Читать книгу Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside - Brad Steiger - Страница 12

In many ways, Semjaza is synonymous with the Serpent who tempted Eve and Adam with the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Nearly every known Earth culture has its legends of wise Serpent People who ruled the planet in prehistoric times and assisted humankind in rising in status from hairless apes to the lords of the planet. Many of these Serpent People were said to come from the sky to promulgate the beneficent and civilizing rule of the Sons of the Sun, or the Sons of Heaven, upon Earth. Quetzacoatl, the “feathered serpent” and culture-bearer of the Aztecs, was said to have descended from Heaven in a silver egg. Ciuacoatl, the Great Mother of the Gods for the ancient people of Mexico, was represented as a serpent woman. Among many African tribes, it is Aido Hwendo, the Rainbow Serpent, that supports the Earth.

The Babylonian priest-historian Berossus chronicled the legend of Oannes, an entity described as a serpent-like half-man, half-fish, who surfaced from the Persian Gulf to instruct the early inhabitants of Mesopotamia in the arts of civilization. Before the advent of the serpent master Oannes, Berossus stated, the Sumerians were savages, living like the beasts with no order or rule.

Like so many accounts of the Serpent People, Oannes appeared to be some kind of amphibious Master Teacher endowed with superior intelligence, but possessing an appearance that was frightening to behold. Oannes had the body of a fishlike serpent with humanlike feet and a head that combined the features of fish and human. Berossus explained that the creature walked about on land during the day, counseling and teaching the Sumerians, but returned to the ocean each evening. The amphibious master gave the once primitive Sumerians insight into letters and sciences and every kind of art. He taught them to construct houses, to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He made them distinguish the seeds of the Earth and showed them how to harvest fruits. In short, Oannes instructed them in everything that could tend to soften the manners of and civilize humankind.

The ancient texts tell of the Watchers, the Nephilim, the fallen ones who were the first real vampires to exploit humankind (illustration by Ricardo Pustanio).

Because of the respect for the great Serpent Masters of prehistoric times, the serpent was regarded as both a symbol of immortality and of death in ancient Egypt, and the pharaoh wore a snake emblem on his headdress as a mark of royalty and divinity. Apollo, the Greek god of healing and medicine, was originally invoked and worshipped as a serpent. Aesculapius, another deity associated with medicine, often materialized as a serpent, and his crest of the double snakes remains today as a symbol of the medical profession: the caduceus.

In the Hebrew account of the Fall from Paradise, the Serpent was the king of beasts, walking on two legs. The Serpent became jealous when he saw how the angels honored Adam. For his part in the seduction of Eve, the Serpent was punished by having his limbs removed and being forced to crawl on his belly. In the Muslim tradition, it is Archangel Michael who chops off the serpent’s limbs with the sword of God.

In many Native American legends, the great hero Manabozho must battle many Serpent People to free his people from bondage. According to many tribal traditions, in the beginning of time humans and snakes could converse freely. It was believed that shamans and others who were powerfully attuned to the spirit level could still communicate with serpents and learn secrets about the future and powerful healing medicines.

Snakes appear in the mythology and legends of cultures worldwide, including the familiar biblical tale of the Garden of Eden. Could this commonality among ancient civilizations be a clue about creatures visiting early mankind?

Serpent People remain popular as shape-shifting entities in the local folklore of many areas around the world. Some cultures still believe that an underground race of reptilian beings secretly control all the major events of life on this planet. Certain UFO investigators have theorized that the Serpent People of prehistoric times are the same beings who today visit Earth in spaceships as Overlords surveying the evolution of humankind.