Y O U R I N N E R S E R P E N T
"The digestive canal represents a tube passing through the entire organism and communicating with the external world, i.e. as it were the external surface of the body, but turned inwards and thus hidden in the organism."
IVAN PAVLOV
IVAN PAVLOV
From prehistory to the present day their sinuous forms are entwined through legend, imagery and adornment. They have a starring role in religions as philosophically diverse as Buddhism and Christianity. And they appear in ancient cultures as geographically remote as the Egyptians and Mayans. Tellingly in the east (where there is no shortage of the little beasts) man and serpent are philosophically reconciled; in the context of western religious symbolism they were, and remain, antagonistic.
Serpents appear in our iconography more than any other creature; Freud ascribed this fascination to their phallic nature; suggesting that they symbolise the 'missing' female penis; Jung declared that the serpent is a reflection of, nothing less than, the omnipotent and omnipresent power of God; anthropologists site their prominence in aboriginal mythology; Zoologists admire their ultimately evolved form and purposeful efficiency. Biblical religions vilify them as the embodiment of evil and seek to eradicate or dominate the species. There is an undoubted sexual element to our relationship with the serpent (as exemplified by exotic snake dancers) which western Christianity finds difficult to deal with. We are both fearful and fascinated by their deadly unpredictability; we love them or we hate them - no one sits on the fence where the serpent is concerned.
Despite the obvious differences between snakes and humans there are interesting and unlikely correlations between species. Here’s an uncomfortable thought; there's a coiled serpent nestling snugly within each of us - and it's been there for a long, long time. It's one of the more successful examples of symbiosis; comparable to the partnership which results in lichen for instance.
Our bodies function by processing nutriment, extracting energy and passing excreta; the human body is simply a tube - remind you of something? To understand how humans achieved their distinctive unsnake-like form consider the trumpet; originally it was just a long tube with limited application. Some bright spark had the idea to fold this musical tube into a more efficient and compact format and now it's the star of the orchestra. There are some things that you wish you could unsee; principle amongst mine is the sight of Dr Von Hagen (the Indiana Jones of the autopsy room) excising the digestive tract from a female cadaver. Stretched out on a very long table, mouth at one end and anus at the other his revealed the 'serpent within' to be a colossal 27 feet long; so don't think in terms of some cuddly little snake - you've got a serpent inside you the size of a fully grown Burmese Python.
At the business end of this neatly coiled human tube is a brain which, we now know, evolved in three distinct stages. The core and most primitive area of this ‘triune’ brain, generally identified as reptilian, controls autonomic functions and reflex actions - feeding, breeding, fight and flight. Deep in the primitive area of the ‘cranial brain’ - between and behind the eyes - lies the vestigial remnant of the reptilian third eye. The pineal gland (looks like a tiny pine cone) regulates melatonin and serotonin production influencing mood and spiritual/ecstatic experience. There is a subconscious awareness of the reptilian element in our physiology and of the pineal gland evident in religious and esoteric iconography. The extensive serpent symbolism in western esoteric doctrines may well have a biological origin.
Astoundingly scientists recently discovered that humans have another distinct brain, termed the 'enteric nervous system', which is located in the gut of all places. Consider the popular colloquial - gut feeling – linking the intestinal area with intuition (so maybe its discovery isn't as recent as we think). Within us we have a snake shaped organ with a mind of its own. There is a continuous and obvious dialogue, and no little conflict, between the 'cranial brain' and the 'gastric brain'. Go to the refrigerator for a mineral water and come away with a slice of pizza and you'll know that the serpent won the argument.
Unlike the assimilation of serpent into the pantheon that has taken place in eastern religion and philosophy, western Christianity is in denial PROJECTING of our animal origins, generating guilt at natural evidence of externalising evidence of lower functions and projecting personal guilt onto the innocent serpent as the cause of 'original sin'. Dislocation of animal instinct and higher functions causes many western maladies.Project personality traits that rather than assimilate and resolve in denial. The unacknowledged symbiosis of human and serpent may well be responsible for many of the afflictions of western society.
They say that we are born with three primal fears - falling, darkness and yes, it seems that mankind will always had a thing about snakes.
Serpents appear in our iconography more than any other creature; Freud ascribed this fascination to their phallic nature; suggesting that they symbolise the 'missing' female penis; Jung declared that the serpent is a reflection of, nothing less than, the omnipotent and omnipresent power of God; anthropologists site their prominence in aboriginal mythology; Zoologists admire their ultimately evolved form and purposeful efficiency. Biblical religions vilify them as the embodiment of evil and seek to eradicate or dominate the species. There is an undoubted sexual element to our relationship with the serpent (as exemplified by exotic snake dancers) which western Christianity finds difficult to deal with. We are both fearful and fascinated by their deadly unpredictability; we love them or we hate them - no one sits on the fence where the serpent is concerned.
Despite the obvious differences between snakes and humans there are interesting and unlikely correlations between species. Here’s an uncomfortable thought; there's a coiled serpent nestling snugly within each of us - and it's been there for a long, long time. It's one of the more successful examples of symbiosis; comparable to the partnership which results in lichen for instance.
Our bodies function by processing nutriment, extracting energy and passing excreta; the human body is simply a tube - remind you of something? To understand how humans achieved their distinctive unsnake-like form consider the trumpet; originally it was just a long tube with limited application. Some bright spark had the idea to fold this musical tube into a more efficient and compact format and now it's the star of the orchestra. There are some things that you wish you could unsee; principle amongst mine is the sight of Dr Von Hagen (the Indiana Jones of the autopsy room) excising the digestive tract from a female cadaver. Stretched out on a very long table, mouth at one end and anus at the other his revealed the 'serpent within' to be a colossal 27 feet long; so don't think in terms of some cuddly little snake - you've got a serpent inside you the size of a fully grown Burmese Python.
At the business end of this neatly coiled human tube is a brain which, we now know, evolved in three distinct stages. The core and most primitive area of this ‘triune’ brain, generally identified as reptilian, controls autonomic functions and reflex actions - feeding, breeding, fight and flight. Deep in the primitive area of the ‘cranial brain’ - between and behind the eyes - lies the vestigial remnant of the reptilian third eye. The pineal gland (looks like a tiny pine cone) regulates melatonin and serotonin production influencing mood and spiritual/ecstatic experience. There is a subconscious awareness of the reptilian element in our physiology and of the pineal gland evident in religious and esoteric iconography. The extensive serpent symbolism in western esoteric doctrines may well have a biological origin.
Astoundingly scientists recently discovered that humans have another distinct brain, termed the 'enteric nervous system', which is located in the gut of all places. Consider the popular colloquial - gut feeling – linking the intestinal area with intuition (so maybe its discovery isn't as recent as we think). Within us we have a snake shaped organ with a mind of its own. There is a continuous and obvious dialogue, and no little conflict, between the 'cranial brain' and the 'gastric brain'. Go to the refrigerator for a mineral water and come away with a slice of pizza and you'll know that the serpent won the argument.
Unlike the assimilation of serpent into the pantheon that has taken place in eastern religion and philosophy, western Christianity is in denial PROJECTING of our animal origins, generating guilt at natural evidence of externalising evidence of lower functions and projecting personal guilt onto the innocent serpent as the cause of 'original sin'. Dislocation of animal instinct and higher functions causes many western maladies.Project personality traits that rather than assimilate and resolve in denial. The unacknowledged symbiosis of human and serpent may well be responsible for many of the afflictions of western society.
They say that we are born with three primal fears - falling, darkness and yes, it seems that mankind will always had a thing about snakes.
“The world of men is dreaming,
it has gone mad in its sleep, and a snake is strangling it,
but it can't wake up."
D.H. LAWRENCE
From prehistory serpent is entwined through
legend and imagery.
legend and imagery.
It features in religions as diverse as Buddhism
and Christianity.
and Christianity.
And appears with equal frequency in remote
and unconnected cultures.
and unconnected cultures.
Freud suggests that serpents symbolise the
'missing' female penis.
'missing' female penis.
Jung believed they reflect the omnipresent
and omnipotent power of God.
and omnipotent power of God.
Anthropologists recognise their prominence
throughout aboriginal culture.
throughout aboriginal culture.
Zoologists admire the serpent's ultimately
evolved physiology.
evolved physiology.
Exotic dancers demonstrate the undoubted
sexual component of their appeal.
sexual component of their appeal.
For Biblical based religions they're the ultimate
embodiment of evil.
embodiment of evil.
And they exploit our fear and fascination of
their deadly unpredictability.
their deadly unpredictability.
The early Gnostic Christians held the serpent
in the highest possible regard.
in the highest possible regard.
Strange and unlikely correlations exist
between human and serpent.
between human and serpent.
There's a coiled serpent nestling within both
our physiology and psychology.
our physiology and psychology.
The human body is simply a tube in an
elaborate flesh bag.
elaborate flesh bag.
Dr Von Hagen reveals a human tube the size
of a fully grown Burmese Python.
of a fully grown Burmese Python.
Consider the trumpet; its original form was
just a long cumbersome tube.
just a long cumbersome tube.
Folded into a more compact format it became
the star of the orchestra.
the star of the orchestra.
At the top of the human tube is a brain which
has evolved in three distinct stages.
has evolved in three distinct stages.
The primitive area of our three-in-one brain
is identified as reptilian.
is identified as reptilian.
The human brain contains another reptilian
component - the third eye.
component - the third eye.
Termed the 'pineal' gland it regulates our
mood and spiritual experience.
mood and spiritual experience.
Astoundingly another brain was recently
discovered - located in the gut.
discovered - located in the gut.
Within us we have a snake shaped organ
with a mind of its own.
with a mind of its own.
Consider the colloquial terms 'go with your
gut' and 'gut feeling'.
gut' and 'gut feeling'.
Subconscious awareness of our reptilian
components emerge in symbolism.
components emerge in symbolism.
And both serpent and pineal gland feature
in esoteric iconography.
in esoteric iconography.
Serpent and man are reconciled in Asian
philosophy and religion.
philosophy and religion.
Kundalini, the powerful sexual energy of the
base chakra, is likened to a serpent.
base chakra, is likened to a serpent.
And projecting personal guilt onto the innocent
serpent as the cause of 'original sin'.
serpent as the cause of 'original sin'.
But similar to lichen we are one of natures most
successful examples of symbiosis.
successful examples of symbiosis.
Dislocation of lower higher functions is physiologically
and psychologically damaging.
and psychologically damaging.