Sesha (Sanskrit) Ananta, the great Serpent of Eternity, the couch of Vishnu; the symbol of infinite Time in Space. In the exoteric beliefs Sesha is represented as a thousand-headed and seven-headed cobra; the former the king of the nether world, called Patala, the latter the carrier or support of Vishnu on the Ocean of Space.

(See also: Sesha, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Sarpa (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root srip to wriggle, creep, crawl]

Serpent; the serpent has ever symbolized in occultism wisdom, immortality -- therefore renewed birth -- and secret knowledge; hence sarpa is applied to an initiate, as is naga (Sanskrit serpent). "There is a notable difference esoterically between the words Sarpa and Naga, though they are both used indiscriminately. Sarpa (serpent) is from the root Srip, serpo to creep; and they are called 'Ahi,' from Ha, to abandon. 'The sarpa was produced from Brahma's hair, which, owing to his fright at beholding the Yakshas, whom he had created horrible to behold, fell off from the head, each hair becoming a serpent. They are called Sarpa from their creeping and Ahi because they had deserted the head' (Wilson). But the Nagas, their serpent's tail notwithstanding, do not creep, but manage to walk, run and fight in the allegories" (SD 2:181-2n).

Sarpa was the original Sanskrit term for a snake or serpent, whereas naga, although likewise signifying a snake or serpent -- which it does consistently throughout the range of Sanskrit literature -- nevertheless early became identified in mystical thought with initiates because of their power of casting off physical body after physical body almost at will. Both terms therefore signify serpent or snake, and both later were used almost indiscriminately to signify initiates; nevertheless, because of habit or use, naga is the more common term for a full initiate, sarpa in this sense being of less frequent usage.

Just as the forces of nature are in themselves neutral, and become "good" or "bad" as they are used by individuals, similarly so is a symbol usable in a good or a bad sense. In the use of nagas and sarpas, the Brothers of Light are properly called nagas, and the Brothers of Darkness are more properly called sarpas, as the root srip which means to wriggle, hence to insinuate, to creep in by stealth and deceive.

Both the Brothers of Light and of Darkness are focuses of power, subtlety, wisdom, and knowledge; in the one case rightly and nobly applied, and in the other wrongly applied. The former are the nagas or serpents of light: subtle, wise, and with power to cast off the garment or vehicle when the body has grown old and to assume another at will. The latter are more strictly the sarpas or serpents of darkness, insinuating, worldly wise, selfishly shrewd, deceitful, venomous, and dangerous, and yet possessing the same powers, but in less degree, and using them wrongly, thus deceiving human hearts and succeeding in their work often by lies and misrepresentations. Nevertheless, precisely because nagas and sarpas are used almost indiscriminately, either word may apply both to the servants of light or of darkness.

(See also: Sarpa, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Dragon (from Greek drakon, serpent, the watchful)

Known to scholarship as a mythical monster, a huge lizard, winged, scaly, fire-breathing, doubtless originating in the memory of an actual prehistoric animal. Dragon is often synonymous with serpent.

The dragon and serpent, whether high or low, are types of various events in cosmic or world history, or of various terrestrial or human qualities, for either one can at different times signify spiritual immortality, wisdom, reimbodiment, or regeneration. In the triad of sun, moon, and serpent or cross, it denotes the manifested Logos, and hence is often said to be seven-headed. As such it is in conflict with the sun, and sometimes with the moon; but this conflict is merely the duality of contrary forces essential to cosmic stability.

The dragon itself is often dual, and it may be paired with the serpent, as with Agathodaimon and Kakodaimon, the good and evil serpents, seen in the caduceus. Again the dragon is two-poled as having a head and a tail, Rahu and Ketu in India, commonly described as being the moon's north and south nodes, the moon thus being a triple symbol in which a unity conflicts with a duality.

A universal myth is that of the sun god fighting the dragon and eventually worsting it, which represents the descent of spirit into matter and the eventual sublimation of matter by spirit in the ascending arc of evolution. There are Bel (and later Merodach) and the dragon Tiamat in Babylonia and with the Hebrews; Fafnir in Scandinavia; Chozzar with the Peratae Gnostics; among the Greeks Python conquered by Apollo and the two serpents killed by Hercules at his birth; the fight between Ahti and the evil serpent in the Kalevala; and many other such stories.

In the Christian Apocalypse the dragon plays a great part, but it has been often misinterpreted as evil just as Satan or the Devil has been imagined as the foe of divinity and humanity. Cosmologically, all dragons and serpents slain by their adversaries are the unregulated or chaotic cosmic principles bought to order by the spiritual sun gods or formative cosmic powers. The dragon is the demiurge, the establisher or former of our planet and of all that pertains to it -- neither good nor bad, but its differentiated aspects in nature make it assume one or the other character.

The dragon symbol, then, is both cosmic and human in its applications: it may stand for powers of nature, which first overcome man, but which he must eventually overcome, as well as the monad atma-buddhi, which through the manasic principle seeks imbodiment, but needs the help of the still lower principles in order to effect a union with the principles of earth.

Cosmologically analogies are drawn between the north polar constellation Draco and one or the other of the great floods, and the word dragon is sometimes used to denote such a flood; for the position of this constellation relative to that of the earth's axis of rotation is intimately connected with cataclysms.

The dragon in its higher or superior sense means among other things divine wisdom, especially where the serpent is used for terrestrial wisdom; and adepts or initiates were frequently called dragons. The dragon may be the symbol of a cycle; and the sevenfold dragon may mean the seven minor cycles in a great cycle.

(See also: Dragon, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Uraeus [from Greek ouraios of the tail]

Refers to the sacred serpent of Egypt (aar, aart, aartu in Egyptian); usually only the head and neck of the serpent are represented by the ancient Egyptians in the headdress of many divinities, and in the headdress of royal persons as a symbol of power, both occult and temporal. Egyptologists state that the physical basis of the symbol is supposed to be the Egyptian asp or cobra -- Naja haje, naja being closely akin to the Sanskrit naga: "Occultism explains that the uraeus is the symbol of initiation and also of hidden wisdom, as the serpent always is" (TG 355). Generally, the representation of the sacred uraeus in headdresses -- before the symbol became degraded into a mere ritualistic, formalistic emblem -- meant that the individual wearing it had become an initiate and bore the badge of wisdom. Two deities in particular were always represented with the uraeus, Isis and Nephthys (Neith), therefore they were termed by the Egyptians snake goddesses (aarti). The uraeus crown itself was named tept.

Sometimes the uraeus is represented with a circle over its head, and again with the winged solar disk, a variant of the serpent and egg symbol met with in so many forms among ancient peoples. Egyptologists interpret the uraeus placed on either side of the winged solar disk as emblematic of the supremacy of the sun, of good over evil, or of Horus over Set; but also the uraeus is associated with the immortal human principles, for one of its identities in The Book of the Dead is the flame. In Aanroo or Aaru -- one of the divisions of the underworld -- the soul of the spirit is devoured after death by the uraeus (ch 99). Blavatsky in explaining this verse speaks of the uraeus as "the Serpent, Son of the earth (in another sense the primordial vital principles in the sun)," and says further that "the Astral body of the deceased or the 'Elementary' fades out and disappears in the 'Son of the earth,' limited time. The soul quits the fields of Aanroo and goes on earth under any shape it likes to assume" (SD 1:674n).

In its universal aspect the uraeus is the serpent emblem of the cosmic fire -- thus, in its universal aspect, being a symbol either of kosmic mahat (kosmic mind) or of fohat (kosmic vital-electrical fire).

(See also: Uraeus, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Kundalini:

In Yogic belief, a source of tremendous vital energy that may be stimulated by various practices. Kundalini, or the 'Serpent Power', is believed to provide energy for paranormal phenomena. The body's energy that is found coiled at the base of the spine; symbolized by a coiled female serpent. Kundalini yoga uses breath, sound, and meditation as its major resources - specifically, moving the breath along the spine to stimulate different energy centers.

(See also: Kundalini, Psychic, Psychic Dictionary, Parapsychology, Parapsychology Dictionary)

In Russia and Ukraine, a particular dragon-like creature, Zmey Gorynych, has three heads, is green, walks on two back paws, has small front paws, and spits fire. According to one bylina, Zmey Gorynych was killed by Dobrynya Nikitich. Other Russian dragons (Tugarin Zmeevich) have Turkic names, probably symbolizing the Mongols and other steppe peoples. Accordingly, St George (symbolizing Christianity) killing the Dragon (symbolizing Islam) is represented on the coat of arms of Moscow. Some prehistoric structures, notably the Serpent's Wall near Kiev, have been associate ...

See also:

Slavic dragon, Slavic dragon - East Slavic, Slavic dragon - South Slavic, Slavic dragon - West Slavic

Read more here: » Slavic dragon: Encyclopedia II - Slavic dragon - East Slavic

In Russia and Ukraine, a particular dragon-like creature, Zmey Gorynych, has three heads, is green, walks on two back paws, has small front paws, and spits fire. According to one bylina, Zmey Gorynych was killed by Dobrynya Nikitich. Other Russian dragons (Zilant, Tugarin Zmeevich) have Turkic names, probably symbolizing the Mongols and other steppe peoples. Accordingly, St George (symbolizing Christianity) killing the Dragon (symbolizing Islam) is represented on the coat of arms of Moscow. Some prehistoric structures, notably the Serpent's Wall near Kiev, have been associate ...

See also:

Slavic dragon, Slavic dragon - East Slavic, Slavic dragon - South Slavic, Slavic dragon - West Slavic

Read more here: » Slavic dragon: Encyclopedia II - Slavic dragon - East Slavic

Apap or Apep (Egyptian) Apophis (Greek) The serpent of evil, generally denoting matter in its lower reaches of differentiation from spirit; the slayer of every soul too loosely linked to its immortal spirit. Typhon, having slain Osiris, incarnates in Apap and seeks to kill Horus (the personal ego), but is slain by Horus through the power of Horus' father Osiris, the buddhic principle.

It is also the serpent which is slain by the sun god Ra. The combat is another aspect of the myth of the battle between Horus and Set, these deities representing cosmic and physical light and cosmic and physical darkness respectively. "Apap is called 'the devourer of the Souls,' and truly, since Apap symbolizes the animal body, as matter left soulless and to itself. Osiris, being, like all the other Solar gods, a type of the Higher Ego (Christos), Horus (his son) is the lower Manas or the personal Ego. On many a monument one can see Horus, helped by a number of dog-headed gods armed with crosses and spears, killing Apap" (TG 26).

The same general story is found in St. George and the Dragon, Michael and Satan, etc. Apap, the serpent of evil, is slain by Aker, Set's serpent, showing the twofold meaning of the serpent symbol. Cosmologically this means the bringing into order of the confused and turbulent principles in chaos; in the human being it refers to the trials of initiation; in astronomy, to eclipses.

(See also: Apap, Apep, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dracontia Temples dedicated to the Dragon, emblem of the sun, of life, wisdom, and cycles. Once they covered the globe; all that remains are those colossal upreared monoliths, or combinations of monoliths, seen at Stonehenge, Carnac, and other places.

The Serpent Mounds, such as those in Ohio, symbolize the same thing. Besides being mute historic witnesses of a knowledge of the mysteries of the cosmic or mundane serpent, these temples were used as means of divination by the priests who understood their secrets.

(See also: Dracontia, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Therion band - Hendecagram. Hendecagram, an eleven pointed star, also called Star of Seth is the star of Qliphoth. The star symbolises the night side of the Qabalah. The star has influential aspect in Christofer's magic and his lyrics. It has been admited as a band symbol.[1] There is also connection between eleven points of star and the Dragon Rouge's Draconian initiation based on 1 + 9 + 1 ...

See also:

Therion band, Therion band - Band history, Therion band - Beginning: Blitzkrieg and Megatherion 1987–1989, Therion band - Debut releases and first contract 1989-1993, Therion band - Musical metamorphosis 1993-1996, Therion band - Metal and symphony era 1996-present, Therion band - Symbolics, Therion band - Hendecagram, Therion band - Pentagram, Therion band - Nordic runes, Therion band - Celtic cross, Therion band - Band members, Therion band - Current members, Therion band - Former members, Therion band - Discography, Therion band - Studio albums, Therion band - Singles, Therion band - Compilations, Therion band - Box-Sets, Therion band - Demos, Therion band - Notes

Read more here: » Therion band: Encyclopedia II - Therion band - Symbolics

Kundalini: The body's energy that is found at the base of the spine; symbolized by a coiled female serpent. Kundalini yoga uses breath, sound, and meditation as its major resources - specifically, moving the breath along the spine to stimulate different energy centers.

(See also: Kundalini, Yoga, Yoga Dictionary)

Peratae (Latin) Peratai (Greek) One of the Gnostic bodies or associations, the Naaseni or Ophites, the "Serpent Gnostics," so called because of the mystical prominence of the serpent symbol in their rites and observances.

This Gnostic body is said by scholars to have been founded by Euphrates, who possessed wide astrological knowledge, and because of the teachings which his school followed were they named Peratai -- wanderers, i.e., on this earth of trial and tribulation; or "those of the other side," signifying individuals who regarded themselves as merely wanderers or pilgrims in regions far from their native home, the spirit.

Among other ideas, they held that the celestial bodies in a person's horoscope are the instruments of destiny or karma, which because of causes engendered in other lives bring the individuals to birth on this earth under the destined yoke marked in the celestial spaces by the sun, moon, and planets; and in order to protect themselves from the malignant influence of the genii of the planets they wore serpent sigils or talismans.

C. W. King states that the Ophites were the descendants of the Bacchic Mystae, basing this on the fact that coins of the period bear the Bacchic serpent, which is represented as raising himself out of the sacred coffer, while the reverse side of the coin shows two serpents entwined around torches (Gnostics and Their Remains 225).

(See also: Peratae, Peratai, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Drakon (Ancient Greek) or Dragon. Now considered a "mythical" monster, perpetuated in the West only on seals,. &c., as a heraldic griffin, and the Devil slain by St. George, &c.

In fact an extinct antediluvian monster In Babylonian antiquities it is referred to as the "scaly one" and connected on many gems with Tiamat the sea. "The Dragon of the Sea" is repeatedly mentioned. In Egypt, it is the star of the Dragon (then the North Pole Star), the origin of the connection of almost all the gods with the Dragon. Bel and the Dragon, Apollo and Python, Osiris and Typhon, Sigur and Fafnir, and finally St. George and the Dragon, are the same.

They were all solar gods, and wherever we find the Sun there also is the Dragon, the symbol of Wisdom - Thoth-Hermes. The Hierophants of Egypt and of Babylon styled themselves "Sons of the Serpent-God" and "Sons of the Dragon". "I am a Serpent, I am a Druid", said the Druid of the Celto-Britannic regions, for the Serpent and the Dragon were both types of Wisdom, Immortality and Rebirth. As the serpent casts its old skin only to reappear in a new one, so does the immortal Ego cast off one personality but to assume another.

(See also: Drakon, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Lathi was designed by its ancient originators to move and manage kundalini. Kundalini is basic life energy. In many parts of India, the "breath of life" is known as Prana. Eastern texts and art depict kundalini as a coiled serpent, usually a cobra, which sleeps at the base of the spine. This is the basis for the caduceus, the medical doctor’s symbol of two crossed snakes that weave upward. Spiritual practices arouse the serpent and cause it to rise up through the charkas, which are energy centers in the spine. Chakra means wh ...

See also:

Lathi, Lathi - Spiritual practice, Lathi - Lathi as a martial art, Lathi - History, Lathi - Lathi in present day India

Read more here: » Lathi: Encyclopedia II - Lathi - Spiritual practice

Ophites One of the earliest Gnostic sects, flourishing in Egypt in the 2nd century and using as their sacred symbol the serpent (ophis) as symbolizing the Christos immanent in man.

"While holding some of the principles of Valentinus [it]

had its own occult rites and symbology. A living serpent, representing the Christos-principle (i.e, the divine reincarnating Monad, not Jesus the man), was displayed in their mysteries and reverenced as a symbol of wisdom, Sophia, the type of the all-good and all-wise.

The Gnostics were not a Christian sect, in the common acceptation of this term, as the Christos of pre-Christian thought and the Gnosis was not the 'god-man' Christ, but the divine Ego, made one with Buddhi. Their Christos was the 'Eternal Initiate,' the Pilgrim, typified by hundreds of Ophidian symbols for several thousands of years before the 'Christian' era, so-called" (TG 241).

(See also: Ophites, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Naga (Sanskrit) Serpent; the symbol of immortality and wisdom, of renewed births, of secret knowledge and, when the tail is held in the mouth, of eternity. The nagas or serpents of wisdom are, therefore, full initiates: "the first Nagas -- beings wiser than Serpents -- are the 'Sons of Will and Yoga,' born before the complete separation of the sexes, 'matured in the man-bearing eggs produced by the power (Kriyasakti) of the holy sages' of the early Third Race" (SD 2:181).

These first nagas were the original human adepts, who were later symbolized by the terms serpents and dragons. "These 'originals' -- called to this day in China 'the Dragons of Wisdom' -- were the first disciples of the Dhyanis, who were their instructors; in short, the primitive adepts of the Third Race, and later, of the Fourth and Fifth Races. The name became universal, and no sane man before the Christian era would ever have confounded the man and the symbol" (SD 2:210).

The early Mexican word nagual, now meaning sorcerer and medicine man, is akin in its meaning, for "Some of the descendants of the primitive Nagas, the Serpents of Wisdom, peopled America, when its continent arose during the palmy days of the great Atlantis, (America being the Patala or Antipodes of Jambu-Dwipa, not of Bharata-Varsha)" (SD 2:182). The Hebrew equivalent is nahash also meaning magic, enchantment, thus showing the same connection of ideas.

Naga may be equated with Ananta-sesha, the seven-headed endless serpent of Vishnu, "the great dragon eternity biting with its active head its passive tail, from the emanations of which spring worlds, beings and things. . . . The Nag awakes. He heaves a heavy breath and the latter is sent like an electric shock all along the wire encircling Space" (ML 73).

(See also: Naga, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Historically, black cats were symbolically associated with witchcraft and evil. In Hebrew and Babylonian folklore, cats are compared to serpents, coiled on a hearth. In the Middle Ages, Germanic peoples and the Normans associated the black cat with "bad luck". To some, they were an omen of impending death. On roads, a black cat crossing one's path was considered a signal of danger ahead. Since the 1880s, the color black has been associated with anarchism. The black cat, in an alert, fighting stance was later adopted as an anarchist sy ...

See also:

Black cat, Black cat - Historical associations, Black cat - Witchcraft

Read more here: » Black cat: Encyclopedia II - Black cat - Historical associations

Ibis Worship. The Ibis, in Egyptian Hab, was sacred to Thoth at Hermopolis. It was called the messenger of Osiris, for it is the symbol of Wisdom, Discrimination, and Purity, as it loathes water if it is the least impure. Its usefulness in devouring the eggs of the crocodiles and serpents was great, and its credentials for divine honours as a symbol were:

(a) its black wings, which related it to primeval darkness - chaos; and

(b) the triangular shape of them - the triangle being the first geometrical figure and a symbol of the trinitarian mystery. To this day the Ibis is a sacred bird with some tribes of Kopts who live along the Nile.

(See also: Ibis Worship, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Theli tali (Chaldean) The great dragon which symbolically envelops the universe; the mundane serpent, whether mystically as the serpent of wisdom, or materially as the psychoelectric current or pathway of the lower ranges of the astral light.

"Tali (Dragon) in the universe (`olam) is like a king upon his throne (in authority); a cycle in the year is like a king in his kingdom; the heart in the living man (nephesh) is like a king in authority (during war)" (Sepher Yetsirah 6:4). Similar ideas were held by many ancient peoples, but stressed particularly by the Scandinavians.

See also NIDHOGG

(See also: Theli tali, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Several ancient peoples all over the world have described reptilian beings, and some have described reptilian humanoids. Common in numerous mythologies are tales of reptilian creatures (usually not humanoid) who are hostile to human beings. Also rather common are the myths of "Serpents of Wisdom" who enlightened humanity before the dawn of civilization; but it has been noted by mythologists that here "serpent" may only have been used to symbolize strangeness. Reptilian humanoid - The Americas. The Mayan god Gucumatz was described as a "ser ...

See also:

Reptilian humanoid, Reptilian humanoid - Mythological references to reptilian humanoids, Reptilian humanoid - The Americas, Reptilian humanoid - Europe, Reptilian humanoid - Indian, Reptilian humanoid - Asia, Reptilian humanoid - Mid-east, Reptilian humanoid - Africa, Reptilian humanoid - Australia, Reptilian humanoid - Alleged modern encounters, Reptilian humanoid - Modern claims, Reptilian humanoid - Claims about the Anunnaki, Reptilian humanoid - Pythagoreans, Reptilian humanoid - Conspiracy theories, Reptilian humanoid - Political references to reptilians

Read more here: » Reptilian humanoid: Encyclopedia II - Reptilian humanoid - Mythological references to reptilian humanoids

Teth teith (Hebrew) The ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, standing for the number nine. In the Qabbalah, used as a symbolic device for the cosmic intelligent electric force, in theosophy called fohat, "whose symbol is the serpent which played such a prominent part in the Mysteries. Its universal value is nine, . . . and the ninth door of the fifty portals or gateways that lead to the concealed mysteries of being" (SD 1:76).

(See also: Teth teith, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Dove Bird symbols play a prominent part in cosmogonic systems. In the Biblical deluge, as a blend of cosmic and precosmic allegories, Noah sends out first a raven, symbolizing darkness which was regarded as prior to light; and then a dove.

In the Chaldean version, Noah is represented by Ishtar or Ashtoreth -- a lunar goddess corresponding in some respects to Artemis and in others to Venus -- and the dove is a symbol of Venus, which is also found in Greek mythology. In several nations the dove also symbolizes the soul.

In Christianity, the dove is a symbol of the Holy Ghost, who appears in that form to Jesus at his baptism. It is also often one of the four sacred animals which denote four important human principles along with the bull, the eagle, and the lion.

These four animals in Greek mystic mythology are symbols respectively of the planets Venus, the Moon, Mercury (or Jupiter), and the Sun; but it is more properly here a seraph or cherub, the fiery-winged serpent or Agathodaimon. As a symbol of gentleness and love it is frequent in the Hebrew scriptures.

(See also: Dove, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)