-
Articles/Ads
Article OPHIOLOGY AND SERPENT SYMBOLISM. ← Page 8 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ophiology And Serpent Symbolism.
heads , of a hundred arms to their deities , Avas followed in the serpent ; Chrisna reposes upon one with seven heads conjoined in a single body , the prototype , no doubt , of the Grecian Hydra . The sort of serpent most commonly employed by the Hindoos , as Avell as other Eastern nationsis the hooded snakeAA'hichas
, , , a native of India , would be most frequently met with ; the cerastes is more common on Egyptian and Phoenician sculptures ; the latter had a mythic signification , and Ave find it borne in a sacred casket in their processions ; as in the Eleusinian Mysteries , their sacred ark , containing the egg and the phallus , was also placed between two cistopherisymbolically
represent-, ing the snakes of the medals . The same degree of familiarity existed betAveen the tamed and harmless kinds amongst the Hindoos , as in other countries . Taxilus , a potent prince near the Indus , showed Alexander a serpent of enormous size , Avhich he revered and fondled as the image of his god ; and Purchase ' s " Pilgrims" parti . 565 gives the relation of a travellerwho
, , , tells us that a king of Calicut built cottages for two serpents , Avhich he tended Avith peculiar care , at which we need not Avonder , when we read further , that the natives looked upon serpents as endowed with divine spirits .
PERSIAN , ARABIAN , AND SYRIAN . The commonly called gnostic symbol of the serpent with a radiated head of many spikes is not an unfrequent type along the Euphrates and the Orontes . In the mysteries of Mithras the serpent undoubtedly played an important part , and is rarely absent as an attribute from the curious bas-reliefs of this
Avorship scattered through various parts of Europe . On the temples of Palmyra is the same delineation as on the Egyptian temples , of the Avinged globe surmounted by the serpent , or entAvined around it , which gives great reason to believe a common origin , and many conformities of belief . Creuzer , Mythologie ( vol . i . p . 765 ) enters into many details
and explanations on the serpent image in the Mithras monument dug at Ladenburg on the Neckar , the Roman Lupodunum of Avhich he has given a separate description , and caused to be preserved in the Museum of the University of Heidelberg . On one side is a large vase , round Avhich a mighty serpent is entAvined , which circling over the mouth seems to be admiring or examining the contents . He looks upon the Avhole as a mixture of the Mithriatic Avorship AA'ith Phrygian Sabaizisni , in Avhich latter the older doctrines of the Magi Avere intermixed
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ophiology And Serpent Symbolism.
heads , of a hundred arms to their deities , Avas followed in the serpent ; Chrisna reposes upon one with seven heads conjoined in a single body , the prototype , no doubt , of the Grecian Hydra . The sort of serpent most commonly employed by the Hindoos , as Avell as other Eastern nationsis the hooded snakeAA'hichas
, , , a native of India , would be most frequently met with ; the cerastes is more common on Egyptian and Phoenician sculptures ; the latter had a mythic signification , and Ave find it borne in a sacred casket in their processions ; as in the Eleusinian Mysteries , their sacred ark , containing the egg and the phallus , was also placed between two cistopherisymbolically
represent-, ing the snakes of the medals . The same degree of familiarity existed betAveen the tamed and harmless kinds amongst the Hindoos , as in other countries . Taxilus , a potent prince near the Indus , showed Alexander a serpent of enormous size , Avhich he revered and fondled as the image of his god ; and Purchase ' s " Pilgrims" parti . 565 gives the relation of a travellerwho
, , , tells us that a king of Calicut built cottages for two serpents , Avhich he tended Avith peculiar care , at which we need not Avonder , when we read further , that the natives looked upon serpents as endowed with divine spirits .
PERSIAN , ARABIAN , AND SYRIAN . The commonly called gnostic symbol of the serpent with a radiated head of many spikes is not an unfrequent type along the Euphrates and the Orontes . In the mysteries of Mithras the serpent undoubtedly played an important part , and is rarely absent as an attribute from the curious bas-reliefs of this
Avorship scattered through various parts of Europe . On the temples of Palmyra is the same delineation as on the Egyptian temples , of the Avinged globe surmounted by the serpent , or entAvined around it , which gives great reason to believe a common origin , and many conformities of belief . Creuzer , Mythologie ( vol . i . p . 765 ) enters into many details
and explanations on the serpent image in the Mithras monument dug at Ladenburg on the Neckar , the Roman Lupodunum of Avhich he has given a separate description , and caused to be preserved in the Museum of the University of Heidelberg . On one side is a large vase , round Avhich a mighty serpent is entAvined , which circling over the mouth seems to be admiring or examining the contents . He looks upon the Avhole as a mixture of the Mithriatic Avorship AA'ith Phrygian Sabaizisni , in Avhich latter the older doctrines of the Magi Avere intermixed