The Universal Symbol of the Serpent

[Celtaur]

The serpent is a symbol found in many spiritual systems and through gnosis it is esoterically understood as being a universal symbol of spiritual consciousness. In Kundalini it represents the ascending consciousness through the energy system of consciousness where duality, negative and positive, male and female are joined to bring about illumination. It represents raising from the base, the lower aspects of humanities consciousness to the level of enlightened awareness of divinity.

The symbolism of the snake is seen in the story of genesis as the key to knowledge and the door of duality. The tree of knowledge, and the tree of life represent aspects of the sacred journey of consciousness within the self and are interdependent in the ascent towards the illumination. This symbolism of kundalini appears in this story of self realization and balance.

The Egyptians have been seen to have the symbol of the snake, projecting from the third eye.

I am currently reading a book on Gnosis which discusses these concepts in depth, to a much higher degree than I have represented here. I would like to absorb the depth of this universal concept of the serpent energy as a divine symbol of inner consciousness ascending towards illumination.

[Vivitskaya]

Snakes have a forked (two-fold) tongue and have two sexual organs. In my understanding the snake represents ordinary thinking, the thinking of sleeping man. P.D. Ouspensky calls this formatory thinking.

In waking sleep, our ordinary state of consciousness, we count only to two. We see things in terms of good/evil, right/wrong, light/dark, first place/second place etc. We compare each other. We compare results. We place new knowledge in already existing categories.

The winged serpent represents the transcension of formatory thinking, of raising it to a higher level. This is the birth of higher intellectual centre.

The winged serpent is a prevalent symbol. I have seen it myself painted on the walls of tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt.

To ascend to heaven it is necessary to ride on the back of a snake.

We do not reject formatory thinking, our work is to put it in its right place in our inner world.

[Celtaur]

The serpent is also represented as that which changes through rebirth of the self, reformation. By releasing it's skin, it's old self, it moves towards a state of an evolved self, through growth.

[Morrigan]

The serpent is also representative of great wisdom and healing--look at the Caduceus of Hermes or the rod of Aescalpius. There's also the Christian idea of death and rebirth, seen in the shedding of the serpent's skin. And, of course, the ouroboros--symbolic snake eating it's tail, illustrating the cyclical nature of life again, death and rebirth.

[Chaigidel]

To me the serpent is one half of the two most important symbols in human thought.

To me the Serpent is the Infinite Reduction or 0 , No-Thing, Nekesh, Yeshua, Hadit, Jormungandr, the rainbow snake, Tiamat. that is simply the base symbolism of course, all aforementioned are definitely clear representations of the snake in human thought, but I do feel that the value of this symbol cannot be underestimated.

there is a fascinating church in scandinavia or norway I cant remember but the old churches are all adorned with snakes , i cant find the pictures but when I do i will post, its even rumored that some christian groups use a snake to kiss the bread during the communion from these same serpent churches, both a reflection of earlier beliefs and the connection between serpent and tree, man and cross ( symbolic of course)

[Celtaur]

Does the snake symbolize the ego, that which we must move beyond and transcend, the lower self, the fall, or does it represent the gift of knowledge to evolve and become our higher selves? I've been wondering this and possibly one can not exist without the other - to evolve is to require the knowledge of that which is separate. But in doing so, does the mystery of the eating of the apple symbolize that to evolve is to have required us to devolve, to have fallen, and as such we long for, and desire to ascend once again to that non-separate place?

So was it foolish to have chosen to have devolved, or was it the beginning of life itself, (the fools journey) that we chose to experience all the complexities knowledge allows as the experience of life evolving back to that state of oneness? Is it that if we were in oneness there would be no experiences, no journey of discovery that knowledge allows as it unfolds and shows us all that is?

Without having chosen to separate ourselves from oneness, would there not have been any experience, any existence of life?

[tehuti]

Does the snake symbolize the ego, that which we must move beyond and transcend, the lower self, the fall, or does it represent the gift of knowledge to evolve and become our higher selves?

Both. The serpent can wake one from dream, but can also mislead and seduce (analogous to disbalanced awakening of Kundalini). In positive case, serpent proves itself to be a Initiator and a guide, but in latter case, it consumes your individual energy in favor of you lower self.

That dual "mission" of snake in symbolism was well-known from the days of early mystery schools.

[angelfire]

As I recall, Moses Held up a pole with a bronze snake on it in the Wilderness.
The children of Israel that looked up at the snake were healed (from snake bites).


Peace

[QUEST]

As I recall, Moses Held up a pole with a bronze snake on it in the Wilderness.
The children of Israel that looked up at the snake were healed (from snake bites).


Peace

I believe that God ordered Moses to do that, so that everyone that was bitten could look up at the bronze snake, repent, and be healed. The snakes were a curse to the children of Israel because they had turned from God.

[TheJedi]

I believe that God ordered Moses to do that, so that everyone that was bitten could look up at the bronze snake, repent, and be healed. The snakes were a curse to the children of Israel because they had turned from God.

When pleading before Pharoah to release his people, Moses also ordered his brother Aaron to throw his staff on ground and it turned into a snake, and then ate the snake that Pharaoh's magician had produced. I'm not sure if that had some sort of spiritual signficance, or if was just a show of his God's power as compared to Egypt's.

I'm not sure if I agree with the concept of serpent having a dual meaning, though. From all I've read each religion, culture, etc., has a precise meaning it attributes to it. In some instances, serpents serve as positive symbols with whom it is possible to identify or to sympathize; in other instances, serpents serve as negative symbols, representing opponents or antagonists of figures or principles with which it is possible to identify. Serpents also appear as ambivalent figures, neither wholly positive nor wholly negative in valence.

For me, the symbolic connection between serpents and deceit is dependent on the fact that snakes have forked tongues. In humans, the tongue is an essential tool in speech, of course, and the presence of only one tip signifies the unity of truthful speech, and corresponds to the unity of the truth itself. There is only one truth, but there are many lies. The forked tongue, in contrast, represents the disunity of deceitful speech.

One thing is for sure, though: The serpent is very prevalent in most every school of spiritual thought since the beginning of history when cavemen began painting them on walls of their caves.