The Vision Serpent is an important creature in Pre-Columbian Maya mythology , although the term itself is now slowly becoming outdated.
122-580: The serpent was a very important social and religious symbol, revered by the Maya. Maya mythology describes serpents as being the vehicles by which celestial bodies, such as the sun and stars, cross the heavens. The shedding of their skin made them a symbol of rebirth and renewal. They were so revered, that one of the main Mesoamerican deities, Quetzalcoatl , was represented as a feathered serpent. The name means "Precious/feathered serpent" (from Nahuatl, "quetzalli"
244-518: A column of blood scrolls. This lintel shows the queen of Yaxchilan involved in a visionary experience following an elaborate bloodletting ceremony. She holds the ritual paraphernalia in her arms while the vision serpent rises from a bowl of blood stained paper." There was a Vision Serpent named Och-Kan, lord of Kalak'mul . One of the most common rituals associated with the Vision serpent involved invoking ancestral spirits. Especially during coronation rites,
366-580: A complex of several connected and adjacent buildings and courtyards, was built by several generations on a wide artificial terrace during four century period. The Palace was used by the Mayan aristocracy for bureaucratic functions, entertainment, and ritualistic ceremonies. The Palace is located in the center of the ancient city. Within the Palace there are numerous sculptures and bas-relief carvings that have been conserved. The Palace most unusual and recognizable feature
488-440: A different context. The ritual marked the initiation of a new shaman for the village. The participant came into direct contact with a giant serpent, Ochan (Och-Kan). It was through this experience that he completed his initiation rites and gained the knowledge that is needed to become a powerful shaman. Serpent (symbolism) The serpent, or snake , is one of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols . The word
610-530: A few of the bas-relief figures and sculptures. Draughtsman Luciano Castañeda made more drawings in 1807, and a book on Palenque, Descriptions of the Ruins of an Ancient City, discovered near Palenque , was published in London in 1822 based on the reports of those last two expeditions together with engravings based on Bernasconi and Castañedas drawings; two more publications in 1834 contained descriptions and drawings based on
732-932: A general protective emblem. It seems to have originally been the attendant of the underworld god Ninazu , but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak , as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida , the Babylonian national god Marduk , the scribal god Nabu , and the Assyrian national god Ashur . Snake cults were well established in Canaanite religion 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
854-639: A good distance from the center of the site, a court for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame , and an interesting stone bridge over the Otulum River some distance below the Aqueduct. After de la Nada's brief account of the ruins, no attention was paid to them until 1773 when one Don Ramon de Ordoñez y Aguilar examined Palenque and sent a report to the Capitan General in Antigua Guatemala , a further examination
976-558: A magical protective entity. A dragon-like creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian period until the Hellenistic period (323 BCE–31 BCE). This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu , meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as
1098-532: A medium by which the gods could be called upon to witness and actually participate in the ceremony. Sometimes the spirits of ancestors were also called upon to give guidance. The Hauberg Stela (A. D. 199) from the Maya Lowlands "is one of the first dated monuments that depict the Vision Serpent's connection to bloodletting". [1] Lintel 25 depicts one of the bloodletting rituals. "One of Shield Jaguar 's wives,
1220-427: A military feat without known precedents. These events took place in 599. A second victory by Calakmul occurred some twelve years later, in 611, under the government of Aj Ne' Yohl Mat , son of Yohl Iknal. In this occasion, the king of Calakmul entered Palenque in person, consolidating a significant military disaster, which was followed by an epoch of political disorder. Aj Ne' Yohl Mat was to die in 612. Bʼaakal began
1342-457: A part of Arabian folklore and are said to live near the Arabian Sea. These snakes are believed to have the ability to fly, and their name "Arabhar" means "Arab snake." The Islamic serpent generally follows in the tradition of earlier Abrahamic myths as a symbol for the seductive draw of wisdom. This symbolism is reflected in various stories and parables, such as the tale of the snake-catcher and
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#17328518309241464-699: A replica of a serpent on a pole, the Nehushtan , mentioned in Numbers 21:8. In many myths, the chthonic serpent (sometimes a pair) lives in or is coiled around a Tree of Life situated in a divine garden. In the Genesis story of the Torah and biblical Old Testament , the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is situated in the Garden of Eden together with the tree of life and the serpent . In Greek mythology, Ladon coiled around
1586-548: A serpent came and ate the plant. The snake became immortal, and Gilgamesh was destined to die. Ningizzida has been popularized in the 20th century by Raku Kei ( Reiki , a.k.a. "The Way of the Fire Dragon"), where "Nin Giz Zida" is believed to be a fire serpent of Tibetan rather than Sumerian origin. "Nin Giz Zida" is another name for the ancient Hindu concept Kundalini , a Sanskrit word meaning either "coiled up" or "coiling like
1708-424: A set of graceful temples atop step pyramids , each with an elaborately carved relief in the inner chamber depicting two figures presenting ritual objects and effigies to a central icon. Earlier interpretations had argued that the smaller figure was that of Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal while the larger figure was Kʼinich Kan Bʼahlam. However, it is now known based on a better understanding of the iconography and epigraphy that
1830-586: A snake banisher. The serpent Hydra is a star constellation representing either the serpent thrown angrily into the sky by Apollo or the Lernaean Hydra as defeated by Heracles for one of his Twelve Labors. The constellation Serpens represents a snake being tamed by Ophiuchus the snake-handler, another constellation. The most probable interpretation is that Ophiuchus represents the healer Asclepius. Occasionally, serpents and dragons are used interchangeably, having similar symbolic functions. The venom of
1952-451: A snake". "Kundalini" refers to the mothering intelligence behind yogic awakening and spiritual maturation leading to altered states of consciousness. There are a number of other translations of the term, usually emphasizing a more serpentine nature to the word—e.g. "serpent power". It has been suggested by Joseph Campbell that the symbol of snakes coiled around a staff is an ancient representation of Kundalini physiology. The staff represents
2074-428: A stingray spine. Opposite Bird Jaguar is Lady Balam-Ix, who proceeds to pass coarse rope through a gouge in her tongue. The blood is being collected in the vessel near Bird Jaguar's feet. The Vision Serpent's mouth is green and, the trickles of blood characteristic of bloodletting are red". Lintel 15 depicts the appearance of this Vision Serpent. "The serpent can be seen rising out of the bowl with trickles of blood along
2196-526: A suit made of jade adorned his body, with each piece hand-carved and held together by gold wire. Furthermore, Kʼinich Kan Bʼalam I began ambitious projects, including the Group of the Crosses. Thanks to numerous works begun during his government, now we have portraits of this king, found in various sculptures. His brother succeeded him continuing construction and art with the same enthusiasm, reconstructing and enlarging
2318-414: A tablet was found describing a ritual for the king. The first tablet mentioned his successor Ahkal Moʼ Naab I as a teenage prince, and therefore it is believed that there was a family relation between them. For unknown reasons, Akhal Moʼ Naab I had great prestige, so the kings who succeeded him were proud to be his descendants. When Ahkal Moʼ Naab I died in 524, there was an interregnum of four years, before
2440-524: Is a recurrent motif in Islamic thought, appearing in both sacred texts representing evil and works of art. The creature is often seen as a symbol of evil and punishment. The serpent is a complex figure in Islamic thought, appearing as both a symbol of evil and a figure of wisdom. Djinn, which are likewise figures of great potential mixed with danger, are also believed to appear in the form of snakes on occasion. The Arabian Flying Snakes, also known as Arabhar , are
2562-402: Is a spirit of fertility, rainbows and snakes, and a companion or wife to Dan, the father of all spirits. As Vodou was exported to Haiti through the slave trade, Dan became Danballah , Damballah or Damballah-Wedo. Because of his association with snakes, he is sometimes disguised as Moses, who carried a snake on his staff. He is also thought by many to be the same entity of Saint Patrick , known as
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#17328518309242684-484: Is adjacent to the modern town of Palenque, Chiapas . It averages a humid 26 °C (79 °F) with roughly 2,160 millimeters (85 in) of rain a year. Palenque is a medium-sized site, smaller than Tikal , Chichen Itza , or Copán , but it contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayas produced. Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading
2806-564: Is also one of the best-known Maya Ajaw , Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal (Pacal the Great), who ruled from 615 to 683. He is known through his funerary monument dubbed the Temple of the Inscriptions , after the lengthy text preserved in the temple's superstructure. At the time Alberto Ruz Lhuillier excavated Pakal's tomb, it was the richest and best preserved of any scientifically excavated burial then known from
2928-432: Is believed that after the death of Aj Ne' Yohl Mat, Janaab Pakal , also called Pakal I, took power thanks to a political agreement. Janaab Pakal assumed the functions of the ajaw (king) but never was crowned. He was succeeded in 612 by his daughter, the queen Sak Kʼukʼ , who governed for only three years until her son was old enough to rule. It is considered that the dynasty was reestablished from then on, so Bʼaakal retook
3050-437: Is believed to have been worn during a bloodletting ceremony. It clearly shows the arrival of an ancestor from the spirit realm. The portrayal of the Vision Serpent was very prevalent in Maya pottery. Vessels used during bloodletting ceremonies, depict the Vision serpent. The vessels below are excellent examples. They are carved in stone and are “some of the earliest depiction of Vision Serpent iconography . Blood spews forth from
3172-459: Is depicted as a half snake being. The Minoan Snake Goddess brandished a serpent in either hand, perhaps evoking her role as source of wisdom, rather than her role as Mistress of the Animals ( Potnia Theron ), with a leopard under each arm. Serpents figured prominently in archaic Greek myths. According to some sources, Ophion ("serpent", a.k.a. Ophioneus), ruled the world with Eurynome before
3294-478: Is derived from Latin serpens , a crawling animal or snake. Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to humankind and represent dual expression of good and evil . In some cultures, snakes were fertility symbols. For example, the Hopi people of North America performed an annual snake dance to celebrate the union of Snake Youth (a Sky spirit) and Snake Girl (an Underworld spirit) and to renew
3416-460: Is placed horizontally on the World Tree and is the conduit for this transition. In the same way that the Vision Serpent represents a conduit between the physical world and the spirit realm of the ancestors, this bicephalous serpent bar represents a conduit between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.” [2] A piece of Maya jewelry depicts an “ anthropomorphic , bicephalous serpent.” It
3538-532: Is repeated in the First Navy Jack of the US Navy. Serpents are connected with venom and medicine. The snake's venom is associated with the chemicals of plants and fungi that have the power to either heal or provide expanded consciousness (and even the elixir of life and immortality) through divine intoxication. Because of its herbal knowledge and entheogenic association, the snake was often considered one of
3660-568: Is said to sleep while floating on the cosmic waters on the serpent Shesha . In the Puranas Shesha holds all the planets of the universe on his hoods and constantly sings the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as "Ananta-Shesha," which means "Endless Shesha". In the Samudra manthan chapter of the Puranas, Shesha loosens Mount Mandara for it to be used as a churning rod by
3782-474: Is seen gazing up towards an enormous bicephalous Vision Serpent. In her left hand, she holds a bowl containing a stingray spine, an obsidian lancet, and papers spattered with blood. The Vision Serpent appears to be emanating from the bowl. From the jaws of the Vision Serpent, spews forth an ancestral Tlaloc warrior complete with spear and shield". Lintel 17 refers to "Bird Jaguars as Blood Lord of Yaxchilan " and shows him preparing to draw blood from his penis with
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3904-629: Is the Aegypto-Greek ourobouros . It is believed to have been inspired by the Milky Way , as some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. The Ancient Egyptians associated it with Wadjet , one of their oldest deities, as well as another aspect, Hathor . In Norse mythology the World Serpent (or Midgard serpent) known as Jörmungandr encircled the world in the ocean's abyss biting its own tail. In Hindu mythology Lord Vishnu
4026-517: Is the cause of eruptions. Typhon is thus the chthonic figuration of volcanic forces. Serpent elements figure among his offspring; among his children by Echidna are Cerberus (a monstrous three-headed dog with a snake for a tail and a serpentine mane); the serpent-tailed Chimaera ; the serpent-like chthonic water beast Lernaean Hydra ; and the hundred-headed serpentine dragon Ladon . Both the Lernaean Hydra and Ladon were slain by Heracles . Python
4148-478: Is the companion of Dumuzi (Tammuz), with whom it stood at the gate of heaven. In the Louvre , there is a famous green steatite vase carved for King Gudea of Lagash (dated variously 2200–2025 BCE) with an inscription dedicated to Ningizzida. Ningizzida was the ancestor of Gilgamesh , who, according to the epic , dived to the bottom of the waters to retrieve the plant of life. But while he rested from his labor,
4270-431: Is the four-story tower known as The Observation Tower. The Observation Tower like many other buildings at the site exhibit a mansard -like roof. The A-shaped corbel arch is an architectural motif observed throughout the complex. The Corbel arches require a large amount of masonry mass and are limited to a small dimensional ratio of width to height providing the characteristic high ceilings and narrow passageways. The Palace
4392-492: Is the penalty for killing one, even by accident. Danh-gbi has numerous wives, who until 1857 took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; a python was carried round the town in a hammock, perhaps as a ceremony for the expulsion of evils. 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
4514-476: Is used to describe the bird, its feathers, or something precious depending on the context and "coatl" meaning snake or serpent.). The Vision Serpent is thought to be the most important of the Maya serpents. "It was usually bearded and had a rounded snout. It was also often depicted as having two heads or with the spirit of a god or ancestor emerging from its jaws." During Maya bloodletting rituals , participants would experience visions in which they communicated with
4636-513: The Shahnameh is an infernal creature with two snakes on his shoulders. This replacement might be due to communication between the inhabitants of Iran and believers in Abrahamic religions , and beyond that the conversion of matriarchy into patriarchy as the social structure of Iranian plateau cultures. In Chinese creationism mythology, Nüwa is the mother goddess who created humans from clay. She
4758-540: The Asuras and Devas to churn the ocean of milk in the heavens in order to make Soma (or Amrita ), the divine elixir of immortality. As a churning rope another giant serpent called Vasuki is used. In pre-Columbian Central America Quetzalcoatl was sometimes depicted as biting its own tail. The mother of Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec goddess Coatlicue ("the one with the skirt of serpents"), also known as Cihuacoatl ("The Lady of
4880-496: 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 the depictions of snakes are similar, with a consistent dotted decoration applied to them. Although the widespread depiction of snakes in sites across
5002-566: The caduceus of Hermes , the Rod of Asclepius , the Staff of Moses , and the papyrus reeds and deity poles entwined by a single serpent Wadjet , dating to earlier than 3000 BCE. The oldest known representation of two snakes entwined around a rod is that of the Sumerian fertility god Ningizzida , who was sometimes depicted as a serpent with a human head, eventually becoming a god of healing and magic. It
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5124-669: The fertility of Nature . During the dance, live snakes were handled, and at the end of the dance the snakes were released into the fields to guarantee good crops. "The snake dance is a prayer to the spirits of the clouds, the thunder and the lightning, that the rain may fall on the growing crops." To the Hopi , snakes symbolized the umbilical cord , joining all humans to Mother Earth . The Great Goddess often had snakes as her familiars —sometimes twining around her sacred staff, as in ancient Crete —and they were worshiped as guardians of her mysteries of birth and regeneration. The anthropologist Lynne Isbell has argued that, as primates ,
5246-467: 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 a bronze statue of a god holding a serpent in one hand and a staff in the other. In 6th-century Babylon , a pair of bronze serpents flanked each of the four doorways of the temple of Esagila . At
5368-404: The spinal column , with the snake(s) being energy channels. In the case of two coiled snakes, they usually cross each other seven times, a possible reference to the seven energy centers called chakras . In Ancient Egypt , where the earliest written cultural records exist, the serpent appears from the beginning to the end of their mythology. Ra and Atum ("he who completes or perfects") became
5490-497: The 12th century CE onward was that of the Buddha , sitting in the position of meditation, his weight supported by the coils of a multi-headed nāga that also uses its flared hood to shield him from above. This motif recalls the story of the Buddha and the serpent king Mucalinda : as the Buddha sat beneath a tree engrossed in meditation, Mucalinda came up from the roots of the tree to shield
5612-511: The 1520s. Important structures at Palenque include: The Temple of the Inscriptions had begun perhaps as early as 675 as the funerary monument of Hanab-Pakal. The temple superstructure houses the second longest glyphic text known from the Maya world (the longest is the Hieroglyphic Stairway at Copan). The Temple of the Inscriptions records approximately 180 years of the city's history from the 4th through 12th Kʼatun . The focal point of
5734-460: The 8th century, Bʼaakal came under increasing stress, in concert with most other Classic Mayan city-states, and there was no new elite construction in the ceremonial center sometime after 800. An agricultural population continued to live here for a few generations, then the site was abandoned and was slowly grown over by the forest. The district was very sparsely populated when the Spanish first arrived in
5856-518: The 8th century. Little is known about this period, except that, among other events, the war with Toniná continued, where there are hieroglyphics that record a new defeat of Palenque. Occasionally city-state lords were women . Lady Sak Kuk ruled at Palenque for at least three years starting in 612 CE, before she passed her title to her son. However, these female rulers were accorded male attributes. They were presented as more masculine, since they had assumed roles that were typically held by men. During
5978-628: The American Medical Association (AMA). Christian Tradition also identifies Satan as a talking serpent in the Old Testament's Garden of Eden who had tempted Eve with a fruit from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil . Eve, as well as her consort Adam, were then punished by YHWH for their disobedience to commandments outlined prior to this; had lifespan decreased, for women to suffer in birthing, as well as other torments. The serpent
6100-505: 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 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
6222-451: The Biblical text is put on a pole and used for healing. Book of Numbers 21:9 "And Moses made a snake of copper, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a snake had bitten any man, when he beheld the snake of brass, he lived." When the reformer King Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah in the late 8th century BCE, "He removed the high places, broke the sacred pillars, smashed
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#17328518309246344-492: The Buddha from a tempest that was just beginning to arise. The Gadsden flag of the American Revolution depicts a rattlesnake coiled up and poised to strike. Below the image of the snake is the legend, "Don't tread on me." The snake symbolized the dangerousness of colonists willing to fight for their rights and homeland, and was also symbolic of their separation from Europe, as it was an animal unique to America. The motif
6466-583: The Buddha in seven coils for seven days, so as not to break his ecstatic state. The Vision Serpent was a symbol of rebirth in Maya mythology , with origins going back to earlier Maya conceptions, lying at the center of the world as the Mayans conceived it. "It is in the center axis atop the World Tree . Essentially the World Tree and the Vision Serpent, representing the king, created the center axis which communicates between
6588-453: The Indian serpent nāga was equated with the lóng or Chinese dragon . The Aztec and Toltec serpent god Quetzalcoatl also has dragon-like wings, like its equivalent in K'iche' Maya mythology Q'uq'umatz ("feathered serpent"), which had previously existed since Classic Maya times as the deity named Kukulkan . In Africa the chief centre of serpent worship was Dahomey , but the cult of
6710-686: The Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water or big waters"), was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD. After its decline, it was overgrown by the jungle of cedar , mahogany , and sapodilla trees, but has since been excavated and restored. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas , about 130 km (81 mi) south of Ciudad del Carmen , 150 meters (490 ft) above sea level. It
6832-467: The Late Classic period in the throes of the disorder created by the defeats before Calakmul. The glyphic panels at the Temple of the Inscriptions , which records the events at this time, relates that some fundamental annual religious ceremonies were not performed in 613, and at this point states: "Lost is the divine lady, lost is the king." Mentions of the government at the time have not been found. It
6954-420: The Mayan people symbolically shuttered the pool by breaking up some of the plaster and filling it with animal remains, including pottery fragments, carved bone remains, shells, obsidian arrowheads, beads, vegetables, and others. Research inside the temples of Palenque has revealed the presence of numerous extremely well-preserved fossils of marine fish and invertebrates in the limestone slabs used to build
7076-525: The Northern Flinders Ranges reigns the Arkaroo , a serpent who drank Lake Frome empty, refuges into the mountains, carving valleys and waterholes, earthquakes through snoring. The serpent, when forming a ring with its tail in its mouth, is a clear and widespread symbol of the "All-in-All", the totality of existence, infinity and the cyclic nature of the cosmos. The most well known version of this
7198-619: The Piedras Bolas Aqueduct as a pressurised aqueduct , the earliest known in the New World . It is a spring-fed conduit located on steep terrain that has a restricted outlet that would cause the water to exit forcefully, under pressure, to a height of 6 metres (20 ft). They were unable to identify the use for this man-made feature. In June 2022, archaeologists from the Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced
7320-662: The UAE is thought by archaeologists to have a religious purpose, this remains conjecture. In the Hebrew Bible the serpent in the Garden of Eden lured Eve with the promise of being like God, tempting her that despite God's warning, death would not be the result, that God was withholding knowledge from her. The staff of Moses transformed into a snake and then back into a staff ( Exodus 4:2–4). The Book of Numbers 21:6–9 provides an origin for an archaic copper serpent, Nehushtan , by associating it with Moses. This copper snake according to
7442-456: The Vision Serpent, there appears to be either an anthropomorphic deity or the spirit of an ancestor emanating from the gaping jaws of the serpent's mouth”. Remnants of the Vision Serpent have survived until modern times. Around 1930, J.E.S. Thompson noted in San Antonio, Belize , that the Q'eqchi' Maya still performed a ritual very similar to the vision quest of the classic Maya, although in
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#17328518309247564-401: The ancestors or gods. These visions took the form of a giant serpent "which served as a gateway to the spirit realm." The ancestor or god who was being contacted was depicted as emerging from the serpent's mouth. The vision serpent thus came to be the method in which ancestors or gods manifested themselves to the Maya. Thus for them, the Vision Serpent was a direct link between the spirit realm of
7686-451: The ancient Americas. It held this position until the discovery of the rich Moche burials at Sipán , Peru and the recent discoveries at Copán and Calakmul . Beside the attention that Kʼinich Janaab' Pakal's tomb brought to Palenque, the city is historically significant for its extensive hieroglyphic corpus composed during the reigns of Janaabʼ Pakal, his son Kʼinich Kan Bahlam II , and his grandson Kʼinich Akal Moʼ Naabʼ, and for being
7808-451: The area being relatively close to the impact site of the Chixculub meteor , which caused the extinction in the first place. The Mayan residents of the area appear to have been well aware of these fossils and actively collected them, including by using fossil shark teeth and ray spines from the nearby Miocene Tulijá Formation as cutting tools, painting some of the fish skeletons, and cutting
7930-429: The brain to release an abundance of natural endorphins, which are chemically related to opiates. As the body goes into shock, a hallucinatory vision occurs." Once the actual bloodletting was over, the blood soaked ceremonial papers were burned, releasing a column of smoke. The smoke provided the perfect medium for the Vision Serpent to appear. Every major political or religious event involved bloodletting because it provided
8052-409: The center axis into existence in the temples and create a doorway to the spiritual world, and with it power." The Vision Serpent is prevalent in bloodletting ceremonies, in Maya religious practices, Maya jewelry, pottery and their architecture. Many have attempted to explain the manifestation of the Vision Serpent in association with Maya bloodletting. One conclusion is "that massive blood loss causes
8174-433: The central tablet depicts two images of Kan Bʼahlam. The smaller figure shows Kʼinich Kan Bʼahlam during a rite of passage ritual at the age of six (9.10.8.9.3 9 Akbal 6 Xul) while the larger is of his accession to kingship at the age of 48. These temples were named by early explorers; the cross-like images in two of the reliefs actually depict the tree of creation at the center of the world in Maya mythology . The Palace ,
8296-409: The city, with dates of their reigns: Palenque dynasty: The first ajaw , or king, of Bʼaakal that we know of was Kʼuk Balam ( Quetzal Jaguar ), who governed for four years starting in the year 431. After him, a king came to power, nicknamed " Casper " by archaeologists. The next two kings were probably Casper' s sons. Little was known about the first of these, Bʼutz Aj Sak Chiik, until 1994, when
8418-401: The discovered area covered up to 2.5 km (0.97 sq mi), but it is estimated that less than 10% of the total area of the city is explored, leaving more than a thousand structures still covered by jungle. Palenque received 920,470 visitors in 2017. Mythological beings using a variety of emblem glyphs in their titles suggests a complex early history. For instance, Kʼukʼ Bahlam I ,
8540-464: The discovery of a 1,300-year-old nine-inch-tall plaster head statue indicating a young Hun Hunahpu , the Maya's mythological maize god. The figure's semi-shaved haircut that resembles ripe corn gives reason to the possibility that it is a young maize god. Researchers assume that the Mayan inhabitants of Palenque possibly placed a large stone statuette over a pond to represent the entrance to the underworld. According to archaeologist Arnoldo González Cruz,
8662-539: The egg of a cock . Outside Eurasia, in Yoruba mythology , Oshunmare was another mythic regenerating serpent. The Rainbow Serpent (also known as the Rainbow Snake) is a major mythological being for Aboriginal people across Australia , although the creation myths associated with it are best known from northern Australia. In Fiji, Ratumaibulu was a serpent god who ruled the underworld and made fruit trees bloom. In
8784-467: The embodiment of the wisdom transmitted by Sophia was an emblem used by gnosticism , especially those sects that the more orthodox characterized as " Ophites " ("Serpent People"). The chthonic serpent was one of the earth-animals associated with the cult of Mithras . The basilisk , the venomous "king of serpents" with the glance that kills, was hatched by a serpent, Pliny the Elder and others thought, from
8906-444: The favorite of the gods, he carried Palenque to new levels of splendor, in spite of having come to power when the city was at a low point. Pakal married the princess of Oktán, Lady Tzakbu Ajaw (also known as Ahpo-Hel) in 624 and had at least three children. Most of the palaces and temples of Palenque were constructed during his government; the city flourished as never before, eclipsing Tikal . The central complex, known as The Palace,
9028-485: The field. Meanwhile, Robertson was conducting a detailed examination of all art at Palenque, including recording all the traces of color on the sculptures. The 1970s also saw a small museum built at the site. In the last 15 or 20 years, a great deal more of the site has been excavated, but currently, archaeologists estimate that only 5% of the total city has been uncovered. In 2010, Pennsylvania State University researchers, Christopher Duffy and Kirk French , identified
9150-540: The following king was crowned at Toktán in 529. Kʼan Joy Chitam I governed for 36 years. His sons Ahkal Moʼ Naab II and Kʼan Bʼalam I were the first kings who used the title Kinich , which means "the great sun ". This word was used also by later kings. Bʼalam was succeeded in 583 by Yohl Ikʼnal , who was supposedly his daughter. The inscriptions found in Palenque document a battle that occurred under her government in which troops from Calakmul invaded and sacked Palenque,
9272-418: The gods and the physical world. The Vision Serpent goes back to earlier Maya conceptions and lies at the center of the world as they conceived it. "It is in the center axis atop the World Tree . Essentially the World Tree and the Vision Serpent, representing the king, created the center axis which communicates between the spiritual and the earthly worlds or planes. It is through ritual that the king could bring
9394-557: The guise of one of the manifestations of the Maya maize god emerging from the maws of the underworld. The temple also has a duct structure that still is not completely understood by archaeologists. It has been suggested that the duct aligns with the winter solstice and that the sun shines down on Pakal's tomb. The Temple of the Cross , Temple of the Sun , and Temple of the Foliated Cross are
9516-461: The hieroglyphic inscriptions on the many monuments; historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 5th century and extensive knowledge of the city-state's rivalry with other states such as Calakmul and Toniná . The most famous ruler of Palenque was Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal , or Pacal the Great, whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions . By 2005,
9638-511: The idols, and broke into pieces the copper snake that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. ( 2 Kings 18:4 ) In the Gospel of John 3:14–15, Jesus makes direct comparison between the raising up of the Son of Man and the act of Moses in raising up the serpent as a sign, using it as a symbol associated with salvation : "As Moses lifted up
9760-416: The inscriptions the phrase ochb'ihaj sak ikʼil (the white breath road-entered) is used to refer to the leaving of the soul. A find such as this is greatly important because it demonstrated for the first time the temple usage as being multifaceted. These pyramids were, for the first time, identified as temples and also funerary structures. The much-discussed iconography of the sarcophagus lid depicts Pakal in
9882-476: The kings would contact the spirits for guidance and blessings. It is the Vision Serpent who provides the medium for contacting these deities. It is believed that Lord Pakal's sarcophagus lid, which was located at Palenque , is probably “the single most comprehensive image which relates the Vision Serpent to Maya religion.” It depicts the death of Pakal and his descent into the Underworld. “The bicepalous serpent bar
10004-414: The kingship of Bʼaakal, who in turn was succeeded in 702 by his brother Kʼinich Kʼan Joy Chitam II. The first continued the architectural and sculptural works that were begun by his father, as well as finishing the construction of the famous tomb of Pakal. Pakal's sarcophagus, built for a very tall man, held the richest collection of jade seen in a Mayan tomb. A jade mosaic mask was placed over his face, and
10126-428: The latter, it blocks rivers and other water sources in exchange for human sacrifices and/or material good offerings. Historically, serpents and snakes represent fertility or a creative life force. As snakes shed their skin through sloughing , they are symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing. The ouroboros is a symbol of eternity and continual renewal of life. In some Abrahamic traditions ,
10248-549: The location where Heinrich Berlin and later Linda Schele and Peter Mathews outlined the first dynastic list for any Maya city. The work of Tatiana Proskouriakoff as well as that of Berlin, Schele, Mathews, and others, initiated the intense historical investigations that characterized much of the scholarship on the ancient Maya from the 1960s to the present. The extensive iconography and textual corpus has also allowed for study of Classic period Maya mythology and ritual practice. A list of possible and known Maya rulers of
10370-496: The narrative records Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal's Kʼatun period-ending rituals focused on the icons of the city's patron deities prosaically known collectively as the Palenque Triad or individually as GI, GII, and GIII. The pyramid measures 60 meters wide, 42.5 meters deep and 27.2 meters high. The summit temple measures 25.5 meters wide, 10.5 meters deep and 11.4 meters high. The largest stones weigh 12 to 15 tons. These were on top of
10492-457: The north side of the Palace. Thanks to the reign of these three kings, Bʼaakal had a century of growth and splendor. In 711, Palenque was sacked by the realm of Toniná , and the old king Kʼinich Kʼan Joy Chitam II was taken prisoner. It is not known what the final fate of the king was, and it is presumed that he was executed in Toniná. For 10 years there was no king. Finally, Kʼinich Ahkal Moʼ Nab' III
10614-407: The open jaws of the front head. Although the rear is not physically attached, it sits just above the serpent's tail and also represents blood”. The Vision Serpent also finds a place in Maya architecture and is especially prominent in the decoration of pillars on the interior and exterior of Maya temples. ”In the palace at Labna , serpents adorn the corners of the principle facade. Characteristic of
10736-464: The path of glory and splendor. The grandson of Janaab Pakal is the most famous of the Mayan kings, Kʼinich Janaab' Pakal, also known as Pakal the Great . He began rule at the age of 12 years after his mother Sak Kuk resigned as queen after three years, thus passing power on to him. Pakal the Great reigned in Palenque from 615 to 683, and his mother remained an important force for the first 25 years of his rule. She may have ruled jointly with him. Known as
10858-501: The psychoanalyst Joseph Lewis Henderson and the ethnologist Maude Oakes have argued that the serpent is a symbol of initiation and rebirth precisely because it is a symbol of death. Using phylogenetical and statistical methods on related motifs from folklore and myth, French comparativist Julien d'Huy managed to reconstruct a possible archaic narrative about the serpent. In this Paleolithic "ophidian" myth, snakes are connected to rains and storms, and even to water sources. In regards to
10980-402: The pyramid. The total volume of pyramid and temple is 32,500 cu. meters. In 1952 Alberto Ruz Lhuillier removed a stone slab in the floor of the back room of the temple superstructure to reveal a passageway (filled in shortly before the city's abandonment and reopened by archeologists) leading through a long stairway to Pakal's tomb. The tomb itself is remarkable for its large carved sarcophagus,
11102-497: The python seems to have been of exotic origin, dating back to the first quarter of the 17th century. By the conquest of Whydah the Dahomeyans were brought in contact with a people of serpent worshipers, and ended by adopting from them the beliefs which they at first despised. At Whydah , the chief centre, there is a serpent temple, tenanted by some fifty snakes. Every python of the danh-gbi kind must be treated with respect, and death
11224-419: The recovery of marine ecosystems following the extinction, including the development of modern coral reefs . Fossils include some of the earliest representatives of modern reef fish, such as serranids ( Paleoserranus ), damselfish ( Chaychanus ), and syngnathiforms ( Eekaulostomus ), in addition to some of the last members of extinct groups such as pycnodontids . This diverse ecosystem existed despite
11346-404: The rich ornaments accompanying Pakal, and for the stucco sculpture decorating the walls of the tomb. Unique to Pakal's tomb is the psychoduct, which leads from the tomb itself, up the stairway and through a hole in the stone covering the entrance to the burial. This psychoduct is perhaps a physical reference to concepts about the departure of the soul at the time of death in Maya eschatology where in
11468-445: The ruins before Frans Blom of Tulane University in 1923, who made superior maps of both the main site and various previously neglected outlying ruins and filed a report for the Mexican government on recommendations on work that could be done to preserve the ruins. From 1949 through 1952 Alberto Ruz Lhuillier supervised excavations and consolidations of the site for Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH); it
11590-413: The ruins in 1890–1891 and took extensive photographs of all the art and inscriptions he could find, and made paper and plaster molds of many of the inscriptions, and detailed maps and drawings, setting a high standard for all future investigators to follow. Maudslay learned the technique of making the papier mache molds of the sculptures from Frenchman Desire Charnay. Several other expeditions visited
11712-472: The same god, Atum , the "counter-Ra", associated with earth animals, including the serpent: Nehebkau ("he who harnesses the souls") was the two-headed serpent deity who guarded the entrance to the underworld. He is often seen as the son of the snake goddess Renenutet . She often was confused with (and later was absorbed by) their primal snake goddess Wadjet , the Egyptian cobra , who from the earliest of records
11834-619: The same sources. Juan Galindo visited Palenque in 1831, and filed a report with the Central American government. He was the first to note that the figures depicted in Palenque's ancient art looked like the local Native Americans ; some other early explorers, even years later, attributed the site to such distant peoples as Egyptians , Polynesians , or the Lost Tribes of Israel . Starting in 1832 Jean-Frédéric Waldeck spent two years at Palenque making numerous drawings, but most of his work
11956-429: The serpent as a symbol of death is built into our unconscious minds because of our evolutionary history. Isbell argues that for millions of years snakes were the only significant predators of primates, and that this explains why fear of snakes is one of the most common phobias worldwide and why the symbol of the serpent is so prevalent in world mythology; the serpent is an innate image of danger and death. Furthermore,
12078-507: The serpent from Rumi , which uses the serpent as a symbol for the sensual soul within human beings. Another story from Arabian mythology features the giant serpent Falak , which is said to live below the fish known as Bahamut and is mentioned in the One Thousand and One Nights as a dangerous monster. It is said that Falak only fears God's greater power, which prevents it from consuming all of creation. Serpents are sacred and powerful in
12200-600: The serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life ". In ancient Egypt and the Middle East, the serpent or snake also represents knowledge and a knowledge of advanced genetics (the strands of DNA, which also affects lifespan) in those times, hence its inclusion in the Bible and 2 snakes on a staff as a symbol of
12322-609: The serpent is thought to have a fiery quality similar to a fire-breathing dragon. The Greek Ladon and the Norse Níðhöggr (Nidhogg Nagar) are sometimes described as serpents and sometimes as dragons. In Germanic mythology , "serpent" ( Old English : wyrm , Old High German : wurm , Old Norse : ormr ) is used interchangeably with the Greek borrowing "dragon" (OE: draca , OHG: trahho , ON: dreki ). In China and especially in Indochina ,
12444-938: The serpent represents sexual desire . According to some interpretations of the Midrash , the serpent represents sexual passion. In Hinduism , Kundalini is a dormant energy lying like a coiled serpent. Serpents are represented as potent guardians of temples and other sacred spaces. This connection may be grounded in the observation that when threatened, some snakes (such as rattlesnakes or cobras ) frequently hold and defend their ground, first resorting to threatening display and then fighting, rather than retreat. Thus, they are natural guardians of treasures or sacred sites which cannot easily be moved out of harm's way. At Angkor in Cambodia , numerous stone sculptures present hooded multi-headed nāgas as guardians of temples or other premises. A favorite motif of Angkorean sculptors from approximately
12566-710: The serpent"). Quetzalcoatl's father was Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent"). He was identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. The demigod Aidophedo of the West African Ashanti people is also a serpent biting its own tail. In Dahomey mythology of Benin in West Africa, the serpent that supports everything on its many coils was named Dan. In the Vodou of Benin and Haiti , Ayida-Weddo (a.k.a. Aida-Wedo, Aido Quedo, "Rainbow-Serpent")
12688-503: The spiritual and the earthly worlds or planes. It is through ritual that the king could bring the center axis into existence in the temples and create a doorway to the spiritual world, and with it power." Sometimes the Tree of Life is represented (in a combination with similar concepts such as the World Tree and Axis mundi or "World Axis") by a staff such as those used by shamans . Examples of such staffs featuring coiled snakes in mythology are
12810-460: The supposed founder of the Palenque dynasty, is called a Toktan Ajaw in the text of the Temple of the Foliated Cross. The famous structures that we know today probably represent a rebuilding effort in response to the attacks by the city of Calakmul and its client states in 599 and 611. One of the main figures responsible for rebuilding Palenque and for a renaissance in the city's art and architecture
12932-508: The symbolic concept of the serpent was corrupted in the cultures of the Iranian plateau over time by Western influence. In Abrahamic traditions , the serpent represents sexual desire, as he lured Eve with the promise of forbidden knowledge in the Garden of Eden . As a result of such influence, Aryan religions call the serpents diabolic; Azhi Dahake in the Avesta is a scary serpent, and Zahhak in
13054-591: The temples, as well as in the former quarries that this limestone was mined in. The existence of these fossils was known since the 19th century, but they only received significant scientific and archeological attention since the 2000s. These fossils have been dated to the Tenejapa-Lacandón Formation of the Early Paleocene , shortly after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event , and document
13176-504: The thought of prehistoric cultures of Iran , having been portrayed as patrons of fertility, water and wealth in the ancient objects of Iran. They seem to have been worshipped along with the fertility goddesses from the fourth to first millennia BC, when their presence as mighty patrons and source of life and of immortality is seen in the art of Tall-i Bakun , Chogha Mish , Tepe Sialk , Jiroft culture , Shahr-e Sukhteh , Shahdad , Elamite art, Luristan art, etc. However, it seems that
13298-568: The tree in the garden of the Hesperides protecting the golden apples. Similarly Níðhöggr (Nidhogg Nagar), the dragon of Norse mythology, eats from the roots of the Yggdrasil , the World Tree. Under yet another tree (the Bodhi Tree of Enlightenment), the Buddha sat in ecstatic meditation. When a storm arose, the mighty serpent king Mucalinda rose up from his place beneath the earth and enveloped
13420-620: The two of them were cast down by Cronus and Rhea . The oracles of the Ancient Greeks were said to have been the continuation of the tradition begun with the worship of the Egyptian cobra goddess Wadjet . Typhon , the enemy of the Olympian gods , is described as 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
13542-472: The whole species, were sacred. 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. In ancient Mesopotamia , Nirah , the messenger god of Ištaran ,
13664-416: The wisest animals, being (close to the) divine. Its divine aspect combined with its habitat in the earth between the roots of plants made it an animal with chthonic properties connected to the afterlife and immortality. The deified Greek physician Asclepius , as god of medicine and healing, carried a staff with one serpent wrapped around it, which has become the symbol of modern medicine. Moses also had
13786-455: 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 center, highest point of one of the pediments on the Temple of Artemis at Corfu . Palenque Palenque ( Spanish pronunciation: [pa'leŋke] ; Yucatec Maya : Bàakʼ [ɓaːkʼ] ), also anciently known in
13908-528: Was Ruz Lhuillier who was the first person to gaze upon Pacal the Great's tomb in over a thousand years. Ruz worked for four years at the Temple of the Inscriptions before unearthing the tomb. Further INAH work was done in lead by Jorge Acosta into the 1970s. In 1973, the first of the very productive Palenque Mesa Redonda (Round table) conferences was held here on the inspiration of Merle Greene Robertson ; thereafter every few years leading Mayanists would meet at Palenque to discuss and examine new findings in
14030-401: Was crowned in 722. Although the new king belonged to the royalty, there is no evidence that he was the direct inheritor of Kʼinich Kʼan Joy Chitam II. It is believed, therefore, that this coronation was a break in the dynastic line, and probably Kʼinich Ahkal Nab' arrived to power after years of maneuvering and forging political alliances. This king, his son, and grandson governed until the end of
14152-408: Was enlarged and remodeled on various occasions, notably in the years 654, 661, and 668. In this structure, is a text describing how in that epoch Palenque was newly allied with Tikal, and also with Yaxchilan , and that they were able to capture the six enemy kings of the alliance. Not much more had been translated from the text. After the death of Pakal in 683, his older son Kʼinich Kan Bʼalam assumed
14274-436: Was equipped with numerous large baths and saunas which were supplied with fresh water by an intricate water system. An aqueduct, constructed of great stone blocks with a three-meter-high vault, diverts the Otulum River to flow underneath the main plaza. The Palace is the largest building complex in Palenque measuring 97 meters by 73 meters at its base. The site also has a number of other temples, tombs, and elite residences, some
14396-432: Was made in 1784 saying that the ruins were of particular interest, so two years later surveyor and architect Antonio Bernasconi was sent with a small military force under Colonel Antonio del Río to examine the site in more detail. Del Rio's forces smashed through several walls to see what could be found, doing a fair amount of damage to the Palace, while Bernasconi made the first map of the site as well as drawing copies of
14518-479: Was not published until 1866. Meanwhile, the site was visited in 1840 first by Patrick Walker and Herbert Caddy on a mission from the governor of British Honduras , and then by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood who published an illustrated account the following year which was greatly superior to the previous accounts of the ruins. Désiré Charnay took the first photographs of Palenque in 1858, and returned in 1881–1882. Alfred Maudslay encamped at
14640-508: Was represented as a serpent on kudurrus , or boundary stones . Representations of two intertwined serpents are common in Sumerian art and Neo-Sumerian artwork and still appear sporadically on cylinder seals and amulets until as late as the thirteenth century BCE. The horned viper ( Cerastes cerastes ) appears in Kassite and Neo-Assyrian kudurrus and is invoked in Assyrian texts as
14762-472: Was the earth-dragon of Delphi . She always was represented in the vase-paintings and by sculptors as a serpent. Python was the chthonic enemy of Apollo , who slew her and remade her former home his own oracle, the most famous in Classical Greece. The Gorgons - Stheno , Euryale , and Medusa - were three monstrous sisters with sharp fangs and living, venomous snakes for hair, and whose origins predate
14884-403: Was the patron and protector of the country, all other deities, and the pharaohs. Hers is the first known oracle . She was depicted as the crown of Egypt, entwined around the staff of papyrus and the pole that indicated the status of all other deities, as well as having the all-seeing eye of wisdom and vengeance. She never lost her position in the Egyptian pantheon. The image of the serpent as
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