The Encircled Serpent: A Study of Serpent Symbolism in All Countries and Ages

CHAPTER I — THE URÆON

AMONG the most interesting and prevalent symbols of Ophiolatry is the hierogram of the Circle, Wings and Serpent, known as the Uræon, or Uræus. It is a prominent feature in the hieroglyphics of Persia, Egypt and Mexico, and has been found, though more rarely, in China, Hindustan, Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. It has even been discovered in Britain, embodied in the wonderful temple of Abury.

It is beyond doubt that this triple emblem is a symbol of the Deity. The circle is the solar disk, considered as the visible embodiment or outermost manifestation of the Divine; or, as among the ancient Persians, representing the whole circle of the heavens, or the universe, regarded as the expression of the Creator, or simple essence of God, the Supreme Being and First Mind. The Serpent emerging from the sun is the Word, or vivifying quality of Divine Life which called all creation into existence. The wings represent the active, moving omnipresence of God’s Love pervading and penetrating all. The entire emblem typifies the Deity as Creator and Preserver.

Among the sacred symbols and insignia of the Gods depicted in Egyptian sculpture, none is repeated so often as the Sphere. This Sphere, as Anna Kingsford says, is "the emblem of Creative Motion, because the Manifesting Force is rotatory; being, in fact, the ‘Wheel of the Spirit of Life’ described by Ezekiel as ‘a wheel within a wheel,’ inasmuch as the whole system of the universe, from the planet to its ultimate particle, revolves in the same manner. And for this reason, and as an evidence of the knowledge which dictated the ancient symbology of the Catholic Church, the Eucharistic Wafer, figure of the Word made Flesh, is circular. The sacramental sphere, poised on the head of a Serpent or Seraph, is a common hieroglyph in Egyptian sacred tableaux, and sculptures bordered with processions of such emblematic figures are frequent in the ancient temples.

The Apple, or round Fruit of the Tree of the Kalpa,—of which, by the advice of the ‘Serpent’ of heavenly Counsel, the Divine Archë partakes, and thereby brings about the ‘Fall,’ or manifestation of Spirit in Matter,—is no other than the Sacramental Host, type of the Bread of Life, or Body of God, figured in the Orb of the Sun, reflected in the disk of every star, planet, and molecule, and elevated for adoration on the Monstrance of the Universe.

The circle of the uræon is sometimes thought of as representative of an egg, rather than of the sun or solar system, but the meaning is not changed thereby, for as here used, both are emblems of creative Life in its potential rather than its active form.

In some variations we find the circle presented as a ring, instead of as a disk or globe. Where this is the case it is probably intended to convey the meaning of time without end, or eternity.

A ring separating two serpents is the form the symbol most often takes in China, but, according to Deane, it there represents the two Principles claiming the universe.

The Mexican uræon is a somewhat grisly variation, for it shows two serpents intertwining to form the ring, and each grasps in its mouth a human head.

Still another design shows the serpent itself forming the ring by swallowing its own tail. This may be taken as expressive of the thought that God not only creates all, but is all, all substance and all time, and that the Infinite is forever reabsorbing its own output.

Dr. Fresne has some illuminating comments on the dragon that figured in the ecclesiastical processions of the Roman Church. Speaking of rites in use at a certain monastery, he says: On Palm Sunday there are two processions, in which the standard and the dragon precede. Holy water and a censer without fire; a cross and dragon on a pole are borne in procession. One of the boys, however, carries a lighted candle in a lantern, that fire may be at hand in case the light which is in the dragon’s mouth should be extinguished. Here it is evident that the Church has preserved an ancient rite of the Ophiolaters. The sacred fire in the dragon’s mouth, which so carefully was safeguarded from extinction, at once brings to mind the holy fire kept perpetually burning on the altars of the children of the sun, whilst the dragon on the pole was the standard of the serpent worshippers wherever they were to be found. The whole ceremony was probably a re-enactment of an ophite procession through the winding ways among the stones of Carnac.

It is not possible to literally convey the stupendous idea of the omnipresence of the Divine Spirit in a hierogram, but the wings of the uræon vividly suggest the swiftness of thought, which, unlimited as it is by space or time, affords the closest analogy to our conception of Omnipresence. The symbol in its entity represents the Supreme as the Creator, Preserver, and, from an individualistic standpoint, the Destroyer.

The scarabæus, with wings expanded, was thought to present an image of the uræon, and therefore was itself looked upon as sacred by those who recognised the symbolism.

It is probable that the Caduceus of Mercury was but another form of the same hierogram, but we have given an account of this in a separate chapter, so will not enlarge on it here.

The uræon may also be recognised in the representations of the Egyptian Sun-god Re (Phre, the Sun), usually imaged as a man, with a hawk’s head surmounted by a globe or disk of the sun from which the uræus asp issued.{1} This Sun-god was identical with the Syrian Baal and the Babylonian Belus, or Bel, which word is probably an abbreviation of Ob-el, signifying, as we have shown elsewhere, the Serpent-god.

A very interesting form of this vivid symbol has been found in Persia. Here a human figure occupies the place of honour, his waist encircled by a zone. On either side of him are the wings, whilst the serpent moves below them. The figure is said to represent the god Azon, whose name signifies the Sun. The sacred zone that girds his waist is an emblem of the orbit described by Zon,—the sun. Hence the Greeks called girdles Zones.

The name of the god may be compared with our word azonic (Gr.: ἄζωνος), not confined to a zone. In this light it suggests the omnipresence of the deity, who as the sun, penetrates everywhere and shines alike on the evil and the good.

The uræon which forms our chapter head is the well-known Egyptian hierogram everywhere sculptured on the porticoes of their temples and on the summits of their obelisks. We may read in Bruce’s Travels, how at the temple of Isis at Dendera in Upper Egypt, the globes with wings, and the two serpents with a kind of shield or breastplate between them are frequently repeated, such as we see them on the Carthaginian medals. The temples at Luxor, Esnay, Konombu, Dendera, and Apollinopolis were profusely ornamented by this symbol. On the Pamphylian obelisk, the serpent, either with or without wings, appears fifty-two times, whilst the whole hierogram was greatly used as a talisman over doorways.

The serpents which issue from this uræon are the fabulous reptiles known as basilisks (Latin: basiliscus, i.e. a little king). This creature was so named from a white spot on its head resembling a crown. It was believed in ancient times actually to exist, and was credited with extraordinary powers, its breath, and even its glance, being fatal to him on whom it fell. For further details of this royal serpent we refer our readers to the chapter specially dealing with it, and will content ourselves here with remarking that it is evidently intended as a symbol of the awful unapproachableness of the Deity. We may compare this implied meaning with the words of Exodus xxxiii. 20. And he [i.e. Jehovah] said. Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

It has been suggested by Lord Prudhoe that the name of the Jewish Urim is derived from the two asps or basilisks urei, which formed the emblems of royalty in Egypt. Ouro is the Egyptian word implying a king. But authorities are not agreed as to the species of serpent represented in this hierogram, and others have supposed it to be the Egyptian asp or cobra, Naja haje, which in archæology is generally known as the uræus. This is a very venomous reptile attaining a length of 3 to 4 feet,—related to, and resembling the Indian cobra Naja tripudians. It is of a mottled green and brown colour, and is frequently met with on the banks of the Nile. It is commonly represented in religious art as part of the head-dress of divinities and kings, and is often used symbolically to suggest royal power, although when forming a part of a ruler’s head-dress the meaning suggested is that God is the over-ruler, and is above kingly sway.

The Druids, being spiritually descended from the Egyptians, Chaldeans and Phœnicians, became the Celtic representatives of the oldest religion in the world; the worship of the sun as the source of life, and only visible manifestation of deity. They did not place the Uræon above their temple doors, but erected the whole building in the form of the serpent hierogram minus the wings. An interesting example of this construction was the serpent temple of Stanton Drew, near the village of Pensford about five miles west of Bristol, which represented the uræon with two serpents, but unfortunately barbarians have ruthlessly destroyed the stones of which it was composed, and applied them to such purposes as building and road making.

At Abury, or Avebury, in Wiltshire, about five miles west of Marlborough, on the Bath road, formerly stood what is said to have been the largest Druidical temple in Europe, this time figuring the hierogram with only one serpent.

All that we know about this wonderful monument is contained in the descriptions and printed accounts which Dr. Stukeley, who surveyed the spot, and made numerous drawings of it during the years 1720 to 1724, has bequeathed to us in his interesting work, entitled Abury, a Temple of the British Druids, 1743, and in Sir Richard Colt Hoare’s History of Antient Wiltshire.

The temple consisted of a circle of a hundred stones of extraordinary size, placed upright at equal distances from each other, whilst from this circle two avenues of four hundred and sixty-two stones pursued a wavy line in opposite directions. These stones were of various dimensions, measuring from 5 to 20 feet in height above the ground, and from 3 to 12 feet in width and thickness.

The large circle enclosed an area of about 1400 feet in diameter, and within it were two smaller ones, not concentric. One was a double circle of upright stones with a single stone 21 feet in height and 8 feet 9 inches in breadth, which Stukeley calls the ambire or obelisk, raised in its centre. This small temple consisted of forty-three stones. The other inner temple contained forty-five stones, some of which are still standing and are of immense size. It was situated a little to the north of the first one, and consisted of two concentric circles which enclosed a group of three tall stones known as the cove.

We must now describe more particularly the two great serpentine avenues of this triple temple, which were such an important feature of this work and distinguished it from nearly all other Celtic temples. These avenues of approach consisted of double rows of upright stones, which branched off from the central work to the extent of more than a mile each. One of them turned off from the outer circle to the south, veering near its extremity to the south-east, where it terminated in two circular, or rather elliptical ranges of upright stones. In width this avenue varied from 56 to 35 feet between the stones, which were on an average 86 feet apart from each other in a lineal direction.

The head of this gigantic serpent was formed by a terminating temple of two concentric ovals, of which the outer measured about 146 feet in diameter, and the inner was 45 feet across. This was placed upon a height known as Overton Hill, which forms the southern promontory of the Hakpen hills. As Hakpen means Serpent-head there seems little doubt that the range received its name from the temple.

The Western avenue extended about one mile and a half, and consisted of two hundred and three stones; its extremity ending in a point, or with a single stone, to represent the tail of the serpent.

The distance from the serpent-head promontory to the end of the serpent’s tail is about two miles, whilst the area occupied is upwards of twenty-eight acres. The whole of the large circle is surrounded by a deep and wide ditch and rampart, measuring 70 or 80 feet in height from top to bottom, except where two openings corresponding to the two great avenues, were left as entrances to the temple.

The bank is now broken in four places, but these two were probably the only original ones. About half-way up this inner slope was a sort of terrace walk apparently adapted for spectators of the sacred ceremonies.

It would be interesting to discover the name bestowed on the Great Serpent by its builders. Abury, or Avebury, was written as Aubury in the ancient books of Malmesbury Abbey. This was probably a corruption of Aubur, i.e. the Serpent-sun, aub being the Eastern name of the serpent, and aur or ur, signifying light, and being a title of the sun-god. There is a remarkable artificial mound of great height, midway between the terminations of the serpentine avenues, known as Silbury Hill, i.e. the Hill of the Sun. Its name is a further confirmation that the temple was sacred to the sun-god, and to the serpent as his symbol.

Sir Richard Hoare has given us the measurements of this hill as calculated by Edward Crocker, a scientific practical surveyor. According to these The circumference of the hill as near the base as possible, measures 2027 feet, the diameter at top, 120 feet, the sloping height 316 feet, and the perpendicular height 170 feet; but that part of our measurement which will excite the most surprise, is, that this artificial hill covers the space of five acres and thirty-four perches of land.

Sir Richard Hoare considers that there can be no doubt it was one of the component parts of the grand temple at Abury, not a sepulchral mound raised over the bones and ashes of a king or arch-druid. Its situation opposite to the temple, and nearly in the centre between the two avenues, seems in some degree to warrant this supposition.

Further, as Dr. Stukeley observes, the meridian line of the whole work passes from Silbury Hill to the centre of the temple of Abury. A proof that Silbury Hill and other barrows near it, were raised before the Roman colonisation of Britain is afforded by the fact that the line of the great Roman road from Aquæ-Solis or Bath, to Londinum or London, is straight for some miles till it comes to the hill, when it diverges to the south, and again continues in a direct line for Marlborough. In one place the road-makers, with their traditional disregard of obstacles, cut through a large barrow when forming the road, but Silbury Hill seems to have baffled them.

The affinity between these serpent temples, and Sun-circles, such as those at Stonehenge and near Keswick, is so close that they must be looked upon as little more than varieties of the same kind of structure, and dedicated to essentially the same kind of worship. There is no room for doubt all were temples of the serpent-sun, and probably the ritual was identical in both varieties of structure, so we will just glance at some of the simpler forms before closing this chapter.

Stonehenge, which is also in Wiltshire, is much smaller than Abury, and figures only the circle, not the uræon. It has been suggested that Abury, being of the ruder and apparently more ancient construction, was the grand temple of the original Celts, and that Stonehenge was erected by the Belgians, when they obtained possession of the southern parts of the island, and was intended as a rival to the other; the deep ditch called Wansdike acting as a line of demarcation between the two people, and passing between their temples.

But it has been conjectured with more probability, that Stonehenge was erected at different periods, the outer circle and inner oval of trilithons being one erection, and the smaller circle and oval of inferior stones being another. This opinion is confirmed by the fact that the latter are granite, while the others are not; but antiquaries have come to opposite conclusions respecting the priority of erection, some believing that the outer circle was the original work, and others that the inner and more simple design must have been first formed. It is against the hypothesis of Stonehenge having been erected by a nation in hostility with the Celts, that the outer stones must have been brought from the northern part of the country, beyond the frontier line of the Belgian territory.

At Merivale Bridge on Dartmoor, four miles from Tavistock, the remains of four temples have been found. Two of these are serpentine, two circular.

According to tradition the largest temple in Britain, measured by extent, was that of Shap in Westmorland, which reached from one mile south of Shap to Moor Dovey, a distance of eight miles, but the stones which formed it were smaller than those at Abury, the largest remaining being but 8 feet high.

Although it is not in the form of the uræon, yet we must also mention the remarkable temple at Classerness in the Isle of Lewis. The magnitude and singularity of this work has induced some antiquaries to believe it to be the very Hyperborean temple spoken of by the ancients. Conjecture wavers between Abury, Stonehenge and Classerness. This singular monument is placed north and south, and consists of an avenue 558 feet long, 8 feet wide, and composed of thirty-nine stones, most of which are 6 or 7 feet high, with one at the entrance 13 feet. At the southern end of this avenue is a circle of 63 feet in diameter that appears to have been originally composed of either thirteen or fifteen stones 6 to 8 feet in height, the centre being occupied by an obelisk 13 feet high, and shaped somewhat like a chair.

Beyond the circle several stones are carried in right lines, producing a cruciform appearance. The length of this cross part is 204 feet, and the total number of stones appears to have been formerly sixty-eight or seventy. Borlase made them fifty-two and Mac Culloch forty-seven.

Six miles from Oban, N.B., between Loch Feochan and Loch Nell lies a wonderful remnant of a civilisation that passed away two thousand years ago. The Serpent of Loch Nell is a mound of earth about xo feet high and 300 long, with a head formed of a cairn of stones. The head was opened by its discoverer, Phené, in October, 1871, in the presence of the owner of the Glen Feochan estate, and other witnesses. Within was found a vault of huge stones, probably built as a tomb. Some burnt bones, a few charred nutshells, some charcoal and a flint instrument with a beautifully serrated edge, were the only contents. The tail of this serpentine mound points directly to the triple-headed peak of Ben Cruachan. Around the serpent’s form are wonderful Druidical remains, though these have been partially destroyed by the ignorant inhabitants of the surrounding countryside. For instance, in 1873 a writer in All the Year Round records that when visiting the cromlech—a megalythic chamber—said to be the grave of the great Cuchullin, the Ossianic hero; he found that the dolmen, or transverse stone, had very recently been blown asunder with gunpowder to form the raw-material of a grind-stone for some barbarian of the neighbourhood.

There is also a smaller cromlech, said locally to be the grave of Cuchullin’s child.

The age of the Serpent is believed to be anything between two and four thousand years, and it is thought to have been formed by the Celtic Druids and their people. This mound was no doubt originally in the form of the uræon.

Cæsar has told us that the Gauls paid their highest veneration to Mercury. The god whom Cæsar called Mercury was Teut or Theuth, Dhu taith, or Teutates, i.e. the god Taute, who was no other than the Taatus of the Phœnicians. We have already remarked that the Uræon was but a variation of the caduceus borne by Mercury.

Dr. Kitto refers to these serpent temples in the following paragraph: It is from those giant serpents which at a remote period were evidently still more colossal than that which is reported to have opposed a Roman army, or the skeleton of another, above 100 feet in length, found more recently in India, that the vague but universally spread notions must have arisen in the earliest antiquity, and been perpetuated to our own time, which typified the deluge and all great destructive agents under the form of a dragon or monster serpent. We find them embodied by the ancients in the form of dragon temples, consisting of huge stones set upright in rows, such as that of Colchis no doubt was. Such temples once existed in Asia Minor, Northern Africa, Gaul and Britain (that at Abury in Wiltshire being several miles in length); and where their design can be traced out sufficiently in existing remains the serpentine figure is ever observed to glide through or sustain a diagram of similar materials—a circumstance which appears best explained by considering them more or less astronomical, but fundamentally reposing upon traditions concerning the ark, the preserver of human life in the act of struggling with the overwhelming element.

Although Britain was the principal seat of the Druidical serpent and sun-worship, yet vast serpent-temples built to the same design of the uræon without wings have existed elsewhere. Thus in Brittany, in the department of Morbihan, at Carnac, is the great serpent-temple of huge stones set up in winding rows that portray the figure of an enormous snake moving along the ground. There were originally eleven rows of these stones, and they numbered about ten thousand, more than three hundred measuring from 15 to 17 feet in height, and from 16 to 30 feet in circumference, one being 42 feet in girth. The whole length of this enormous temple, following its windings, is eight miles. The peasants of Erdeven, where the temple begins, used to hold an annual dance at the Carnival, describing the symbol of the circle and the serpent, but I do not know if they still follow this custom.

The name of Carnac is really Cairn-hac, i.e. the Serpent’s Hill, cairn meaning a mound or heap of stones, and hac being an old Celtic word for serpent. There is a high mound near that portion of the temple which approaches Carnac. The top of it appears to be artificial, and it no doubt was the spot on which the altar was erected where the perpetual fire kindled by the sun was kept burning, as prescribed in the rites of the fire-or sun-worshippers of Persia and elsewhere.

The following account of Carnac was written by a lady traveller, Mrs. Stothard, more than one hundred years ago, and I include it because it gives a good general impression of the place as to surroundings and extent, though she seems to have had no suspicion of its true form or meaning and to have underestimated the size of the stones. She says:

"We hired a cabriolet, and left Auray early this morning; beside the driver, a man accompanied us, who walked by the side of the voiture, in order to render his assistance in preventing it from being upset by the large, loose and broken rocks that strewed the way, and lie in confused heaps about the road. After travelling three leagues through a desolate and wild country, we arrived at a spot about a mile from the seashore, where this curious Celtic antiquity remains....Carnac is infinitely more extensive than Stonehenge, but of ruder formation; the stones are much broken, fallen down, and displaced; they consist of eleven rows of unwrought pieces of rock or stone, merely set up on end in the earth, without any pieces crossing them at top. These stones are of great thickness, but not exceeding 9 or 12 feet in height; there may be some few 15 feet. The rows are placed from fifteen to eighteen paces from each other, extending in length (taking rather a semicircular direction) above half a mile, on unequal ground, and towards one end upon a hilly site. The semicircular direction was probably accidental, as from their situation it was not possible to see all the ground at once, in order to range them in a straight line. When the length of these rows is considered, there must have been nearly three hundred stones in each, and there are eleven rows; this will give you some idea of the immensity of the work, and the labour such a construction required. It is said that there are above four thousand stones now remaining. We remarked three tumuli, probably the graves of chiefs; they are formed of large stones placed upon each other, on a raised bed of earth. In some places the irregular line of the work is broken by the ground having been cleared for fields; in others the stones that have fallen were broken up and carried away for building. More injury has perhaps been done to this stupendous Celtic work by the hand of man than by that of time. The place was peculiarly well chosen for obtaining materials to construct such a monument, as the ground for miles round is full of rock. We could gain no information from the people relative to anything that might have been found; for in answer to whatever we said to the peasantry, we received replies in the Breton tongue, of which we could only articulately distinguish the word Gaelic, and this was repeated whenever we accosted them. I have been informed by a priest, but I know not how far it may be correct, that Carnac signifies literally, in the Breton language, a field of flesh....The people have a singular custom, whenever any of their cattle are diseased, of coming among these stones to pray to St. Cornelius for their recovery. Such a practice may be a remnant of Pagan superstition continued in Christian times; but I must remark that St. Cornelius is the patron saint of the neighbouring church. I cannot learn that the peasantry of this country have any traditions about Carnac; and I must here observe that no relations or accounts given either by the poor or more enlightened people of Brittany can be depended upon."

Deane’s account of the Carnac Dracontium casts more light on its meaning. "The course of the avenues is sinuous, he says, describing the figure of an enormous serpent moving over the ground. But this resemblance is more striking upon an actual inspection of the original. Then the alterations of the high and low stones regularly disposed, mark with sufficient accuracy the swelling of the serpent’s muscles as he moves along: and a spectator standing upon one of the Cromlech hills, round which the serpent sweeps, cannot but be struck by the evidence of design which appears in the construction of the avenues. In the course of the Dracontium there are two regularly defined areas, one near the village of Carnac, which is of the shape of a horse-shoe, or a bell; the other toward the eastern extremity, which approaches the figure of a rude circle, being a parallelogram with rounded corners....The circle and the horse-shoe were both sacred figures in the Druidical religion, as may be seen in Stonehenge where they are united; the outer circles enclosing inner horse-shoes. I cannot find any connection between the latter symbol and the tenets of the Celtic religion, unless it be intended as a representation of the moon."

As I have dealt somewhat fully with the symbolism of the horse-shoe in my book on The Horse in Magic and Myth, I will not attempt to explain its connection with Druidism here, but only remark it is a most fascinating subject for study, and recommend my reader to follow it up.

In the Ile aux Moines, in the Morbihan, may be found some scanty relics of what seems to have once been another serpent-temple of less imposing proportions. The stone avenues of this terminated in an oblong mound which still retains the name of Penab, i.e. Pen-ab, the head of Ab, the sacred serpent of the East. At the head of this mound was an obelisk, the well-known emblem of the sun’s rays, signifying that the solar deity was adored there. According to Bryant the word obelisk is derived from Obel, i.e. Ob-el, The serpent-god, and the Apollo of Syria, to whom these monuments were dedicated. The Greek form of the name Apollo is Apollon, and this word is said to be a compound of Ap or Ab, a serpent, El, a god, and On, the sun, the whole being therefore The Serpent-Sun-God.

According to Pausanias in the road between Thebes and Glisus you may see a place encircled by select stones, which the Thebans call the Serpent’s head. Near to this Theban temple is a lofty hill upon which once stood a temple of Jupiter.

Ovid has described one of these serpent-temples as being passed by Medea in her flight from Attica to Colchis—

A long-drawn serpent’s image made in stone.

A very interesting description of the Druidical rites practised in these gigantic serpent-temples which seems to identify them with the rites used in the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis, is given in an ancient bardic poem known as The Elegy of Uther Pendragon, i.e. Uther of the Serpent’s or Dragon’s Head, a title given to an elective sovereign paramount over the many kings of Britain, equivalent to King of Kings. King Arthur’s father was Uther Pendragon. The descriptive passage runs:

"With solemn festivity round the two lakes,

With the lake next to my side:

With my side moving round the sanctuary,

While the sanctuary is earnestly invoking

The gliding king, before whom the fair one

Retreats, upon the veil that covers the huge stones:

While the dragon moves round over

The places which contain vessels

Of drink-offering:

While the drink-offering is in the golden horns:

While the golden horns are in the hand;

While the knife is upon the chief victim:

Sincerely I implore thee, O victorious Beli," etc.

The last line seems to show that these Druidical rites were not only identical with those of Egypt, but also that the Druids worshipped the Serpent-god Bel, Belus or Baal, of Assyria and Canaan.

Moreover from the words describing the dragon (i.e. serpent) moving among the drink-offerings upon the altar-stone, it is clear that here we have the origin of the Ophite rites described in another chapter.

Ovid has referred to this ceremony as performed in Egypt, in the following words addressed to Isis:

So may the serpent ever glide around the offerings.

(Amor., lib. 2, Eleg. 13.)

From which quotation we may infer that in the temples of this goddess also, live serpents were kept that they might glide about the offerings to consecrate them.

A remarkable golden horn which was found by a peasant woman near Tundera in Denmark in the year 1639 appears to be one of the very horns mentioned in The Elegy of Uther Pendragon, It is embossed in seven parallel circles, with pictorial designs of rude workmanship. In the first compartment of the first circle a nude female figure is seen, kneeling, with arms upstretched to heaven, whilst upon either side is a large serpent in threatening attitude. In the second compartment the same female is fleeing from a pursuing serpent, whilst the third shows the serpent with its head averted from the figure who holds up both hands as if thanking for safety. In the second circle we find the woman seated on the ground with her hands brought together as if in supplication to the serpent. Another serpent with head and neck erect is coiled behind. The third circle pictures the woman conversing with the serpent, and in three of the remaining four circles the serpent again figures. In the pictures described above we see depicted the gliding king before whom the fair one retreats of the poem, and the golden horn itself seems to be just one of those named in that elegy, used for the same sacrificial drink-offerings in Denmark as in Egypt and Britain.

Southey has vividly brought a scene of Druidical serpent worship before our eyes in the following word-picture of the priest and his snake-god.

..."On came the mighty snake,

And twined, in many a wreath, round Neolin,

Darting aright, aleft, his sinuous neck,

With searching eye, and lifted jaw and tongue

Quivering, and hiss as of a heavy shower

Upon the summer woods. The Britons stood

Astounded at the powerful reptile’s bulk.

And that strange sight. His girth was as of man,

But easily could he have overtopped

Goliath’s helméd head, or that huge king

Of Basan, hugest of the Anakim:

What then was human strength if once involved

Within those dreadful coils?...The multitude

Fell prone, and worshipped."

(Madoc, Bk. VII.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Letters written during a Tour in Normandy & Brittany. By Mrs. Stothard. Pub. London, 1820.

On the Worship of the Serpent. By the Rev. John Bathurst Deane, M.A., F.S.A. 2nd Ed. Pub. by J. G. & F. Rivington, London, 1853.

Traditions of Eden. By H. Shepheard, M.A. Pub. by James Nisbet & Co., London, 1871.

The Century Dictionary. Prepared under the superintendence of Wm. Dwight Whitney, P.H.D., LL.D. Pub. by The Times, 1899.

The Rosicrucians, Their Rites & Mysteries. By Hargrave Jennings. Pub. by Chatto & Windus, London, 1879.

All the Year Round. Conducted by Charles Dickens, Oct. 4th, 1873. Pub. by Chapman & Hall, London.

Manners & Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. By Sir Gardner Wilkinson, F.R.S., etc. 2nd Ed. Pub. by John Murray, London, 1842.

Bruce’s Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, Pub. by Milner & Sowerby, London, 1851.

The Perfect Way. By Anna Bonus Kingsford & Edward Maitland. Pub. by Field & Tuer, London, 1887.

The Fireside Annual, 1878, p. 697. Hand & Heart Publishing Office, London.

Abury, a Temple of the British Druids, By the Rev. William Stukeley, M.D. Pub. London, 1743.

The Great Law. By W. Williamson. Pub. by Longmans, Green, London, 1899.

The History of Antient Wiltshire. By Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Pub. 1821.

Analysis of Ancient Mythology. By Jacob Bryant. Pub. 1774-6.

CHAPTER II — THE SERPENT-GODS OF EGYPT

THE religion of ancient Egypt is from the earliest times closely interwoven with the symbolic worship of sun and serpent. Not only was the serpent looked upon as an emblem of Divinity in the abstract, but it was connected with the worship of all the Egyptian gods and Plutarch was no doubt voicing the thought of his time when he explained this by saying that it was reverenced on account of a certain resemblance between it and the operations of the Divine Power.

Horapollo, or Horus Apollo, the author of a treatise on Egyptian hieroglyphics, endeavours to make clear to his readers the appropriateness of the symbolism of the encircled serpent. He tells them that when the Egyptians would represent the Universe they delineate a serpent bespeckled with variegated scales, devouring its own tail, the scales intimating the stars in the Universe. The animal is extremely heavy, as is the earth, and extremely slippery, like the water, moreover, it every year puts off its old age with its skin, as in the Universe the annual period effects a corresponding change and becomes renovated, and the making use of its own body for food implies that all things whatever, which are generated by Divine providence in the world, undergo a corruption into them again.

The origin of Egyptian Ophiolatry is lost in the mists of antiquity, but it is said to have been derived from Chaldea, which country is thought to have given it birth, and certainly produced enthusiastic adherents of its tenets. But the serpent is everywhere in the mythologies and cosmogonies of Eastern lands, so that to trace out the ultimate source of its appearance in so ancient a civilisation with any certainty is probably impossible.

According to the legendary account of the introduction of serpent worship into Egypt, Thoth, also known as Athoth, Thaut or Teuth, founded the first colonies in this country after the flood, and taught the Egyptians to worship Kneph,—the original, eternal Spirit, pervading all creation,—under the symbol of a serpent. Thoth, who is known as the Reformer of the Religions of Egypt, and was himself symbolised by a serpent, after his death was deified by the Egyptians as the god of the moon, the Divine Intelligence and source of Wisdom who uttered the words which created Heaven and Earth. In the Book of the Dead he is hailed as the Everlasting King, the Lord of Justice who giveth victory to him who is injured, and the weigher of men’s souls. He was also the god of speech and hieroglyphics or letters. Because of these attributes it has been suggested that our word thought may be derived from his name.

He it was whose sword effected the triumph of Osiris over his enemies, and he, also, who assisted Isis in her distress. Besides all this, he was the god of health, and became the prototype of Æsculapius.

The Alexandrian Neoplatonists identified him with the Grecian Hermes Trismegistus, and therefore with his Roman counterpart. Mercury. But whatever name he is known under in different periods or countries the serpent is still his companion. He is often represented as leaning on a knotted stick around which a serpent is entwined. But Egyptian paintings portray him with the head of an ibis, and carrying a palette and writing reed in his capacity as scribe of the gods.

They show him wearing upon his head the feather which symbolises right and truth, and the crescent moon which is the computer of time.

The Divine Pymander is an abridgment of one of the Books of Thoth, by a Platonist of Alexandria.

The first Phœnician colonies after the flood are said to have been founded by Thoth, and Taut or Taautus, supposed to be identical with Thoth, is said by Sanchoniathon to have taught the Phœnicians to worship the serpent. This writer tells us that Taut first attributed something of the Divine nature to the Serpent, in which he was followed by the Phœnicians and Egyptians. For this animal was esteemed by him to be the most inspirited of all reptiles, and of a fiery nature, inasmuch as it exhibits an incredible celerity, moving by its spirit, without hands or feet, or any of the external members by which the other animals effect their motion; and in its progress, it assumes a variety of forms, moving in a spiral course, and darting forward with whatever degree of swiftness it pleases.

Moreover, he would have us consider that it is long-lived, and not only has the faculty of putting off its age and regaining its youth, but at the same time is increased in size and strength, and when its measure of life is fulfilled, it consumes itself, as Taut has written in the Sacred Books, wherefore this animal is received into the sacred rites and mysteries.

We also learn from Sanchoniathon that the Egyptians represented the world under the figure of a fiery circle, in the midst of which Kneph was pictured as a serpent. This deity, variously known as Canoph, Caneph, Cnneph, Chuphis and Kneph, was described by his votaries in the ancient Hermetic books as the First God, immovable in the solitude of his Unity, the Fountain of all things, the root of all primary, intelligent, existing forms, the God of Gods, before the ethereal and the empyrean Gods and the celestial.

He was regarded as the first emanation of the Supreme Being, the good genius of the world, the demiurgus, the efficient Reason of all things, and the Architect of the Universe. It is in this last aspect that Kneph is represented in the Gnostic figure portraying, a serpent thrusting from its mouth an egg. The hieroglyph, by the serpent, symbolises the vitalising, active, creative Force, as it is about to awaken life in the original, formless, passive Mundane Egg.

On the physical plane, Kneph is here identified with the sun, hence the rays of glory around his head. Both serpent and sun were emblems of the Celestial Father and participated in the honours that through them were paid to the Supreme.

As the solar deity, Kneph became the Christos of the Gnostics. He is intimately connected with the seven sons of Aditi (Universal Wisdom), her eighth son being Mârttânda, the Sun, whilst the seven are the seven genii or rulers of the planets. Kneph was regarded as the spiritual sun of enlightenment, or wisdom, and was therefore the patron of all the initiates of Egypt, as Bel-Merodach at a later period was with the Chaldeans.

The Grecian counterpart of Kneph was known as Agathodæmon, or The Good God, and this title Pausanias conjectures with great probability to have been merely an epithet of Zeus. It can hardly have been a coincidence that this name was also applied to Kneph by the Phœnicians, but points to the unity of origin of the Grecian and Egyptian deities. This is further confirmed by Strabo and Eusebius, who both represent Zeus as having been adored under the form of a serpent.

Sanchoniathon speaks of himself as having written a history of serpent worship, but unfortunately it is not extant. According to Eusebius the title of this work was Ethothian, or Ethothia, so embodying the name of Thoth. Another treatise on the same subject was written by Pherecydes Tyrus. This may have been a copy of the former, since he is said to have composed it from some previous accounts of the Phœnicians. It was entitled the Theology of Ophion. Although it seems quite likely that Sanchoniathon’s book was named Ethothion or Athothion, as Eusebius has told us, yet perhaps it is still more probable from its subject that the latter word was a scribal error for Ath-Ophion, which would have been a name more immediately relative to the subject. Ath was a sacred title, and probably this work not only bore upon the serpent-god, but contained accounts of his worshippers, the Ophitæ, chief among whom were the sons of Chus, the Cushites, or Ethiopians, called by the Greeks Aithiopes. This people inhabited an indefinite region south of Egypt including modern Abyssinia. They were Semitic and are represented by the modern Abyssinians, who, however, are a much more mixed race. Popular modern etymology has interpreted their name as meaning burnt faces, and supposed that they received it on account of their swarthy complexions; but the formation of the word does not bear this interpretation. It is far more likely that they were so called from Ath-Ope, or Ath-Opis, the god whom they worshipped.

Pliny confirms this view. He says that Ethiopia derived the name of Æthiop from a personage who was a deity—ab Æthiope Vulcani filio.

Bryant says of the etymology of the word Æthiopian, that it would appear to mean the race of Ophe, or race of the Serpent, from ethnos or ethos, a collection of persons associating together from habit, and ophis, a serpent.

That some such etymology is correct is confirmed by the fact that the Arabians call the Æthiopians Nagashi, i.e. serpents, from Nahash or the Indian Nāga, a serpent. It was probably in honour of the serpent-god Kneph, that the name Onuphis was bestowed upon one of the cities and prefectures of Egypt. Kircher remarks of this name: In the Coptic language this city was called Pihof or Nouphion, which signifies a serpent. This prefecture is called Onuphis, because here they worship the asp, as Pausanias, when speaking of the worship of animals in Boeotia, says, ‘As in the city of Onuphis, in Egypt, they worship the asp.’

One of the titles of Kneph was Onuphis which Gamier says: "is plainly made up of ‘On,’ the name of the sun at Heliopolis, and ‘Ophis,’ the serpent. In short Onuphis, which in modern Coptic is Nouphion, signifies a serpent in that language. ‘Chnouphis’ which is the same as ‘Nouphis’ with the K or Ch prefixed, as in the case of Kham for Ham, is merely a form of Onuphis, the Sun-and Serpent-god. In Herwart’s table of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and also in the Isiac table, an Egyptian priest is shown offering adoration to a serpent, who was doubtless the Serpent-god ‘Onuphis.’"

The second Gnostic gem here pictured, shows the Chnuphis serpent rearing himself aloft, as in the act of making the mythic dart. He is crowned by the seven vowels signifying speech, the gift to Man in his Fall. The reverse of this gem portrays his sacred creative power by the symbol of