web master Iasion
Healing and Transformation
(This page is in the process of being shortened)
Touch The Snake
Karen James,
The New Road to Eleusis
with excerpts from
"The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony" by Roberto Calasso.
In the study of the ancient mysteries at Eleusis, a recurring theme drifts through myth and magick like the intertwining snakes upon the winged caduceus of Hermes. These two serpents, while in opposition, are the very life-giving force of mankind. When depicted in classical Philosophy as "Ida and Pingala" on The Tree of Life, relating to the body of man (particularly, the spine), they are represented in opposing colors, and in their twining, one is at the back of the spine, the other is at the front, both coiling the middle pillar in their dance. Their union commences at the Root Chakra and ends with their heads at the Crown. Each one constantly sending or receiving, in silent communication, all that is taking place in their world of polarity.
Physiologically, they can be seen as the part and whole of the Ganglia at the center of the human body (running from the base of the spine up the body). This complex system of life-giving force serves as the root of the nervous system, sending messages from brain to body and body to brain communicating to man what each is experiencing. We desire, we decide, and in so doing, send the body a message to carry-out our bidding. We are touched physically, and we feel, by way of the body telling the brain what has taken place. This is life. To learn to refine our action and reaction in these experiences and somehow come to the center of these two energies is the original quest of every man and woman. To find that space and "hold on" and remain in it, is Death. Life itself is the constant flux and flow of give and take. Think of it as "holding your breath", or deep breathing. Holding the breath, the body shuts down or "dies". Breathing is to fill the body with life-giving oxygen. In short, life is a tennis game, keep the ball moving from one side to the other, or the game is over. Magick comes in as a refined skill to manipulate the ball with thoughtful movement and strategy. The ball sitting still is a "dead" ball.
Serpents are a universal symbol found in the Mystery Religions throughout the world. These beasts of ancient wisdom can be found slithering everywhere, and are most often portrayed as fearsome, sinful and terrible archetypes. Coming to terms with the escoteric, we see that The Serpent in Eve's garden is The Roman Proserpina, and Persephone "First Serpent", in the Greek tradition. Eve had her apple and Persephone, her pomegranate.
The names differ somewhat, but each plays a similar part within a culture as the story relates to The Creation of Man. In the Greek tradition, the snake within the myth is clearly life-giving, or "Life" itself, exhibited within a recurring cyclic theme.
"...Zeus had been born into a world already dangerous, and full of divine beings. In his life he had performed only one exploit truly worthy of the name of Living Being for every living being.
He was still hidden in Nights cave. Night was the wet nurse of the gods; her very substance was ambrosia. She advised Zeus to swallow up Phanes, the protogonos, firstborn of the sovereigns of the world, and then to swallow the other gods and goddesses born from him, and the universe too. Thus gods, goddesses, earth and starry splendor, Ocean, rivers, and the deep cavern of the underworld all wound up in Zeus' sacred belly, which now contained everything that had ever been, or ever would be.
Everything grew together inside him, clutching his innards as a bat clutches to a tree or a bloodsucker to flesh. Then Zeus, who had been just another of the Titans' children, became, alone, the beginning, the middle, and the end. He was male , but he was also an immortal Nymph. Then in his overflowing solitude, he saw the life that had come before his birth as a child of Kronos, the father who had immediately threat-ened him and wanted to swallow him up. And he understood why his father had been so fierce. In the end, Kronos had only tried to do what But everything seemed luminous and clear to him now, because everything was in him.
With amazement he realized he had become the only one. He lived in a state of perfect wakeful-ness. He went back to the times preceding his father, Kronos, further and further back, Until he reached a point that was furthest, because it had been the first."
In both Cabalistic and Jungian terms, Zeus symbolizes the "Ego". So it might be at our birth, we are born with everything that has ever been, and will ever be present within us as potential. We have the option to give it life, or to realize it; by way of the Serpent of Wisdom upon the tree. The single energy searching and moving along the paths, those places where change can take place.
Here we see a story that may look much like our own. As seekers of truth, it is fairly common to look back at our own story and attempt to reconcile imbalances learned or created by the affect our parents may have had on us as children or young adults. More often, than not, we learn that what we thought was dysfunctional in them, has become our way of managing life's dealings. Sometimes what seemed the thing we most wanted to escape, is the very thing we do. Later, when seen through more mature eyes, what our parents intended becomes clear and eitheraccepted, or rejected, but resolved.
The acceptance or rejection of these behaviors passed from one generation to another become a kind of evolvement of the family's cycle. Perhaps, like time, cycles do not break, but rather "bend" themselves back to their place of origin, pure and not convoluted.
We can be witness to only so much of this process in one life-time and after many, become our own Zeus, the Ego self-actualized. This is what human evolution within one Soul's journey is all about. Eventually the Soul gets mature enough, or "hip" enough that it takes on a state of "perfect wakefulness". Who knows? On with the story... "Space no longer existed. In it's place was a convex surface clad with thousands upon thousands of scales. It extended beyond anything the eye could see. Looking downward along the scales, he realized that they were attached to other scales, the same color , interwoven with them in knot after knot, each one tighter than the one before. The eye became confused, could no longer tell which of the two coiling bodies the scales belonged to. As he looked up again, toward the heads of the two knotted snakes, the body of the first snake rose, and its scales merged into something that no longer partook of the nature of a snake; it was the face of a god, the first face to reveal what a god's face was, and on either side of it were two other huge heads, one lion and one bull, while from the shoulders opened immense, airy wings. The white arm of a woman was twined to the arm of the god, just as below the tails of the two snakes were knotted together. The woman's face gazed steadily at the god's, while her other arm, behind which trembled an immense wing, she stretched out toward the farthest extremity of everything: and where the tips of her fingernails reached, there everything ended. They were a royal and motionless couple: they were Time-Without-Age and Anan-ke."
The story goes on to tell that Ether, Chaos and Night were born from the coitus concealed in the binding of their interwoven bodies. A murky mist imposed itself upon the two winged snakes. Ageless Time solidified this gloomy fog into a shell which took on an oval shape. As this came to pass, a light emanated from the shell, fluttering in the void like a veil or vapor trail. Then, breaking away from Ananke, the snake wrapped himself around this resplendent egg. Was his intent to crush it?
From here the story moves through the birth of Phanes, and his being "everything". Then we hear of his copulating with himself to create Echidna... another snake. He joins with night to create Uranus and Ge. Gradually he creates the places where men and gods would live.
Not wanting to reign, he leaves his station as King and turns the power over to Night. He went off alone to abide in the back of the sky.
All of this brought Zeus to reflection. A sort of "been there... done that" reality filled his consciousness. Time and again, there would be a king, children, enemies and women who helped and betrayed. The story bends back upon itself throughout classical mythology.
"Time came when the sovereign gods yearned for the original state of affairs. Even Zeus pines over the distant Phanes. His yearning for Phanes, or for this original state takes the form of a snake. Having been the only one to witness it's formation, Zeus remembers the image of those two intertwined snakes, present before the world was formed. He recalls that Phanes was born from the knot in their coiling.
After Zeus had expelled the world from within him, he felt the desire to couple with his mother. That desire was prompted by a distant memory. His mother fled, and Zeus chased her tirelessly. In the end Rhea Demeter turned herself into a snake. So then Zeus became a snake too. He closed on his mother and wrapped his scales around hers in a heracleotic knot, the same knot two snakes would one day make on Hermes' staff. It was a violent thing to do, so much so that one ancient commentator tried to demonstrate that the name Rhea Demeter (Deo) came from Deioun, "to devastate".
The sky god had recreated the image that in his memory, was the most exalted he knew. The oldest recollection of Time-Without-Age and Ananke coiled together in the heracleotic knot even before the world was to be. His rape of the Goddess was like a pledge of constancy. From snake to snake, the world continued to generate itself era after era.
"Every time Zeus transformed himself into a snake , time's arrow flew backward, to bury itself in the origin of things. At which the world seemed to hold it's breath, listening for that backward movement, marking the passage from one era to another. And so it was then, from the union of Zeus and Rhea Demeter in the form of snakes, Persephone was born, "the girl whose name cannot be uttered". the unique girl to whom Zeus would transmit the secret of the snake."
In this interpretation, the author describes the newborn Persephone as "horrible" to all but her father. Ordinary men and gods could not comprehend her in her first form, neither could they appreciate her glory. "She had two faces, four eyes, and horns that sprouted from her forehead".
Zeus was accustomed to creatures awesome to the eye of man. He remembered Phanes in his rise to light. He knew that just as the snake had once wound itself around Phanes, he would go to his daughter and he did, once again, assuming the form of a snake and wrapping her in his coils. The deed took place on Crete, he found her where her mother had left her, hidden in a cave, the entrance guarded by snakes. She sat weaving a garment strewn with flowers. Now in the form of a snake himself, Zeus stared into the eyes of the guardians and put them to sleep. Then he wound his coils around the girl's horrible body, licking and drooling ardently. Before she could come to her own defense, he took her, whereupon she exuded radiant light, just as Phanes' once had. From the violent coupling Zagreus was born, the first Dionysus.
As we follow the story line, the Mythology repeats itself over and over again, following the same theme. This God and that (usually some characterization of Zeus ie: Poseidon, Dionysus etc.) transforming himself into the serpent, or the bull, etc. to trick the Goddess that he might have her (just as frequently, she changes her appearance to fool him and make her escape!).
This, when speaking of Zeus, could playfully be seen as our "Ego" changing it's appearance by way of our clothing, behavior, or action to serve it's needs!
"When Hades asked to carry off Kore, Zeus sensed the time had come for a new ring to be added to the knot of the snakes. But this time it wasn't up to him to act. He would be consenting witness. The invisible would now reassert its rights over the body of the visible more strictly than before: their dealings with each other, long diluted and mingled together in life on earth, would find a new center of gravity.
Hades was claiming the supremacy of the world that was other: isolated, separate, and silent. But this other world culminated in the flower of the visible, and that flower was Persephone. With her, the secret of the snake, a secret passed on from snake to snake ...".
The image of this continuous coiling holds the secret of initiation found in all disciplines of magick and mystery. Stories "unwind" and the like. In this coiling, we can also see the aforementioned Ida and Pingala about the Middle Pillar, or the force and power in our experience, by way of the nerves and their relationship to the Ganglia.
Just as Gods are consumed in Zeus' lust for life, so are we consumed in the lust of the Ego to do it's job, to create is to survive. It is the protector and the prolificator. To the outside world, we are as our Ego shows us to be. This is the realm of Zeus.
Hades is the Lord of that unseen world which makes up who we are. These two are the primary principles to provide life-giving and life-sustaining quality to the Soul's experience. For Zeus to send Persephone with her secret of the snake to Hades, is like the Ego sending the secret part of itself (Time-Without-Age) to the unseen world that the soul will be immortal.
The constant changing of the body of life, whether Phanes or Persephone (or any of the multitude of generations between), is like the changing body we may take on in any given lifetime. And yet, the creation happens in the same way...the coiling of the serpent carrying it's wisdom from lifetime to lifetime, all the while, the secret of the serpent granting the soul Ageless Time.
Finally, how do we "bind" ourselves within the Serpent coils to regenerate life anew? We have mythology, Cabala and psychology showing the importance these slithery creatures of long-time-past played in the story of man. The Hermetic Sciences have helped us balance opposites as they strike their devastating blows within us. Symbolism is a common language, constantly creating a silent bond between peoples within the realm of the collective unconscious.
Serpents are a highly symbolic image, and one ofthe most widely misunderstood by the uninitiated.
A common symbol residing within the ancient Greek mysteries, at Eleusis in particular, were the "Kroke Cords". Bright red cords of wool (bound to the wrist and ankle of the initiates), and within their high visibility, a secret.
"Whenever the dullness of the profane was left behind, whenever life grew more intense in whatever way, through honor or death, victory or sacrifice, marriage or prayer, initiation or possession, purification or mourning, anything and everything that stirred a person and demanded a meaning, the Greeks would celebrate with fluttering strips of wool, white or red for the most part, which they tied around their heads, or arms, or to a branch, the prow of a ship, a statue, an axe, a stone, a cooking pot. The modern eye encounters these woolen strips everywhere in fragments that have come down to us but doesn't see them, then removes them from the center of attention as mere decorative details, and hence insignificant. To the Greek eye, the opposite was the case; it was those light, fluttering strips of wool that generated meaning, gave it its boundaries, celebrated it. Everything that took place in the soft frame of those woolen strips was different and separate from the rest. What was it those woolen strips, those tassels represented? An excess, a flowing wake that attached itself to a being or thing. And at the same time a tether that bound that being or thing."
Isidore Seville wrote that these cords or rather their binding represented a momentary surfacing of a link in the invisible net which enfolds the world, which descends from heaven to earth, binding the two together and swaying in the breeze. Men wouldn't be able to bear seeing that net in it's entirety all the time: they would get caught in it at once and suffocate. But every time someone achieves or is subjected to something that uplifts him and generates intensity and meaning, then the woolen strips come out. At one end they are bound tight to the body in a knot that may become a noose. At the other they flutter in the air, keeping us company, escorting us, protecting us.
The initiate kept the strip of wool he wore on the day of his initiation and preserved it as a relic his whole life long....white for the Olympians, or red for the blood which ties us to death. Though seemingly vain in the realm of display and appearance, these simple woolen fragments, tied to the body of life at the moment of significance became the nerves of the nexus rerum, the connection of everything with everything else.
This arcane act alone could give significance to life. Rarely, but once in a while, those ties twist and turn and weave around us until one loose end becomes knotted to another. Gently, they finally encircle us being the crown of perfection. All this is somewhat reminiscent of the coilings of the serpent to crush and kill the old that it may break forth in the light of the new.
Travel one step further on this primordial journey with our Serpent, his Mystery and magick and we find the three a very close knit family, indeed. Ida - Pingala, Ganglia, Serpents and Kroke Cords all share one very important symbolism, Time-Without-Age.
Ida, Pingala on the tree generate wisdom in the realm of polarity. The two depend upon one-another to thrive! The Ganglia serves to give us the physical experience through communication of body and brain. Serpents travel up and down the tree of life carrying with them wisdom and light. They are found in the most secret center of life's mysteries, particularly in this case, the Greek Creation myths. They are obvious in symbolism as in the staff of Asclepius as the Healer of the World, The Staff of Hermes Thoth as the protector of Horus and The Counselor to the Gods, The Caduceus of Hermes and the Magicians crown (always where we find opposition and balance).
The Kroke cords symbolize all of this, and more! At Eleusis, they were placed on the right wrist and left ankle of the initiate. Here we can easily envision the serpent-crowned "Magus" from the Tarot, with his right hand extended toward heaven and his left to the earth ...in the classic "As above, so Below" posture of equilibrium; and as in the Greek tradition, "Hye", lifting the sacrifice to the heavens,"Let it flow", "Kye", lowering thesacrifice to the earth, "Let it conceive"! And once again, "...a momentary surfacing of a link in the invisible net which enfolds the world, which descends from heaven to earth, binding the two together"
The goal of Mysteries at Eleusis was to bring to the Initiate a blessing whereby he could dispel all fear of death, They were, after all enacted during a time frought with war and plague. Perhaps it's spiritual teachings and it's primordial body of learning was there from the beginning. It has danced in joy and slithered to safety within the body of the soul, continuous and alive, crushing the egg that we might know life in all it's transformations, even death, first hand with the gift of remembering. "Blessed are they who have seen the Mysteries. For they know the end of Life and it's beginning!" Time- Without-Age.
web master Iasion