The Symbolism Of The Snakes
The two snakes of the Heracles legend represent the gifts bestowed upon the child by the masculine and feminine aspects of its Divine parents. Their presence reveals that Heracles, the same as you and me, although he has come into this world through earthly and therefore mortal people, he also possesses the powers of his Divine parents. We too contain them, although initially only as a potential and in seed form. Our hero killing the serpents in his infancy with his hands is a metaphor for the fact that in the early stages of our development the powers of wisdom and love are killed off and removed from our conscious awareness, shortly after each new entry into Earth life.
Each one of the Heracles/Hercules/Jesus stories is filled with symbolisms for humankind’s existence on the Earth plane. The two snakes are an essential part of the attempts to explain to us the duality of our Creator’s nature and our own. This duplicity consists of our higher and lower nature, Yin and Yang, masculine and feminine, positive and negative, darkness and light, and so forth. In each one of us the snakes are in need of being trained by us, until they have learnt to work together in peace and harmony, the same as they are doing in our Creator. When the snakes finally wind themselves around each other, all dualities and aspects of our nature have been healed into one harmoniously functioning unit. The Caduceus is a symbol of this process. In ancient Greece and Rome it was a herald’s wand around which two serpents were winding themselves.
This kind of staff was carried by the messenger of the Gods, Hermes in Greek mythology and Mercury in the Roman tradition. Their job was to bring the fire of the Gods in the form of the wisdom and knowledge of the Highest down to the Earth plane. Their aim was to alleviate the suffering caused by humankind’s darkness of ignorance. Mercury is the planetary ruler of Gemini, the Air sign responsible for the development of our earthly minds, as well as Virgo, the teaching and healing sign of zodiac. Adopted as the Western medical profession’s insignia in the early twentieth century, the Caduceus symbolises and honours the primordial origins of disease and the process of healing it.
The Caduceus is an ancient symbol which is traditionally associated with medicine and healing. It is also of significance in the fields of science and mathematics and their application to earthly life, as well as the evolution of human consciousness and serves as a model for the structure of the Universe. The word Caduceus comes from the Greek word ‘kerykeion’ and literally means Herald’s staff. In the days of yore a herald was a messenger sent by monarchs to convey some kind of proclamation. Their staff was thought to be a magical artefact or wand associated with wisdom and the ability to perform mystical actions. And so it is not surprising that this aspect of the staff is repeatedly shown in the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was once believed to be a symbol of power and the axis or pole by which the ancient messenger Gods travelled between Heaven and Earth.
From the way the youngster disposes of the snakes by sheer brutal force one could be tempted to deduct that none of the Great Mother’s wisdom would ever be at the disposal of her least evolved, youngest children of the Earth, symbolised by the crib. Heracles’ later heroic deeds, however, show us that in truth the Divine gifts are bestowed upon all God’s children of the Earth and were never given to any one of us in vain. Wherever we go, they never leave us. It’s just that for a long time they are merely at our disposal from the spiritual background of life. Whenever someone in distress asks for them, they are there and at all times ready to help in every possible way, but only in keeping with the predestined pathway our soul has chosen for this lifetime, which is known to them.
Our young hero’s killing of the snakes while he is still in his cradle represents our lesson during the earliest phases of our development, our spiritual infancy and childhood. Young children are known to still have a strong connection with the world of spirit, our true home. The knowledge of the intimate connection and relationship we have with this world and its inhabitants is usually shed as we grow up. This loss teaches us what a cold and lonely existence earthly life can be when we have been cut off from the conscious awareness of the spiritual sustenance we constantly receive from the background of life.
In truth it never really goes from any of us. Even when we are unaware of its presence, it is there for us nonetheless. For a long time we carry deep within our soul an uncertain feeling and a sense of having lost something very precious, without actually knowing what it is we are sorrowing for. This is the only way we can learn to appreciate the value of our unseen and utterly reliable support system. It ensures that, when we rediscover it, we shall never let go of it again. With immense generosity and love the Universe sends us out into the world to discover the powers of the hidden part of our being, so that through real life experiences they can grow and bring forth our inner strengths.
As life itself is the great teacher, the Universal Force in its infinite wisdom, within certain limits, lets us have what we desire from life, so that we can learn from the mistakes we are making along the way. In this process we evolve and grow through the wisdom and understanding, which even the slowest of learners gains in the course of however many lifetimes on the Earth plane their individual development may take. It’s the kind of teaching that on the Earth plane would be called ‘tough love’. At all times the Great Father/Mother of all life is constantly practising it in truly Cosmic proportions.
Recommended Reading:
• ‘Healing – The Sacred Marriage’
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The above is a chapter from ‘Myths & Legends For The Aquarian Age’.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘Myths & Legends For The Aquarian Age’
