In Southern India, the deity under whose name the snake is worshipped is Subramatel, whose shrine is in the western part of Mysore, and the image there is described as a shapeless lump of earth. At Alimndnaggur, in 1811, in a clear moonlight might, five pairs of cobras, one after another, dropped into the garden, from over the thatched roof of the house, and stood erect on their tails. They were all cobras, and were in congress. A military officer, to whom the Editor showed these remarks, mentioned in reply that he once in broad daylight, in the jungles, saw pythons in the atti tudes here described. Iatives of India recognise s it as the serpent's Laq, believe that it is moat fortunate to witness minket; so engiwed, and that if they can throw a cloth at tile pair tno touch them , with it, the cloth becomes a representative form of Lakshini, of the higheat virtue, and is taken home to their houses and preserved as such. The snakes when in congress rise 011 the tips of their Mai and approach each other not twining as represented in the Esculapian ri;;I, though, at a little distance, they seem to be twining.
Ordinarily no Hindu will kill a snake, but turns aside on seeing it. Young men who have been educated at English schools, however, have no such great reserve, and a Mahratta Brahman so educated, informed the Editor that he had killed three of them. Snakes are kept in housea i11 Ceylon and Gujerat, partly, seemingly, as objects of worship and partly to destroy mts. In Gujerat no one will kill a snake, but it is taken outside the town and released. Escula pius, amongst the Greeks and Romans, was the god to whom the care of medicine and health pertained. Esintin, the snake-god of the Pheeni cians, is identified by Bunsen with the Egyptian Hermes called Tet and Taautes in Phoenician. Esmun 'Esculapius is strictly a Phtenician god. He was especially worshipped at Berytus. At Carthage lie was called the highest god, together with Astarte and Hercules. At Babylon, Bel corresponded with him. According to Jarablicus and the Hermetic books, the Egyptian name of Eseulapius was Kameph. The Aswini Kumam, the sons of Surya amoin.Ist the Hindus, corre spond with the wes'tern Greek and Roman Escula phis, but they do not have the twirling snake rod. Mr. Fergusson has expressed his belief that serpent-worship mixed with Buddhism must have prevailed all through the Nizam's country and Berar, from at least the 4th to the 10th or 12th centuries. A great serpent is said to have been worshipped at Sumbulpore on the Mahanadi ever since the world began. The snake-worship of the Takshak travelled from Scythia to Kashmir and thence to Hindustan.
Few subjects have more occupied the notice of the learned world than the mysteries of ophite worship, which are to be traced wherever there existed a semblance of civilisation, or indeed of humanity ; have in general been associated with tree-worship, and attended by human sacrifices. Serpent - worship ha.s been supposed by Mr. Bathurst Deane to have beeu the only universal idolatry. In Asia evidence of serpent-worship has been found in Africa, Palestine, Chaldma, I3abylon, Persia, Kashmir, Cambodia, Tibet, India, China (traces), Ceylon, and among the Kahnuks.
It has been found among the races of Europe, among the tribes in America, aud is practised to the present day in Africa. The only part of Aga which seems to have remained free from it is China; but throughout all the S. of British India snake worship still prevails amongst all classes of Hindus. Tha naga, or serpent-genii of the Rajputs, have a semi - human structure, precisely as Diodorus describes the suake-mother of the Scythas ; and Olaus Magnus, writing the sixteenth century, speaks of serpents as still kept as household gods in Sweden. The origin of this form of worship is lost in antiquity. One possible surmise has been obtained from the known love of many races for totems, animal or vegetable gods, after which they are named. The American Indians all possessed them, as also the Australian tribes. In Central Asia, most of the Kirghiz tribes trace their origin back to some animal which they venerate and worship ; and atnongst the Tartar races, who designated their septs after some beast, as the naga or snake, the langaha or wolf, the lumn or numri or fox, the sessu or hare, cutchwah or tortoise, etc., the sept reverenced the creature from which they took their name. If the totemic origin of serpent-worship be the correct one, the serpent, like other totemic deities, would, from its origin, have a benevolent character. M. Houdin says, Le culte du serpent est independent de toute influence ethnique ; ' and M. Lajard says, Dans la plupart des langues dites Semitique, le mot que signifie la vie, hayy, ou hay, haya, heyo, hayya signifie egalement le serpent.' In several of the ancient religious systems the serpent presides at the creation of the world, and is the god of life or health.
" The Chinn mentioned in Amos v. 26 is sup posed to be the deity Siva. Professor Sayce thinks it is the planet Saturn. Ginn is a Phcenician word signifying serpent. Cabrera thinks Chivun has the same signification as Givun or Hivim, i.e. descendant of Heth, son of Canaan. The Giviun or Hivites were descendants of Cadmus and Her mione, his wife, who, according to Ovid's metamor phosis, were changed into serpents and had divine honours paid to them. Tripoli was formerly called Chivun; Votar says, am a serpent because I am a Chivuu, which can also be rendered, I am a. Hivite from Tripoli.' In Egypt, both tree and serpent worship prevailed, as parts only of the general animal and vegetable worship. The serpent was honoured in Tyre from an early period down to the time of Alexander. Solomon says they wor shipped serpents void of reason.' It seems to have been repressed, but it again cropped up amongst. the same people in the Christian sects of Ophites, Nicolaitans, and Gnostics. According to Tertul lian, De Praescript. Hereticorum cxlvii., the Ophites even preferred the serpent to Christ. They kept a living serpent in a chest, as, or to represent, the god. Serpent-worship does not seem to have been known in Germany, though the tree was worshipped there, RS also in Gaul. In ancient Sarmatia and modern Poland both trees and ser pents were worshipped by the peasantry, even to the limits of the 19th century.