Fear of Snakes
August 28, 2019 9:38 AM Subscribe
Ophidiophobia is one of the most common phobias, and yet… Ophiolatry, the worship of snakes, is common across many ancient cultures (not to be confused with the Brazilian death metal band).
The great African civilization of Dahomey was a center of snake worship and also know as "Black Sparta" for the ferocity of its women warriors.
elsewhere in Africa many worshiped Mami Wata, who was associated with water and often depicted holding a serpent.
across the Atlantic the descendants of African slaves had a rich religious culture that included the worship of snake deities such as Aida-Weddo.
men of the Hopi Nation performed the secretive Snake Dance
and the Mayans worshiped the mighty Kukulkan at sacred sites like Chichen Itza
across India and other countries in Southern Asia, the Naga was an important symbol of nature.
Korea also has a snake goddess, associated with wealth (appropriately found on a .asp web page)
Many are familiar with the iconic images of snake goddesses preserved from ancient Minoan cities.
The Celts relied on snakes rather than ground hogs to predict seasonal transitions on the holy day of Imbolc.
Ancient Sumeria also had its snake associated deities, of the underworld and trees.
Of course no account of snakes in ancient history can be complete without a reference to the terrible gorgons of mythology (or so we think!).
The great African civilization of Dahomey was a center of snake worship and also know as "Black Sparta" for the ferocity of its women warriors.
elsewhere in Africa many worshiped Mami Wata, who was associated with water and often depicted holding a serpent.
across the Atlantic the descendants of African slaves had a rich religious culture that included the worship of snake deities such as Aida-Weddo.
men of the Hopi Nation performed the secretive Snake Dance
and the Mayans worshiped the mighty Kukulkan at sacred sites like Chichen Itza
across India and other countries in Southern Asia, the Naga was an important symbol of nature.
Korea also has a snake goddess, associated with wealth (appropriately found on a .asp web page)
Many are familiar with the iconic images of snake goddesses preserved from ancient Minoan cities.
The Celts relied on snakes rather than ground hogs to predict seasonal transitions on the holy day of Imbolc.
Ancient Sumeria also had its snake associated deities, of the underworld and trees.
Of course no account of snakes in ancient history can be complete without a reference to the terrible gorgons of mythology (or so we think!).
Here in Italy, the hillside town of Cocullo has a still-very-active yearly snake-worship festival.
posted by progosk at 10:29 AM on August 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by progosk at 10:29 AM on August 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Enjoyed reading the article that explains why we call Sparta “White Dahomey”! Wait...
(But seriously, I enjoyed learning about the female warriors!)
posted by Secretariat at 11:20 AM on August 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
(But seriously, I enjoyed learning about the female warriors!)
posted by Secretariat at 11:20 AM on August 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Unusually handsome rattlesnake spotted on reddit today. He deserves a stick of incense or two.
Also, no 'post your animal' tag?
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:39 AM on August 28, 2019
Also, no 'post your animal' tag?
posted by Bee'sWing at 11:39 AM on August 28, 2019
Also, no 'post your animal' tag?
right you are! added
posted by supermedusa at 11:42 AM on August 28, 2019
right you are! added
posted by supermedusa at 11:42 AM on August 28, 2019
And, of course the (possibly fake?) Macedonian snake cult of Gylcon, endorsed in all its glory by Alan "never worship a God without great hair" Moore (who, apart from being a Glycon acolyte, is also known for his contributions to comics).
It may have been a hand puppet. But it got a cool statue anyway.
posted by ananci at 3:56 PM on August 28, 2019
It may have been a hand puppet. But it got a cool statue anyway.
posted by ananci at 3:56 PM on August 28, 2019
In Lithuania, it used to be a tradition to keep a grass snake under the marriage bed and feed it milk. As a good pagan Lithuanian, I was into this. My wife.... less so...
posted by ikahime at 4:36 PM on August 28, 2019
posted by ikahime at 4:36 PM on August 28, 2019
Where's Hugh Grant when you need him?
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 5:58 PM on August 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 5:58 PM on August 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
One should also mention Glycon, a cult god in ancient Rome whose most famous worshipper is probably the author Alan Moore.
posted by hippybear at 6:15 PM on August 28, 2019
posted by hippybear at 6:15 PM on August 28, 2019
Tsuchinoko real (I love these stubby round cryptid babies)
Good link roundup! I'll be going through them today.
posted by lesser weasel at 7:20 PM on August 28, 2019
Good link roundup! I'll be going through them today.
posted by lesser weasel at 7:20 PM on August 28, 2019
posted by supermedusa
Sure I'm going to believe what the snake haired Gorgon has to say about snake worship.
posted by dis_integration at 7:14 AM on August 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sure I'm going to believe what the snake haired Gorgon has to say about snake worship.
posted by dis_integration at 7:14 AM on August 29, 2019 [1 favorite]
"...the myth of a Minoan snake goddess actually mainly hinges on that one possible snake head in a hand on one figure from one site in Crete... The rest was creative licence."
posted by velvet winter at 11:02 AM on August 29, 2019
posted by velvet winter at 11:02 AM on August 29, 2019
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love and fear of the lord!
posted by dismas at 9:45 AM on August 28, 2019