{Part II In Defense of Snakes

Snakes in Other Worlds Today

Other cultures have a different attitude toward snakes--other cultures of people in countries still with large agricultural populations. In many cultures the snake is sacred and revered for its amazing powers of survival. It represents to many people a symbol of eternal life, because it can shed its skin and is perceived to be "reborn." In Malaysia there are sacred vipers in the temples which are docile, even though poisonous, and the worshipers are not afraid of them. They are a "living talisman of good luck." And many human beings admire them--"their sinuous form, limbless gliding movement;" they are fast and can disappear into very small crevices. They also represent eternal life.
In some areas egg-eating snakes have been perceived as symbolic of lunar eclipses.
In India, for example, many people have a very different relationship to the concept 'snake.' In India a hooded Cobra has been a symbol of fertility.
In India 20,000 visit a small village yearly to pay homage to the cobras which they worship and honor. The cobras are very beneficial to these human beings, controlling rats and mice in rice fields. In one of the ceremonies women offer "camphor and sacred dyes" to the cobras as signs of respect. The cobras are then afterwards taken back to their dens in the fields. The people know the snakes can be deadly. But rather than fear and loathing, they have a cautious admiration of them. Caution and admiration linked together form a much healthier view of this animal, "elegant in design," "often beautiful," and with a "unique place in the natural world." In China the dragon, a snake-like symbol, signifies fertility and wisdom--ancient ideas.
In our time in Southeast Asia many pythons have been killed for their skins, which were used for bags, boots, and belts. As a result the rodent population is exploding, destroying stored grain and spreading disease. In other areas of the world, humans are pushing snakes from their natural habitats as they take over with human habitation, thus causing humans and snakes to come into contact more, thereby increasing the danger to humans.
All this information makes one aware of the bias that we in the Western world have toward snakes in general. It makes us aware that ours is not the only attitude, certainly not an instinctive one. It makes us aware that, since we do have a visceral physical reaction to snakes, we need to re-educate not only our minds, but also our feelings and emotions about snakes. We need to spend time with them to replace fear with caution and admiration, "cautious admiration." And as one looks at the attitudes of people from other times as well as other areas of the present-day world, one becomes even more aware of how widespread attitudes very different from our own have been. It is to these times that we now turn, for they form the background and context against which we may view the snakes of the Night Sky in a new, and therefore, ancient light: the night sky of the goddess.