What does snake symbolize?

Answer 1

I'm researching this now, and finding that the best interpretations come from the earliest civilizations. Predominantly, it is a symbol for rebirth because of the snake's shedding of skin. The shedding of a snake's skin highlights the notion of life, death and rebirth. According to Native American beliefs, it is the energy of wholeness, the knowledge that all things are equal and the notion that good things do come of bad. It also represents the ability to experience anything without resistance. For individuals, they believe snakes represent the fact that we're all universal beings. It can also signify the need to transmute thoughts, actions or desires.

The best of the interpretations, from the earliest indiginous cultures, use it to represent transmutations, life's energy and healing. As the civilizations become more complex (like Egyptian to modern first form of the Mason's apron), the symbol becomes more unique to the context or culture. In Jewish or Christian cultures, the snake invokes the forbidden knowledge and the source of evil.

Answer 2

The snake was the new religion's answer to the old. When the earliest writers of the First Testament sought to differentiate themselves from the 'Pagan' religions that were dominant at the time, they chose a 'bad guy' that was reminiscent of their good-guys - the snake.

The snake character shows up in several ancient mythologies as a wise and sometimes powerful creature. By characterizing the same beast as a trickster or untrustworthy element, the early Jews created a dynamic in which the old religions could be seen as foolish and deceptive.

The snake in Genesis plays the role of the Devil, the fallen angel who had previously communed with God. His seduction of Eve is a metaphor for a sexual seduction as well as the mental 'brainwashing' of other competing religions. Finally, the snake can be understood in a post Aquinian sense as a 'necessary' catalyst for Man's development of 'will' as an essential aspect of his relationship with God.

Answer 3

death

death by poison

death by mums meat loaf

death by snake venom.....

Answer 4

Snakes were said to be Evil and a sign of the Devil but not really, that is just what men said in Greek times as snakes were a sign of Womens Power and men wanted to take away that power.

Answer 5

In The Bible the snake symbolized wisdom and was also put on a pole as the symbol of the faith healers... We were told to be as wise as the serpent and as gentle as a dove.