The snake is one of the most common animal symbols on the planet. It receives great attention in almost all ancient cultures. Moreover, this is a very ambiguous symbol: it can be both positive and negative.
Perhaps, people have not paid so much attention to any representative of the animal world. References to this ambiguous image can be seen in almost all types of art, many religions, occult sciences and sacred practices.
Let's look at what a ring in the shape of a snake means and why this decoration has not lost its relevance over the centuries.
History of jewelry
A ring with a golden snake has always been an extremely controversial piece of jewelry. However, the owners of such jewelry were never ordinary people: they usually belonged to rulers, generals, magicians, alchemists, and medicuses. And so it has been since time immemorial.
For example, among the ancient ancestors of modern Europeans, the Druids, snakes were revered so highly that the priests were called “snakes” - wise, omniscient, creative.
In Ancient Egypt, these reptiles marked a significant part of the pantheon. Let's start with the fact that the supreme deity Osiris was identified precisely with snakes, Aten and Amon were snakes completely, Isis - only half.
If you look at the images of the pharaohs, you can pay attention to the strange headdresses of the Egyptian rulers, crowned with snakes - uraei. The motifs of this reptile were also used in the jewelry of the pharaohs, including rings.
In light of the worship of snakes in Egypt, Cleopatra's love for snakes is understandable. And the version of the suicide of the last female pharaoh with the help of a king cobra bite looks very plausible. The great ruler, commander, poetess and pharmacist could not choose an ordinary death!
In Ancient Hellas, Zeus loved to transform into a snake, and in this image he irresistibly charmed earthly beauties. Legend has it that the serpent Zeus became the father of Alexander the Great.
Let's move to India. In the homeland of the royal king cobras and other representatives of this poisonous family, they were simply idolized. There, almost every deity was depicted surrounded by snakes, but especially often such a hissing retinue was present in the four-armed Shiva and the formidable Kali.
In the East, the cult of snakes was especially strongly developed, and often no distinction was made between snakes and dragons. So the title of the Japanese emperors, mi-kado, can be interpreted as both “son of the dragon” and “son of the snake.”
View the entire ring with a snake in the SUNLIGHT catalog (on the left is the Quetzalcoatl snake)
Snakes were revered and deified by African tribes, as well as the civilizations of pre-Columbian America. For example, Quetzalcoatl (“feathered serpent”) played a vital role in the Aztec civilization, and the name of the mother of all people, Cihua-Cohuatl, literally translated as “woman with a snake.”
Almost all ancient cultures had the image of the “world serpent”. The Hindus had the world snake Ananta or Shesha, the Egyptians had the already mentioned uraeus, as well as the ouroboros, devouring its own tail. Even outside of the snake theme, rings are usually associated with ouroboros, that is, a symbol of the eternity of existence.
It cannot be said that the snake is an unambiguously positive symbol. Even in those cultures that we have already mentioned, snakes were treated with respectful caution, and the heroes of the epics celebrated victories over all sorts of monstrous reptiles. The victories of the epic heroes over the Serpent Gorynych are clearly from the same opera.
And in most medieval Western cultures, snakes more often symbolized evil, hatred, meanness - in general, all the negative traits inherent in humans. Killing this reptile, even if it was non-poisonous, was considered valor.
This attitude towards snakes is clearly dictated by biblical sources. As you know, it was the tempting serpent who deprived Adam and Eve of eternal life, provoking them to commit a forbidden act. For Jews and Christians, the snake is clearly an enemy, hateful and merciless. He personifies not only human vices, but also Satan himself.
Modern Orthodox priests are very tolerant of the design of rings for church rites, but this loyalty does not extend to snake themes. So, if you are choosing rings for a church wedding, try to avoid such provocative hints.
Early Christianity showed clear traces of pagan beliefs. And Christ was often called the “Serpent of Good,” as opposed, obviously, to the “Snake of Evil.”
How does a totem work?
What qualities does the totem animal snake reward a person with?
There are a lot of them, and I will try to give them the most complete description here. Probably, the spirit of this animal contains the richest arsenal of properties that it can share with a person who has established a connection with it.
Conventionally, I divided them into basic and additional, however, let me remind you that working with a totem is a very personal practice, and you can arrange the acquisitions the way you need.
For example, if you work with past lives, then this practice may become your main one when working with a totem, and the rest will be additional.
So, I invite you to plunge into the magic of the snake... First of all, you should understand that any reptile works at the junction of two energies - earth and water. Therefore, she endows her ward with properties belonging to two elements at once.
The meaning of a snake ring
As mentioned above, the symbol of the snake is very ambiguous. In this regard, the meaning of the snake ring can be interpreted in different ways:
- Eternity and infinity. We have already mentioned world snakes in various forms. They symbolize the eternity of all things, the basis of the universe, as well as divine self-sufficiency.
- Revival. This reptile is capable of shedding its skin and being reborn, falling into sleepy lethargy and, as it were, rising from oblivion. It used to be believed that snakes hold the secret of immortality.
- Unity and struggle of opposites. Feminine and masculine, rebirth and death, moon and sun, light and darkness, yin and yang - all this merged into a single animalistic symbol.
- Rod and family. Snakes are revered as ancestral gods in many Native American, African and Eastern cultures. And in China it is believed that snakes living in the house are the spirits of ancestors who can bring good luck.
- Wisdom and knowledge. A gold ring in the shape of a snake can symbolize wisdom, intuition and a thirst for knowledge. By the way, the same Christ told his disciples: “Be wise as serpents...”
- Fertility. Fertility is always associated with the earth, and among our ancestors it was identified with various deities (mostly female). Many of them were accompanied by snakes.
- Healing. If you see on your interlocutor a ring with a silver serpent entwined around a bowl or caduceus (staff), you will probably immediately determine that this is a doctor.
Two snakes entwined around a staff are a common symbol of homeopathic medicine. We all know that poison in microscopic doses can heal, and this is in tune with the fundamental principle of homeopathy: treat like with like.
Gold ring with diamonds (go to the SUNLIGHT catalogue)
The meaning of tattoos for men and girls
Among men, the most common tattoo is a cobra, symbolizing strength and power, as well as the ability to aggressively defend oneself, to stand up, if necessary, against the whole world.
For girls, a cobra tattoo most often symbolizes an independent character, verbal aggression, and the ability to wisely and cunningly circumvent opponents.
What types of snake-themed rings are there?
The snake theme, so ancient, multi-valued and diverse, could not remain without the attention of jewelers. What kind of decorations do they invent for such a fertile theme! The undisputed leaders in this category are bracelets and rings, that is, jewelry that is most suitable in shape.
The imagination of designers is inexhaustible. Snake-themed rings come in a wide variety, both jewelry and costume jewelry. Among them are the following types of designs:
- Classic closed rings in the shape of a snake. The snake wraps one or more turns around the finger and closes, forming a solid structure. Such rings often play on the theme of Ouroboros clutching his own tail. However, this is not all: a snake can form intricate rings, wrap around a precious stone, and so on.
- Spring rings. Perhaps the most common and interesting variation on the theme under consideration: a ring-spring in the form of coils of a flexible snake body. In addition to the winning design, spring rings have one undeniable advantage: thanks to their open design, they fit well on fingers of a relatively wide size range.
- Phalangeal rings. Nowadays, fashionable phalanx rings are very friendly to serpentine shapes: the springy design allows you to “fit” the jewelry onto the phalanx as tightly as possible. This minimizes the risk of losing the jewelry and expands the scope of its use: a snake ring that has become small can be moved to the phalanx.
- Mono-rings. This decoration is quite provocative: the snake wraps itself around not one finger, but several. Single rings of this type are very demanding on the bow and are suitable, first of all, for young rebels who want to emphasize their own independence and originality.
- Slaves. The classic version is a chain bracelet connected to a ring in the shape of a snake. But there are also more aggressive options: the snake wraps itself around the hand, and its head is fixed with a ring on the finger. This is a very pretentious decoration, definitely not for every day.
- Rings with snake motifs. There is a wide range of jewelry where the theme we are considering is played out not directly, but indirectly. Most often, this is a snake scale motif, widely used by jewelers even in wedding rings.
Almost all top jewelry houses have jewelry collections that in one way or another echo the symbolism of the snake. For example, the Bvlgari brand, which presented the Serpenti collection back in the 40s of the last century, regularly adds new masterpieces to it.
Star
Pentagram
The correct pentagram (point up) is a symbol of eternal youth and health among the Pythagoreans, in alchemy it is a symbolic representation of the human body (a human figure with outstretched arms and legs, a complete personality, a human microcosm), in occultism it is a symbol of protection, security (a sign of protection from evil spirits). strength), the legendary key of Solomon, in Christianity - the emblem of the five wounds of the crucified Christ. The pentagram with its point down is an emblem of evil spirits, one of the tools of black magic.
The pentagram is a regular geometric figure with five-ray symmetry. It should be noted that five-ray symmetry is found only in living organisms and never in inanimate nature. That is, the pentagram embodies in its form one of the differences between living and nonliving things.
The pentagram is a very ancient symbol. It is found in archaeological sites dating back to the 7th millennium BC. But it is quite possible that the pentagram arose much earlier.
The symbol of the pentagram is known to most peoples of the Earth. It was used by the Sumerians and after them by the Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians, Celts, Chinese (Taoists) and North American Indians. The Egyptians called the pentagram the “Star of Isis,” and the Celts called it the “Trace of the Druid.” Other peoples also came up with their own names. And for all of them, the symbol of the pentagram was associated with magic, with the interaction of the elements and the will of the magician.
Pythagoras was the first to study the pentagram as a geometric figure. He considered it a symbol of perfection and made it a secret sign of his philosophical and mathematical school, with the help of which the Pythagoreans distinguished their own from strangers.
The pentagram can be drawn in 10 different ways. Some occultists believe that these methods are not equivalent. They divide pentagrams into constructive (drawn in a clockwise direction) and destructive (counterclockwise). In addition, pentagrams are classified by element. In this case, the element of the pentagram is determined by the end to which the first segment comes (and not by the end from which drawing begins). Each end of the pentagram corresponds to one of the elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Spirit
The element of Earth is natural, natural forces, life in all its manifestations. The earth is birth, life and death, it is health and sexuality. These are natural instincts, the beast in man.
The element of Fire is the force that changes everything in the world. Fire produces both creation and destruction, and one is impossible without the other. In addition, Fire symbolizes physical strength and energy.
The element of Water is everything secret, unknown, going beyond ordinary ideas. Water is a secret force, the action of which is not noticeable at first glance. This is magic and everything connected with it.
The element of Air is the power of intellect, the power of possessing knowledge. In addition, Air is freedom, looseness, open space. Air is everything new, young, rejecting any dogma and boundaries.
And finally, Spirit. Religions speculate too much on this word, and few people imagine its real meaning. In Satanism, the Spirit is willpower, the strength of the individual’s desire to subjugate processes in the surrounding world. It is the Spirit that directs the forces of the elements in the right direction
Star of David (hexagram, star of Solomon)
An ancient oriental symbol, emblem of Egyptian occultism.
In the shape of a regular (planar) hexagon - the biblical, otherwise the Star of Bethlehem; This is the shape, according to interpretations of the Bible, of the star that shone over the house in which Jesus was born. In the form of triangles superimposed on each other - the so-called Star of David, the emblem of the marriage of heaven and earth.
In Christianity, the six-pointed star symbolizes the six days of creation. It is also interpreted as a symbol of the struggle between God and the devil (God is the upper triangle, the Devil is the lower). The occult-theosophical interpretation of this image says that the hexagram expresses the perfection of the universe, since it is the product of the feminine number 2 (two triangles) and the masculine number 3 (three corners of each figure). There is also an “eschatological” interpretation: since the hexagram is a combination of 6x6x6x6 angles, 6 small triangles, 6 sides of the inner hexagon, it was associated with the number of the beast and the Antichrist.
In European occultism, the six-pointed star is sometimes called the star of Solomon (who commanded the spirits and whose star was inscribed on the famous seal and served as an amulet against evil spirits) and symbolizes the triumph of the triad.
In Freemasonry, the star of Solomon is an emblem of transcendental wisdom.
In classical heraldry - the image of a star in general. The Blue Star of David has been the state symbol of Israel and the national emblem of this country since the early 1950s. The yellow biblical star was applied to the clothing of Jews in Nazi concentration camps during the Second Pestilence War. The red star on a white field (Etoile Rouge) is the emblem of the International Union of Humane Societies.
What to wear with: tips from stylists
A women's ring in the form of a snake made of silver or gold is a fairly universal decoration: it can even be worn with an office look, especially if we are not talking about too massive jewelry without pronounced aggressive motifs. This will give the business image a slight piquancy, irresistible femininity and mystery.
More massive and bright rings are an ideal solution for almost any city look: walks, romantic dates, parties with friends and even social events. True, voluminous monorings and snake-shaped slaves should be worn more carefully and never combined with other rings.
But for men, it is better to choose rings made of white gold, silver, steel or titanium, and only with a slight touch of a snake theme, for example, the texture of the scales. True, if you are a creative and bright person who despises stereotypes and is not bound by an office dress code, you don’t have to deny yourself anything!
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Buddhist myth
A cobra tattoo also has a protective meaning in the context of Buddhism. According to Buddhist myth, the cobra, despite its terrifying appearance, came to the aid of Buddha, covering him from the sun with its hood.
In this way, she helped the Buddha not to be distracted by the annoying little things of life on his path to enlightenment. Therefore, a tattoo with a cobra, which has opened its hood but is not attacking, symbolizes protection from small but annoying life’s adversities.
Caduceus
The Caduceus is a symbol of total mediation and agreement in harmony. It can be found in the form of an image, an emblem of trade. But if you look into the past, the caduceus was an integral attribute of the messenger, who disposed of it to ensure complete safety for the owner.
If we consider the symbol from the point of immersion in the atmosphere of the sphere of ancient traditions, then the caduceus was transformed into the rod of Hermes, the messenger of the gods themselves! He could give people prophetic dreams and act as a symbol uniting the world.
At first it looked like an olive branch, with two shoots on top, which was richly decorated with garlands. But later the sign was presented in the form of 2 intertwined snakes that wrap their bodies around the rod on both sides. Over time, it was decorated with wings to give Hermes speed of movement from the island. The Caduceus of Hermes also symbolizes Kunadalini energy and spiritual awakening.
It is worth noting that the caduceus has more than one interpretation. There is the staff of Aesculapius, the Greek God of healing, which is also surmounted by a representative of the cold-blooded, entwined with a chalice. He gained universal fame because to this day he is a symbol of the doctor and medicine.
Ziggurat
A massive Mesopotamian stepped temple, built of brick and shaped like a symbolic sacred mountain - the World Mountain, the abode of the deity. This is a cosmic axis connecting the vertical between heaven and earth, earth and the underworld. The ziggurat was built seven stories high, which symbolized the seven heavens or planes of existence, seven planets and seven steps, which also corresponded to seven metals and seven colors: 1) black - Saturn, lead; 2) red-brown - Jupiter, tin; 3) red-pink - Mars, iron; 4) golden - Sun, gold; 5) white-golden - Venus, copper; 6) dark blue - Mercury, mercury; 7) silver - Moon, silver.
Spiritually, the ziggurats were built between approximately 2200 and 500 BC. BC, represent both the ascent of man to higher levels and the hope that the gods to whom the ziggurats were dedicated would descend into the sanctuaries located at the top of the tower.
In Judaism, the main ziggurat was the Tower of Babel, which became a symbol of human pride and madness. There are theories that the great Tower of Babel had seven levels, each level representing a planet.
The stepped temples similar to ziggurats in Central America symbolize the structure of the Cosmos.
