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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 serpent was a symbol of evil power and chaos from the underworld as well as a symbol of fertility, life, healing, and rebirth. [2] Nāḥāš (נחש ), Hebrew for "snake", is also associated with divination, including the verb form meaning "to practice divination or fortune-telling".
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]
According to the popular urban legend, it was a terrifying creature, described as a rooster, snake or turkey, with a snake's tail and the eyes of a frog. [10] [11] It guarded hidden treasures in the Warsaw's Old Town underground and killed intruders with its eyes. It died outwitted by a young journeyman who went underground carrying a mirror in ...
"The snake's spiritual meaning has long been associated with healing and change," says Wilson. "Snakes represent the cycle of death and rebirth symbolized by the ouroboros—the snake swallowing ...
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes; Mythology and religion. Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature;
Snake cults had been well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age: archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo, [5] one at Gezer, [6] one in the sanctuary of the Area H temple at Tel Hazor [7] and two at Shechem. [8] Cultic serpent imagery was not isolated to ...
The word ousted adder, as adder went on to narrow in meaning, though in Old English næddre was the general word for snake. [12] The other term, serpent, is from French, ultimately from Indo-European *serp-'to creep', [13] which also gave Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō) 'I crawl' and Sanskrit sarpá ‘snake’. [14]