myths symbols sandplay

Great Serpent Goddess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Sumerian myth, Nammu is the Great Serpent Goddess.  She represents the dynamic power of waters beyond, beneath, and around the earth.  Legend tells of her regenerative and creative powers.  As goddess of the abyss, she gave birth to earth and heaven.

Nammu brought forth the cosmic mountain An-Ki, Heaven, and Earth. An and Ki brought forth a son, Enlil, God of air or breath.  He separated Heaven from Earth and carried off Earth, his mother Ki, to be his bride.

Lizard Symbolism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun & Moon lizard by Jose Calvo & Magaly Fuentes

In general, lizards represent good will, health, and regeneration.  As a lunar creature, the lizard was believed to be tongueless and to have subsisted on dew, therefore a symbol of silence.

Lizards that warm themselves in the sun were associated with the sun and light and were sometimes viewed as seekers of spiritual enlightenment. In ancient Greece, the lizard offered itself to Apollo in order to achieve eternal light.

In Egyptian myth the lizard represented divine wisdom and good fortune and was a symbol of fecundity and devouring heat. In Roman myth the lizard that slept all winter was a symbol of death and resurrection. Since lizards shed their skin, they represented rebirth.

Australian Aboriginal myth tells of the lizard Tarrotarro, the culture hero who was the creator of the sexes and taught man the art of tattoo. In African mythology, the lizard is the embodiment of departed souls. Japanese legend tells of the lizard as a vengeful spirit with supernatural powers.

Mazadaism is the system of religion founded in Persia in the 6th century BC by Zoroaster. In the dualistic belief of two creators and two creations, the lizard is the animal created by Angra Mainyu, the personification of darkness, to destroy the Gaokerama, the Iranian plant of life.

The following is from: http://www.native-languages.org/legends-lizard.htm

Lizards play positive roles in the folklore of many Native American tribes. In Plains Indian tribes, lizards are associated with healing and survival, and also with masculinity. In some Plains tribes, a newborn boy's umbilical cord was sewn into an amulet in the shape of a lizard to ensure his health and strength. Today, many Cheyenne people still consider it bad luck to kill a lizard. In the mythology of some California Indian tribes, such as the Pomo, Lizard was one of the major figures of creation, who made humans partially in his image. In Southwestern tribes, horned lizards (sometimes called "horny-toads" in English) are considered sacred medicine animals; Gila Monster (a type of large poisonous desert lizard) features as a powerful hero in Navajo and other Southwestern legends. In other tribes, lizards are associated with protection (especially of children), prosperity, renewal, and good luck."

Siegfried and the Dragon, Fafnir ~ Norse mythology

 

A myth from the Netherlands tells of a hero of the North, Siegfried, who slays and the bathes in the blood of a dragon…

When Siegfried came upon the fearsome dragon, Fafnir, he was not frightened; he laughed, which enraged Fafnir, who spouted fire and bared his many teeth. Siegfried leapt upon the dragon’s back and plunged his sword into the dragon’s heart. Siegfried recalled a story that said whoever bathed in this dragon’s blood would become invulnerable. Siegfried bathed in Fafnir’s magical red blood. He did not notice a linden leaf had dropped between his shoulder blades and the dragon’s blood did not touch him there. Time passed and Siegfried became ruler of the Netherlands. His enemy, Hagen, learned of Siegfried’s vulnerability and came upon him taking a drink at a brook. Hagen threw his spear at Siegfried’s back and killed him.

Founder of the World ~ Iroquois Myth

 

  Sea turtle

The Iroquois of the Great Lakes region tell a myth about the beginning of time and the creation of the continent of North America…

There was water everywhere, in which creatures such as beaver, duck, and muskrat lived. Aataensic, the mother of humankind, fell slowly from the sky with the first people in her womb. All the creatures tried to retrieve bit of earth, from the depths of the water, on which she could land. Muskrat was able to bring to the surface a clod; which was placed on turtle’s back just in time.

Aataensic landed safely and brought humankind into being, while turtle supported the growing earthen clod on his back. There the world rests. When turtle moves, he creates great waves and earthquakes. Today, Native Americans still refer to North and South America as Turtle Island.

The Birth of Knowledge ~ Diegueno Myth

The Diegueno, also known as the Kumeyaay, are native people of San Diego, California.  They tell of a serpent who imparts knowledge of culture, including wisdom, life, vulnerability to death, and loss of innocence...

Earth was a woman and water was a man.  Earth was beneath water.  Earth bore two sons who stood up and pushed the water until it began the creation of people out of clay.  The people planned a ceremony.  They built a large enclosure of brush and then invited the great serpent Umai-huhlya-wit from the ocean.  He came and for three days attempted to coil himself inside the enclosure.  On the third day, the people set fire to the brush.  Umai-huhlya-wit's body burnt and scattered; sending all knowledge including songs, magic secrets, ceremonies, languages, and customs, over the land.

 

Bierhorst, John, Myths & Tales of the American Indians, Indian Head Books, New York, 1976

Rethinking Reptiles Part 1

Reptiles, symbols of the natural world, carry both positive (light) and negative (dark) connotations. Symbolically they can represent healing, regeneration, and sacred salvation. The shadow aspects of reptiles are cold-blooded, morally contemptable, and devouring. In many cultures, reptiles appear in myth and legends. They are both deified and feared. Reptiles are sculpted, incised, drawn, painted, and embroidered.

Crocodile: light – life and renewal; a demiurge, worker for the people, who carries the world on its back; as life force, form of the Egyptian earth god, Geb; because it is tongueless, regarded by the classical world as symbolic of silence; in Christianity, the guardian of knowledge

dark – death and destruction; devouring; typifies deceit; being swallowed by a crocodile is the decent into hell; emblem of the Egyptian god, Set, as brutality and evil; as Sebeck, the crocodile god of Egypt, agent of death

 

Heket, Egyptian Goddess of birth

Frog: light – good luck; fertility; renewal of life and resurrection; sacred to Heket, the Egyptian goddess of birth; Celtic lord of the earth, represents the curative power of water; Chinese lunar, yin creature thought to bring the rain; Hindu symbol of the Great Frog, supporting the universe, represents the undifferentiated material

dark - evil, heresy, and sin; early Christian symbol of the sins envy and greed (my error to include frog symbolism in this reptile b/og post - frogs are amphibians)

(continued in Rethinking Reptiles ~ Part 2)

 

 

Rethinking Reptiles Part 2

 

 

Lizard: light – lunar creature; believed to be tongueless and subsisting on dew; represents silence; sacred to the Egyptian god Serapis and the Greek god Hermes as a symbol of divine wisdom; the lizard Tarrotarro is an aboriginal Australian culture hero, creator of the sexes, taught man the art of tattoo; as it warms itself in the sun, seen as the seeker of spiritual enlightenment; because it sheds its skin viewed as a symbol of rebirth

dark – in Zoroastrianism a symbol of Ahriman and evil; in Christianity, represents evil and the devil; Roman mythology views the lizard as death and resurrection as it sleeps through the winter; symbol of drought; in some African cultures, seen as a master of evil transformation

 

Toad: light – associated with rebirth, bones of toads were found in burial pits in France; in American Indian lore, the wife of the sun is the Toad Goddess; Chinese three legged toad dwells in the moon causing lunar eclipses (my error to include toads in this reptile blog post - toads are amphibians)

dark – Aztec symbol of death, related to the underworld womb of regeneration; poisonous skin excretions associated with witchcraft in Europe

Turtle: light – caryatid of the universe; beginning of creation; in Southern Asia, believed to represent the cosmos, its upper shell the heavens, its body the earth, its under shell the water or underworld; Native American mythology tells how the turtle carries the world; avatar of Vishnu, the preserver, the power of the waters; as Kasyapa, the North Star, the first living creature; Japanese Shinto symbol of longevity and immortality, called kame; Chinese yang symbol of the Black Warrior as strength, endurance, and longevity; Greco-Roman representation of fertility, sacred to Aphrodite and Venus

dark – the trickster; sagacious; Christian symbol of darkness; Egyptian enemy of the sun god; drought; in China, a yin symbol of water, winter, the northern region, the color black (primordial chaos); Mexican symbol of the Great Mother in her terrible aspect

Snake Symbolism ~ quote

According to Marija Gimbutas, snakes represent life force, energy which transcends boundaries, and seasonal renewal and regeneration.

Gimbutas, Marija, The Language of the Goddess, Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1989