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13-11-2004, 04:48 AM

In article , wrote:

Paul E. Lehmann wrote:

Vox Humana wrote:

"Cynthia Donahey" wrote in message
...

In an old book on Indian gardening, there was a brief reference to
leaving
a bowl of milk out for cobras. It seem to be partially religious,
partially blackmail. Has anyone (in areas where there are snakes) done
this or heard anything about this?

I don't think the snakes around here are very religious.

Only Brass snakes are religious. This is what Moses used to cure illness.

Come to think of it further, perhaps this is why Moses led his people to the
land of "Milk and Honey". He could encourage all the snakes to come to
drink the milk and turn them to brass; tell people to look at the brass
snakes and cure their illness(s). As for the Honey - well, they could make
mead from this and if looking at the brass snakes did not cure them - they
could drink the mead and not care - ha ha ha.

Nehushtan, "Brazen Serpentess," was a Serpent-goddess established by
Moses. In the autumn of the last year in the wilderness, the Israelites
suffered from a plague of "fiery serpents" whose bite was deadly. Moses
made a serpent of brass, mounted it on a pole, and all who gazed upon
Nehushtan were cured of snake-poison [Nm 21:6-9].

Although initially the adoration of Nehushtan was to obtain protection
from deadly serpents sent by Yahweh, in later times it was said that
serpents were sent to slay those who worshipped serpents [Wisdom of
Solomon 11:15; 15:18; 16:3-5; Sirach 12:13]. This belated explanation was
required because otherwise one had to admit there were more gods than
Yahweh among the Israelites. Nevertheless many continued to praise the
Serpentess as a token of salvation [Wis Sol 16:6, 10] whose healing
capacity was an oracle of god [16:11].

Philo of Alexandria finds a happy medium in suggesting that Nehushtan the
serpent of temperateness was an enemy of the Serpent of Eden who
encouraged hedonism [Legum Allegoriae II:19, 25]. This supposes a female
serpent who takes precedence over the male serpent. "There is no poison
worse than snake's poison, and no wrath worse than a woman's wrath"
[Sirach 25:15] means that the male serpent of Eden is subdued by the
wrathfulness of the female serpent of Moses.

Healing Serpent-goddesses were common among Mediterranean races, and are
still worshipped in modern Bengal, encountered repeatedly in the Vedas.
She or her type is known by many names, including: Anantasira, "Head of
Eternity," queen of the Nagas (Cobras) who dwelt in a jeweled palace
surrounded by pleasure gardens; Madhavi, "Honey-like," an incarnation of
Laksmi having been born with pubis like a cobra's hood; Sarpamukhi the
Mother of Serpent Illumination; Ulupi the Nagini (Cobra-princess) who came
from the netherworld to become the bride of the mortal prince Arjuna,
because of whom cobras are to this day generous with humanity; Vasukuki a
form of Laksmi who forms the cobra-headed throne of Vishnu; Neta, Who Sees
the Path, a nagini who travels as the constant companion to the goddess
Manasa; & many similar.

As the Mother of Serpents, Nehushtan's children who plagued the Hebrews
were called muppim, "poisonous serpents" or "children of Mup"; only by
propitiating the Mother were the muppim rendered harmless. In Jewish myth,
they are also called the ivvim, the snake-children of the Daughters of
Cain, but whose name by a close pun means "Children of Eve." Muppim
continued long to be worshipped by the Benjamites, descended as they were
from the divining & teraphim-worshipping Rachel, & who were especially
influenced by methods of worship encountered in Egypt where long dwelt
Joseph & so many of his sons (including one named Muppim).

Nahash is the name Genesis uses for Eve's serpent [Gn 3:1], and Nahash may
be considered the consort of Nehushtan, equivalent of the two Leviathans
or of Samael and Lilith. Nahash in addition to "serpent" means
"divination," or anything learned by experience. In zoharic legend, the
demon Nahash is the consort of the demoness Epheh (Adder), who must be
regarded a form of Nehushtan or another name for the same demoness [Zohar
I:18a].

The serpent-entwined pole or caduceus was a symbol of the Maenads or
Bacchantes, as well as of numerous healing gods and goddesses, including
Maia's son Hermes and Mary's son Jesus [Jn 3:14]. It is even today used as
a symbol of the medical profession, despite having become intertwined with
the mythology of the serpent in the tree of Eden.

Worship of this Serpent-goddess was not suppressed until the time of King
Hezekiah and his queenmother Abi, for Moses had personally directed the
reverence of this Goddess so that it took many generations to undermine
Her worship. Hezekiah associated Nehushtan with the worship of Asherah [2
Ki 18:4]. Centuries later, though the worship of Nehusthan would never
have been admitted, it was nevertheless considered permissible to perform
snake-charming on the Sabbath, to render serpents tame and harmless, and
to ward against leprosy [Babylonian Talmud: Sanhedrin 101a].

-paghat the ratgirl loves the benificent Serpent-mother

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com