goes back to the pit to demonstrate. The farmer leaves the animal trapped again.<ref>Aarne, Antti. ''Verzeichnis der Märchentypen''. Folklore Fellows Classification 3. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Toimituksia, 1910. p. 8. [https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Verzeichnis_der_M%C3%A4rchentypen]</ref> Example: ''[[The Tiger, the Brahmin and the Jackal]]'', Indian fable.
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 411, "The King and the [[Lamia]] (The [[Snake]]-Wife)": a man takes to wife a woman of mysterious background. A holy person (hermit, cleric, monk) sees through the deception and reveals the woman's true nature as a serpent.<ref>"The White Snake, Apollonius of Tyana and John Keats's ''Lamia''". In: Murray, Chris. ''China from the Ruins of Athens and Rome: Classics, Sinology, and Romanticism, 1793-1938''. Oxford University Press. 2020. pp. 63-97. {{ISBN|978-0-19-876701-5}}</ref><ref>Behr-Glinka, A.I. "[https://www.academia.edu/37739804/%D0%91%D0%B5%D1%80_%D0%93%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%90_%D0%98_%D0%A1%D1%8E%D0%B6%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BF_%D0%90%D0%A2U411_%D0%B2_%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%95%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%BA_%D0%A2%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%83_%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8E_%D0%93_%D0%99_%D0%A3%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0_%D0%AD%D0%9E_4_2018_ 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}}</ref> This type would include ''[[Legend of the White Snake]]'' (Chinese legend);<ref>Ting, Nai-tung. "The Holy Man and the Snake-Woman. A Study of a Lamia Story in Asian and European Literature". In: ''Fabula'' 8, no. Jahresband (1966): 145–191. {{doi|10.1515/fabl.1966.8.1.145}}</ref> ''[[Mélusine]]'', a French medieval legend.<ref>Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel; [[Jacques Le Goff|Le Goff, Jacques]]. "Mélusine maternelle et défricheuse". In: ''Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations''. 26<sup>e</sup> année, N. 3-4, 1971. pp. 593-594. {{doi|10.3406/ahess.1971.422431}}</ref>
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 425, "[[Animal as Bridegroom|The Search for the Lost Husband]]", and subtypes: 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.<ref>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}}</ref> 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 Folk Tale)|The Serpent Prince]]'', Hungarian folktale.
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 425M, "The Snake as Bridegroom":<ref>Felton, Debbie. "Apuleius' Cupid Considered as a Lamia (Metamorphoses 5.17-18)." ''Illinois Classical Studies'', no. 38 (2013): 230 (footnote nr. 4). {{doi|10.5406/illiclasstud.38.0229}}.</ref> a girl goes bathing and leaves her clothing by the shore. When she returns, a snake ([[grass snake]]) hides her clothing and will only return them if the girl agrees to marry it. She promises to marry the snake. Some time later, the grass snake comes to take its bride and bring her to its [[underwater]] (or [[Subterranea (geography)|underground]]) palace.<ref>Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. ''The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography''. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. p. 144.</ref> This tale type seems to be restricted to the Baltic geographical area.<ref>"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}} [https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/21517]</ref> Example: ''[[Egle the Queen of Serpents]]'', a [[Lithuania]]n fairy tale.
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 433B, "King Lindworm": a childless queen gives birth to a boy in snake form. Years later, he wishes to marry, but either devours his brides on their wedding night or cannot find a woman brave enough to accept his serpentine form. The snake prince is disenchanted by a maiden who wears layers of clothing in their nuptial night to mirror his layers of [[snakeskin]].<ref>Aarne, Antti. ''Verzeichnis der Märchentypen''. Folklore Fellows Classification 3. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Toimituksia, 1910. p. 19. [https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Verzeichnis_der_M%C3%A4rchentypen]</ref> Example: ''[[King Lindworm]]'', a [[Denmark|Danish]] fairy tale; ''[[The Dragon-Prince and the Stepmother]]'', Turkish fairy tale.
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 485, "Borma Jarizhka" or "The City of Babylon": a tsar sends a brave knight to the city of Babylon to retrieve three symbols of royal power (a robe, a crown, a scepter). The city is surrounded by snakes and ruled by a princess with snake-like attributes.<ref>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}}.</ref>
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 560, "The [[Magic Ring]]": a poor man either buys or rescues four types of animals, a cat, a dog, a mouse and a snake. This snake is the son of the king of serpents. It takes the boy to its father's court to reward him a wish-granting object (usually a magic stone or ring).<ref>Thompson, Stith. ''The Folktale''. University of California Press, 1977. pp. 70-71. {{ISBN|0-520-03537-2}}</ref> Example: ''[[The Enchanted Watch]]'', French fairy tale.
* Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index tale type ATU 612, "[[The Three Snake-Leaves]]": a man kills a snake. Its mate brings three magical leaves to resurrect it. This inspires the man to find a similar herb to use on his deceased bride/wife.<ref>Aarne, Antti. ''Verzeichnis der Märchentypen''. Folklore Fellows Classification 3. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Toimituksia, 1910. p. 29. [https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Verzeichnis_der_M%C3%A4rchentypen]</ref>
* 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).<ref>Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. ''The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography''. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1961. pp. 235–236.</ref>
* 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.<ref>Frazer, James G. "The Language of Animals". In: ''Archaeological Review''. Vol. I. No. 3. May, 1888. D. Nutt. 1888. pp. 166 and 175-177.</ref> Example: ''[[The White Snake]]'', German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.
==Flags and heraldry==
{{see also|Biscione|Lindworm|Wyvern}}
Serpents or snakes appear on the flags or coats of arms of several entities.
<gallery>
File:Flag_of_Mexico.svg|The [[Flag of Mexico]], based on the Aztec symbol for Tenochtitlan, depicts an eagle sitting on a cactus while devouring a serpent
File:Arms of the House of Visconti (1277).svg|The arms of the House of Visconti, who ruled the [[Duchy of Milan]]
</gallery>
===American Revolution===
In 1754 and again during the [[American Revolution]], [[Benjamin Franklin]] published the '''''[[Join, or Die]].''''' cartoon in ''[[The Pennsylvania Gazette]]'' to give a message of colonial unity. The cartoon shows a snake in eight pieces, each representing one or more of the Thirteen Colonies.<ref>{{cite news|title=Join, or Die|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1607106/join_or_die/|access-date=January 19, 2014|work=Pennsylvania Gazette|date=May 9, 1754|___location=Philadelphia|page=2|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Margolin |first1=Victor |title=Rebellion, Reform, and Revolution: American Graphic Design for Social Change |journal=Design Issues |date=1988 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=59–70 |doi=10.2307/1511561|jstor=1511561 }}</ref> It was based on a superstition that if a snake was cut in pieces and the pieces were put together before sunset, the snake would return to life.
Following the publication of "Join, or Die", the rattlesnake became a symbol of the Thirteen Colonies. Franklin and other colonists considered the rattlesnake to represent independence and vigilance. Several flags of the American Revolution depict rattlesnakes. Two of the more notable flags with the rattlesnake imagery are the [[Gadsden flag]] and the [[First Navy Jack]]. The United States War Office, and its successor organizations the Department of War and Department of the Army, contain a rattlesnake in their emblems.
<gallery>
File: Benjamin Franklin - Join or Die.jpg|''Join, or Die.'' a 1754 political cartoon by [[Benjamin Franklin]]
Image:Gadsden flag.svg|A rattlesnake appears on the [[Gadsden flag]]
File:Naval jack of the United States (2002–2019).svg|A rattlesnake appears on the [[First Navy Jack]] of the United States
Image:Seal of the US Department of the Army.svg|The [[Department of the Army]] Emblem contains a rattlesnake with the motto "this we'll defend"
</gallery>
==Modern symbolism==
===Modern medicine===
{{See also|Caduceus as a symbol of medicine}}
[[File:Star of life2.svg|thumb|upright|The [[Star of Life]] features a Rod of Asclepius.]]
Snakes entwined the staffs both of [[Hermes]] (the [[caduceus]]) and of [[Rod of Asclepius|Asclepius]], where a single snake entwined the rough staff. On Hermes' caduceus, the snakes were not merely duplicated for symmetry, they were paired opposites. (This motif is congruent with the [[phurba]].) The wings at the head of the staff identified it as belonging to the winged messenger [[Hermes]], the Roman [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]], who was the god of magic, diplomacy and [[rhetoric]], of inventions and discoveries, and the protector both of merchants and that allied occupation, to the mythographers' view, of thieves. It is however Hermes' role as [[psychopomp]], the escort of newly deceased souls to the afterlife, that explains the origin of the snakes in the caduceus, since this was also the role of the Sumerian entwined serpent god [[Ningizzida]], with whom Hermes has sometimes been equated.
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.
===Modern political propaganda===
Following the Christian context as a symbol for evil, serpents are sometimes featured in political [[propaganda]]. They were used to represent Jews in [[Antisemitism|antisemitic propaganda]]. Snakes were also used to represent the evil side of drugs in such films as ''Narcotic''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121587/ |title=Narcotic |date=1 March 1934 |access-date=15 March 2018 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> and ''Narcotics: Pit of Despair''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/Narcotic1967 |title=Narcotics: Pit of Despair (Part I) : Marshall (Mel) : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive |access-date=December 7, 2012}}</ref> The Gadsden flag of the American Revolution continues to be used in modern political propaganda to connote libertarianism and anti-government sentiments.
<gallery>
<!-- [[WP:NFCC]] violation: File:Tag shfifonN.jpg|[[Fiery flying serpent|The Flying Serpent]], insignia of the [[Israel]]i [[Paratroopers Brigade (IDF)|Paratroopers Brigade]] -->
File:Salvage Scrap propaganda poster crop2.jpg|[[Imperial Japan]] depicted as an evil snake in a WWII propaganda poster
</gallery>
===Automobiles===
The [[Car|automobile]] brands [[AC Cobra]], [[Shelby Mustang|Ford Mustang Shelby]], Zarooq Motors, [[Dodge Viper]], and [[Alfa Romeo|Alpha Romeo]] all feature snakes on their [[logo]]s.
==See also==
* [[
* [[Ethnoherpetology]]
* [[
* [[Legend of the White Snake]]
* [[
* [[Serpent Column]]
* [[Snake (zodiac)]]
* [[Snakes in Chinese mythology]]
* [[L'Évangile du serpent|''L'Évangile du serpent'']]
==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}
=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Burston, Daniel: 1994, "Freud, the Serpent & The Sexual Enlightenment of Children", International Forum of Psychoanalysis, vol. 3, pp. 205–219.
* [[Joseph Campbell]], ''Occidental Mythology: the Masks of God'', 1964: Ch. 1, "The Serpent's Bride."
* John Bathurst Deane, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/wos/ ''The Worship of the Serpent''], London : J. G. & F. Rivington, 1833. ([https://archive.org/details/worshipserpentt04deangoog alternative copy online at the Internet Archive])
* [[David P. Chandler]], ''A History of Cambodia'', 1992.
* Lewis Richard Farnell, ''The Cults of the Greek States'', 1896.
* [[Joseph Eddy Fontenrose]], ''Python; a Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins'', 1959.
* [[Jane Ellen Harrison]], ''Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion'', 1912. cf. Chapter IX, p. 329 especially, on the slaying of the Python.
** {{cite web |url = https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/eos/eos_page.pl?DPI=100&callnum=BL781.H32&object=454 |title = Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion, Page 424 |website = Lib.uchicago.edu |access-date = 2012-12-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181130122420/http://www3.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/eos/eos_page.pl?DPI=100&callnum=BL781.H32&object=454 |archive-date = 2018-11-30 |url-status = dead }}
** {{cite web |url = https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/eos/eos_title.pl?callnum=BL781.H32 |title = EOS |website = Lib.uchicago.edu |access-date = 2012-12-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151105143443/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/eos/eos_title.pl?callnum=BL781.H32 |archive-date = 2015-11-05 |url-status = dead }}
* {{cite book
| title = Being and Perceiving
| last = Haycock
| first = D. E.
| publisher = Manupod Press
| year = 2011
| isbn = 978-0-9569621-0-2
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fXFeQb1z6bsC
| ref = refHaycockDE
}}
* {{cite book
| title = The Wisdom of the Serpent
| last1 = Henderson
| first1 = J. L.
| last2 = Oakes
| first2 = M.
| publisher = Princeton University Press
| year = 1990
| isbn = 978-0-691-02064-8
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hXD0gIN2a5IC
| ref = refHendersonJL
}}
* {{cite book
| title = The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent
| last = Isbell
| first = L.
| publisher = Harvard University Press
| year = 2009
| isbn = 978-0-674-03301-6
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yKzIuw4YBCoC
| ref = refIsbellL
}}
* Balaji Mundkur, ''The Cult of the Serpent: An Interdisciplinary Survey of Its Manifestations and Origins'', Albany: State University Press 1983.
* [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[The Cask of Amontillado]], available in an [https://web.archive.org/web/20081008212957/http://www.literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/amontillado.html online version] at literature.org.
* [[Carl A. P. Ruck]], Blaise Daniel Staples & Clark Heinrich, ''The Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist'', 2001.
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
* Behr-Glinka, Andrei I. "Змея как сексуальный и брачный партнер человека. (Еще раз о семантике образа змеи в фольклорной традиции европейских народов)" [Serpent as a Bride and an Intimate Partner of a Man. Once more about the semantics of serpent in European folk-lore]. In: ''Культурные взаимодействия. Динамика и смыслы''. Издательский дом Stratum, Университет «Высшая антропологическая школа», 2016. pp. 435–575.
* Glinka, Lukasz Andrzej (2014). ''Aryan Unconscious: Archetype of Discrimination, History & Politics,'' Great Abington, UK: Cambridge International Science Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-907343-59-9}}.
==External links==
{{Commons category|Mythological serpents}}
* {{cite web |url = https://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleid=3FE89A86-E7F2-99DF-366D045A5BF3EAB1&chanId=sa027 |website = Scientific American |title = Offerings to a Stone Snake Provide the Earliest Evidence of Religion |first = J. R. |last = Minkel |date = 1 December 2006 |access-date = 20 May 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011105001/http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleid=3FE89A86-E7F2-99DF-366D045A5BF3EAB1&chanId=sa027 |archive-date = 11 October 2007 |url-status = dead }}
* {{cite web |url = https://anthropology.net/2007/07/04/rotherwas-ribbon-a-bronze-age-site-unique-in-europe/ |website = Anthropology.net |title = Rotherwas Ribbon – A Bronze Age Site 'Unique In Europe' |first = Tim |last = Jones |date = 4 July 2012 |access-date = 20 May 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181119051652/https://anthropology.net/2007/07/04/rotherwas-ribbon-a-bronze-age-site-unique-in-europe/ |archive-date = 19 November 2018 |url-status = dead }}
* {{cite news |url = http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/05/18/1926969.htm |website=ABC Science/Discovery News |title = Snake Cults Dominated Early Arabia |first = Jennifer |last = Viegas |date=18 May 2007}}
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{{Reptiles in culture}}
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