Serpent Worship

Serpent-Worship, a particular case of animal-worship (q.v.). Traces of it appear in some of the pictures on Egyptian mummy-cases, and there are references to it in classic literature. The Jews must have been familiar with it, for it was one of the forms of strange worship into which they fell (2 Kings xviii. 4). It is probable that primitive serpent-worship arose from fear, and mixed with this may bave been the vague hope that these venomous animals could be propitiated by offerings. The cobra is the sacred snake of India; the rattlesnatke is venerated by some of the North American Indians, as are pythons on the west coast of Africa. The conception of the serpent as a symbol of immortality belongs to a somewhat advanced stage of culture.