The Serpent - part 1
H.P. Blavatsky writes in her book Isis Unveiled that “before our globe had become egg-shaped or round it was a long trail of cosmic dust or fire-mist, moving and writhing like a serpent. This, say the explanations, was the Spirit of God moving in the chaos until its breath had incubated the cosmic matter and made it assume the annular shape of a serpent with its tail in its mouth - emblem of eternity in its spiritual and of our world physical sense.”The serpent is an ancient symbol of wisdom and transformation and can be found represented in most religions and cultures in some form or another, often of a cosmic nature. It’s an important and positive symbol and yet the reputation the serpent has received in the collective mind is that of temptation and evil often connected with Satan.
Those opposed to Freemasonry often raises the point that the use of the serpent in their ceremonial dress is proof of worshipping the devil, but the serpent featured on the belt-hook (1) of Masonic aprons is not at all a big part of Masonic symbolism and ritual, and even if it where it would have more to do with wisdom than evil.
An Ancient Symbol
One certain originator of this negative view of the serpent is without a doubt an event that, at least metaphorically, took place in the Garden of Eden. To quote Genesis 3:1-5 (KJV):
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”It is vitally important to remember that the Bible is subject to interpretation and not the law on matters such as creation since the world is far larger and diverse than that tome cause of so many wars and misunderstandings throughout the centuries. Add to that the fact that when scrutinized it seems inconsistent. Manly P. Hall points out one such discrepancy in his The Secret Teachings of All Ages:
“How the serpent came to be in the garden of the Lord after God had declared that all creatures which He had made during the six days of creation were good has not been satisfactorily answered by the interpreters of the Scriptures.”The Gnostics didn’t think it strange to see a serpent in the Garden of Eden since, in fact, it was a good creature. They viewed that the serpent tried to help free Adam and Eve from their bonds because when they ate from the Forbidden Fruit they would see what God didn’t want them to see; that he actually was a false god, named Demiurge by the Gnostics.
Adam and Eve’s rebellion led to expulsion from Paradise into a world of sufferings. A guardian prevented them from returning to eat from the Forbidden Fruit and, according to the Gnostics, attain immortality and become free from all worldly bonds, where one is greater than the Demiurge. It’s no wonder that the Gnostics were deemed heretic if they perceived that man could become greater than this false God, yet some of their ideas still linger in the Bible, such as the statement Jesus makes in Matthew 10:16:
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (2)In the Orphic Mysteries there is an egg surrounded by a serpent. This signifies the cosmos encircled by a fiery creative spirit. The egg, apart from the cosmos, also represents the soul of the philosopher and the serpent the Mysteries. When initiation takes place the shell of the egg is broken and the man emerges from the embryonic state of physical existence and this of course ties in with the symbolisms of the Masonic initiation where one comes from the dark into the light. (3)
In ancient Egyptian mythology the sun god Amun-Ra emerged from the water in the shape of a serpent and inseminated the Kneph, or cosmic egg, thus creating the world.
H.P. Blavatsky writes in her book Isis Unveiled that “before our globe had become egg-shaped or round it was a long trail of cosmic dust or fire-mist, moving and writhing like a serpent. This, say the explanations, was the Spirit of God moving in the chaos until its breath had incubated the cosmic matter and made it assume the annular shape of a serpent with its tail in its mouth - emblem of eternity in its spiritual and of our world physical sense.”
In Greek mythology the symbol of a serpent biting its own tail signifies the unending cycle of nature. This is known as the Ouroboros and often resembles either a 0 or an 8. One of the most ancient representations of the Ouroboros can be found on a bronze disc from Benin. Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant describes it in their book Dictionary of Symbols (4) as “doubtless the oldest African ‘imago mundi’, (5) where its sinuous figure, associating opposites, encircles the primordial oceans in the middle of which floats the square of the earth below.”
Although the serpent is not necessarily always single, or serpent-like, sometimes it’s doubled, two serpents entwined or next to each other, other times it possesses wings, arms or legs. The serpent with wings is also seen as a dragon, which is a union of two opposing principles since it lives in water and spits fire. Jeremy Narby writes in his interesting, but disputed, book The Cosmic Serpent - DNA and the origins of knowledge: (6)
“Quetzalcoatl, the Aztecs’ plumed serpent, is not a real animal either. In living nature snakes do not have arms or legs, and even less wings or feathers. A flying serpent is a contradiction in terms, a paradox, like a speaking mute. This is confirmed by the double etymology of the word -coatl, which means both serpent and twin.”In the serpents physical attributes we can easily see the symbol of the male from its phallic shape and also its female quality when it sheds its skin in a regenerative fashion. Here again we find a duality, but a duality that leads towards unity. This is most obvious in the Ouroboros where the serpent, tail in mouth, represent sexual union with itself that forms an androgynous image.
“As the creator of life, the cosmic serpent is a master of metamorphosis. In the myths of the world where it plays a central part, it creates by transforming itself; it changes while remaining the same So it is understandable that is should be represented differently at the same time.”
In alchemy and medicine, which both aims to either transform, regenerate or heal, we find all the qualities that the serpent represents. Therefore it is portrayed in two of the most famous ancient symbols of these sciences: the Caduceus of Hermes and the Staff of Asclepius.
The Staff of Asclepius and the Caduceus of Hermes
In astrology the serpent is featured as the 13th sign of the zodiac known as Ophiuchus Serpentarius (or Ophiuchusm), the Serpent Holder, which lies between Scorpio and Sagittarius. (7) Plato called this 13th sign the God of the Underworld and later the Christians of the mediaeval ages changed it into the figure of St. Paul holding a viper before abandoning it altogether. The constellation of the Serpent Holder is the only sign of the Zodiac which is linked to a real man that lived in ancient Egypt around the 27th century B.C.E., a one Imhotep.
The attributes of Imhotep can also be found in the Biblical Hebrew Joseph, son of Jacob. Imhotep is credited with many accomplishments including the knowledge and use of medicine. It’s said that Imhotep brought the art of healing to mankind. The symbol of a serpent was used to represent Imhotep.
In the 16th century this 13th constellation was called Alpheichius, God of Invocation, named after Asclepius who was a skilled physician, and similar to Imhotep, who practised in Greece around 1200 B.C.E. and described in Homer’s Iliad. If he truly existed no one knows but regardless he, through myth and legend, became part of the Greek family of gods as the God of Healing and the son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis. He had several daughters of which Meditrina, Hygeia and Panacea all became symbols of medicine, hygiene and healing.
Rationalism and patriarchy began to be established around the 5th century B.C.E and myths were modified. For instance Zeus who originally was represented as a serpent now defeats the serpent monster Typhon with the aid of his daughter Athene (Reason). This act guaranteed the reign of the patriarchal gods of Olympus and at the same time he brings back Asclepius to life, after having killed him with a lightning bolt, and presents him with the serpent wrapped around a staff.
It’s believed that Hippocrates, a great doctor of antiquity, was a descendant of Asclepius and the oath, which bears his name, (8) was sworn in the names of Apollo, Asclepius and Panacea. (9)
A cult formed from Asclepius and became very popular during the 300s B.C.E. The Asclepions, centres where priests cured the sick, became important in Greek society. The worship of Asclepius spread to Rome, his name changed to the Latin Aesculapius, and continued to the late as the 6th century.
Since ancient times there have been columns, trees and staffs with serpents climbing or twirling around them and throughout the ages it has been the image of the art of healing and not evil. The famous Staff of Asclepius with a single serpent wrapped around it possibly became a symbol of medicine and healing because infections by parasitic worms were common. The filarial worm Dracunculus medinensis (10)crawled around the victim’s body, just under the skin and the physicians treated this infection by cutting a slit in the patient’s skin just in front of the worm’s path. As the worm crawled out the cut the physician carefully wound the pest around a stick until the entire animal had been removed resulting in the symbol of a worm, serpent, around a stick to advertise this service. (11)
The Staff of Asclepius have often been confused with the Caduceus, or Staff of Hermes, and although the former is clearly a symbol of medicine and healing the latter has often taken on this role in the collective mind. The Encyclopaedia Britannica clearly states that the Staff of Asclepius is “the only true symbol of medicine.” It also says that the Caduceus is “without medical reference since it represents the magic wand of Hermes, or Mercury, the messenger of the gods and the patron of trade.”
Modern pharmacies probably began using the serpent as a symbol for their business because they sold the antidote to snake venom.
In a study conducted by Walter J. Friedlander of the use of these two staffs in logos and insignias in American health and medicine organizations he found that the Staff of Asclepius was a more common symbol for organizations related to health or medicine and the Caduceus for commercial organizations.
The reason commercial organizations favour the Caduceus before the Staff of Asclepius as their symbol/logo could be, according to Friedlander, because the former is a more symmetrical and pleasing symbol to the eye thus making it a greater tool for marketing. (12) Or could it be because Hermes was the God of, amongst many things, commerce and theft?
The Greek Hermes, the ancient Egyptian god Thoth, the Phoenician Taaut and the Roman god Mercury are all the same entity each one having a magic staff wrapped by two serpents. Greek mythology tells us of the origin of this staff, best known as the Caduceus, with the tale of how Tiresias found two snakes copulating. He separated them by sticking his staff between them and was immediately turned into a woman for seven years until he was able to repeat his action and changed back.
The Caduceus can be, in the words of David William Hauck in his excellent book The Emerald Tablet – Alchemy for Personal Transformation: (13)
“…traced as far back as 2600 B.C.E. The caduceus is depicted on the Libation Cup of Gudea, a Sumerian artifact that was made around 2000 B.C.E., and Thoth is shown holding an early Egyptian caduceus in a mural at the Temple of Seti I that dates from 1300 B.C.E. The tall staff, the magic wand of Hermes, is topped by a winged solar disk with two serpents wrapped around a staff three times – a subtler reminder that the owner of the staff is the thrice greatest one. According to the immortal French alchemist Nicholas Flamel, the two serpents of the caduceus are the snakes or dragons which the ancient Egyptians painted in the form of a circle, each biting the other’s tail, in order to teach that they spring of and from One Thing.”How the Caduceus became linked with medicine is most likely due to its connection with alchemy, which included medicine, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, mining and, by the end of the 16th century, metallurgy.
The Staff of Asclepius and the Caduceus, or Staff of Hermes, were both widely used as printers’ marks in particular as frontispieces to pharmacopoeias, which are books containing lists of drugs with directions on how to use them, in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Perhaps a footnote but it has been noted that the $ resemble the Staff of Asclepius but this can’t be anything but a coincidence. (14) The story goes that the Spanish pesos, also called piastres, Spanish dollars and pieces of eight (the value was eight reales) were so well used and known (like the dollar is today in the world) that when the U.S. issued its own silver coinage (first appearing in 1794) they thus replicated the Spanish weight, value and name. When pluralized pesos was abbreviated ps. This created over time the $ symbol (a p over an s, the p in time reduced to a single stroke).
It was the revolting British/American colonists who first made the transition from ps to $. This is the reason why the $ is written before the number, $1, instead of behind because it mimics how the British use their pound sign, £1.
Regardless of the resemblance to the sign of the dollar, the Staff of Asclepius, together with the Caduceus of Hermes, both portray the serpent in a positive light and they are certainly not the only ones. The ancient mythology of the Chinese viewed the world as surrounded by two entwined serpents that symbolized the power and wisdom of the creator. The Taoists of China used the image of two serpentine forms entwined, one white the other black, to represent two forces which they called yin and yang.
The swastika, as it was initially used by the Hindus, represent two cosmic forces moving in opposite directions much like that of yin-yang, but it’s without a doubt in the wheel of life that we see the two serpents best portrayed and explained.
The Serpent - part 2
Footnotes:
(1) Probably originated from the common belt-hook used by manufacturers of clothing for British schoolboys.
(2) Another reference of serpents is in Matthew 7:9-12 (KJV): “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
(3) The 28th degree of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, the Knight of the Sun (Prince Adept), incorporates the Worm Ouroboros (the dragon, or serpent, holding his own tail in his mouth), into its iconography, representing the immortal and eternal principle as well as both love and wisdom. The 25th degree, The Knight of The Brazen Se, also incorporates this symbol.
(4) Published in Paris, 1982.
(5) Image of the world.
(6) Le Serpent Cosmique, l’ADN et les origines du savoir, published in Geneva, 1995.
(7) About 2000 years ago the Sun travelled from the constellation Scorpio directly into the sign of Sagittarius, but due to the constant motion of the cosmos, the Sun now enters, for a few days of the year, the star constellation Ophiuchus before entering Sagittarius from Scorpio, thus creating the birth of a thirteenth sign of the Zodiac.
(8) The Hippocratic Oath from a translation by Heinrich Von Staden: “I swear by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Health and Panacea and by all the gods as well as goddesses, making them judges [witnesses], to bring the following oath and written covenant to fulfilment, in accordance with my power and my judgment; to regard him who has taught me this techne as equal to my parents, and to share, in partnership, my livelihood with him and to give him a share when he is in need of necessities, and to judge the offspring [coming] from him equal to [my] male siblings, and to teach them this techne, should they desire to learn [it], without fee and written covenant, and to give a share both of rules and of lectures, and of all the rest of learning, to my sons and to the [sons]of him who has taught me and to the pupils who have both make a written contract and sworn by a medical convention but by no other. And I will use regimens for the benefit of the ill in accordance with my ability and my judgment, but from [what is] to their harm or injustice I will keep [them]. And I will not give a drug that is deadly to anyone if asked [for it], nor will I suggest the way to such a counsel. And likewise I will not give a woman a destructive pessary. And in a pure and holy way I will guard my life and my techne. I will not cut, and certainly not those suffering from stone, but I will cede [this] to men [who are] practitioners of this activity. Into as many houses as I may enter, I will go for the benefit of the ill, while being far from all voluntary and destructive injustice, especially from sexual acts both upon women’s bodies and upon men's, both of the free and of the slaves. And about whatever I may see or hear in treatment, or even without treatment, in the life of human beings - things that should not ever be blurted out outside - I will remain silent, holding such things to be unutterable [sacred, not to be divulged], If I render this oath fulfilled, and if I do not blur and confound it [making it to no effect] may it be [granted] to me to enjoy the benefits both of life and of techne, being held in good repute among all human beings for time eternal. If, however, I transgress and purjure myself, the opposite of these.”
(9) Two of the sons of Asclepius appeared in Homer’s Iliad as physicians in the Greek army.
(10) Other names are the Fiery Serpent, the Dragon of Medina and the Guinea Worm.
(11) Another service pharmacies provide is that they keep antidotes for snake venom.
(12) Friedlander surveyed 242 logos/insignias and found that professional, such as the World Health Organization, were more likely to use the staff of Asclepius (62%) while commercial organizations, like Enigma Publishing, chose the Caduceus (76%). The exception is hospitals where 63% used the Caduceus, but US hospitals are usually commercial ventures. All this information from his book The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine.
(13) Published in 1999.
(14) There is a possible link, though, with the Staff of Hermes since Hermes himself was, according to Greek mythology, the God of Trade.
© deviadah
