Snakes

"Now the serpent was more subtil 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."

"So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him."

"RATTLESNAKE, n. Our prostrate brother, Homo ventrambulans."

"This is a footnote to our gay-marriage discussion. A woman in India last week married a snake. And it was done at a traditional Hindu ceremony attended by 2,000 people. Now, I would like to ask the proponents of gay marriage, which after all violates traditions going back through all of human history, to now absolutely positively guarantee that the next movement is not going to be allowing people to marry their pet horse, dog or cat. And you know what? Given the anything-goes culture we live in, I don't think they can deliver that guarantee."

"Some huge camoodi, able to crush my bones like brittle twigs in its constricting coils, might lurk in these shadows, and approach me stealthily, unseen in its dark color on the dark ground."

"In certain snakes there is a large actively functional right and a small comparatively useless left lung. The evolutionist would suggest as the meaning of this that the ancestors of snakes possessed, like normal air-breathing s, a pair of lungs—right and left—approximately equal in size, but that in correlation with the lengthening of the body as it assumed the typical snake form the left lung had undergone a gradual reduction in size. He would point out that in some snakes, such as the , a still further stage has been reached in which the left lung has disappeared altogether, leaving only a single—the originally right—lung."

"David Kimbrough studied, observed, participated with, and befriended many individuals in this unique expression of faith: the handling of snakes. This activity is understood not as a test of God's care and protection, but in fulfillment of the command of Jesus himself, that if done in his name then no harm would come to them. The exception to this is if the person is not right with God, then injury and/or death could follow. It was a test of the person's faith."

"Believing wholeheartedly that such an act was not only appropriate but commanded, churches practicing the handling of snakes and the drinking of poisons have often been labeled as cultic in nature, but, according to Kimbrough, nothing could be further from the truth. These are people who truly believe in taking the words of the New Testament seriously."

"And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

"The book of Mark in the Bible's New Testament calls serpent handling one of the "signs" that true believers must follow."

"Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed."

"Using the image of a snake for the ego he (Ashtavamka asks, you think you are the doer, so has the black serpent of ego bitten you? Whenever you think you must do, he says you have been bitten by the snake of ego. By not doing the doer, you drink the nectar of trust and can be happy."

"Today, two serpent motifs are commonly used to symbolize the practice and profession of medicine. Internationally, the most popular symbol of medicine is the single serpententwined staff of Asklepios (Latin, Aesculapius), the ancient Greco-Roman god of medicine."

"On her way to work one morning Down the path along side the lake A tender hearted woman saw a poor half frozen snake... "Take me in tender woman Take me in, for heaven's sake Take me in, tender woman," sighed the snakeShe clutched him to her bosom, "You're so beautiful," she cried "But if I hadn't brought you in by now you might have died" She stroked his pretty skin again and kissed and held him tight Instead of saying thanks, the snake gave her a vicious bite..."I saved you," cried the woman "And you've bitten me, but why? You know your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die" "Oh shut up, silly woman," said the reptile with a grin "You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in""

"The serpents are these worlds."

"Nature has made snakes deadly and precise predators. Their speed, senses, and killing tools allow them to control the populations of small mammals, lizards, birds, fish and insects."

"Rattlesnakes venom stuns prey immediately and can kill small animals within 20 seconds."

"Black mambas are Africa’s fastest and most feared snake. Their venom causes muscle paralysis which stops a victim’s breathing."

"Snake venom is a toxic saliva. The moment the venom enters the body, it starts to destroy cells and begins to digest the prey before it is even dead."

"Australia’s fierce snake, also called an inland Taipan snake, has the most toxic venom of any snake. Its poison is 50 times stronger than that of an Indian cobra. Despite its name, the fierce snake is usually very calm and shy. No humans have been killed by this venomous, but easy-going reptile."

"A single bite by a fierce snake has enough poison to kill 100 human adults or 25,000 mice."

"Most sea snakes are calm and shy. Few people have ever been envenomated."

"Snakes-low and cunning creatures that hide themselves. Yet, you don’t see them, and when you do they see you too and it is too late. Don’t go near them for your own sake."

"Sometimes they pretend to be harmless, but they are not. That is snake’s nature, believe it or not."

"If you know anyone that acts like a snake, don’t think they wont strike."

"“A snake will always be a snake,” slithering around to find some one to strike, not only on the ground, but anywhere else around."

"Watch out for two-legged snakes."

"The numerous snakes and other animals which inhabit arid mountains, or plains destitute of water, can only quench their thirst with rain or dew. Snakes require but little water as long as they live in the open air. It is an established rule that no water is found in the maw, stomach, or entrails of snakes killed in the open air. Even when destroyed by or in piece of water. Snakes are never seen to go to drink in any part of the world."

"All snakes drink and die when deprived of water."

"Snakes drink by suction, not by lapping."

"...are almost within hearing of a piano, and never show the slightest emotion at the sound"

"And my idea is that it is the jarring or vibration through solids, and not the mere sound that affects the snakes."

"The ‘snake men’ of the East, whose trade is to hunt out snakes by means of sound, effect this by rapping on the wall or ceiling or by making loud clicking noises with their tongues much as by their so-called ‘music."

"Snakes are easily aroused by the sound of footsteps than by the sight of the approaching person."

"A custom is prevalent in Ceylon, we are told, of using a jingling stick in the dark to strike the ground in order to frighten snakes out of the path."

"May we not conclude, then, that the perception of sound to a serpent is through solids, a feeling more than a hearing of noises? The creature always prone to the ground or other solids, and with an internal aural apparatus, must be peculiarly sensitive to vibrations thus conveyed."

"...the waving of hand or knee, or bright colours used by the charmers, to which the movements of the serpents respond."

"The snake remains rigidly still the while, the only moving thing being that investigating tongue."

"Any other ’spell’ or ‘fascination’ or attraction might be attributed to a soporific or paralytic rather than a pleasurable influence; and arising from noxious breath of a venomous serpent or the fixity of its eyes, never blinking."

"It is serpent nature to wait motionless for its prey."

"a scarlet tanagerin Costa Rica had been attracted out of tree down close to a snake by its quivering tongue, the only moving thing about it."

"Indian snakes were more deadly than those in Australia"

"Constantly affirmed by our scientific experimentalistson, snake venom that ‘as yet no antidote to them has been found'. Remedies there are in abundance and it is just as great an error to believe that all snake venom is curable."

"Snake virus is a natural secretion provided for the distinct physiological purpose of enabling the reptile to secure its prey."

"With regard to many drugs used in various countries for the cure of snake bite, it is curious to note that, as a rule, they are procured from the most deadly plants. As ‘like cures like’, so poison cures poison. Most of them are powerful stimulants, in which lies their chief virtue."

"The myth of ‘sarpa satra’ or ‘snake sacrifice’ originally occurs in the Bhagavata Purana. The references to ‘sarpa satra’ are also there in Shivalilamrita and Dnyaneshwari."

"King Parikshita, the son of Abimanyu, grandson of Arjuna and father of Janamejaya who succeeded Yudhishthira on the throne of Hastinapura died of the bite of a serpent. And so, Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit is said to have performed a great sacrifice of serpents as revenge....After the intervention of Aastika the ‘sarpa satra’ ended."

"In Hindu India, there is a cult of snakes in which the cobra, role model for the snakes of India, is especially revered."

"There have been snake people (nagas or nags) and their rulers and their rulers, commonly multiheaded cobras, in Hindu mythology since antiquity."

"...the worship of snakes is not limited to cultivators, but occurs among Hindus of all castes and sects, among the literate and well educated as well as the illiterate."

"Cobras reverenced throughout India and their worship takes different forms in different parts of the country."

"The [next] important festival which is an All India occurrence is Nag Panchami. The name of the festival implies that it is a day which is dedicated to the worship of snakes (Nag) and the worship is to be on the fifth day (Panchami) in the bright fortnight of Sravana (August-September)"

"Nag Panchami celebrations may be regarded as fertility rite."

"There exists a wide spread belief that the same animal (cobra) has power to impart fecundity and remove barrenness."

"In Kerala it is common to find in the houses of the high-caste Hindus a shrine for cobras in the south western corner of the large compound round the ancestral house. [So also in Coorg, every Okka has a nata which is a platform where unhewn stones representing cobra – deities are deified."

"The thousand headed Sheshnag or Anant is the most powerful of them and revered even by the gods. He bears the whole earth on his hood like a chaplet on his crown. When he nods or yawns, the earth, with its oceans and mountains, begin to tremble."

"The snake deities are also regarded as the guardians of treasures on land and sea."

"The scriptures treat snakes as a community as there is a mention of nag lok."

"But most significantly worship of snakes gets prominence in modern astrology because they are considered as rahu and ketu. The head of a snake is rahu and the tail ketu. If all other planets are caught between the head and the tail in a horoscope then it is termed as kaal sarp yog."

"Adam was simply a human being and that explains everything. He didn't want the apple for the apple's sake. He only wanted it because it was forbidden. The mistake was not to forbid him the snake, because then he would have eaten the snake. (Mark Twain)"

"Anyone with a minimum of familiarity with the goddess of the ancient oriental worlds cannot fail to recognize recurring characters in those various cultures in the Bible, even if more or less transfigured. For example, in the scene of Eve and the tree, nothing indicates that the tempting serpent was itself a deity who had been venerated in the Levant for at least seven thousand years before the composition of the Book of Genesis. (Joseph Campbell)"

"And the serpent that speaks with Eve, what language will we say he used? Of the human one? How then do these things differ from the fantasies of the Greeks? (Flavius ​​Claudius Julianus)"

"The serpent of the third chapter of Genesis is not at all its own creation, exclusive to the biblical story. The concept of the principle of evil and pain, represented in the figure of a monstrous reptile, which lurks against the Divinity and against the well-being of all created works of the visible cosmos, but even more against the human race, is obvious and fundamental in the Babylonian religion. We recall in the aforementioned creation poem the struggle of Marduk against Tiamat and the other powers of darkness, in the form of dragons and similar wriggling monstrous reptiles; to linger in the multiform plastic and literary expressions that the dragon, the monstrous reptile, the principle of evil, in short, assumes in the ideal Babylonian world, seems superfluous to us. (Salvatore Minocchi)"

"The serpent is a symbol of temptation, of human thought that is satisfied with itself and does not recognize any law outside of itself, which in short wants everything that talents. And as the personification of this seductive and rebellious thought he is cursed by God and with perpetual humiliation: "you will walk on your chest, and you will eat dust." (David Castelli)"

"The serpent was then a beast that walked vertically like all the others and it was condemned to crawl on its belly in the dust, to be despised and killed by man. Furthermore, having been an instrument in the hands of Lucifer, it became the symbol of fraud and represents the Devil. (Joseph Franklin Rutherford)"

"In essence, God forbade [...] men to enjoy science, which is something than which nothing can be dearer to them. In fact, even imbeciles understand that distinguishing good from bad is the proper function of science. Therefore the serpent was rather the benefactor, than the enemy of the human race. And God could therefore be called jealous. (Flavius ​​Claudius Julianus)"

"The serpent was the most cunning of all the wild beasts made by the Lord God. He said to the woman: "Is it true that God said: You must not eat from any tree of the garden?". The woman replied to the serpent: "We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: You must not eat it and you must not touch it, otherwise you will die." But the serpent said to the woman: "You will not die at all! In fact, God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will become like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis)"

"Then the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, | cursed are you above all livestock | and above all wild animals; | you will walk on your belly | and you will eat dust | all the days of your life. | I will put enmity between you and the woman, | between your lineage | and her lineage: | this one will crush your head | and you will undermine her heel"."

"Let Dan be a serpent in the road, | a horned viper on the path, | that bites the hocks of the horse | and the knight falls backwards."

"Moses replied: "Behold, they will not believe me, they will not listen to my voice, but they will say: The Lord has not appeared to you!". The Lord said to him: "What do you have in your hand?". He replied: "A staff". He resumed: "Throw him to the ground!". He threw it to the ground and the stick became a serpent, before which Moses began to flee. The Lord said to Moses: "Stretch out your hand and take him by the tail!". He stretched out his hand, took it, and it became a stick in his hand again. "This is so that they may believe that the Lord has appeared to you." (Book of Exodus)"

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "When Pharaoh asks you: Perform a miracle to help you! you will say to Aaron: Take Aaron's staff and throw it before Pharaoh and it will become a serpent! ". Moses and Aaron then came to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them: Aaron threw the staff before Pharaoh and before his servants and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the enchanters, and the magicians of Egypt also did the same thing with their magic. They each threw down his staff and the staffs became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. (Book of Exodus)"

"The people said against God and against Moses: "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert? Because here there is neither bread nor water and we are nauseated by this light food". Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, which bit the people, and a large number of Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to remove these serpents from us." Moses prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses: "Make a serpent and put it on a pole; whoever looks at it after being bitten will remain alive." Moses then made a brazen serpent and put it on the pole; when a snake had bitten someone, if he looked at the copper snake, he remained alive. (Numbers)"

"The wolf and the lamb will feed together, | the lion will eat straw like an ox, | but the serpent will eat dust. (Book of Isaiah)"

"Behold: I send you as sheep among wolves; therefore be prudent as serpents and simple as doves. (Jesus, Gospel according to Matthew)"