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The serpent, or snake, is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. 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 [1] [2] and represent dual expression [3] of good and evil. [4] In some cultures, snakes were fertility symbols.
The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death and rebirth; the snake's skin-sloughing symbolises the transmigration of souls. The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a phallic symbol and the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol. [9]
Besides the very wide known religious creation story of Adam and Eve, [15] snakes were a common feature of many creation myths, for example many people in California and Australia had myths about the Rainbow Snake, which was either Mother Earth herself giving birth to all animals or a water-god whose writhing created rivers, creeks and oceans.
What Does a Snake Tattoo Symbolize? "Snakes have gotten a bad rap in the West," says Dr. Jonathan Dubois, Ph.D., an adjunct professor at California State University-San Bernardino and Ph.D ...
There is a debate about whether the serpent in Eden should be viewed figuratively or as a literal animal. According to one midrashic interpretation in Rabbinic literature, the serpent represents sexual desire; [16] another interpretation is that the snake is the yetzer hara.
The cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica), full of its fruits, called nÅchtli in Nahuatl, represents the island of Tenochtitlan. To the Mexicans, the snake represented wisdom, and it had strong connotations with the god Quetzalcoatl. The story of the snake was derived from an incorrect translation of the Crónica Mexicáyotl by Fernando Alvarado ...
The same twelve animals are also used to symbolize the cycle of hours in the day, each being associated with a two-hour time period. The hour of the snake is 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., the time when the Sun warms up the Earth, and snakes are said to slither out of their holes.
[6] [7] The three poisons are represented in the hub of the wheel of life as a pig, a bird, and a snake (representing ignorance, attachment, and aversion, respectively). As shown in the wheel of life (Sanskrit: bhavacakra ), the three poisons lead to the creation of karma , which leads to rebirth in the six realms of samsara.