Snake worship is devotion to serpent deities. The tradition is nearly universal in the religions and mythologies of ancient cultures, where snakes were seen as the holders of knowledge, strength, and renewal.
72-602: Nagaradhane is a form of serpent worship which, along with Bhuta Kola , is one of the unique traditions prevalent in coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada , Udupi and Kasaragod collectively known as Tulu Nadu , practiced by Tuluva community members. Cobras are not just seen as deities, but as an animal species which should be respected, appeased and protected for multiple social, religious and ecological reasons. Cobras have been associated with power, awe and respect in India. According to Hindu culture, Lord Vishnu takes rest under
144-615: A Greek word, from amphis, meaning "both ways", and bainein, meaning "to go", also called the "Mother of Ants", is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. According to Greek mythology, the mythological amphisbaena was spawned from the blood that dripped from Medusa the Gorgon 's head as Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with her head in his hand. Medusa and the other Gorgons were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes whose origins predate
216-475: 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 from a woodworker, a metalworker, and a goldsmith two images, one of which "shall hold in its left hand a snake of cedar, raising its right [hand] to
288-405: A clay model of the serpent-deity – usually the serpent-goddess with two snakes spreading their hoods on her shoulders. The people worshipped this model at their homes and sacrificed a goat or a pigeon for the deity's honor ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 5). Before the clay goddess was submerged in water at the end of the festival, the clay snakes were taken from her shoulders. The people believed that
360-604: 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
432-619: A goddess of healing. Her worship was centered in the Central Apennine region. On the Iberian Peninsula there is evidence that before the introduction of Christianity, and perhaps more strongly before Roman invasions, serpent worship was a standout feature of local religions (see Sugaar ). To this day there are numerous traces in European popular belief, especially in Germany, of respect for
504-505: A serpent figure in stories about a deluge. Serpents, or nāgas , play a particularly important role in Cambodian mythology. A well-known story explains the emergence of the Khmer people from the union of Indian and indigenous elements, the latter being represented as nāgas . According to the story, an Indian merchant named Kaundinya came to Cambodia, which at the time was under the dominion of
576-827: A serpent god named Ningishzida . Before the arrival of the Israelites , snake cults were well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age , for 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 . In the surrounding region, serpent cult objects figured in other cultures. A late Bronze Age Hittite shrine in northern Syria contained
648-683: 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, including Adi Parashakti and Bhairavi . Eight dragon kings who assembled at the gathering where Shakyamuni preached the Lotus Sutra , as described in the sutra. Kumarajiva's translation of the Lotus Sutra refers to them by their Sanskrit names: Nanda, Upananda, Sagara, Vasuki , Takshaka , Anavatapta, Manasvin, and Utpalaka. According to
720-404: A vast grisly monster with a hundred heads and a hundred serpents issuing from his thighs, who was conquered and cast into Tartarus by Zeus , or confined beneath volcanic regions, where he is the cause of eruptions. Typhon is thus the chthonic figuration of volcanic forces. Amongst his children by Echidna are Cerberus (a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and a serpentine mane),
792-528: Is a combination of Puja, Homa and Bali (food offering). Sarpa Devatas are invoked, worshipped and Bali is offered to each one of them. Sarpa Sooktha Japam is done. This is one of the ritual to appease the sarpa devatas and getting their blessings. The ritual, centered on the serpent design, continues until early in the morning. A similar ritual is found in Kerala and is known as Sarpam Thullal and Sarpam Kali. All communities of Tulu Nadu revere snakes. Nagabanas or
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#1732869488851864-552: Is associated to, it is generally conducted to appease the snake gods and thereby to bring prosperity to the family. Snakes and Snake worship, primarily the cobra and associated sub species of snakes have been revered from ancient times all over India. Snakes are mentioned in Vedic books or they are depicted in religious epics like Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana . Hindu Gods like Vishnu and Shiva have been associated with snakes. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu takes rest under
936-463: Is generally held to appease snake gods for prosperity of the family or to give an offspring to the couples who may have difficulties in conceiving a child. People generally take a vow is also associated with the ritual and Sarpam Thullal is done after the fulfillment or accomplishment of the vow. But in most of the scenarios Sarpam Thullal is done to ward off any doshas Dosha means fault or obstacles in one's destiny or horoscope as per Indian Astrology of
1008-475: Is made up of colour powder). The kanyas wear Pavada and blouse. Once the pulluvan and his team is done with decorations and other preparations the kanyas are called to the venue. They normally sit in the kalam or besides the kalam. In certain places where there are more than two kanyas , they stand besides the kalam. Nagarajavu generally stands inside the kalam. Kanyas are given pokulas or arecanut flowers. The pulluvan starts singing and playing
1080-520: Is represented as a serpent, and his wife Ayida-Weddo being 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 . 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
1152-451: Is still called nāg in Hindi and other languages of India. A female nāga is called a nāgīni . The snake primarily represents rebirth, death and mortality, due to its casting of its skin and being symbolically "reborn". Over a large part of India, there are carved representations of cobras or nagas or stones as substitutes. To these human food and flowers are offered and lights are burned before
1224-606: Is worshipped according to Aliyasantana Lineage among Tuluva's. Nagamandala, Ashlesha Bali, Dakke Bali are different types of pooja done for snakes to appease them. All Tuluvas families: Bunts , Kulala, Moolya, Mogaveera, Billava, Malayali Billava, Tuluva Brahmins, Sapaliga/Sapalya, Madivala, Devadiga, Ganiga, Aachari, Parava / Nalkedaye, Koraga-Harijan, Tulu and Arebhashe Gowdas do worship Naga from ancient times in their respective Nagabana and Moolastanas. The Cobra worship rituals practised in Tulu Nadu are quite unique and different from
1296-507: The Aztec Quetzalcoatl (both meaning " feathered serpent ") figured prominently in their respective cultures of origin. Kukulkan ( Q'uq'umatz in K'iche' Maya) is associated with Vision Serpent iconography in Maya art . Kukulkan was an official state deity of Itza in the northern Yucatan . The worship of Quetzalcoatl dates back to as early as the 1st century BC at Teotihuacan . In
1368-519: The Jeju Pungtorok , "The people fear snakes. They worship it as a god...When they see a snake, they call it a great god, and do not kill it or chase it away." The reason for snakes symbolizing worth was because they ate rats and other pests. A major serpent deity in Japanese mythology is the god of Mount Miwa , i.e. Ōmononushi , and the shrine dedicated to it ( Ōmiwa Jinja ) is active and venerated to
1440-515: The Kingdom of Whydah around the time of its conquest by Dahomey. This was the cult of the serpent deity called the Danh-gbi or Dangbe, who was a benefactor-god of wisdom and bliss, "associated with trees and the ocean". At Whydah , the chief centre, there is a serpent temple, tenanted by some fifty snakes. A killing of a python, even by accident, was punishable by death, but by the 19th century this
1512-447: The ecclesiastical authority . In Gnosticism , the biblical serpent in the Garden of Eden was praised and thanked for bringing knowledge ( gnosis ) to Adam and Eve and thereby freeing them from the malevolent Demiurge 's control. Gnostic Christian doctrines rely on a dualistic cosmology that implies the eternal conflict between good and evil, and a conception of the serpent as
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#17328694888511584-767: The liberating savior and bestower of knowledge to humankind opposed to the Demiurge or creator god , identified with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament . Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, false god and creator of the material universe, and the Unknown God of the Gospel , the father of Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as
1656-464: The "Introduction" (first) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, each attends the gathering accompanied by several hundreds of thousands of followers. In Korean mythology , Eobshin , the wealth goddess, appears as an eared, black snake. Chilseongshin (the Jeju Island equivalent to Eobshin) and her seven daughters are all snakes. These goddesses are deities of orchards, courts, and protect the home. According to
1728-558: The "king of the serpents" was worshipped. Instead of the "king of the serpents", actual live snakes were worshipped in Southern India ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 1). The Manasa-cult in Bengal, India, however, was dedicated to the anthropomorphic serpent goddess, Manasa ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 1). Nāgas form an important part of Hindu mythology. They play prominent roles in various legends: Different districts of Bengal celebrate
1800-609: The Americas such as the Hopi give reverence to the rattlesnake as grandfather and king of snakes who is able to give fair winds or cause tempest. Among the Hopi of Arizona , snake-handling figures largely in a dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth (a Sky spirit) and Snake Girl (an Underworld spirit). The rattlesnake was worshipped in the Natchez temple of the sun. The Maya deity Kukulkan and
1872-484: The Demiurge is merely an ignorant and incompetent creator, trying to fashion the world as good as he can, but lacking the proper power to maintain its goodness. They were regarded as heretics by the proto-orthodox Early Church Fathers . In Africa, one centre of serpent worship was the Kingdom of Dahomey (in present-day Benin ), but the cult of this python seems to have been of exotic origin, introduced c. 1725 from
1944-571: The Postclassic period (AD 900–1519), 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. 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
2016-486: The Sarpam Thullal. They create a pandal and decorate it. The selection of the girls who will later become the mediums or manifestations of Snake Gods is done by the family. Generally two girls/females are supposed to sit in the kalam but certain places it is six. In modern times in many places females between the ages of 10 and 60 are not allowed and is generally performed by girls who have not reached puberty. Typically
2088-510: The South Canara region in Karnataka, agriculture is predominant that to paddy is the main crop. In these fields snakes help in saving the crop from rodents. This can be a plausible reason for the worship of snakes. There are two distinct rituals performed in reverence to the snake; Aashleshabali and Nagamandala. Of these, Nagamandala is the longer and more colourful of the two. Nagamandala depicts
2160-600: The basis of Bali/Bari which is Tuluva community equivalent of Gotra System. There are Bari in this community, each bari has a dedicated Moolastanas and few Bari has multiple Moolastanas across the Tulunadu. Each Moolastanas has annual celebrations and also Poojas during the Nagarapanchami when each house belongs to that particular Bali has to perform Pooja and Prayer of their Moola (origin) Nagadevatha which their ancestors were related to. It can also be noted that in Tulu Nadu or
2232-528: The continuation of the tradition begun with the worship of the Egyptian cobra goddess, Wadjet . Herodotus mentions a great serpent which defended the citadel of Athens . The Minoan Snake Goddess brandished a serpent in either hand, perhaps evoking her role as a source of wisdom, rather than her role as Mistress of the Animals ( Potnia Theron ), with a leopard under each arm. It is not by accident that later
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2304-550: The depictions of snakes are similar, with a consistent dotted decoration applied to them. Although the widespread depiction of snakes in sites across the UAE is thought by archaeologists to have a religious purpose, this remains conjecture. 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, emphasised spiritual knowledge ( gnosis ) of
2376-496: The divine spark within, over faith ( pistis ) in the teachings and traditions of the various communities of Christians. Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God , and the Demiurge , "creator" of the material universe. The Gnostics considered the most essential part of the process of salvation to be this personal knowledge, in contrast to faith as an outlook in their worldview along with faith in
2448-462: The divine union of male and female snakes. It is generally performed by two priests. The first priest, called patri, inhales the areca flower and becomes the male snake. The second priest, called Nagakannika or the female snake dances and swings around an elaborate serpent design drawn with natural colours on the sacred ground. The ritual is supplemented by playing an hour glass shaped instrument called as Dakke. The drawings in five different colours on
2520-481: The earth these snakes were made from cured illnesses, especially children's diseases ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 6). These districts also worshipped an object known as a Karandi ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 6). 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 ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 6). The blood of sacrificed animals
2592-469: The family and bring peace and prosperity. The temple astrologer is the one who normally initiates the process or in certain places it is held as an annual or regular practice. Once the date is finalized by the family, the associated Pulluvan family with the temple is informed. It is the Pulluvan and Pulluvathy and their assistants who hold the skills and responsibility of creating the aesthetic requirements for
2664-575: The god Nabu ". At the tell of Tepe Gawra , at least seventeen Early Bronze Age Assyrian bronze serpents were recovered. Significant finds of pottery, bronze-ware and even gold depictions of snakes have been made throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE) . The Bronze Age and Iron Age metallurgical centre of Saruq Al Hadid has yielded probably the richest trove of such objects, although finds have been made bearing snake symbols in Bronze Age sites at Rumailah , Bithnah and Masafi . Most of
2736-525: The husband") , of Lady Matsura. The term orochi ( 大蛇 ) means literally "giant snake", the well-known example being the Yamata no orochi , the eight-forked giant serpent. This monster that devoured maidens in Izumo Province was also a deity, and addressed as such by the hero-god Susanoo who defeated the snake. It has been assumed that in more real terms, an annual offering of "human sacrifice"
2808-407: The induced trance state is highly revered as girls are generally supposed be too young to perform any sophisticated acting to make the onlookers believe in the ritual. The ritual has strong parallels to the function of an Oracle and generally speaks to the onlookers after entering into the trance state and informs them on the behalf of the snake gods. It can be sees that the kanyas does not speak
2880-561: The infant Herakles , a liminal hero on the threshold between the old ways and the new Olympian world, also brandished the two serpents that "threatened" him in his cradle. Although the Classical Greeks were clear that these snakes represented a threat, the snake-brandishing gesture of Herakles is the same as that of the Cretan goddess. Typhon , the enemy of the Olympian gods , is described as
2952-438: The karnavar of the family or an elderly person will be the one who oversees the function and grands his blessing to the function. The pulluvan and his team create a floral decoration using various natural colors on specially made floor before the snake idols. The floral decoration is called Nagakalam. Nagakalams are of various types such as Bhasma Kalam (A Kalam which is made of just ash powder) and Varna Podi Kalam (A Kalam which
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3024-504: The lioness goddess Sekhmet , who also bore that role. 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. Indigenous peoples of
3096-506: The motions of heavenly bodies. The rainbow-god of the Ashanti was also conceived to have 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 is believed to hold up the sky. The belief has spread to the New World. In Haitian Vodou , the creator loa Damballa
3168-523: The naga king. The naga princess Soma sallied forth to fight against the invader but was defeated. Presented with the option of marrying the victorious Kaundinya, Soma readily agreed to do so, and together they ruled the land. The Khmer people are their descendants. A race of snakes-like beings, termed nagas , are prominent in Hindu mythology . Nāga ( Sanskrit : नाग) is the Sanskrit and Pāli word for
3240-571: The needed sacrifice. The subject of the Thlen is still a sensitive subject among the Khasis, and in recent years, in some rural areas, 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 ,
3312-452: The other rituals. Cobras have their own snake shrines in a sacred grove known as Nagabana. The shrines have images of cobras carved on stones. Accordingly, nobody is allowed to chop the tree near the Nagabana. It is also believed that snakes, specifically the cobras, are not to be harmed or killed by anyone. If harmed, the individual has to perform a ritual to cleanse the sin of killing or harming
3384-535: The present-day. According to the mythology, this serpent deity assumes human form and visits women, begetting offspring. According to mythology, one of the targets of his passion, the Lady Ikutamayori [ ja ] or Ikutamayorihime sought to discover his identity by attaching a yarn to the hem of his clothing ("The Mt. Miwa Story"). Another wife, Lady Yamatohimomotoso [ ja ] , committed suicide with chopstick[s] after learning her husband
3456-454: 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
3528-467: The representative of the Savior. In Lanuvium (32 km from Rome) a big snake was venerated as a god and they offered human sacrifice to it. Serpents figured prominently in archaic Greek myths. According to some sources, Ophion ("serpent", a.k.a. Ophioneus), ruled the world with Eurynome before the two of them were cast down by Kronos and Rhea . The oracles of the ancient Greeks were said to have been
3600-517: The river god) were nonexistent in Japan, or that human offerings to the field deity were never widespread. In the Yamata-no-orochi episode, mythologist Takeo Matsumura [ ja ] hypothesized that the involved ritual was not an actual homicidal sacrifice of a maiden, but the appointment of a miko shamaness serving the snake deity, which would be a lifelong position. He proposed there
3672-411: The sacred ground are white (white mud), red (mix of lime powder and turmeric powder), green (green leaves powder), yellow (turmeric powder) and black (roasted and powdered paddy husk). Aashleshabali is the ritual performed on the day of Ashlesha Nakshatra (One of the 27 star as per vedic astrology). This is a unique ritual offering food to Sarpa devatas (Serpent Deities) and one of the Vedic solutions. It
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#17328694888513744-447: The sacred groves are deemed to be the resting place of snakes. Cutting of trees or defacing the grove is considered as sacrilege. People are wary of the snake-bites and also wanted ecological preservation. Snake worship Ancient Mesopotamians and Semites believed that snakes were immortal because they could infinitely shed their skin and appear forever youthful, appearing in a fresh guise every time. The Sumerians worshipped
3816-456: The serpent in various ways. In the districts of East Mymensingh, West Sylhet, and North Tippera, serpent-worship rituals were very similar, however ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 5). On the very last day of the Bengali month Shravana, all of these districts celebrate serpent-worship each year ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 5). Regardless of their class and station, every family during this time created
3888-478: The serpent-tailed Chimaera , the serpent-like water beast Hydra , and the hundred-headed serpentine dragon Ladon . Both the Lernaean Hydra and Ladon were slain by Herakles. Python , an enemy of Apollo , was always represented in vase-paintings and by sculptors as a serpent. Apollo slew Python and made her former home, Delphi , his own oracle. The Pythia took her title from the name Python. Amphisbaena ,
3960-408: The shade of the giant snake, Adisesha . Lord Shiva wears a snake vasuki around his neck. The Nairs of Kerala claim to be Kshatriyas of Nagavanshi descent, thus maybe snake worship was popularized and brought to wider practise by them. Mostly, snakes were seen as a symbol of fertility. Elsewhere in India, snakes are worshiped on Nag Panchami , Nagaradhane and Aashleshabali. Sarpam thullal
4032-404: The shade of the giant snake, [Adishesha]. Lord Shiva wears a cobra Vasuki around his neck. It is difficult to trace the origin of Nagaradhane, though some clans among Tulu people of Nagavanshi descent, thus maybe snake worship was popularised by them. Though most rituals of snake worship are done by Brahmins, there is not a single Tuluva family that does not have Nagabana, Where Nagadevatha
4104-399: The shrines. Among some Indians, a cobra which 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 prevalent different renditions of the serpent cult located in India. In Northern India, a masculine version of the serpent named Rivaan and known as
4176-414: The snake deity Nehebkau. Wadjet was the patron goddess of Upper Egypt, and was represented as a cobra with spread hood, or a cobra-headed woman. She later became one of the protective emblems on the pharaoh's crown once Upper and Lower Egypt were united. She was said to 'spit fire' at the pharaoh's enemies, and the enemies of Ra. Sometimes referred to as one of the eyes of Ra, she was often associated with
4248-428: The snake which is drawn on the floor has come alive. Some of them have experienced vibrations all over their body and they feel their body is resonating towards the vibrations. The girls are generally not given any training to dance and in many cases it might be the first time they are watching the ritual. They move towards the vibration . They swing their hair and rub the powder of the kalam (the divine solace created). So
4320-508: The snake, possibly a survival of ancestor worship: The "house snake" cares for the cows and the children, and its appearance is an omen of death; and the lives of a pair of house snakes are often held to be bound with that of the master and the mistress. Tradition states that one of the Gnostic sects known as the Ophites caused a tame serpent to coil around the sacramental bread , and worshipped it as
4392-457: The snake. The belief is that the individual who refuses to perform the ritual will be cursed by the Cobra for eternity. Concept of Moolastana among communities have been majorly focussed on worshipping Naga related to their Aliyasantana Lineage based families. These Moolastanas are located consecutively on the sea front and also they had the tradition of organizing themselves into Grama Sabhas etc. on
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#17328694888514464-540: The true, good God. In the Archontic , Sethian , and Ophite systems, Yaldabaoth (Yahweh) is regarded as the malevolent Demiurge and false god of the Old Testament who generated the material universe and keeps the souls trapped in physical bodies, imprisoned in the world full of pain and suffering that he created . However, not all Gnostic movements regarded the creator of the material universe as inherently evil or malevolent. For instance, Valentinians believed that
4536-499: 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 worshipped in West, Central, and Southern Africa and the African diaspora. Ancient Egyptians worshipped snakes, especially the cobra. The cobra
4608-449: The veena and the pulluvathy sings along and plays the kudam. The initial lines are generally sung in praise of Ganesha , followed by other gods. Then the Tala or beat changes along with the song. Later part is dedicated to Serpent gods and the kanyas sitting in the kalam. The kanyas generally starts to get into a trance like state within 20–30 minutes and it is reported that they feels that
4680-816: The written myths of Greece and who were the protectors of the most ancient ritual secrets. The Gorgons wore a belt of two intertwined serpents in the same configuration of the caduceus . The Gorgon was placed at the highest point and central of the relief on the Parthenon . Sarpam Thullal Sarpam Thullal (Dance of Snakes) or Nagakalam Pattu, is a unique form of mystical ritual associated generally with ancestral temples or tharavadus predominantly in Valluvanadu region in state of Kerala. From ancient times many family houses in Kerala have special snake shrines called Kavu or Pambin Kavu where this exotic and spectacular ritual performance
4752-471: Was an earlier version of the myth, coining the name ogi itsuki kei ( 招ぎ齋き型 , "[god]-invocation/invitation and purification type") , which was later altered to a serpent-slaying form, or taiji kei ( 退治型 , "eradication type") . In Italy, the Marsian goddess Angitia , whose name derives from the word for "serpent," was associated with witches, snakes, and snake-charmers. Angitia is believed to have also been
4824-510: 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 worshipped 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
4896-454: Was being made to the serpent deity, a god of field and fertility, bestowing "fertility of crops and the productivity of man and cattle", or in terms of the specific rice crop, orochi was perhaps a "god of the river" which controlled the influx of irrigation water to the rice field. Whether "human sacrifice" in this case meant actually putting the maiden to death is a subject of debate and controversy. It has been asserted human offerings (to
4968-434: Was not only associated with the sun god Ra , but also 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
5040-609: Was of serpent-form ("Legend of Hashihaka (Grave of Chopstick[s])"). Some versions of the legend of Matsura Sayohime (var. Lady Otohi or Otohi-hime) are classed as the Miwasan-kei setsuwa ( 三輪山型説話 , "stories of the Mt. Miwa pattern") But there is no enduring sign of snake worship in the original vicinity of the legend in the Matsura region , where a local shrine houses the supposed petrified remains, or bōfuseki ( 望夫石 , "rock that contemplates
5112-427: Was replaced by a fine. Danh-gbi has numerous wives, who until 1857 took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; and those who peeked were punishable by death. A python was carried around the town in a hammock, perhaps as a ceremony for the expulsion of evils. The Rainbow Snake was called the Aido Hwedo , a sort of cosmic serpent which could cause quakes and floods and even controlled
5184-517: Was sprinkled on the Karandi and it also was submerged in the river at the end of the festival ( Bhattacharyya 1965 , p. 6). Among the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya, there exists a legend of snake worshipping. The snake deity is called "U Thlen" (lit: Python or large serpent) 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
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