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Xuchilbara (talk | contribs) Taking out comparing Coatlicue to Kali, Kali and Coatlicue differ vastly |
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In [[Hindu mythology]] [[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 to constantly sing 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 [[Asuras]] and [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] to churn the [[ocean of milk]] in the heavens in order to make [[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")
The demi-god Aidophedo of the West African [[Ashanti]] 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 [[Vodun]] 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 Vodun was exported to Haiti through the slave trade Dan became [[Damballah|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.
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