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Explore the etymology and symbolism of the constellations
the Serpent
Urania's Mirror 1825
Contents:1.
This snake, Serpens, that
holds (the snake-handler, who
represents the healer Asclepius), is found on the symbol of medicine
worldwide, the caduceus. The staff of Aesculapius was a single snake
wrapped around a staff (often confused with the staff of Mercury or
Hermes which has two snakes and is said to represent commerce). [See
of the Rod of Asclepius]. Serpens is the only constellation divided
into two separate pieces.
&Ophiuchus means 'he who holds the serpent'
and that is how he is depicted. The struggle will last forever,
since they wage it on equal terms with equal powers&. [Manilius,
, 1st century AD, book 1, p.31]
Serpens and serpent comes from
Latin serpere, to creep, from the Indo-European
root *serp-2 'To crawl,
creep'. Derivatives: serpent, serpigo (a spreading skin
eruption or disease, such as ringworm, from Latin serpere,
to crawl), herpes, herpetology (these words from Greek
herpeton, 'crawling animal', from herpein, to crawl,
creep). [Pokorny serp- 912.
The word serpens is
&Serpent is a word of Latin origin (serpens,
serpentis) that is normally substituted
for 'snake' in a specifically mythic or religious context, in order
to distinguish such creatures from the field of biology&.
The Bible interchanges the words dragon and serpent
liberally. , the dragon, is usually portrayed
with feet and believed to be the 'Old Serpent', the tempter of Eve in
the Garden.
“The snake (serpens) takes its name
because it creeps (serpere) by secret
it crawls not with open steps but by tiny thrusts of
its scales. But those animals that support themselves on four feet,
like the lizard and the newt, are not snakes, but are called reptiles
(reptile). Snakes are also reptiles, because they crawl
(repere) on their stomach and breast. Of these animals
there are as many poisons as there are kinds, as many varieties
of danger as there are of appearance, and as many causes of pain
as there are colors.” [, 7th century AD, p.255.]
This snake, Serpens, that
the snake-handler holds, or the
snake that Asclepius has wrapped around his rod, is likely to be the
because it is a single snake, and because kundalini
represents the life- the balanced flow of this energy is critical
to health and harmony. The kundalini energy or 'serpent power' resides
at the base of the spine and is represented symbolically as a snake
coiled up upon itself, in three and a half circles like a true snake
or serpent (unlike
which is a four-footed
dragon). Kundalini is a Sanskrit word meaning either 'coiled
up' or 'coiling like a snake'. The cultivation and management of this
life-force has been the aim of the physician-priests, witch-doctors,
and shamans who used drumming, trance, chanting, hallucinogenics etc.
to facilitate intuitive diagnostics and cure illnesses. The adjacent
constellation
is identified with
Aesculapius, the snake-handler, snake-charmer, or doctor.
&One called
holds apart
the serpent which with its mighty spirals [gyris]
and twisted body encircles his own, that so he may untie its knots
and back that winds in loops. But, bending its supple neck, the
serpent lo and the other's hands slide over
the loosened coils. The struggle will last for ever, since they
wage it on level terms with equal powers& [Manilius,
, 1st century AD. book 1, p.31].
Varro says Proserpina (Greek Persephone, the daughter of Ceres
who became the goddess of the underworld when Pluto carried her away
and made her his wife) received her name because she, like a
serpens ‘creeper', but this derivation has been disputed by
etymologists:
&From the fact that the Moon is wont to be under the lands as
well as over them, Ennius's Epicharmus calls her
Proserpina [Greek
Proserpina received her name because she, like
a serpens ‘creeper,' moves widely now
to the right, now to the left. Serpere
‘to creep’ and proserpere ‘to creep forward’
meant the same thing, as Plautus means in what he writes: Like a
forward-creeping beast&. [, p. 65-66.]
“Proserpina, because from her the fruits 'spread forth' (proserpere).”
[, 7th century AD, p.187.]
Snakes were seen as having the properties of different poisons according
to their species:
says of Mercury &he holds a staff with which he separates
serpents, that is, poisons& [p.186.], and: &Of these animals there are
as many poisons as there are kinds, as many varieties of danger as there
are of appearance, and as many causes of pain as there are colors” [p.255.]
&The snake's venom is associated with the chemicals of
plants and fungi that have the power to either heal, poison, or provide
expanded consciousness (and even the elixir of life and immortality)
through divine intoxication. Because of its herbal knowledge and entheogenic
association the snake was often considered one of the wisest animals,
being (close to the) divine&.
It was believed that snakes had the ability to discover health-giving
medicinal herbs. Herbs have chemical properties and this attribute in
snakes of being able to search out herbs might be related to their ability
to smell out the chemicals in the herbs. They have what is called a
Jacobson's organ in their mouths that functions as a chemical receptor,
a snake flicks out its tongue to taste the air and when the tongue is
withdrawn into the mouth, the forks of the tongue are placed into the
Jacobson's organ where the chemical (molecules) is identified [].
is the snake-holder who holds
this snake, Serpens, and represents the healer Asclepius.
According to Hyginus (Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 14.), one day
Asclepius killed a snake, but to his surprise a second snake carrying
an herb in its mouth crawled into the room. It gave the herb to the
first snake, which immediately recovered. This was how Asclepius learned
how to raise people from the dead, by making use of this same herb which
had the same resuscitating effect upon men [].
&The serpent was placed in heaven and for this reason certain writers
have identified Ophiuchus with Aesculapius. According to other accounts
the serpent is one of those that would have slain Hercules in his cradle.&
[, Vivian E. Robson, 1923].
A similar story is told about the seer Polyeidus (or Polyidus) who
was locked in a Old Cretan vault with the corpse of Glaucus and ordered
to resuscitate it. A snake soon crawled toward the body, but Polyeidus
killed the snake. Another snake came into the room bearing an herb and
laid this over the dead snake, which at once revived. Polyeidus then
placed the same herb over the body of Glaucus, who immediately came
Serpens is from Latin serpere, and Greek herpeton,
'crawling animal', from herpein, to crawl or creep, Sanskrit
herpo 'creep'. With all this evidence of snakes association
is it not likely that Greek herp- might
be related to the word herb? Snake venom has different
chemical properties according to the species of snake, as have the various
species of herbs.
Drugs made of various chemicals and herbs are called medicines. 'Medusa'
the Gorgon, represented by the star ,
whose head
carries, is related to
the word 'medicine'. Medusa has serpents for hair that might ultimately
represent herbs and chemicals.
, the snake holder, is the
adjoining constellation that holds this serpent, and his name means
serpent-holder (ophis, serpent + okhos,
holder). The Greeks knew Serpens as Ophis which comes
from the Indo-European root *angwhi-, 'Snake, eel'.
Derivatives: ophidian, ophiolite, ophite (a green
rock), ophicleide ('serpent-keys', a musical instrument of the
bugle family), ophiology, Ophiuchus (the adjoining constellation
, the Serpent-Holder), ophiuroid,
(these words from Greek ophis, snake, serpent). 2. Taboo deformation
or separate root *eghi-; echino-, echinus, from
Greek ekhinos, hedgehog (& 'snake-eater'), echidna (from
Gk. ekhidna 'snake, viper,' from ekhis 'snake'). [Pokorny
angw(h)i- 43.
] The term ophiasis means a winding bald
patch on the head, or a form of leprosy in which the patient sheds his
skin like a snake.
There might be a connection between the two words sophia
and ophis:
&The image of the serpent as the embodiment of the wisdom transmitted
by Sophia (from sophos, meaning 'wisdom') was
an emblem used by gnosticism, especially those sects that the more
orthodox characterized as 'Ophites' ('Serpent People')&
&&.. sophos, the Greek for wisdom, and
Sophia, the Virgin of Light, may be traced to
is ophis, the 'light of ophis,'
the Serpent& [, Harold Bayley, p.219.]
&the Greeks call the Marsians 'Oscians,' as
if it were ophskoi, because they had many
serpents, and ophis means 'serpent.' They
are also said to be invulnerable to the sorcery of spells. Like
the Umbrians they inhabit the region of the Apennine mountains&
[, 7th century AD, p.196-197.]
On a fragment from the 3rd century
On Images, fragment 8, (c. 232 AD - c. 304):
&Of the sun's healing power Asclepius []
is the symbol, and to him they have given the staff
as a sign of the support and rest of the sick, and
the serpent is wound round it, as significant of his preservation of
body and soul: for the animal is most full of spirit,
and shuffles off the weakness of the body. It seems
also to have a great faculty for healing: for it found
the remedy for giving clear sight, and is said in a legend
to know a certain plant which restores life.&
A dragon is sometimes used (in the West) as a national emblem of
China, possibly because dragons were featured on flags of China. I have
seen where some see this dragon as represented by the constellation
, the Dragon. However, it might be that
this serpent is a more likely representation. In Allen's book Star
Names (p.375
), he notes that a Christian missionary, Edkins, said &The
twenty-two stars in the Serpent (Serpens) are named after the states
into which China was formerly divided.&
from Lana Rings'
might be the fetus (foetus) attached
to the umbilicus cord (Serpens). Ophiuchus is
depicted holding a snake, the snake is represented by the constellation
Serpens. Ophiuchus from Greek Ophiukhos, literally 'holding
a serpent', from Greek opis, the Greek word for 'serpent', +
Greek ekhein, 'to hold, keep, have'. In a
discussion on this linguist
there is a suggestion that there might be a relationship between Greek
ophis and *omphi-. [Omphi from the
Indo-European root *nobh-. Related words 'umbilicus',
'omphallus', 'navel', 'nave',
the hub of a wheel]. The constellation Ophiuchus is identified with
Asclepius, who was cut from his mother's womb as a foetus. The long
tube-like shape of a snake bears a resemblance to an umbilical cord.
When the snake is curled up it might appear to be like the nave or hub
of a wheel. The womb is represented by .
(C) Anne Wright 2008.
Ophiuchus (Serpentarius) and Serpens from Hevelius'
Firmamentum, 1690
, 1889, Richard H. Allen
The starry Serpent
Southward winding from the Northern Wain (),
Shoots to remoter spheres its glittering train.
& — Statius.
Serpens, the Serpent, is le Serpent
in France, il Serpente in Italy, and die
Schlange in Germany, probably is very ancient, and always has been
shown as grasped by the hands of
at its pair of stars delta, epsilon, and at nu, and tau - Ophiuchi.
The head is marked by the noticeable group iota, kappa, gamma, phi,
nu, rho, and the eight little stars all lettered tau, and consecutively
numbered, 10° south from the Crown and 20° due east from
; the figure line thence
winding southwards 15° to , and turning
to the southeast and northeast along the western edge of the Milky Way,
terminating at its star theta, 8° south of the tail of the Eagle ()
and west of that constellation's delta.
Of the four stellar Snakes this preeminently is the Serpent,
its stars originally being combined with those of
, although Manilius wrote
Serpentem Graiis Ophiuchus n
but it now is catalogued separately, and occasionally divided into
Caput and Cauda on either side of the Serpent-holder.
The Greeks knew it as Ophis
Ophioukhou, or simply as Ophis, and
familiarly as Erpeton and Egkhelus (eel), respectively
the Serpent and the E the Latins, occasionally as Anguilla,
Anguis, and Coluber; but universally as Serpens,
often qualified as the Serpent of Aesculapius,
Caesius, Glaucus, Laocoon, and of Ophiuchus;
and as Serpens Herculeus, Lernaeus, and Sagarinus.
The 1515 Almagest and the Alfonsine Tables
of 1521 had Serpens Alangue, thus combining their corrupted
Latin with their equally corrupted Arabic, as often is the case with
those works. It also was Draco Lesbius and Tiberinus,
and, perhaps, Ovid's and Vergil's Lucidus Anguis.
In the astronomy of Arabia it was Al Hayyah, the Snake,
— Chilmead's Alhafa; but before that country was influenced by
Greece there was a very different constellation here, Al Raudah,
the P the stars beta and gamma,{Page 375} with gamma and beta
Herculis, forming the Nasak Shamiyy, the Northern B
while delta, alpha, and epsilon Serpentis, with delta, epsilon, zeta,
and eta Ophiuchi, were the Nasak Yamaniyy, the Southern
Boundary. The enclosed sheep were shown by the stars now in the Club
of Hercules, guarded on the west by the Shepherd
and his Dog, the stars alpha in
To the Hebrews, as to most nations, this was a Serpent from the earliest
times, and, Renan said, may have been the one referred to in the
Book of Job, xxvi, 13; but Delitzsch, who renders
the original words as the &Fugitive Dragon,& and others with him, consider
to be the constellation intended,
as probably more ancient and widely known from its ever visible circumpolar
The biblical school made it the serpent seducer of Eve, while in
our day imaginative observers find another heavenly Cross in
the stars of the head, one that belongs to Saint Andrew or Saint Patrick.
Serpens shared with Ophiuchus the Euphratean title of Nu-tsir-da,
the Image of the S and is supposed to have been one of the representatives
of divinity to the Ophites, the Hivites of Old Testament times.
The comparatively void space between nu and epsilon was the Chinese
Tien Shi Yuen, the Enclosure of the Heavenly Market.
[: Their Lore and Meaning, Richard H. Allen, 1889.]&
To support this research}