Snakes in Human Culture
Since the dawn of time the snake has been involved with popular culture. The Bible introduces this reptile in a manner that makes people see it as evil and deceptive. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve are tempted to consume forbidden fruit when the snake offers it to them.
Medusa is a part of the Greek mythology and the story goes that she was once a very pretty lady. She caught the eye of a god though and that made another female god very upset. She turned Medusa into a very ugly looking person and placed a curse on her. This resulted in any person who looked at her to turn to stone. In her hair were snakes and the bottom half of her body was that of a large snake.
There are many movies that include snakes in popular culture. One of them that has a sequel is called Anaconda. The show Snakes on a Plane is a very interesting show as well. If you have a fear of snakes and a love for scary movies these will both have you on the edge of your seat.
In the Disney show Jungle Book Kaa is a snake that helps the boy be able to carefully hunt with style and with grace. The Chinese Zodiac includes the snake as one of the 12 animals. There are many symbols too including that to represent pharmaceutical companies (EMS star of life and the American Medical Association are two common ones). It can be a symbol of fertility too as many entitles have a logo deign with a snake as part of it.
In some cultures it is common place for them to consume the meat from snakes. They may do this due to the link they have with the good sprits when they take part in consuming this living creature. For other cultures though it is out of disparity that they do so. They have made the best though with what they have and the meat from snakes is better than no food at all.
Throughout time there are wonderful fables that share stories with life lessons in them. Many of them have to do with the snake. They teach us about showing compassion for those that don’t look pretty, about sharing, and about not letting others take advantage of you.
Since they are timeless they have been passed down from many generations. The stories have many similarities but the characters and the setting often change to be very fitting of the circumstances and the beliefs of a given culture.
In some countries snake charmers are very exciting to watch. It is believed that they can hypnotize various snakes and calm them down with the sound of the music. This is a common sight for tourists to see when they go to India. The snakes seem to be moving in response to the music that is being played.
Snakes are commonly though to be good luck charms in India. The women are often seen offering them milk. It is believed that this will help them to be able to please the gods and gain knowledge, wealth, and fame.
Due to the mysterious nature of the snake they are often kept as pets. You will find many stories and documentaries out there that include the lives of people keeping pets as snakes. Some of them include stories about persons sleeping with Boa Constrictors, serious snake bites, and more.
