Post by Blackbird on Jun 20, 2005 6:03:32 GMT -1
I'm presently working on an article which touches on snake lore, and thought it would also make a good topic for discussion.
If you read the works of the 18th century antiquarians and their successors, you would get an interesting impression of snake lore. Many of them were fixated on the idea that the snake was tremendously important, some even claiming that the ancient British religion centred around snake worship.
This idea was probably sparked by William Stukeley, who saw Avebury as a giant snake monument. His ideas were then taken up by others and elaborated upon. Perhaps the popularity of these ideas can be explained by the biblical association in the minds of those Christian scholars?
And yet, for an island upon which there are relatively few snakes, there is a surprising amount of snake imagery on items such as jewellery, inscribed stones, iconography etc.
It seems that, as the snake sheds its skin, that it was understood to possess regenerative powers. Such a creature would be truly ancient, and perhaps the holder of great wisdom. And so the snake holds the key to life and knowledge.
Does anyone have anything to add to this brief piece? Or I can elaborate on the above points, if folks want more information. It would be interesting to compile a small list of snake-related references in the Brythonic literature, and perhaps of snake imagery on artefacts etc.
If you read the works of the 18th century antiquarians and their successors, you would get an interesting impression of snake lore. Many of them were fixated on the idea that the snake was tremendously important, some even claiming that the ancient British religion centred around snake worship.
This idea was probably sparked by William Stukeley, who saw Avebury as a giant snake monument. His ideas were then taken up by others and elaborated upon. Perhaps the popularity of these ideas can be explained by the biblical association in the minds of those Christian scholars?
And yet, for an island upon which there are relatively few snakes, there is a surprising amount of snake imagery on items such as jewellery, inscribed stones, iconography etc.
It seems that, as the snake sheds its skin, that it was understood to possess regenerative powers. Such a creature would be truly ancient, and perhaps the holder of great wisdom. And so the snake holds the key to life and knowledge.
Does anyone have anything to add to this brief piece? Or I can elaborate on the above points, if folks want more information. It would be interesting to compile a small list of snake-related references in the Brythonic literature, and perhaps of snake imagery on artefacts etc.
I like that, though I do think that the snake can represent all three within itself. Air through the hissing. Water because the snake moves like rippling water (this analogy is explicit on some British iconography) and also because of the association of healing with the two. And earth because the snake can disappear through small holes down into the earth, and into caves - probably where the idea of dragons hoarding treasure below the ground comes from.