Serpent/Snake: Due to its ability to renew itself through shedding its skin, the snake was believed by the ancient world to avoid old age and gain immortality. In her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), Barbara Walker explains, “A basic serpent-myth said the dual Moon-goddess of life and death made the first man. Her bright aspect suggested making him immortal like a snake, able to shed his skin; but her dark aspect insisted that he should die and be buried in the earth.” The reverence for the serpent can be seen in a variety of expressions such as

the Italian aver piu anni d’un serpente “Being older than a serpent.” The Greek term for a snake’s cast geras or “old age.” The Melanesian saying “to slough one’s skin” means eternal life (Walker, 1983). The Hindu Goddess Ananta the Infinite took the form of a serpent as the inner female soul of man, the temple Khmer of Angkor Wat in Cambodia was dedicated to the Serpent-Goddess who nightly embraced the king and signaled for a new king when she did not appear. The Negritos (Chinese) said that Mat Chinoi was the divine serpent Mother of the Chinese. Aegeans worshipped women and serpents. Indigenous American Hopi ask the snake to carry their prayers for rain in the Snake Dance (Shephard, 2002). In India the Serpent Goddess is called Kadru, in Babylonia it is Kadi or Der, in Egypt she is called Mehen the Enveloper, the Akkadians called her Ninhursag, her Jewish name was Nehushtan, etc. According to Symbols Of Church Seasons And Days (1997), by John Bradner, “A serpent shown at the foot of the cross signifies the evil responsible for the Fall of Man.”

Sheep and Shepherds: Greeks and Romans sacrificed sheep to Zeus/Jupiter, Hera/Juno, Mars, Silvanus, Terminus, and Aphrodite, as they could be eaten and their hide made into cloths. According to Symbolic And Mythological Animals (1992) by J. C. Cooper, “Generally symbolizing silliness, timidity, helplessness and unintelligent conformity, the sheep needs a shepherd to lead it; it also signifies placidity.” From Symbols Of Church Seasons And Days (1997), by John Bradner, “The shepherds…represent the humble Jewish folk to whom Christ was first presented.” Hindus regard the sheep as evil while Muslims believe them holy and Hebrews considered them a most valued possession. In China, Shepherds worshipped Huang Ch’hPing, God of Sheep. Sheep incarnate the souls of ancestors in Madagascar.

Sphinx: See Cat.

Sleipnir: The Norse eight-legged gray horse of Odin. The horse symbolized death, like the gallows-tree on which Odin hung. According to Barbara Walker, in, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983).

Spider: The spider has symbolized the controller or “weaver” of Fate for a variety of spiritual traditions. Athena was associated with the spider in early writings as her totem animal, “spinning the web of Fate,” and later as the maiden Arachne whose weaving inspired such jealousy in Athena that she turned Arachne into a spider. Hindu mythology states that Maya, the virgin face of the Triple Goddess, was represented by a spider, “spinner of magic, fate, and

earthly appearances” similar to the Wheel of Fate (Walker, 1983). Clotho and the Virgin Moera were also associated with the spider. Due to the spider’s habit of devouring her consort, she was depicted as the death goddess Kalu-Uma. Similarly, Aztec mythology held that spiders were the souls of dead warrior women of the pre-Aztec matriarchate, who would descend from heaven on silken threads at the end of the world to devour all the men on earth. The Amazonians also had Fate-spinners. Medieval Europe associated spiders with witches. The Ashanti (West Africa) spider God, Anansi, is pictured here.

Stag: “The stag is pre-eminently a solar symbol, at war with the chthonic serpent. The stag trampling on the serpent, like the eagle with the snake in its talons, depicts the conflicting opposites, positive and negative, the final triumph of good over evil, of light against darkness and the spirit over matter,” according to Symbolic And Mythological Animals (1992) by J. C. Cooper. The sacred stag often appears with the Tree of Life and represents the fertility god in Sumero-Semitic rituals. The Celts associated the stag with the Horned God Cernunnos and the Hunter god Cocidius, as having male fertility-power. In Greece, Artemis’s chariot is drawn by stags and it was an attribute of Diana, Dionysos, and Bacchus.

Swine: Swine are found everywhere but Australia and New Zealand. “They have a varied symbolism, representing extreme fertility and hence prosperity but also the height of greed, gluttony, lust, obstinacy, passion and the unclean.” The Great Mother goddess is sometimes associated with a fertility sow; in Rome they are sacrificed to Mars as the God of Agriculture and to Ceres and Tellus at harvest festivals; in Greece they are sacrificed to Demeter the fertility goddess; the pig sometimes represents Set in Egypt; Hebrews consider it an unclean animal; Celts considered it food for the gods. It was ceremoniously hunted and killed and the Celts fertility goddess, Keridwen, was a sow. In China, they represent untamed nature, naturally greedy, and dirty. In Hawaii the Hog-child is consort to the Fire Goddess. In Melanesia, the Tusked Boar was most sacred to men’s secret societies.