Serpent and Siva Worship and Mythology in Central America, Africa, and Asia ; And, The Origin of Serpent Worship: Two TreatisesJ.W. Bouton, 1877 - 48 pages |
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aboriginal Adam Adamites Africa Agathodæmon Agavê Akkad Aleje Amer ancestor ancient animal antiquity appear Aryan Asia Asiatic associated Baldwin Banyun Brahmans Bribri Brunka Buddhism Cabecar Central America Chaldean character cloth connected curious Cushite deity divine dragon Dravidian races edition Egypt Egyptian emblem Essay Ethiopians Europe father Fergusson Gabb gilt top Greece half morocco Hamitic Hebrew Hercules Hindustan human idea ikwo illustrated India islands Isoama Juku Kali Kasanj king Kneph Landoma language legend London mankind Mexican morocco MYSTERIES Naga nations navel Nebo Nupe Nupe Afr Old World origin pent Persian Phallic philology Phoenician prehistoric epoch rain Rawlinson religion religious remarks represented Rudra Sabazios sacred says Scythic Semitic serpent serpent-god serpent-worship Seth Sibu signifies Sir Henry Rawlinson Siva snake spirit sun-god superstition supposed symbol temples Terraba Thoth Tiribi tradition translated Tree and Serpent tribes Turanian Udom veneration Vishnu Vritra Wake wisdom words worship writers
Popular passages
Page iii - What though the spicy breezes Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle; Though every prospect pleases, And only man is vile ; In vain with lavish kindness The gifts of God are strown ; The heathen in his blindness Bows down to wood and stone.
Page 35 - the rain is shut up in the clouds, the dark power is in revolt against Dyaus and Indra. In the rumblings of the thunder, while the drought still sucks out the life of the earth, are heard the mutterings of their hateful enemy. In the lightning flashes which precede the outburst of the pent-up waters are seen the irresistible spears of the god, who is attacking the throttling serpent in his den ; and in the serene heaven which shone out when the deluging clouds are passed away, men beheld the face...
Page 38 - It is, moreover, long-lived, and has the quality not only of putting off its old age, and assuming a second youth, but of receiving at the same time an augmentation of its size and strength, and when it has fulfilled the appointed measure of its existence it consumes itself, as Taautus has laid down in the sacred books; upon which account this animal is introduced in the sacred rites and mysteries.
Page 43 - the woman of our flesh," is always represented as accompanied by a great male serpent. This serpent is the Sun-god Tonacatl-coatl, the principal deity of the Mexican pantheon, and the...
Page xii - Serpents are looked upon by these peoples as embodiments of their departed ancestors, \ and an analogous notion is entertained by various Hindu tribes. No doubt the noiseless movement and the activity of the serpent, combined with its peculiar gaze and marvellous power of fascination, led to its being viewed as a...
Page xvi - ... and who hate the lingam, can yet so highly esteem the serpent, which has, indirectly at least, reference to the male principle. Perhaps, however, we may find an explanation in Mr. Fergusson's own remarks as to the character and development of Buddhism. According to him, Buddhism was chiefly influential among Naga tribes, and " was little more than a revival of the coarser superstitions of the aboriginal races,§ purified and refined by the application of Aryan morality, and elevated by doctrines...
Page ix - In so far as such glimmerings as we possess enable us to guess the locality of its origin, I would feel inclined to say that it came from the mud of the Lower Euphrates, among a people of Turanian origin, and spread thence as from a centre to every country or land of the Old World in which a Turanian people settled.
Page 34 - The serpent entered largely into the mythology of the ancient Persians, as it does into that of the Hindus. In India it is associated with both Sivaism and Vishnuism, although its actual worship perhaps belonged rather to the aboriginal tribes among whom Buddhism is thought by recent writers to have originated. The modern home of the superstition, however, is western Africa, where the serpent is not merely considered sacred, but is actually worshipped as divine. On the other side of the Indian Ocean...
Page 42 - Among various African tribes this animal is viewed with great veneration, under the belief that it is often the re-embodiment of a deceased ancestor. This notion appears to be prevalent also among the Hindus, who, like the Kafirs, will never kill a serpent, although it is usually regarded with more dislike than veneration. Mr. Squier remarks that "many of the North American tribes entertain a superstitious regard for serpents, and particularly for the rattlesnake, Though always avoiding they never...