Editing Serpent symbolism (section)

==Associated animals==
===Chthonic serpents and sacred trees===
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In many myths, the [[chthonic]] serpent (sometimes a pair) lives in or is coiled around a [[Tree of Life]] situated in a divine garden. In the [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] story of the [[Torah]] and biblical [[Old Testament]], the [[tree of the knowledge of good and evil]] is situated in the [[Garden of Eden]] together with the [[Tree of life (biblical)|tree of life]] and the [[serpents in the Bible|serpent]]. In Greek mythology, [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]] coiled around the tree in the garden of the [[Hesperides]] protecting the golden apples.

[[File:Nidhogg.png|thumb|[[Níðhöggr]] gnaws the roots of Yggdrasil in this illustration from a 17th-century Icelandic manuscript.]]
Similarly [[Níðhöggr]] (Nidhogg Nagar), the dragon of Norse mythology, eats from the roots of the [[Yggdrasil]], the World Tree.

Under yet another tree (the [[Bodhi Tree]] of Enlightenment), the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] sat in ecstatic meditation. When a storm arose, the mighty serpent king [[Mucalinda]] rose up from his place beneath the earth and enveloped the Buddha in seven coils for seven days, so as not to break his ecstatic state.

The [[Vision Serpent]] was a symbol of rebirth in [[Maya mythology]], with origins going back to earlier Maya conceptions, lying at the center of the world as the Mayans conceived it. "It is in the center axis atop the [[World Tree]]. Essentially the World Tree and the Vision Serpent, representing the king, created the center axis which communicates between the spiritual and the earthly worlds or planes. It is through ritual that the king could bring the center axis into existence in the temples and create a doorway to the spiritual world, and with it power."<ref>Schele and Friedel, 1990: 68</ref>

Sometimes the Tree of Life is represented (in a combination with similar concepts such as the World Tree and [[Axis mundi]] or "World Axis") by a staff such as those used by [[shamans]]. Examples of such staffs featuring coiled snakes in mythology are the [[caduceus]] of [[Hermes]], the [[Rod of Asclepius]], the [[Staff of Moses]], and the [[papyrus]] reeds and deity poles entwined by a single serpent [[Wadjet]], dating to earlier than {{BCE|3000}}. The oldest known representation of ''two'' snakes entwined around a rod is that of the [[Sumerian religion|Sumerian]] fertility god [[Ningizzida]], who was sometimes depicted as a serpent with a human head, eventually becoming a god of healing and magic. It is the companion of [[Dumuzid|Dumuzi]] (Tammuz), with whom it stood at the gate of heaven. In the [[Louvre]], there is a famous green [[steatite]] vase carved for King [[Gudea]] of [[Lagash]] (dated variously to {{BCE|2200–2025}}) with an inscription dedicated to Ningizzida. Ningizzida was the ancestor of [[Gilgamesh]], who, according to the [[Epic of Gilgamesh|epic]], dived to the bottom of the waters to retrieve the plant of life. But while he rested from his labor, a serpent came and ate the plant. The snake became immortal, and Gilgamesh was destined to die.

[[File:Ningizzida.jpg|thumb|left|The Sumerian deity, [[Ningizzida]], is accompanied by two [[gryphons]] [[Mushussu]]; it is the oldest known image of two snakes coiling around an axial rod, dating from before {{BCE|2000}}.]]
Ningizzida has been popularized in the 20th century by Raku Kei ([[Reiki]], a.k.a. "The Way of the Fire Dragon"), where "Nin Giz Zida" is believed to be a fire serpent of [[Tibet]]an rather than Sumerian origin.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} "Nin Giz Zida" is another name for the ancient [[Hinduism|Hindu]] concept [[Kundalini]], a [[Sanskrit]] word meaning either "coiled up" or "coiling like a snake". "Kundalini" refers to the mothering intelligence behind [[yoga|yogic awakening]] and spiritual maturation leading to altered states of consciousness. There are a number of other translations of the term, usually emphasizing a more serpentine nature to the word—e.g. "serpent power". It has been suggested by [[Joseph Campbell]] that the symbol of snakes coiled around a staff is an ancient representation of Kundalini physiology. The staff represents the [[spinal column]], with the snake(s) being energy channels. In the case of two coiled snakes, they usually cross each other seven times, a possible reference to the seven energy centers called [[chakra]]s.

In [[Ancient Egypt]], where the earliest written cultural records exist, the serpent appears from the beginning to the end of their mythology. [[Ra]] and [[Atum]] ("he who completes or perfects") became the same god, ''Atum'', the "counter-Ra", associated with earth animals, including the serpent: [[Nehebkau]] ("he who harnesses the souls") was the two-headed serpent deity who guarded the entrance to the underworld.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} He is often seen as the son of the snake goddess [[Renenutet]]. She often was confused with (and later was absorbed by) their primal snake goddess [[Wadjet]], the [[Egyptian cobra]], who from the earliest of records was the patron and protector of the country, all other deities, and the pharaohs. Hers is the first known [[oracle]]. She was depicted as the [[uraeus|crown]] of Egypt, entwined around the staff of papyrus and the pole that indicated the status of all other deities, as well as having the all-seeing [[eye of Horus|eye]] of wisdom and vengeance. She never lost her position in the Egyptian pantheon.

The image of the serpent as the embodiment of the wisdom transmitted by ''[[Sophia (wisdom)|Sophia]]'' was an emblem used by [[gnosticism]], especially those sects that the more orthodox characterized as "[[Ophites]]" ("Serpent People"). The chthonic serpent was one of the earth-animals associated with the cult of [[Mithras]]. The [[basilisk]], the venomous "king of serpents" with the glance that kills, was hatched by a serpent, [[Pliny the Elder]] and others thought, from the egg of a [[rooster|cock]].

Outside Eurasia, in [[Yoruba mythology]], [[Oshunmare]] was another mythic regenerating serpent.

The [[Rainbow Serpent]] (also known as the Rainbow Snake) is a major [[mythology|mythological]] being for [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] people across [[Australia]], although the [[creation myth]]s associated with it are best known from northern Australia. In Fiji, [[Ratumaibulu]] was a serpent god who ruled the underworld and made fruit trees bloom. In the Northern [[Flinders Ranges]] reigns the [[Arkaroo]], a serpent who drank [[Lake Frome]] empty, refuges into the mountains, carving valleys and waterholes, earthquakes through snoring.

===Cosmic serpents===
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The serpent, when forming a ring with its tail in its mouth, is a clear and widespread symbol of the "All-in-All", the totality of existence, [[infinity]] and the cyclic nature of the cosmos. The most well known version of this is the Aegypto-Greek [[ourobouros]]. It is believed to have been inspired by the [[Milky Way]], as some ancient texts refer to a serpent of light residing in the heavens. The Ancient Egyptians associated it with [[Wadjet]], one of their oldest deities, as well as another aspect, [[Hathor]]. In [[Norse mythology]] the World Serpent (or [[Midgard]] serpent) known as [[Jörmungandr]] encircled the world in the ocean's abyss biting its own tail.

[[File:Anantavishnu.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Vishnu]] resting on Ananta-Shesha, with [[Lakshmi]] massaging his "lotus feet"]]
In [[Hindu mythology]] Lord [[Vishnu]] is said to sleep while floating on the cosmic waters on the serpent [[Shesha]]. In the [[Puranas]] Shesha holds all the planets of the universe on his hoods and constantly sings the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as "Ananta-Shesha," which means "Endless Shesha". In the [[Samudra manthan]] chapter of the Puranas, Shesha loosens [[Mount Mandara]] for it to be used as a churning rod by the [[Asura (Hinduism)|Asuras]] and [[Deva (Hinduism)|Devas]] to churn the [[ocean of milk]] in the heavens in order to make [[Soma (drink)|Soma]] (or [[Amrita]]), the divine elixir of immortality. As a churning rope another giant serpent called [[Vasuki]] is used.

In pre-Columbian Central America [[Quetzalcoatl]] was sometimes depicted as biting its own tail. The mother of Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec goddess [[Coatlicue]] ("the one with the skirt of serpents"), also known as Cihuacoatl ("The Lady of the serpent"). Quetzalcoatl's father was [[Mixcoatl]] ("Cloud Serpent"). He was identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several [[Mesoamerican]] cultures.

The [[demigod]] Aidophedo of the West African [[Ashanti people]] is also a serpent biting its own tail. In [[Dahomey mythology]] of [[Benin]] in West Africa, the serpent that supports everything on its many coils was named Dan. In the [[West African Vodun|Vodou]] of Benin and [[Haiti]], [[Ayida-Weddo]] (a.k.a. Aida-Wedo, Aido Quedo, "Rainbow-Serpent") is a spirit of fertility, rainbows and snakes, and a companion or wife to Dan, the father of all spirits. As Vodou was exported to Haiti through the slave trade, Dan became [[Damballa|Danballah]], Damballah or Damballah-Wedo. Because of his association with snakes, he is sometimes disguised as Moses, who carried a snake on his staff. He is also thought by many to be the same entity of [[Saint Patrick]], known as a snake banisher.

The serpent [[Hydra (constellation)|Hydra]] is a star [[constellation]] representing either the serpent thrown angrily into the sky by [[Apollo]] or the [[Lernaean Hydra]] as defeated by [[Heracles]] for one of his Twelve Labors. The constellation [[Serpens]] represents a snake being tamed by [[Ophiuchus]] the snake-handler, another constellation. The most probable interpretation is that Ophiuchus represents the healer Asclepius.

===Dragons===
[[File:Anonymous-Fuxi and Nüwa.jpg|thumb|upright|An ancient painting of [[Nüwa]] and Fuxi unearthed in [[Xinjiang]] ]]
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Occasionally, serpents and [[dragon]]s are used interchangeably, having similar symbolic functions. The venom of the serpent is thought to have a [[Fire (classical element)|fiery quality]] similar to a fire-breathing dragon. The Greek [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]] and the Norse [[Níðhöggr]] (Nidhogg Nagar) are sometimes described as serpents and sometimes as dragons. In [[Germanic paganism|Germanic mythology]], "serpent" ([[Old English]]: ''wyrm'', [[Old High German]]: ''wurm'', [[Old Norse]]: ''ormr'') is used interchangeably with the Greek borrowing "dragon" (OE: ''draca'', OHG: ''trahho'', ON: ''dreki''). In China and especially in [[Indochina]], the Indian serpent [[nāga]] was equated with the ''lóng'' or [[Chinese dragon]]. The [[Aztec]] and [[Toltec]] serpent god [[Quetzalcoatl]] also has dragon-like wings, like its equivalent in [[K'iche' people|K'iche']] [[Maya mythology]] [[Q'uq'umatz]] ("feathered serpent"), which had previously existed since Classic Maya times as the deity named [[Kukulkan]].