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These snakes, native to Europe, were once found slithering all over the floors of certain temples, particularly the Asclapieia, which were part temple and part bath house and part apothecary. The priests of an Asclepieion were healers who emulated their order's founder, the god Asclepion.
Asclepieia were all over the Hellenic world - basically the eastern half of the Mediterranean. Notably, one is mentioned in the Gospel of John (John 5:2), where it is called the bathhouse of Bethesda. A cripple was there trying and failing to be healed by the supposedly healing water of the bath. Jesus drops by and fixes him up.
I suppose you could say he actually did get healed at the temple... Venturing a little into the speculative, one might notice a similarity between the name of one of the daughters of Asclepion - Iaso, who was also a healer - and Jesus' name, if pronounced correctly. Aren't coincidences fun?
Back to the snake, you can imagine how it could become a symbol of healing. Rats bring disease ; snakes eat rats ; snake good.
What an experience it must've been! Imagine entering a temple and smelling the incense and offerings burning, while these snakes slithered across the floor. No worries - they're non-venomous.
Snakes in the hellenic world also symbolized the spinal column. The cult of Asclepius is basically the same cult as the Egyptian snake cult, which also might have made an appearance in the Bible during the showdown between Moses and the priests. The Greek Asclepius was a mythologized version of the Egyptian architect Imhotep, who was a member of the snake cult.
The caduceus is still the symbol of the healing arts. Although mostly associated with Hermes, it originated in the Asclepieion. A staff entwined by snakes - the symbolism couldn't get any more obvious - it's the spinal column.
Considering how the staff is used in mythology, the snakes also represent the mental energies flowing up from the base of the spine to your head, where your single eye is located. Speaking of which, the single eye rabbit hole is fascinating... But that'll be a different note.
#god #gods #snakes #healing #symbolism #ancient #hellenic #greek
Comte de Sats Germain on Nostr: Here's a bit I wrote after researching snakes in the Hellenistic period. I was trying ...
Here's a bit I wrote after researching snakes in the Hellenistic period. I was trying to provoke the fundamentalists, so uhh... I think it could've been better if I hadn't... Anyways. Snakes are some kind of key to ancient perennial philosophy.