In the Christian bible, the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by the evil snake. It was the snake (Satan) the tempted Eve with an
apple and caused them to be kicked out of the beautiful Garden of Eden.
Also in the Bible, Moses, who went to Egypt to convince the Pharaoh to release the Hebrew slaves, turned his staff (walking stick) into a snake to prove God’s power.
The Ancient Aztecs worshipped the snake. Quetzalcoatl was the “plumed serpent” and was considered the “Master of Life”.
Some African Cultures worshipped rock Pythons and killing a python was a very serious crime.
Aborigines in Australia believed that a giant rainbow serpent was the creator of life.
Many cultures believed that snakes had medicinal or healing powers.
And of course there is the story of St. Patrick who got rid of all the snakes in Ireland.
He is celebrated every year on March 17th. Supposedly there are no snakes in Ireland to this
day.
What about the stories of the snake charmers? Where the charmer plays the flute and the snake slowly comes out of a basket and sways to the music. Since snakes cannot hear sounds that aren’t vibrating on the ground, they can’t hear the flute music. The snake is actually following the motion of the flute and usually the charmer is swaying back and forth as well. The snakes
that charmers use are tired out before hand so that they don’t attack the charmer.
