Shield on Joseph Smith's Cane

[_truth dancer]

I don't want to get too side tracked here but if anyone is interested in serpent mythology I would be happy to share some insights from experts such as Joseph Campbell.

The Serpent mythology was one of those topics with which I became fascinated a while back hence I have numerous books on the subject! :-)

Briefly, the serpent was a symbol of rebirth or life, even the "giver of life", going back long before the Old Testament, in all sorts of mythology (If I recall correctly even to tribes in Africa and Sumeria around 3,500 BCE). The idea of Satan and the serpent was a relatively new twist (distortion) on very old myth.

~dancer~

[_John Larsen]

I don't want to get too side tracked here but if anyone is interested in serpent mythology I would be happy to share some insights from experts such as Joseph Campbell.

The Serpent mythology was one of those topics with which I became fascinated a while back hence I have numerous books on the subject! :-)

Briefly, the serpent was a symbol of rebirth or life, even the "giver of life", going back long before the Old Testament, in all sorts of mythology (If I recall correctly even to tribes in Africa and Sumeria around 3,500 BCE). The idea of Satan and the serpent was a relatively new twist (distortion) on very old myth.

~dancer~

There is another related issue anthropologically. I believe snakes are universally feared and If I recall correctly some anthropologists believe that snakes are one of the few animals we have an innate fear of--it is programmed in our DNA. Also it is very common across multiple cultures to associate snakes with the penis. I don't know how either one of these ideas relates to the Judo-Christian tradition of snakes.

[_Mike Reed]

Also it is very common across multiple cultures to associate snakes with the penis. I don't know how either one of these ideas relates to the Judo-Christian tradition of snakes.

As I understand it... Egyptians practiced circumcision long before Judaism ever did. Egyptians cut off the foreskin, symbolic of rebirth and the snake shedding its skin.

[_truth dancer]

There is another related issue anthropologically. I believe snakes are universally feared and If I recall correctly some anthropologists believe that snakes are one of the few animals we have an innate fear of--it is programmed in our DNA. Also it is very common across multiple cultures to associate snakes with the penis. I don't know how either one of these ideas relates to the Judo-Christian tradition of snakes.

I believe our myths are a direct reaction/consequence of many of our innate or instinctual behaviors.

I too have heard that snakes are one of those universal fears. I think it is very probably that, like darkness and heights, the fear of snakes in humans goes way back, perhaps millions of years ago.

Seems our common human instincts and observations have formed much of the early mythology and are the reason we see similar myths in unrelated groups.

The unusual, mysterious, and dangerous traits of the snake are the reason, in my opinion the snake is so prominent a player in early mythology.

The Genesis story of creation is just a later version/rendition of the earlier Sumerian creation myth.

~dancer~

[_KimberlyAnn]

Also it is very common across multiple cultures to associate snakes with the penis. I don't know how either one of these ideas relates to the Judo-Christian tradition of snakes.

Ahh...now I know why Eve was tempted by the snake! 'Twernt really a snake at all...

Reminds me of Karl Shapiro's poem, Adam and Eve.

"The Confession" (from Adam and Eve):

"As on the first day her first word was thou.
He waited as she said, 'Thou art the tree.'
And while she said, almost accusingly,
Looking at nothing, 'Thou art the fruit I took.'
She seemed smaller by inches as she spoke,
And Adam wondering touched her hair and shook,
Half understanding. He answered softly, 'How?'

And for the third time, in the third way, Eve:
'The tree that rises from the middle part
Of the garden.' And almost tenderly, 'Thou art
The garden. We.' Then she was overcome,
And Adam coldly, lest he should succumb
To pity, standing at the edge of doom,
Comforted her like one about to leave."

I like Shapiro's version better than the original. :)

KA

[_Doctor Steuss]

There is another related issue anthropologically. I believe snakes are universally feared and If I recall correctly some anthropologists believe that snakes are one of the few animals we have an innate fear of--it is programmed in our DNA. Also it is very common across multiple cultures to associate snakes with the penis. I don't know how either one of these ideas relates to the Judo-Christian tradition of snakes.

I believe that it is in Dr. Stroumsa's Hidden Wisdom... that he talks about how it was quite common in Greek culture to have a snake shrine within each home (or in the courtyard). They would also usually set out food for their household snake(s).

Never heard about the penis dilly. Were snakes associated with manhood for the same reasons they was often associated with Gaia (moving in and out of holes in the earth)? Or are the reasons more-so simply the appearance?

Interesting stuff regarding the natural fear-factor.

[_silentkid]

There is another related issue anthropologically. I believe snakes are universally feared and If I recall correctly some anthropologists believe that snakes are one of the few animals we have an innate fear of--it is programmed in our DNA.

E.O. Wilson discusses this theory in Consilience. I'll have to go back and read it again. Interesting stuff.