Mysteries of the Serpent | Ancient Wisdom Across Cultures
We are borne of nature, connected to it. So too were our ancestors, and their ancestors well before them. We come from a long, winding, ageless lineage of those whose bodies and senses syncopate in rhythm with the skies, winds, and tides. We watch the ethereal mists of evening settle over the mountains, greet the welcoming warmth of morning sun on skin, and listen to the timeless lapping of waves against shores. The twisting, spiraling shells that spangle the seas’ wandering coastlines, the slow unfurling of a fern’s delicate frond from within the depths of a forest, and the curled form of a slumbering serpent recall some of the earliest, primordial forms that first inspired us. Yes, we are borne of nature, but we do not tame it: we live within it, and it lives within us. We are inspired by nature.
Within nature, the serpent is one of the first spirits with whom we truly connected. People from across the world and throughout the expanse of time observed and learned from them. The earliest images of the snake were crafted long before writing was born. Although the serpent’s first lessons, whispered in mythologies and folklore beside their carvings, are now long lost, some traces of their earliest teachings might still survive in art. At Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic site in Türkiye, serpents adorn stone structures together with a variety of other fearsome creatures: foxes bare their fangs, wildcats extend their claws, and birds of prey gaze out from behind wickedly curved beaks. Even the mighty aurochs, an extinct wild species of cattle, flashes its massive horns. Shown among some of the mightiest creatures who roamed the earth, the serpent appears with its dart-shaped head, betraying its venomous, protective nature while its winding body undulates from side to side along the ground. This serpent is fiercely protective, powerful, and from the earliest of times, shows its close, grounded connection with the earth.
The serpent is not only a protector but also a keeper of hidden truths and sacred knowledge. In ancient China, the serpent, together with the tiger, dragon, and bird, symbolizes the flow of seasons, the structures of balance, and represents the various elements used not only in the arts, but also the sciences, such as astronomy and medicine. The snake, who burrows deep into the earth, reminds us to stay present in our corporeal, earthly bodies, to be mindful. She whispers to us to remain grounded – to nurture our deeply rooted connection with the earth. It is within this dark realm of the hidden that we look inward, discovering our own deepest and sometimes darkest inner truths, and that we trust in and draw on our own sacred, inner knowledge. The serpent empowers us to follow our intuition, to be guided by our divine connection to the planet, her seasons, and her secrets.
Thousands of years later, on the island of Crete, women were revered for handling some of the most venomous serpents in the world, a practice embodied by the mysterious Minoan Snake Goddesses. Found in a temple at Knossos, these figurines show women with serpents twining around their arms, while others show women holding the serpents aloft. Despite the potential of their destructive power, these serpents are remarkably docile when tended and handled gently. Just as they remain peaceful, relaxed, and flourish when handled properly, so too do we when we are treated gently, with tender care, both by ourselves and others. The priestesses who tend to these creatures are granted divine gifts of connection both with the serpent and the mysterious yet life-giving, cavernous earth from which they come. We, like these serpents, are resilient, adaptive, and thrive where we choose.
In Ancient Egypt, the snake represents venomous, untamed wilderness and its mercurial unpredictability. Mythologically, the deity Apophis appears as a massive serpent who brings the fiery heat and devastation of the desert to the lush, life-giving Nile Valley. The snake itself symbolizes a powerful agent of chaos, bringing with it the drifting sands of death, change, and transformation. In Ancient Egypt, however, creatures are neither good nor bad – rather, they play their own roles within the divine order of the cosmos. When rapid change and transformation is necessary, Egyptians invoked the desert serpents: the viper, the cobra, and the asp. With the death of what was, we are free to shed the restrictions of that which no longer serves us just as the serpent sheds its cracked, desiccated skin. We move forward, our selves alchemized into something new by our intention, now free to channel and manifest the divinely-inspired world that serves our collective greatest good.
Native Americans also drew on the timeless wisdom of serpents. In southwestern Ohio, a winding earthen form twists through the landscape. With an undulating body, coiling tail, and wide-open mouth poised to swallow a mysterious round form, the earth itself is shaped as a massive serpent. The peoples of the Adena culture constructed the Great Serpent Mound on an ancient meteorite impact site – a place where a celestial body collided, marked, and became one with the earth. Elements of the earthwork structure further reveal the snake’s cosmic connections. The serpent’s head points to the summer solstice sunset, and the weaving curves of its mid-body each align with the summer solstice sunrise, the spring/autumn equinox sunrise, and the winter solstice sunrise. These alignments lead some archaeologists to suspect that the snake opens its jaws to swallow the sun. After all, as cold-blooded creatures of the earth, serpents bask in the sun for warmth and transmute the cosmic power of our star into physical power. The magic of the serpent is, therefore, not only aligned with the restful darkness, safety, and mysteries of the earth, but brilliant, shining, solar powers that wax and wane with the cyclical passing of the seasons. The Adena culture, like the Minoans and Ancient Chinese, recognize the serpent not only as a powerful protector, but as a conduit of both cosmic and earthly powers of transformation.
In Incan and broader Andean cosmologies, the serpent is renowned as a fiercely protective spirit who is also associated with rain and abundance. Petroglyphs, or rock carvings, show a connection to and reverence for the creature from at least 2500 BCE – the same time as the Minoans were whispering with serpents on the opposite side of the world. For the Inca, the serpent represented the fecundity of the earth, new life, and new beginnings. From the western desert coastal regions of South America, through the arid highlands, into the mountains, and back down into the rainforests, many serpent species thrive in the trees, water, and earth. Every snake spends at least a portion of its life on or in the soil, and so each one draws on the sacred element of earth to teach us the delicate arts of patience, perseverance, and strength. Just as she burrows into the earth to bear and guard her eggs, or she coils into the shadowed foliage or the vine-laden trees to avoid harm or strike to protect against it, so too do we wait, observe, plan, and ponder before mindfully choosing our own way forward. It is through this mindful awareness that we manifest a future that serves not only ourselves, but the greatest good for all.
The serpent is, in many of the most ancient cultures, a grounded and earthly guide through mundane, turbulent, and cosmic transformations. She teaches us to trust the soil beneath us and to stay present both within this earthly moment and within ourselves. By returning to her space within the earth, the serpent shows us the power of withdrawing to rest and evaluate, create space for introspection, and to manifest the choices and life that we most deeply desire. She sheds her old skin, revealing the new, delicate, healthy being beneath. Like the serpent, we can strip away thoughts, beliefs, and habits that no longer serve our highest good, leaving ourselves refreshed, renewed, and reinvigorated. Transmutation and death of our past selves or circumstances are not to be feared but welcomed, and the serpent guides and supports our transformation to our highest, cosmic potential. Let the serpent – let nature – inspire you.
