Curiouser and Curiouser...

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

" The hierogram of the CIRCLE WINGS and SERPENT is one of the most curious emblems of Ophiolatreia, and may be recognised in almost every country where Serpent-Worship prevailed. It forms a prominent feature in the Persian, Egyptian, and Mexican hieroglyphics. China, Hindûstan, Greece, Italy, and Asia Minor, as distinctly, though more rarely, exhibit it; and it has even been found in Britain. It seems to have been a general symbol of consecration, and as such is alluded to by the poet Persius:

Pinge duos angues; pueri sacer est locus.

Here two snakes are mentioned, which is the hierogram of the worshippers of the Two PRINCIPLES, each of whom is represented by a serpent. Often, however, only one serpent appears issuing from the winged circle, and sometimes the circle is shorn of its wings. As a symbol of consecration, the Ophite hierogram appears over the portals of the Egyptian temples, and may be recognised even in those of Java.

The Druids, however, with the consistent magnificence which characterized their religion, transferred the symbol from the portal to the whole temple; and instead of placing the circle and serpent over the entrance into their sanctuaries, erected the entire building itself in the form of the ophite hierogram. Abury in Wiltshire, and Stanton Drew in Somersetshire, are interesting examples of this construction. The former represents the Ophite hierogram with one serpent, the latter with two; the circle in each case being destitute of wings.

On the ruins of Naki Rustan, in Persia, is a beautiful specimen of the serpent and winged circle. In Egypt the hierogram underwent various transformations, of which the annexed plate gives a description. One of them, No. 2, is perhaps the device from which Malachi borrowed his elegant metaphor of "THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS arising with healing in his WINGS."

A similar figure was assumed by the Ophite hierogram when it appeared on the staff of Mercury, and constituted the Caduceus. The serpents intertwining formed the circle.

The origin of this symbol is to be found in the deification of the serpent of Paradise. Its real meaning is involved in much mystery. In the former edition of this treatise I advanced the opinion, that it meant nothing more than the winged serpent once coiled. But further consideration has induced me to give up this conjecture as irreconcileable with the connection of the Serpent and Globe. The most probable meaning may be that which I have assigned in the chapter on Serpent Temples: namely, that it is the hierogram of the Solar Ophite God OPHEL or APOLLO; and assumed its present shape from the union of the two ......... of the Serpent and the Sun. For the grounds of this conjecture I refer to the chapter cited.

At all events it is certain, that the tripartite emblem of the Serpent, Wings, and Circle, was an hieroglyphic of the DEITY;

The Egyptian priests of a later and more metaphysical age, understanding this to be the signification of the hierogram, addressed themselves to the task of discovering the mystery. A most ingenious theory was accordingly devised by Hermes Trismegistus, who was probably the high-priest of the God Thoth, or "Thrice-great Hermes," whose name he assumed in compliance with the universal custom of the religion. The God Thoth was believed to have been the author of the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

According to this theory, the GLOBE typified the SIMPLE ESSENCE OF GOD, which he called THE FATHER, THE FIRST MIND, THE SUPREME WISDOM. THE SERPENT emerging from the GLOBE was the VIVIFYING POWER of GOD, which called all things into existence. This he named THE WORD.

The WINGS implied the MOVING or PENETRATIVE POWER of GOD, which pervaded all things. This he called LOVE.

The whole emblem was interpreted to represent the SUPREME BEING in his character of CREATOR and PRESERVER 

The definition of the Deity by TRISMEGISTUS is poetically sublime: "GOD is a CIRCLE whose CENTRE is EVERYWHERE, and CIRCUMFERENCE NOWHERE."

But, whatever may have been the origin or meaning of this hierogram, one thing is clear, that the SERPENT attached to it was a TYPE OF DIVINITY; and this is enough to support the theory of the present volume,--that The Serpent of Paradise was the SERPENT-GOD of the Gentiles.

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The decay of ophiolatreia in Hindûstan may be readily accounted for by the exterminating religious wars which so long raged between the followers of Crishna and Budha. Budha was the serpent who carried off Ella the daughter of Ichswaca, the son of Manu--and hence the animosity against him. The children (i.e. the worshippers) of Budha, were the real Hindûs, and preserved the ophite sign of their race. They were distinguished by the banner of the serpent. The worshippers of Crishna adopted the eagle.

The children of Surya joined with those of Crishna against the Budhists, and at length almost exterminated the race. The Mahabharat records constant wars from "ancient times" between the worshippers of the Sun and the Tak or Takshac races. The word Takshac is frequently rendered "snake:" but Tak is the name of a mountain in the range west of India, and Hak was the word which designated a serpent. Alexander's ally Taxiles was doubtless an Ophite chief of this country, for he took him to see an enormous dragon, the object of worship among his subjects. The name Taxiles was probably titular, since he was called Onuphis until his father's death. He was then the priest and king of the Ophites of Tak, and from that very circumstance called Onuphis by the Greeks, who had acquired the knowledge of this title from their intercourse with Egypt, and her priesthood of ON and OPH 

Pursuing our inquiries, we find that ophiolatreia prevailed to an equal extent in Cachmere, where there were no less than seven hundred places in which carved images of serpents were worshipped . And even in Tibet may be often seen, the great Chinese dragon ornamenting the temples of the Grand Lamak. But the chief seats of ophiolatreia in this quarter of the modern world were in China and Japan.

 

In like manner we find that the priestess of DELPHI was called PYTHIA, from her deity PYTHON: and the Druid who was the minister of the British god HU, was called "an ADDER;" because adders were symbolical of the god whom he served, whose chief title was "HU, the DRAGON-RULER of the world ."

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It is a curious coincidence, that as the witch of Endor is called oub, and the African sorceress obi, from the serpent deity OUB; so the old English name of a witch, hag, bears apparent relationship to the word hak, the ancient British name of a species of snake.

(Editor's note: The Egyptian Queen wed to Moses, himself a Hierophant of Osiris, is Hagar.)

 Elagabalus assuming the name of the Syrian god of Emesa, at whose shrine he officiated before he was invested with the Roman purple. We shall find in the sequel, that this deity was identical, or nearly so, with the deity whose worship we are now investigating. The difference being, that OB was simply the serpent-god; whereas ELAGABALUS was the solar deity symbolized by the serpent.

From these parallels we may infer, that the priest or priestess of OB, in Canaan, assumed the appellation of the deity whom they served.

We may therefore render Levit. xx. 27--"A man also, or woman among you, who is an OB, (i.e. a priest or priestess of OB,) shall be surely put to death:" and similarly in Deut. xviii. 11. the expression, "a consulter with familiar spirits," may be rendered "a consulter of the priests of OB."

Again, the woman of Endor, to whom Saul applied for an oracle, is called בעלת־אוב; the literal meaning of which is "one that hath OB," which is synonymous with "a priestess of OB."

The serpent OB, thus worshipped in Canaan as oracular, was called, "THE GOOD DÆMON," as we learn from Eusebius, citing Sanchoniathon--"The Phœnicians called this animal (the sacred serpent) AGATHODÆMON: the Egyptians likewise called him CNEPH, and added to him the head of a hawk, because of its activity ."

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The primitive serpent-worshippers of Canaan against whom Moses cautioned the children of Israel, were the HIVITES. This word, according to Bochart is derived from Hhivia, a serpent: the root of which is Eph or Ev--one of the variations of the original Aub. EPHITES or EVITES, being aspirated, would become HEVITES or HIVITES--whence comes the word OPHITES, by which the Greek historians designated the worshippers of the serpent. The Greek word Οφις, a serpent, is derived from Oph, the Egyptian name for that reptile ; the same as Eph. The Hivites who were left "to prove Israel ," inhabited Mount Lebanon, "from Mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath." The children of Israel intermarried with them, "and served their gods." These were called BAALIM, which being in the plural number, may mean the god BAAL or BEL, under different forms of worship; of which that of the serpent was one; as we have seen under the article "Ophiolatreia in Babylon."

The extent to which this worship prevailed, may be estimated by the fact of its surviving to the time of Hezekiah, when the Jews "burned incense" to the brazen serpent which had been laid up among the sacred relics, as a memorial of their deliverance. Hezekiah "removed the high places, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for UNTO THOSE DAYS the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehustan "--i.e. a piece of brass

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But the worship of the serpent was not so easily suppressed in Canaan. The Jewish polity being broken up,[ the lurking ophites ](sic)crept out of their obscurity; and in the second century brought dishonour on the Christian religion, by claiming an affinity of faith with the worshippers of JESUS.

(this entire article was written by a Christian author, who must have been at wit's end when he was researching the true hirstory of Dragon spirituality)

These Christian heretics were exposed by Epiphanius under the name of Οφῖται

 Epiphanius says, that "the Ophites sprung out of the Nicolaitans and Gnostics, and were so called from the serpent which they worshipped." The Gnostics, he informs us in another place, "taught that the ruler of this world was of a dracontic form."

"The Ophites," he observes, "attribute all wisdom to the serpent of paradise, and say that he was the author of knowledge to men." "They keep a live serpent in a chest; and at the time of the mysteries entice him out by placing bread before him upon a table. Opening his door he comes out, and having ascended the table, folds himself about the bread. This they call a perfect sacrifice. They not only break and distribute this among the votaries, but whosoever will, may kiss the serpent  This the wretched people call THE EUCHARIST. They conclude the mysteries by singing an hymn THROUGH HIM to the supreme Father

[The Christian Ophites, therefore, preserving the memory of their Bacchanalian orgies, would naturally confound the observances of the Lord's Supper with the practices incident to their heathen festival. The hymn with which they concluded their idolatrous(sic) ceremonies, addressed through the serpent to the Supreme Father, is a memorial of the hymn sung to Python on every seventh day at Delphi] 

These opinions of the Gnostic Ophites were blended with the old Magian superstition of Persia by Manes, a celebrated heretic of the third century; who revived Ophiolatreia, in his native country, under the name of Christianity. He taught, that "Christ was an incarnation of the great serpent, who glided over the cradle of the Virgin Mary, when she was asleep, at the age of a year and a half ."

Traces of Ophiolatreia are visible in the neighbourhood of Damascus, where there were two Ophite temples, converted, with the usual licence of poets, into "dragons"

The whole region of TRACHONITIS is supposed by Bryant to have received its name from the worship of the DRAGON, so common in those parts. The mistake of Τραχων for Δρακων is easy.

 

The subject of ophite temples is so full of curious information, that I shall reserve what I have gleaned upon it for a separate chapter. We may remark, however, in this place, that there is reason for supposing that the celebrated grove of Daphne, near Antioch, was (at least in part) devoted to the mysteries of the serpent. Its consecration to Apollo, the solar god of antiquity, who united in his rites the worship of the serpent, gives countenance to this opinion; but the corroboration is derived from a remarkable legend preserved in Strabo. It is said that the Macedonian kings of Syria first established the oracles, and planted the grove of Daphne ; but the legend in question would argue for that secluded and voluptuous sanctuary a much higher antiquity. The Macedonian kings, in all probability, patronized the ancient GROVE-WORSHIP mentioned in Judges iii.  in connexion with the service of BAALIM, into which the children of Israel were seduced by the Hivites.

The legend of Strabo informs us that the original name of the river Orontes was TYPHON; for there the serpent Typhon being struck by the lightning of Jupiter, in escaping cut the earth with his body as he writhed along; and springs of water issuing from the ground, formed the river, which, after him, was called Typhon 

Had ophiolatreia never existed in Daphne, such a legend as this would hardly have been recorded of the river which flowed by it. At Daphne there was a temple of Apollo, and a grove sacred to Diana; and it is a remarkable circumstance, that in almost every place where there was either, some legend of a serpent generally prevailed

Ælian also speaks of a race of Ophiogenæ in Phrygia, the offspring of a dragon sacred to Diana, and a woman who accidentally entered the grove.

From this, we may draw the conclusion, that a colony of Ophites, migrating from Phrygia, settled at Parium. Strabo supposes that they were the Psylli of Africa, so famous for the art of charming serpents: but adduces no reason or authority for the hypothesis.

The island of CYPRUS was originally called Ophiusa - that is, "the place of serpents:" a name which was very generally given to the settlements of the worshippers of the serpent OPH

 The tradition was, that formerly these places swarmed with serpents: which, from the insular situation of most of them, is not very probable. At Paphos, in Cyprus, there was a tradition of serpents who had two legs. This, remarks Bryant, related to men, and not to snakes

RHODES was also called Ophiusa: and, according to Bochart, still retains its designation in the Syrian Rhod (a serpent.) At Rhodes there was a tradition of a number of serpents who desolated the country, and destroyed many of its inhabitants. The survivors sent to Delphi, to consult the oracle, and were desired to bring over PHORBAS, who, taking up his residence in the island, soon exterminated the reptiles. He was exalted after death into the constellation OPHIUCHUS  which is the same with the OPHIONEUS of Phœnicia. There are some curious coincidences with serpent-worship, in the history of this Phorbas. He was the grandson of Apollo, and father of Iphis, in which word we recognise the root Eph or Oph. APOLLO is the solar deity symbolized by the serpent OPH

In the island of ICARIA was a temple of Diana, called Tauropolium; and a small town named Draconum stood upon a promontory of the same name . Tauropolium, according to Bryant, is TOR-OP-EL--the tower of the god Oph. We may infer, therefore, from the connexion of Draconum (the town of the dragon) with Tauropolium, (the temple of the serpent-god,) that the Hivites of Phœnicia settled also in the island of Icaria

It appears, then, from a review of what has been already ascertained, that THE WORSHIP OF THE SERPENT pervaded Babylonia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Cachmere, China, Japan, Java, Ceylon, Arabia, Syria, Colchis, and Asia Minor--a tract of country over which (the worship of the sun alone excepted) no other superstition was so uniformly spread. It entered also into the religion of the Scythian tribes, who bore for their banner the sacred dragon and was carried with them, probably, to the river OBI--a river, in whose name is preserved to the present day, a memorial of the sacred serpent OB." 

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