Snake worship
Ophiolatry, refers to veneration and religious devotion to serpent deities, a tradition documented in many religions and mythologies worldwide. In many traditional religions and mythologies, snakes have been symbolically associated with concepts such as wisdom, cyclical renewal, and protection, although meanings vary significantly between cultures.
Near East
Ancient Mesopotamia
Some ancient Mesopotamian and Semitic texts depict snakes as symbols of renewal, possibly linked to their periodic shedding of skin, which ancient authors connected with longevity. The Sumerians worshiped a serpent god named Ningishzida. Before Israelite culture, snake cults were 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, one at Gezer, one in the sanctum sanctorum of the Area H temple at Hazor, and two at Shechem.Serpent cult objects also existed in other cultures of the surrounding region. A late Bronze Age Hittite shrine in northern Syria contained a bronze statue of a god holding a serpent in one hand and a staff in the other. In sixth-century Babylon, a pair of bronze serpents flanked each of the four doorways of the temple of Esagila. At the Babylonian New Year's festival, the priest was to commission two images from a woodworker, a metalworker, and a goldsmith, one of which "shall hold in its left hand a snake of cedar, raising its right to the god Nabu". At the tell of Tepe Gawra, at least seventeen Early Bronze Age Assyrian bronze serpents were recovered.
File:Snake decoration on pot from Rumeilah, Al Ain.jpg|thumb|Snake motif on Bronze Age pottery from Rumailah, Al Ain.
Archeological Finds in the United Arab Emirates
Significant pottery, bronze-ware, and even gold depictions of snakes have been found throughout the United Arab Emirates. The Bronze Age and Iron Age metallurgical center of Saruq Al Hadid has yielded probably the richest trove of such objects, although much has been found bearing snake symbols in Bronze Age sites at Rumailah, Bithnah, and Masafi. Most of the depictions of snakes are similar, with a consistent dotted decoration applied to them.Archaeologists have noted the widespread depiction of snakes in Bronze Age UAE sites, with some interpreting these symbols as evidence for snake-related cults, though definitive proof remains elusive.
Judaism
Gnosticism
originated in the late 1st century CE in non-rabbinical Jewish and early Christian sects. In the formation of Christianity, various sectarian groups, labeled "gnostics" by their opponents, emphasized spiritual knowledge of the divine spark within over faith in the teachings and traditions of the various communities of Christians. Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God, and the Demiurge, the "creator" of the material universe. Gnostic Christian doctrines rely on a dualistic cosmology comprising the evil Demiurge or creator god, a false god identified with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament, which they separated from the Unknown God of the Gospel, the father of Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God. In Gnosticism, the biblical serpent in the Garden of Eden was praised and thanked for bringing knowledge to Adam and Eve and thereby freeing them from the malevolent Demiurge's control.However, not all Gnostic movements regarded the creator of the material universe as inherently evil or malevolent. For instance, Valentinians believed that the Demiurge is an ignorant and incompetent creator, trying to fashion the world as well as he can but lacking the proper power to maintain its goodness. They were regarded as heretics by the proto-orthodox Early Church Fathers.
Africa
Danh-gbi
The Kingdom of Dahomey was the location a cult dedicated to a serpent deity called the Danh-gbi or Dangbe, who was a benefactor-god of wisdom and bliss, "associated with trees and the ocean". This cult may have been of exotic origin, introduced to Dhahomey around c. 1725 and originating from the Kingdom of Whydah, which Dahomey conquered at a roughly contemporary time.At Whydah, the chief center, there was a serpent temple tenanted by some fifty snakes. The killing of a python, even by accident, was punishable by death, but in the 19th century, this was replaced with a fine.
Danh-gbi has numerous wives, who, until 1857, took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; those who peeked were to be put to death. A python was carried around the town in a hammock, perhaps as part of a ceremony dedicated to the expulsion of evils.
Rainbow Snake
The Rainbow Snake was called the Aido Hwedo, a sort of cosmic serpent which could cause quakes, floods and control the motions of heavenly bodies. The rainbow-god of the Ashanti was described as having the form of a snake. His messenger was said to be a small variety of boa, but only certain individuals, not the whole species, were sacred.In West African mythology in general, Ayida-Weddo, portrayed as a snake is believed to hold up the sky.
African diasporic religion
In Haitian Vodou, the creator loa Damballa is represented as a serpent, and his wife Ayida-Weddo is the rainbow serpent. Simbi are a type of serpentine loa in Haitian Vodou. They are associated with water and sometimes are believed to act as psychopomps serving Papa Legba.Example in art
Eva Meyerowitz wrote of an earthenware pot that was stored at the Museum of Achimota College in present-day Ghana. The base of the neck of this pot is surrounded by the rainbow snake. The legend of this creature explains that the rainbow snake only emerged from its home when it was thirsty. Keeping its tail on the ground, the snake would raise its head to the sky, looking for the rain god. As it drank great quantities of water, the snake would spill some, which would fall to the earth as rain.There are four other snakes on the sides of this pot: Danh-gbi, the life-giving snake, Li, for protection, Liwui, which was associated with Wu, god of the sea, and Fa, the messenger of the gods. The first three snakes, Danh-gbi, Li, Liwui, were all worshiped at Whydah, Dahomey, where the serpent cult originated. For the Dahomeans, the spirit of the serpent was one to be feared, as he was unforgiving. They believed that the serpent spirit could manifest itself in any long, winding objects such as plant roots and animal nerves. They also believed it could manifest itself as the umbilical cord, making it a symbol of fertility and life.
Mami Wata
is a water spirit or class of spirits associated with fertility and healing, usually depicted as a woman holding a large snake or with the lower body of a serpent or fish. She is worshiped in West, Central, and Southern Africa and the African diaspora.Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptians worshiped snakes, especially the cobra. The cobra was not only associated with the sun god Ra, but also with many other deities such as Wadjet, Renenutet, Nehebkau, and Meretseger.Serpents could also be evil and harmful, such as the case of Apep. The serpent goddess Meretseger is regarded ambivalently with both veneration and fear.
Charms against snakes were inscribed or chanted, sometimes even to protect the dead; There are known charms against snakes that invoke the snake deity Nehebkau.
Wadjet, the patron goddess of Upper Egypt, was depicted either as a cobra with a flared hood or as a woman with a cobra's head. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, she became one of the protective emblems adorning the pharaoh's crown. According to tradition, she was believed to “spit fire” at the enemies of both the pharaoh and the sun god Ra, who was sometimes referred to as one of the eyes of Ra. She was often associated with the lioness goddess Sekhmet, who also bore that role.
Social and family affiliations
In many parts of Africa, the serpent is looked upon as the incarnation of deceased relatives. Among the Amazulu, as among the Betsileo of Madagascar, certain species are assigned as the abode of certain classes. The Maasai, on the other hand, regard each species as the habitat of a particular family of the tribe.The Americas
North America
, such as the Hopi, give reverence to the rattlesnake as grandfather and king of snakes who is able to give fair winds and cause tempests. Among the Hopi of Arizona, snake-handling figures largely in a dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth and Snake Girl. The rattlesnake was worshiped in the Natchez temple of the sun.Mesoamerica
The Maya deity Kukulkan and the Aztec Quetzalcoatl figured prominently in their respective cultures of origin. Kukulkan is associated with Vision Serpent iconography in Maya art. Kukulkan was an official state deity of the Itza in the northern Yucatan.The worship of Quetzalcoatl dates back as early as the 1st century BC at Teotihuacan. In the Postclassic period, the cult was centered at Cholula. Quetzalcoatl was associated with wind, the dawn, the planet Venus as the morning star, and was a tutelary patron of arts, crafts, merchants, and the priesthood.
South America
Serpents figure prominently in the art of the pre-Incan Chavín culture, as can be seen at the type-site of Chavín de Huántar in Peru. In Chile, the Mapuche mythology featured a serpent figure in stories about a deluge.Asia
India
A race of snake-like beings, termed nagas, is prominent in Hindu mythology. is the Sanskrit and Pāli word for a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very large snake, found in Hinduism and Buddhism. The use of the term nāga is often ambiguous, as the word may also refer, in similar contexts, to one of several human tribes known as or nicknamed nāgas; to elephants; and to ordinary snakes, particularly the Ophiophagus hannah, the Ptyas mucosa and the Naja naja, the latter of which is still called nāg in Hindi and other languages of India. A female nāga is called a nāgīni. In many Indian religious traditions, serpents symbolize themes such as transformation and the cycle of life and death, with associated rituals varying widely by region and community. Over a large part of India, there are carved representations of cobras, nagas, or stones as substitutes. To these, human food and flowers are offered, and lights are burned before the shrines. Among some Indians, a cobra that is accidentally killed is burned like a human being; no one would kill one intentionally. The serpent-god's image is carried in an annual procession by a celibate priestess.At one time, there were many different renditions of the serpent cult located in India.. In Northern India, a masculine version of the serpent named Rivaan, known as the "king of the serpents", was worshiped. Instead of the "king of the serpents", actual live snakes were worshiped in Southern India. The Manasa-cult in Bengal, India, however, was dedicated to the anthropomorphic serpent goddess, Manasa.
nāgas form an important part of Hindu mythology. They play prominent roles in various legends:
- Shesha is the first king of the nagas, one of the two mounts of Vishnu.
- Vasuki is the second king of the nagas, commonly depicted around Shiva's neck.
- Kaliya is an antagonist of Krishna.
- Manasa is the goddess of the snakes.
- Astika is a half-Brahmin and half-naga sage.
- Patanjali was a sage and author of the Yoga Sutras, and was said to be the embodiment of Shesha, the divine serpent who forms Vishnu's couch.
- Takshaka was the ruler of the Khandava forest who later killed Parikshit in revenge against the Pandavas for burning the forest.
- Naga Panchami is an important Hindu festival associated with snake worship, which takes place on the fifth day of Shravana. Snake idols are offered gifts of milk and incense to help the worshipper gain knowledge, wealth, and fame.
These districts also worshiped an object known as a Karandi. Resembling a small house made of cork, the Karandi is decorated with images of snakes, the snake goddess, and snake legends on its walls and roof. The blood of sacrificed animals was sprinkled on the Karandi and it also was submerged in the river at the end of the festival.
Among the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya, there exists a legend of snake worshiping. The snake deity is called "U Thlen" and it is said to demand human sacrifice from his worshippers. Those who can provide the Thlen with human blood are usually rewarded with riches, but he would shame those who cannot provide the needed sacrifice. The subject of the Thlen is still a sensitive subject among the Khasis. In some rural areas in recent years, people have been killed in the name of being "Nongshohnoh" or Keepers of the Thlen, the evil snake god.
As kuladevatas, nagas are worship at many parts of India including Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
Finally, another tradition in Hindu culture relating to yoga brings up kundalini, a type of spiritual energy said to sit at the base of the human spine. The term means "coiled snake" in Sanskrit roots and several goddesses are associated with its vitality. Durga, one of the main Hindu goddesses, is often symbolised by a giant snake in many tribal regions of Bengal and Tamil Nadu.