THE BATTLE OF THE SERPENT'S
We have seen here (http://www.rhedesium.com/notes-on-le-serpent-rouge-part-two---the-poem.html) in the introduction that Cherisey may have been referring obliquely to the Rod of Aesculapius in the title of his poem 'The Red Serpent'. Delving into the mythology of this artifact and other 'serpent rods' presents to us an array of confusing aspects regarding serpents and rods. It is a veritable battle of the serpents! But careful analysis shows that the Rod of Aesculapius is not the caduceus or any other object. The Rod of Aesculapius is one object only but its attributes have a certain commonality of themes found in later myths for all other 'rod's'.
Here i would like to discuss these themes and mythologies surrounding the Rod of Aesculapius and then see whether we are any nearer to understanding the mind of Cherisey. Or was Cherisey indeed just leading us all a merry dance?
The Caduceus
The term caduceus finds its origin in the Sanskrit word Karu meaning a singer, or a poet. It is taken from the Greek Doric meaning a "herald" or "official messenger", a person who was an important figure in diplomatic negotiations. The term derived from "bâton de héraut' which means "Staff of the Herald" from which the Latin word caduceus comes. In fact, the caduceus is a kind of scepter indicating the function of the wearer/owner.
The caduceus was the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example Iris. Iris is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. She is also known as one of the goddesses of the sea and the sky. Iris also linked the gods to humanity.
The caduceus is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings. In Roman iconography it was often depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves.
In comparative mythology the caduceus for Lewis Richard Farnell (1909), when he studied the cult of Hermes , was a staff that originally had "two snakes [that] had simply developed out of ornaments of the shepherd's crook used by heralds as their staff." This view has been rejected by later authors pointing to parallel iconography in the Ancient Near East. It has been argued that the staff or wand entwined by two snakes was itself representing a god in the pre-anthropomorphic era. William Hayes Ward (1910) discovered that symbols "similar to the classical caduceus sometimes appeared on Mesopotamian cylinder seals. He suggested the symbol originated some time between 3000 and 4000 BCE, and that it might have been the source of the Greek caduceus. A.L. Frothingham incorporated Dr. Ward's research into his own work, published in 1916, in which he suggested that the prototype of Hermes was an "Oriental deity of Babylonian extraction" represented in his earliest form as a snake god. From this perspective, the caduceus was originally representative of Hermes himself, in his early form as the Underworld god Ningishzida, "messenger" of the "Earth Mother". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus).
The Ningishzida (sum: dnin-g̃iš-zid-da) is also a Mesopotamian deity of the underworld. Ningishzida is the earliest known symbol of snakes twining (some say copulating) around an axial rod. It predates the Caduceus of Hermes, the Rod of Asclepius and the staff of Moses by more than a millennium. One Greek myth of origin of the caduceus is part of the story of Tiresias, who found two snakes copulating and killed the female with his staff. However, Wadjet - 'the Green One', the serpent Goddess of Lower Egypt from the Pre-dynastic period demonstrates the earliest known representation of a single serpent entwined around a pole – in this case a papyrus reed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ningishzida).
The question is - who in classical mythology was the true owner of the Caduceus? The answer is not so simple: Apollo? Asklepios? Hermes? In reality, each of these gods can claim ownership! But as i think you can see from the above - the overlapping themes of this 'Heralds Staff' is that it represents a person who is a messenger of the gods, who provide links between the gods and humanity, are guide's of the souls of the dead and those with power in the Underworld.
Hermes Caduceus
Hermes is the messenger of the Greek Gods of the Olympians. Son of Zeus and Maia, he received numerous awards: he is, among other things, the guide of travellers, the conductor of souls of the dead, god of theft and deceit, skill and cunning and, finally, the shepherd god. Initially, the attribute of Hermes was his lyre which he shared with his half-brother Apollo against the caduceus. However the Homeric hymn to Hermes relates how Hermes offered his lyre fashioned from a tortoise shell as compensation for the cattle he stole from his half brother Apollo. Apollo in return gave Hermes the caduceus as a gesture of friendship. The association with the serpent thus connects Hermes to Apollo, as later the serpent was associated with Asclepius, the "son of Apollo". The association of Apollo with the serpent is a continuation of the older Indo-European dragon-slayer motif. Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (1913) pointed out that the serpent as an attribute of both Hermes and Asclepius is a variant of the "pre-historic semi-chthonic serpent hero known at Delphi as Python", who in classical mythology is slain by Apollo.
The caduceus of Hermes is often found with two wings attached to the top. The wings symbolize travel, trade, courier and obviously have nothing to do with medicine or health. The two snakes facing each other is a very old symbol whose history dates back to around 2600 BC in Babylon. Initially, the 'symbol' could have been a stick with branches that were intertwined with snakes, probably due to an oriental influence. In Greece, a legend tells that Hermes first discovered the power of his magic wand when he used it to separate two snakes engaged in mortal combat. The snakes immediately stopped the fight, twined around the stick and kissed.
Thus the caduceus of Hermes became the symbol of peace and neutrality, that is how the Romans sent to the Carthingians a messenger carrying a spear and a caduceus of Hermes, asking them to choose between war and peace. We must see the intertwining snakes that face each other, the balance of opposing forces used by the hermetic discipline and in alchemy, to describe the concept of unity in opposition.
The Rod of Asclepius is entirely different, starting with the most obvious difference - there is only one snake on the Rod of Asclepius.
Rod of Asclepius
In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; sometimes also spelled Asklepios or Aesculapius), also known as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine. It is frequently confused with the staff of the god Hermes, the caduceus.
The caduceus is an emblem (where emblem means a pictorial image, abstract or representation, that epitomizes a concept— or that represents a person, such as a king or saint. An emblem also crystallises in concrete, visual terms some abstraction: a deity, a tribe or nation, a virtue or a vice. An emblem is also an object or a representation of an object) in ancient Greek mythology.
The Rod of Asclepius takes its name from the god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicinal arts in Greek mythology. The serpent and the staff appear to have been separate symbols that were combined at some point in the development of the Asclepian cult. The significance of the serpent has been interpreted in many ways; sometimes the shedding of the skin of the snake and its renewal is emphasized as symbolizing rejuvenation, while other assessments centre on the serpent as a symbol that unites and expresses the dual nature of the work of the physician, who deals with life and death, sickness and health.
The Asclepius legend says that one day, Asclepius seeing a snake coming towards him, extended his stick in it's direction. The animal wrapped itself around the stick. Asclepius hit the ground and killed the beast. A second snake suddenly appeared, holding in it's mouth, a mysterious grass with which he resuscitated the other reptile back to life. Asclepius was then under the revelation of medicinal herbs and their healing benefits.
Today, much confusion has developed between the two types of caduceus and the origin's of this dilemma lies perhaps in the rivalry of Apollo - Hermès in Greek Mythology. However, it is clear that the 'medical' caduceus bears no wings and is one snake alone, as it appears in the statues of Asklepios. The confusion is also maintained by the fact that Apollo had the first caduceus, he donated it to his son Asklepios but he also exchanged it against the lyre of Hermes!
What is strange is that the Rod of Ascelepius has been likened to be also the Rod of Moses.
The Rod of Moses
According to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, the staff used by Moses (called a rod in the King James Bible) was by his side throughout important milestones in the narrative. Amongst these milestone events or "miracles of the exodus" the bible describes that the staff was used to produce water from a rock, invoke plagues on the Egyptians, and on several occasion was
transformed into a snake and back.
The Midrash (a homiletic method of biblical exegesis) states that the staff was passed down
from generation to generation and was in the possession of the Judean kings until the First Temple was destroyed. It is unknown what became of the staff after the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled from their land.
This is interesting because it suggests that some believed the Rod was an actual artifact.
Hermes Caduceus
Hermes is the messenger of the Greek Gods of the Olympians. Son of Zeus and Maia, he received numerous awards: he is, among other things, the guide of travellers, the conductor of souls of the dead, god of theft and deceit, skill and cunning and, finally, the shepherd god. Initially, the attribute of Hermes was his lyre which he shared with his half-brother Apollo against the caduceus. However the Homeric hymn to Hermes relates how Hermes offered his lyre fashioned from a tortoise shell as compensation for the cattle he stole from his half brother Apollo. Apollo in return gave Hermes the caduceus as a gesture of friendship. The association with the serpent thus connects Hermes to Apollo, as later the serpent was associated with Asclepius, the "son of Apollo". The association of Apollo with the serpent is a continuation of the older Indo-European dragon-slayer motif. Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (1913) pointed out that the serpent as an attribute of both Hermes and Asclepius is a variant of the "pre-historic semi-chthonic serpent hero known at Delphi as Python", who in classical mythology is slain by Apollo.
The caduceus of Hermes is often found with two wings attached to the top. The wings symbolize travel, trade, courier and obviously have nothing to do with medicine or health. The two snakes facing each other is a very old symbol whose history dates back to around 2600 BC in Babylon. Initially, the 'symbol' could have been a stick with branches that were intertwined with snakes, probably due to an oriental influence. In Greece, a legend tells that Hermes first discovered the power of his magic wand when he used it to separate two snakes engaged in mortal combat. The snakes immediately stopped the fight, twined around the stick and kissed.
Thus the caduceus of Hermes became the symbol of peace and neutrality, that is how the Romans sent to the Carthingians a messenger carrying a spear and a caduceus of Hermes, asking them to choose between war and peace. We must see the intertwining snakes that face each other, the balance of opposing forces used by the hermetic discipline and in alchemy, to describe the concept of unity in opposition.
The Rod of Asclepius is entirely different, starting with the most obvious difference - there is only one snake on the Rod of Asclepius.
Rod of Asclepius
In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; sometimes also spelled Asklepios or Aesculapius), also known as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine. It is frequently confused with the staff of the god Hermes, the caduceus.
The caduceus is an emblem (where emblem means a pictorial image, abstract or representation, that epitomizes a concept— or that represents a person, such as a king or saint. An emblem also crystallises in concrete, visual terms some abstraction: a deity, a tribe or nation, a virtue or a vice. An emblem is also an object or a representation of an object) in ancient Greek mythology.
The Rod of Asclepius takes its name from the god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicinal arts in Greek mythology. The serpent and the staff appear to have been separate symbols that were combined at some point in the development of the Asclepian cult. The significance of the serpent has been interpreted in many ways; sometimes the shedding of the skin of the snake and its renewal is emphasized as symbolizing rejuvenation, while other assessments centre on the serpent as a symbol that unites and expresses the dual nature of the work of the physician, who deals with life and death, sickness and health.
The Asclepius legend says that one day, Asclepius seeing a snake coming towards him, extended his stick in it's direction. The animal wrapped itself around the stick. Asclepius hit the ground and killed the beast. A second snake suddenly appeared, holding in it's mouth, a mysterious grass with which he resuscitated the other reptile back to life. Asclepius was then under the revelation of medicinal herbs and their healing benefits.
Today, much confusion has developed between the two types of caduceus and the origin's of this dilemma lies perhaps in the rivalry of Apollo - Hermès in Greek Mythology. However, it is clear that the 'medical' caduceus bears no wings and is one snake alone, as it appears in the statues of Asklepios. The confusion is also maintained by the fact that Apollo had the first caduceus, he donated it to his son Asklepios but he also exchanged it against the lyre of Hermes!
What is strange is that the Rod of Ascelepius has been likened to be also the Rod of Moses.
The Rod of Moses
According to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, the staff used by Moses (called a rod in the King James Bible) was by his side throughout important milestones in the narrative. Amongst these milestone events or "miracles of the exodus" the bible describes that the staff was used to produce water from a rock, invoke plagues on the Egyptians, and on several occasion was
transformed into a snake and back.
The Midrash (a homiletic method of biblical exegesis) states that the staff was passed down
from generation to generation and was in the possession of the Judean kings until the First Temple was destroyed. It is unknown what became of the staff after the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled from their land.
This is interesting because it suggests that some believed the Rod was an actual artifact.
Other commentators have suggested that the Rod of Ascelepius is really the Nehushtan, a sacred object consisting of a serpent wrapped around a pole mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Numbers (Numbers 21:6-9). Again this suggests that some think this was a real object of a specific time and place.
The section in the Book of Numbers reads as follows:
Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." Moses made a
bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Many biblical scholars have debated this verse and the artifact:
"Mainstream scholars suggest that the image of the fiery serpent served to function like that of a magical amulet. Magic amulets or charms were used in the ancient Near East to practice a healing ritual known as sympathetic magic in an attempt to ward off, heal or reduce the impact of illness and poisons. Copper and bronze serpent figures have been recovered, showing that the practice was widespread ..... The plague of serpents remained an ongoing threat to the community and the raised bronze serpent was an ongoing reminder to each individual for the need to turn to the healing power of God. It has also been proposed that the bronze serpent was a type of intermediary between God and the people that served as a test of obedience, in the form of free judgment, standing between the dead who were not willing to look to God’s chosen instrument of healing, and the living who were willing and were healed. Thus, this instrument bore witness to the sovereign power of Yahweh even over the dangerous and sinister character of the desert.
In 2 Kings 18:4, a bronze serpent, alleged to be the one Moses made, was kept in Jerusalem's Temple sanctuary. The Israelites began to worship the object as an idol or image of God, by offering sacrifices and burning incense to it, until Hezekiah was made King. Hezekiah referred to it as Nehushtan and had tore it down. Scholars have debated the nature of the relationship between the Mosaic bronze serpent and Hezekiah’s Nehushtan, but traditions happen to link the two". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_(Bible).
According to the Jewish Encyclopeadia the Nehushtan was: Bronze figure of a serpent which was broken in pieces by Hezekiah at the beginningof his reign (II Kings xviii. 4). It was identified with the bronze serpent raised by Moses in the desert in order to heal the Israelites from the bites of the poisonous serpents to which they were exposed (Num. xxi. 4-10). The
Rabbis regarded the word "Nehushtan" as in the dual number, and believed that sacrifice to it involved the loss both of the present and of the future life (Midr. Esfah in Yalḳ., Num. 764). In the baraita Ber. 10b, which was incorporated in the Mishnah (Pes. iv. 8), the additional information is given that the destruction of the bronze serpent was applauded by the people.
Modern exegesis holds two different opinions in regard to the meaning of the word Nehushtan, which is explained either as denoting an image of bronze, and as entirely unconnected with the word "naḥash" (serpent), or as a lengthened form of "naḥash" (comp. νεεσθάν in the Septuagint), and thus as implying that the worship of serpents was of ancient date in Israel. The assumption that the tradition about "Nehushtan" is not older than the time of Hezekiah is, however, not contested. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11430-nehushtan).
In the Jewish Virtual Library is the following:
"NEHUSHTAN (Heb. ןָּתְשֻחְנ), the name of the *copper serpent which King Hezekiah broke into pieces (II Kings 18:4). The name suggests both its serpentine shape (naḥash) as well as the material (neḥoshet) of which it was made. Since the smashing of the copper serpent parallels the shattering of the pillars and the cutting down of the Asherah (ibid.), it was probably located in the Temple court in Jerusalem. It was thus one of the cultic symbols of the people who assembled in the Temple courts. Like the local shrines (bamot), however, and like the two other objects named in the verse, it was illegitimate in the Deuteronomic view, in accordance with which Hezekiah abolished the former and destroyed the latter (ibid.). The Nehushtan probably stood in the Temple court, and the people believed that it had the power of curing sicknesses. Serpents are also associated with fertility. In this respect the copper serpent differed from the *cherubim, whose location was in the innermost sanctum of the Temple, hidden from human sight. Some scholars hold that the copper serpent in Jerusalem was set near "the stone of Zoheleth ("the crawler's [i.e., serpent's] stone"), which is beside En-Rogel" (I Kings 1:9), that is, outside the Temple enclosure. However, there are no grounds for connecting the copper serpent with the stone of Zoheleth. At the latter, sheep and oxen were sacrificed (ibid.), whereas only meal-offerings were offered to the copper serpent.
The account in Numbers 21:6–9 states that its form was that of a saraf, traditionally, a "fiery serpent." It probably had wings, for so serafim are described in the Bible (cf. Isa. 14:29; 30:6). Herodotus (2:75; 3:109) also states that in his day people told of the existence of flying
serpents in the Arabian desert.
Some scholars assume that the copper serpent entered the Israelite cult as a Canaanite heritage and only popular belief ascribed it to Moses, but this is to assume that we know more about "popular" vs. "official" religion in ancient Israel than we do. (For the problem of "official" vs. "popular," see Berlinerblau.) M. Noth contends that this tradition is somewhat later than the others associated with the Exodus from Egypt, since it can only have arisen after David had captured Jerusalem. H. Gressmann suggested that Moses adopted the copper serpent from the Midianites, but this has been rejected by other scholars. Ackerman believes that Asherah was connected with serpents so that the destruction of Asherah and the serpent would likewise be connected. Note that Nehushta, a name similar to that of the serpent, was borne by the mother of King Jehoiakin (II Kings 24:8)" (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_14666.html).
Again - Nehushta (Hebrew, NChShThN, "brass object") is the serpent of brass made by Moses and placed on a pole (Numbers 21:8-9) to cure the Israelites of the venomous bites of the fiery serpents in the wilderness. The word Nehushtah "thing of brass" contains a Hebrew pun, the first three letters, NChSh, mean "serpent" and the final two, ThN, mean "dragon."
The Nehushta was a brazen thing a name of contempt given to the serpent Moses had made in the wilderness (Num. 21:8), and which Hezekiah destroyed because the children of Israel began to regard it as an idol and "burn incense to it." The lapse of nearly one thousand years had invested the "brazen serpent" with a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, "Nehushtan," a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass (2 Kings 18:4).
In Christian interpretation, the lifting up of the brass serpent on a pole is generally held to be a prefigurement of Christ, to cure humanity from the "snakebite" of original sin. By Hebrew gematria there is some basis for this assumption, the numerical value of MShICH, "Messiah" and NChSh "serpent" are identical, 358. (see image below).
During the second centuries CE the serpent was worshipped with reverence by the Christian Gnostic sects of the Ophites and Naasseners. These sects worshipped the Biblical
serpent of the Garden of Eden that gave knowledge to Adam and Eve. The serpent was cnsidered the hero because he supplied "gnosis" to the first people which God, considered the
demiurge, kept from them.
The section in the Book of Numbers reads as follows:
Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." Moses made a
bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Many biblical scholars have debated this verse and the artifact:
"Mainstream scholars suggest that the image of the fiery serpent served to function like that of a magical amulet. Magic amulets or charms were used in the ancient Near East to practice a healing ritual known as sympathetic magic in an attempt to ward off, heal or reduce the impact of illness and poisons. Copper and bronze serpent figures have been recovered, showing that the practice was widespread ..... The plague of serpents remained an ongoing threat to the community and the raised bronze serpent was an ongoing reminder to each individual for the need to turn to the healing power of God. It has also been proposed that the bronze serpent was a type of intermediary between God and the people that served as a test of obedience, in the form of free judgment, standing between the dead who were not willing to look to God’s chosen instrument of healing, and the living who were willing and were healed. Thus, this instrument bore witness to the sovereign power of Yahweh even over the dangerous and sinister character of the desert.
In 2 Kings 18:4, a bronze serpent, alleged to be the one Moses made, was kept in Jerusalem's Temple sanctuary. The Israelites began to worship the object as an idol or image of God, by offering sacrifices and burning incense to it, until Hezekiah was made King. Hezekiah referred to it as Nehushtan and had tore it down. Scholars have debated the nature of the relationship between the Mosaic bronze serpent and Hezekiah’s Nehushtan, but traditions happen to link the two". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_(Bible).
According to the Jewish Encyclopeadia the Nehushtan was: Bronze figure of a serpent which was broken in pieces by Hezekiah at the beginningof his reign (II Kings xviii. 4). It was identified with the bronze serpent raised by Moses in the desert in order to heal the Israelites from the bites of the poisonous serpents to which they were exposed (Num. xxi. 4-10). The
Rabbis regarded the word "Nehushtan" as in the dual number, and believed that sacrifice to it involved the loss both of the present and of the future life (Midr. Esfah in Yalḳ., Num. 764). In the baraita Ber. 10b, which was incorporated in the Mishnah (Pes. iv. 8), the additional information is given that the destruction of the bronze serpent was applauded by the people.
Modern exegesis holds two different opinions in regard to the meaning of the word Nehushtan, which is explained either as denoting an image of bronze, and as entirely unconnected with the word "naḥash" (serpent), or as a lengthened form of "naḥash" (comp. νεεσθάν in the Septuagint), and thus as implying that the worship of serpents was of ancient date in Israel. The assumption that the tradition about "Nehushtan" is not older than the time of Hezekiah is, however, not contested. (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11430-nehushtan).
In the Jewish Virtual Library is the following:
"NEHUSHTAN (Heb. ןָּתְשֻחְנ), the name of the *copper serpent which King Hezekiah broke into pieces (II Kings 18:4). The name suggests both its serpentine shape (naḥash) as well as the material (neḥoshet) of which it was made. Since the smashing of the copper serpent parallels the shattering of the pillars and the cutting down of the Asherah (ibid.), it was probably located in the Temple court in Jerusalem. It was thus one of the cultic symbols of the people who assembled in the Temple courts. Like the local shrines (bamot), however, and like the two other objects named in the verse, it was illegitimate in the Deuteronomic view, in accordance with which Hezekiah abolished the former and destroyed the latter (ibid.). The Nehushtan probably stood in the Temple court, and the people believed that it had the power of curing sicknesses. Serpents are also associated with fertility. In this respect the copper serpent differed from the *cherubim, whose location was in the innermost sanctum of the Temple, hidden from human sight. Some scholars hold that the copper serpent in Jerusalem was set near "the stone of Zoheleth ("the crawler's [i.e., serpent's] stone"), which is beside En-Rogel" (I Kings 1:9), that is, outside the Temple enclosure. However, there are no grounds for connecting the copper serpent with the stone of Zoheleth. At the latter, sheep and oxen were sacrificed (ibid.), whereas only meal-offerings were offered to the copper serpent.
The account in Numbers 21:6–9 states that its form was that of a saraf, traditionally, a "fiery serpent." It probably had wings, for so serafim are described in the Bible (cf. Isa. 14:29; 30:6). Herodotus (2:75; 3:109) also states that in his day people told of the existence of flying
serpents in the Arabian desert.
Some scholars assume that the copper serpent entered the Israelite cult as a Canaanite heritage and only popular belief ascribed it to Moses, but this is to assume that we know more about "popular" vs. "official" religion in ancient Israel than we do. (For the problem of "official" vs. "popular," see Berlinerblau.) M. Noth contends that this tradition is somewhat later than the others associated with the Exodus from Egypt, since it can only have arisen after David had captured Jerusalem. H. Gressmann suggested that Moses adopted the copper serpent from the Midianites, but this has been rejected by other scholars. Ackerman believes that Asherah was connected with serpents so that the destruction of Asherah and the serpent would likewise be connected. Note that Nehushta, a name similar to that of the serpent, was borne by the mother of King Jehoiakin (II Kings 24:8)" (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0015_0_14666.html).
Again - Nehushta (Hebrew, NChShThN, "brass object") is the serpent of brass made by Moses and placed on a pole (Numbers 21:8-9) to cure the Israelites of the venomous bites of the fiery serpents in the wilderness. The word Nehushtah "thing of brass" contains a Hebrew pun, the first three letters, NChSh, mean "serpent" and the final two, ThN, mean "dragon."
The Nehushta was a brazen thing a name of contempt given to the serpent Moses had made in the wilderness (Num. 21:8), and which Hezekiah destroyed because the children of Israel began to regard it as an idol and "burn incense to it." The lapse of nearly one thousand years had invested the "brazen serpent" with a mysterious sanctity; and in order to deliver the people from their infatuation, and impress them with the idea of its worthlessness, Hezekiah called it, in contempt, "Nehushtan," a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass (2 Kings 18:4).
In Christian interpretation, the lifting up of the brass serpent on a pole is generally held to be a prefigurement of Christ, to cure humanity from the "snakebite" of original sin. By Hebrew gematria there is some basis for this assumption, the numerical value of MShICH, "Messiah" and NChSh "serpent" are identical, 358. (see image below).
During the second centuries CE the serpent was worshipped with reverence by the Christian Gnostic sects of the Ophites and Naasseners. These sects worshipped the Biblical
serpent of the Garden of Eden that gave knowledge to Adam and Eve. The serpent was cnsidered the hero because he supplied "gnosis" to the first people which God, considered the
demiurge, kept from them.
Then Yahweh sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against Yahweh and against you. Pray that Yahweh will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake… on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten… and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.” - Numbers 21:6-9
Conclusions
After reading much of Cherisey's words i think it is entirely possible that on one level we are meant to see in the Red Serpent (Serpent Rouge) the Rod of Ascelepius. There are several reason's i use to support my argument:
1) Making the central verse of the poem Serpent Rouge Ophiuchius.
2) Rendering that verse as the central moment when the poet discovers 'the secret' viz a viz: "Here is the proof that I knew the secret of the Seal of SOLOMON, that of this QUEEN I have visited the hidden residences". The fact that the secret is related to a Seal of Solomon (i.e. a Jewish artifact perhaps?).
3) From Cherisey' s writings we have seen that he refers to the treasure of Solomon repeatedly and also to historical events which are linked to elements of that Solomonic treasure. The treasure was looted by King Alaric 410AD secondarily to Titus in AD70. He also mentions in other Priory propaganda a so called Gold Cross of Toledo which is supposed to have been thought by the Merovingian kings to have been made for King Solomon. What Cherisey actually wrote was the following:
"Childebert, enthralled by this display, entered into talks with Aimoin & obtained the nvaluable tunic. The new temple Childebert later built was intended to shelter the sacred relic and was dedicated to Vincent: it also had the name of Holy Cross in remembering a cross of gold that Childebert obtained and which he thought had belonged to King Solomon'.
The drawback here of course is that the Rod of Ascelepius/Moses/Brazen Serpent is never at any time described as being shaped like a cross, so maybe these ideas of the two artifacts are unconnected. We have also seen above that A staff was passed down from generation to generation and was in the possession of the Judean kings until the First Temple was destroyed. It is unknown what became of the staff after the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled from their land. This is interesting because it suggests that some believed the Rod was an actual artifact and perhaps was later looted by King Alaric from Rome, if Titus had collected Temple of Solomon furniture which may have later included an artifact associated with Moses.
5) I also suggest that the properties of the caduceus, the Rod of Ascelepius, the Rod of Moses/Brazen Serpent that is given to 'owners' of these rods/wands have some similarities i.e. that they become somehow protector of souls in the underworld etc. This is a point Cherisey continues to make throughout some of his Priory propaganda and his suggestions about what Sauniere may have been up to.
The Rod of Moses or the Nehushtan, if they are real artifacts and of course if they survived, were items said to have been kept with the Temple furniture in Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The Oxford Essential Guide to Ideas & Issues of the Bible (American Edition) admits that –
“The line between idol representations and permissible cultic objects may at points seem unclear; the ark, with its gold cherubim, was not considered an idol but a manifestation of God’s presence; similarly, ambiguous were the teraphim, the ephod, the Nehushtan or bronze serpent, and the oxen supporting the molten sea in Solomon’s Temple. The criterion for illicit use of such cultic objects apparently lay in whether they were worshiped directly as manipulable substitutes for Yahweh” (p. 210).
After reading much of Cherisey's words i think it is entirely possible that on one level we are meant to see in the Red Serpent (Serpent Rouge) the Rod of Ascelepius. There are several reason's i use to support my argument:
1) Making the central verse of the poem Serpent Rouge Ophiuchius.
2) Rendering that verse as the central moment when the poet discovers 'the secret' viz a viz: "Here is the proof that I knew the secret of the Seal of SOLOMON, that of this QUEEN I have visited the hidden residences". The fact that the secret is related to a Seal of Solomon (i.e. a Jewish artifact perhaps?).
3) From Cherisey' s writings we have seen that he refers to the treasure of Solomon repeatedly and also to historical events which are linked to elements of that Solomonic treasure. The treasure was looted by King Alaric 410AD secondarily to Titus in AD70. He also mentions in other Priory propaganda a so called Gold Cross of Toledo which is supposed to have been thought by the Merovingian kings to have been made for King Solomon. What Cherisey actually wrote was the following:
"Childebert, enthralled by this display, entered into talks with Aimoin & obtained the nvaluable tunic. The new temple Childebert later built was intended to shelter the sacred relic and was dedicated to Vincent: it also had the name of Holy Cross in remembering a cross of gold that Childebert obtained and which he thought had belonged to King Solomon'.
The drawback here of course is that the Rod of Ascelepius/Moses/Brazen Serpent is never at any time described as being shaped like a cross, so maybe these ideas of the two artifacts are unconnected. We have also seen above that A staff was passed down from generation to generation and was in the possession of the Judean kings until the First Temple was destroyed. It is unknown what became of the staff after the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled from their land. This is interesting because it suggests that some believed the Rod was an actual artifact and perhaps was later looted by King Alaric from Rome, if Titus had collected Temple of Solomon furniture which may have later included an artifact associated with Moses.
5) I also suggest that the properties of the caduceus, the Rod of Ascelepius, the Rod of Moses/Brazen Serpent that is given to 'owners' of these rods/wands have some similarities i.e. that they become somehow protector of souls in the underworld etc. This is a point Cherisey continues to make throughout some of his Priory propaganda and his suggestions about what Sauniere may have been up to.
The Rod of Moses or the Nehushtan, if they are real artifacts and of course if they survived, were items said to have been kept with the Temple furniture in Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The Oxford Essential Guide to Ideas & Issues of the Bible (American Edition) admits that –
“The line between idol representations and permissible cultic objects may at points seem unclear; the ark, with its gold cherubim, was not considered an idol but a manifestation of God’s presence; similarly, ambiguous were the teraphim, the ephod, the Nehushtan or bronze serpent, and the oxen supporting the molten sea in Solomon’s Temple. The criterion for illicit use of such cultic objects apparently lay in whether they were worshiped directly as manipulable substitutes for Yahweh” (p. 210).
The above may all be very well and good. But it is all conjecture. Cherisey did not choose to spell it all out clearly to us. He used word play and games to lead us this merry dance about what his thoughts were on Sauniere's activities. It is only one section of a myriad of 'clues' and suggestions Cherisey put forward. The point is, that unfortunatly, these speculations do not really help in getting us closer to Sauniere and what he was doing. Indeed none of this may be relevant at all. It is entirely possible that Cherisey grafted on to the 'story of Sauniere' something not related to him at all but was a handy vehicle for Cherisey to use.
And there are many problems with the idea of a surviving ancient relic even 'surviving', let alone it being linked to Sauniere. There is also currently no evidence of a relic being linked to Sauniere. It would appear to be all in the mind of Cherisey. Has he given us the necessary keys to fathom it out? Who knows?
Even then, if the solution is an artifact once kept in the Temple of Solomon which somehow survived and was later looted - will it ever be enough to explain the whole affair of Rennes?
And there are many problems with the idea of a surviving ancient relic even 'surviving', let alone it being linked to Sauniere. There is also currently no evidence of a relic being linked to Sauniere. It would appear to be all in the mind of Cherisey. Has he given us the necessary keys to fathom it out? Who knows?
Even then, if the solution is an artifact once kept in the Temple of Solomon which somehow survived and was later looted - will it ever be enough to explain the whole affair of Rennes?