OOh I have to say (in response to Carl-Henrik's final comment) snakes
are associated with bad things is patriarchal cultures but are sacred
symbols of energy where the feminine is still celebrated: sexual or
tantric energy, earth energy, healing energy etc.
Snakes were closely associated with depictions of the Goddess in ancient
Crete, Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, India etc. They were also still held
as sacred in for instance African cultures until recently.
The snake in the garden of Eden could well represent symbolically the
female wisdom, knowledge and power that Yahweh was so threatened by.
As for Asclepius and other Greek and Roman Gods of healing, their
centres or temples were almost always placed on sites originally sacred
to the Goddess, (as Apollo took over the Oracle at Delphi from Leto his
mother, but in this case killed Her serpent). Asclepius seems to have
carried on the healing tradition associated with water and snakes.
One sanctuary familiar to me is Lissos in Crete where there is a temple
to Asclepius with a spring and bath like structures in the temple. The
place has a vibrant healing energy, also experienced as erotic. Needless
to say there are signs of much earlier occupation of the site.
This is the first time I have written to you all on this site, or any
email discussion group! So hi - I'm amazed by how much I have already
received - wow!
I'm here because I'm about to start restoring a spring in Derbyshire,
having received a Millenium grant to do so!
Part of the project is to set up a website, so watch this space!
Look forward to more lively interchanges!
Cora Greenhill
In message <[log in to unmask]>, Carl-Henrik Berg
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>citerar stephen buckley <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> The snake/well stuff seemed mostly to come from the Continent, esp Germany
>> and Scandianvia,
>> from what I remember. Including the well(s) at the root of Yggdrasill.
>
>Hello from sunny Sweden!
>I just want to say a few words about Yggdrasil (the ash tree that was the
>world).
>Yggdrasil had no snake at its three roots The roots were in the following
>places:
>Mimer's well where Odin left one of his eyes. This was the well of wisdom.
>Hvergelmer well in Nifelheim, with the dragon Nidhogg eating on the root. This
>was "a hell of a place".
>Urd's holy well with the three Norna ladies Urd, Verdandi and Skuld (= past,
>present and the future).
>
>The snake in this mythology was the Midgard snake, It was lying around the whole
>world, biting itself in its tail.
>Snakes are almost always connected with bad things in our beliefs (correct me if
>I'm wrong).
>
>Carl-Henrik Berg
>Umea University
--
cora greenhill
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