Snakes In Jeremy Narby's The Cosmic Serpent

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Snakes and serpents are symbolic of altered states of consciousness and are energetic conduits to other worlds. Transformation through altered consciousness is the way of the snake. Radical change of this nature is often collectively forbidden. The Snake is ‘evil’ because it signifies the access point to the knowledge that the Abrahamic religions regard as forbidden. From a gnostic perspective we are encouraged to eat the forbidden apple. Perhaps this juicy fruit represents psychedelics and expansive trance states. The snake in this context is directing us to expand our vision of ultimate reality. Snakes often appear in psychedelic states and other aspects of altered consciousness. This is strange as most modern humans do not have contact …show more content…

I have always loved serpents. I have always enjoyed drawing and painting snakes and reading about them. In The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge (2004), the anthropologist Jeremy Narby, investigates the significance of the frequent images of serpents, experienced through the visions and iconography from a variety of cultures. Narby comes to the conclusion that the reasons many people see serpents during altered consciousness is because they are acknowledging the role of DNA in the creation of life. The caduceus - a wand with two serpents entwined around it, certainly looks like DNA. It is a symbol that looks like genetic material, yet was conceived of thousands of years before DNA was discovered by Crick and Watson (reportedly with the help of LSD). Cell biologist Bruce Lipton in The Biology of Belief (2003) explained that the nucleus of the cell that houses DNA, is …show more content…

Many people waste life, watching TV, drinking or finding other ways to ‘zone out’ including spiritual bypassing. We have all done it. Many people in work and at home are not truly present for themselves or others. Surely life must require more from us than this? The way our society is currently set up, most of us have no time to question the waking trance that so many of us function in and to ask why we do the things we do. Those who own and control media and ideology deliberately use mind altering techniques for indoctrination and manipulation. People of a predatory nature will use techniques of this nature with those they interact with on an interpersonal level. Humans do this, yet this behaviour is projected onto snakes. There is a popular myth that snakes have the ability to put their prey into a trance. However in reality snakes ambush their prey with great speed and efficiency. To kill, they will either constrict on, or poison it with venom. It is interesting that people should have the mistaken belief that snakes mesmerise as part of their hunting strategy. The Jungle Book has popularised this concept with the song; ‘Trust in me’, sung by Kaa - an Indian rock snake, in an attempt to hypnotise Mowgli. It seems snakes themselves can be put into a trance by humans. Snake-charmers are able to interact with snakes and get them to ‘dance’ using music and movement; they

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