Dictionary of all Scriptures & Myths

Understanding Biblical Symbolism


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SERPENT OF THE WATER

A symbol of the desire-mind in its lowest phase of activity, giving the sense of separateness, and producing deceit, craft, cunning, cruelty, and other low egoistic qualities.

“And Lemminkainen went down into the abysses of Manala, the abode of the dead. But there, near the river, lay in wait for him the evil-minded shepherd whom he had despised, and when Leminkainen came near, this shepherd pulled from the waters a monstrous serpent and hurled it against him. The viper penetrated into the very belly of the hero, and he died, thinking on his mother." - DOM. COMPARETTI, Traditional Poetry of the Finns, p. 86.

And the Higher Self descended to the underworld, the abode of the personality (dead). But there, near the astral region (river), were the lower instincts (the shepherd) developed unchecked. And when the Higher Self approached the soul, the lower instincts working on the astral plane became directed by the newly aroused desire-mind (serpent), acting from its centre as a separate self, and thus killing out the inner spiritual influence. But the soul is to be saved through Buddhi (the Mother).

 

See Also

ANGRA-MAINYU
CRANBERRY
DEAD
DEATH OF BALDER
DEATH OF LEMMINKAINEN
DHRITA-RASHTRA
HODER
LEMMINKAINEN
MANALA
MARJATTA
MOTHER (divine)
NORTH
PERSONALITY
SEPARATENESS
SHEPHERDS
UNDER-WORLD
VISCERA
WATER (Lower)