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serpent symbology. Serpent Symbology The symbology of the serpent or snake is
convoluted, ambiguous and heavily reliant on cultural interpretation. ...
... seems already integral to the serpent and rod equation, and it becomes more prominent
in other symbology, eventually becoming combined with the serpent (Fenkl ...
... is apparent not just in the elements included and their symbology which will ... is not
the typical siren described above, but rather a specific serpent-like fairy ...
Submitted by imevil on November 3, 2007
Category: Miscellaneous
Words: 1229 | Pages: 5
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Serpent Symbology
The symbology of the serpent or snake is convoluted, ambiguous and heavily reliant on cultural interpretation. However, in its most basic state the serpent or snake is a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, energy and power. As an animal it contrasts heavily with the physical nature of man and indeed most animals. It's cold-blooded, hairless, featherless, armless and legless appearance opposes and complements man's physical being in this sense it can be seen as a direct rival to man. The natural symbolic state of this animal also represents the lower psyche, hidden psychosis and what is unusual, incomprehensible and mysterious the part of which people have the least control over (Chevalier & Gheerbert).
Throughout myth and world cultures the serpent has consistently been associated with a degree sexual ambivalence as it symbolises both masculinity and femininity. Due to it encompassing and representing both genders simultaneously, it has often taken on the role of a creator god. The serpent symbolizes the creator god not only in Amazonia, Mexico, and Australia, but also in Sumer, Egypt, Persia, India, the Pacific, Crete, Greece, and Scandinavia (Cirlot). The Chaldeans even had just one word for snake and life (Chevalier & Gheerbert). It is an old god found at the beginning of most, if not all cosmologies (Chevalier & Gheerbert).
The Ouroboros is the depiction of a circular snake eating its own tail. This represents again the idea of the giver of life and self-fertilization, though expands it further implying motion continuity and the eventual eternal home-coming (Chevalier & Gheerbert).
Possibly the greatest influence on the serpents symbolic meaning (that is relevant in today's western culture) was the penning of Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch, by Moses. Genesis, along with the majority of symbolism in the bible, depicts the serpent as a negative and accursed, as it is...
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