Statistical surveys about human preferences show that the snake is an extremely unpopular animal. She was recognized as the least sympathetic creature by the maximum number of respondents - 27%. The spider in second place was opposed by 9.5% of respondents. With the hatred people have for snakes, it is amazing that reptiles were a sacred symbol of many ancient civilizations
Why such dislike?
Christians' dislike of reptiles is probably understandable: after all, the Lord cursed the tempting snake, who persuaded Eve to taste the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which had fatal consequences for the human race. This curse was recorded in the Bible, on which many, many people were brought up, which also had fatal consequences, but already for the serpentine kind.
However, a number of scientists believe that aversion to snakes lies, rather, in human psychology than in various beliefs. And it is caused by the complete absence of anthropomorphic features in snakes. The worst enemy is called a submarine snake, poisonous or creeping reptile, viper, and so on. And yet …
Wherever you look - snakes
In Iraq - the ancient cradle of civilization - near the city of Sheikh Adi there is a temple of the Yezidis, where the image of a snake flaunts on the door. The center of pilgrimage for thousands of Yezidi nomads settled here. After all, the Yezidis consider the serpent to be the most powerful force in the world - carriers of both good and evil.
The aborigines of Australia keep the legends of snakes in their "myths of dreams", which tells about the creation of the world. In the central regions of Australia, you can still find images of the great goddess - the Serpent-Rainbow, which many centuries ago crawled from the northern coast, creating rivers, mountains and people along the way.
The inhabitants of the East have a special relationship with snakes. In Tibet, for example, the sacred trumpets of monks are decorated with images of reptiles, and in Nepal, in an area called Budanilkanta, there is a mysterious statue of the god Vishnu sleeping in a pool on a bed of snakes.
The ancient Egyptians considered the snake to be a sacred animal. Images of a pair of snakes crowned with two royal crowns - Upper and Lower Egypt have come down to us. Pharaohs were often depicted with a snake in their foreheads, and one of the sacred symbols was the image of two snakes against the background of a disk, presumably solar.
The snake was just as highly respected in the neighboring country of Egypt, Kush. The Kushite kings and queens were usually depicted wearing crowns with the emblem of the kings - the cobra. Potters made pottery, which was decorated with a symbol - a winged snake.
In the myths of the Aztecs, scenes of the creation of man are described by the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, who was assisted by the Snake Woman Chihuacoatl. In the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), sacred sites are adorned with the heads of feathered serpents, and the entrance to the Temple of Quetzalcoatl is guarded by a giant stone snake head with an open mouth. Such images of Aztec snakes predominate in many other sacred places, for example, in Teotiu Acan in Mexico.
The ancient Maya also worshiped a feathered serpent called Kukuklan. Throughout Central America, in the settlements of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Toltecs, they find drawings depicting reptiles.
In India, there is still a cult of nagas - powerful creatures with a snake body and one or more human heads. In Indian sources, the nagas are called "divine snakes", they are devoted to an extensive cycle of myths in the first book of the Mahabharata. A large number of Indian place names are associated with the naga root.
Cast down from a pedestal
The list of ancient serpent gods, whom our ancestors worshiped in different parts of the globe, can be continued, but even without that it is clear that no creature attracted more attention from people than snakes. It is unlikely that all of these snake cults arose independently of each other, most likely they have a single source. According to some versions, the inhabitants of the disappeared Atlantis worshiped the serpent gods, according to others, aliens chose him as their symbol … But why were the ancient deities cast down from the pedestal and cursed?
On flags, coats of arms and coins
Trampling the serpent has become a good tradition - let us recall the Bronze Horseman, whose mighty horse has been crushing a bronze reptile for the third century. But the horse is a special case: the snake is torn, trampled and crushed by all and sundry. Most often, an eagle, a falcon, a hawk - depending on which predatory bird is found in one or another part of the world. Let us recall the famous sculpture "An Eagle with a Snake" in the Caucasian Mineral Waters … The
personal coat of arms of the Turkmenbashi on a Turkmen coin: a five-headed eagle holding a two-headed snake-pulling snake in its paws.
The state emblem of modern Mexico is an eagle rending a snake with its claws.
In San Agustino, Central Colombia, the largest statue represents a bird pecking a snake.
The badge of the Special Manchurian detachment, established by the ataman G. M. Semyonov, was a copper, silvered two-headed eagle without crowns, holding a snake in its paws.
Where did this symbolism come from?
Ivan III Vasilyevich (1462-1505) inherited from his father, the great Moscow prince Vasily II Vasilyevich (1425-1462), a seal (octahedral gem), which depicts a lion tearing a snake. Scenes of massacre with a snake are often found in Russian princely emblems, for example, on the coins of the Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod principality it is tormented by a griffin, and on the coins of the Verei prince Mikhail Andreevich - an eagle. Of course, this can be explained by the Christian tradition, referring to St. George, who struck with a spear either a dragon or a snake.
However, on the Elid coins (Elis is an area in the north-west of the Peloponnese), an eagle is also minted, tearing a snake. In the Scythian art of the "animal style", a passing plot is a falcon with a reptile in its beak.
In Egyptian myths, Horus is a deity in the form of a falcon, or in the form of a man with the head of a falcon, fighting with Set and defeating him. Moreover, in some myths Set is identified with the evil serpent Apop.
The famous frieze of the Pergamon altar depicts the battle of the gods with the serpentine giants. One of the exploits of Hercules was the victory over the Lernean hydra, and Perseus over the serpentine-haired Medusa the Gorgon.
In the Vedic tradition, the eagle is known as the divine messenger and is often depicted as a garuda bird attacking a snake.
In the Aztec legend of the war of the gods, Huitzilopochtli and his supporters defeated Quetzalcoatl. The Feathered Serpent left Central America, sailing with a group of his followers to Yucatan on a "raft of reptiles". After that, in the new Aztec capital, Enochtitlan, two magnificent statues were erected to guard the Temple of the Eagles. They depict terrible man-birds, whose evil faces peep out from under the beaks of giant eagles. In addition to them, archaeologists have discovered many images of flying gods - terrifying new rulers of the world.
The eagle defeated the snake
What caused the war between the gods, in which people took part both on the side of the “snakes” and on the side of the “eagles”? There are different versions, but none of them seem convincing enough. Be that as it may, the new gods have won everywhere!
It remains to recall about Quetzalcoatl, who, according to myths, brought writing and a calendar to Mexico, discovered the secrets of healing, masonry, mathematics, metallurgy and astronomy. He taught people to grow corn and was revered. The "Feathered Serpent" forbade human sacrifice, and when after his departure the bloody ritual was revived, people with longing recalled the times of his reign.
Over time, Quetzalcoatl and the other serpent gods were consigned to oblivion, because history is written by the winners.