so, I was really loving this thread until about page 25 or so, when it really went off on a wild tangent. And I love speculation as much as the next person, but I think Skyfloating was really onto something with the start of that post, and getting out into the murky waters of speculation seemed to divert this thread off of that.
Much of what is contained in this thread (at least until it got into channeled material and the like,) are things which I have researched extensively from a number of angles. In fact, I think I had a bit of a U2U chat about that with Skyfloating once upon a time. lol Now, I'm working on a book about this, so I don't precisely want to give away everything I've concluded...But I do want to share some of the paths I have taken, and see what talk that might spark.
To begin, about the Rainbow Serpents...I think there are two things to keep in mind when looking at ANY "mythology." One, as Skyfloating points out, there are certainly verifiable facts contained in these mythologies. (The Bible is another prime example of this.) At the same time, there is something else to consider...most mythologies began as oral traditions. The most useful, historically, are those like the aboriginal and hebrew traditions, where there was strict enforcement concerning accuracy. BUT...as oral traditions, they are not designed to be precise accounts of history. That sort of thinking and that sort of content does not lend itself to oral tradition. The human mind does not work that way. What DOES work is turning knowledge, be it historical facts, science, mathematics, what have you, into stories that can either teach the concepts to all or preserve them to the initiated through symbols.
So then, what of serpents and rainbow serpents? Well, first off, I would conclude that the rainbow aspect is probably something attached to the serpent concept as a tool for story-telling and visualization. Correct me if I am wrong, but the nature of the landscape in many areas lends itself to rainbows around water, does it not? I believe I have read so, though I have not had the pleasure of verifying this for myself. If this is the case, rainbows would then be vital to survival, as they would mark out a water hole. Esp so for "rainbow serpents," ie, prismatic reflections low to the ground near water, that would seem to dance along the horizon. This, I would imagine, is probably pretty close to the standard interpretation.
However...as Skyfloating brings up, serpents are EVERYWHERE in ancient history/mythology/prehistory. So much so that, with no other analysis even, its pretty hard to write it off as coincidence. So, it comes down to...what's the deal with these serpents?
This is getting a bit wordy, so Im going to try to pare it down a bit here...after all, this is a large portion of a book Im trying to make into a post, but....I have taken an approach that begins with symbology. What has the serpent represented throughout time and cultures? Change. Wisdom..usually secret or forbidden wisdom. A staff of power, in the form of the caduceus and the nehushtan. Water/life, the tree of life. The cross. And so on.
Seeming quite mundane, so far? Don't worry, it's not. To stick with the aspect carried through this thread, that of ancient interaction with non-native beings, the serpent is often a symbol intertwined with stories of secret knowledge from various "gods" and god-like beings. In most mythologies, the serpent is in fact synonymous with such knowledge, even where it is not blatantly so. The "problem," if you will, comes with trying to pin down both what this knowledge is, and who shared it. This is where my conclusions begin to diverge from this thread a bit.
First, we need to discard preconceptions and look at the evidence with an unfiltered perspective. Im not going to list evidence in this post; we can dig into that later, should anyone be interested. But the particular preconceptions that I believe are leading to the academic dead-end into understanding "prehistory" are first the preconceptions we often carry about origins; I am of the opinion that we should believe truth, no dogma, nor speculation. As such, I have set aside any religious beliefs, and critically examined the "science" of evolution. In particular importance to the topic of prehistory, in this case, that touches on both religion and evolution, is the timelines that have been set for events. Even in history, there are a number of gaps that are set up to fit preconceived notions of when various things occurred. Part of my book addresses this, and attempts to use correlating facts between cultures and unbiased dating to bring history into a more streamlined and coherent tale. That is still an ongoing process, I might add. In the end, though, what it brings us to is something that might not be so startling to those of us in this thread, but very startling to many others, I think.
At this point, my preliminary conclusions are that, some time shortly preceding the rise of historical civilizations, a SERIES of calamities occurred. One in the range of 3500 BC, and one in the range of 8000-10000 BC. As I said, I am still deep in the process of pinning these things down. The earlier calamity, coinciding with the short ice age, (yes, I am aware of the conventional dating for that event ) was the fall and nearly complete destruction of a world that was highly advanced, but NOT in the way we think of advancement. Without getting into that, there are other roads to advancement that do not entail machinery and synthetics, as we are just now beginning to understand. Secondly, I have found much reason to believe that there were drastic changes in the very physics of life on earth at that time, resulting in changes in gravity, electromagnetics, and atmosphere. (This, in fact, has led me on a trail of what might be the first inkling of a GUT, as well.) This catastrophe would also account for a number of significant discrepancies between mythology and scientific dating. (Think man and dinosaurs together, for one.)
After this event, I think we have the first "gods" and the rise of the serpents. In a matter of a few generations, all memory of the previous level of advancement have become folklore and oral traditions being passed down by those who cannot comprehend the things which they are trying to impart. Isolated groups, though, would likely have maintained a greater level of knowledge. Can you see where I am going? (cont...)

[edit on 12/6/2008 by saturnine_sweet]

These isolated, more advanced groups would most like try to remain separate from the other groups, as those who have lost civilization, if you will, would be given to becoming nomadic tribes ruled by various violent systems. So why did they not come to rule the world again?
I think they tried to. As the "gods" who came to the lesser people, imparting knowledge, prohibitions, and rules. Then why did they fail? Serpents.
How so? Just as with Eve in Eden, there are a number of mythologies pointing to previously forbidden knowledge being shared with these lesser people, knowledge that compromised the safety of the "gods." Be it arrogance or something physiological, these "gods" never seemed to gain the numbers to take over the earth once more. Instead, mythology suggests that they interacted with lesser humans, if you will, to a point that led to chaos, and to the second, lesser calamity. (often termed a flood, though I have suspicions that such floods were side-effects.) Following this second calamity, it appears that the "gods" that remained took two paths. One, the separatists path, and eventually being overwhelmed by the others, who went out amongst the lesser people and became the "god-kings." And here we have what I believe to be the base conflict that remains to this very day.
On one side, the god-kings gain great power and kingdoms, as the other, separatist groups fade from view. But a new sort of serpent pops up here. The positive aspect of the serpent of knowledge and life, the secret priesthoods that begin to gain power in a number of these early civilizations, a power running counter to that of the god-kings.
I think I will leave it at that, for now. Obviously, I didnt give source and such, as most would bitch an moan about, (I, too, have abandoned the ancient history forum for a reason,) but I think most of you on this thread have shown a base knowledge great enough to know most of the salient points from which I have built that conclusion, anyways. Also, to be honest, most of my material is from books, not the internet, so I don't have handy links. lol
In any case, I hope this added something to the thread and might spark further discussion on the factual aspects of what these mythologies suggest about our prehistory.

I had to post this because I have researched a lot of the worlds serpent myths. They are all extremely similar, and in no way does this mean that alien astronauts came the world over giving us technology or terraforming or whatever.

The serpent is a symbol, a spiritual and religious one in any religion thats not patriarchal. The concepts behind it are many, but it alludes to the creative and destructive energies of the Universe.

I'm afraid your theory conflicts with mine, and since I'm clearly right (joke), I have to refute yours. My hypothesis is about how and why the mind and psychology have created the same images the world over. It doesn't require a source like Atlantis or Aliens.

Originally posted by Trojan_libido


The serpent is a symbol, a spiritual and religious one in any religion thats not patriarchal. The concepts behind it are many, but it alludes to the creative and destructive energies of the Universe.

My hypothesis is about how and why the mind and psychology have created the same images the world over.

I would like to hear more about your hypothesis if you would like to share it.

It's all good, some is just better than others!

The more ideas we accumulate the better equiped our personal data banks are for making our own "educated" analysis.

IA

I haven't finished reading the whole thread yet so pardon me if this has been suggested already.

Has anyone read " The Serpent Grail"? It's basically about the physical proprties of snake venom and how those properties and the uses of snake venom may tie in with ancient religous/social practices. Immortality, wisdom, etc. Even has modern evidence. Pretty interesting read, especially if you are interested in ancient history.
After readingit I got the idea that htere may have been a rebellion, the use was practiced without wisdom and devolution set in.....but that's just my take.

I am from Australia and know a lot about aboriginal culture.. I'll join this site soon and post a thread about the wandjina and the lightning brothers which should add to this subject.. There is a lot of info in this thread though that is incorrect.. For 1.. Bullroarer? Australia didn't have "bulls" until the introduction of cattle in colonial settlement in 1788.. So aboriginal people wouldn't have made a term like this until after whiteman was already here.. There are alot of interesting stories concerning Australian aboriginals.. I really think people should actually come see their art and ceremonies first before writting about them... there are some things written here that are correct but there is a lot of incorrect info aswell.. I'm highly interested in the possibilities of Ancient astronaut theory but think the idea needs to be desensationalised and logic theory elements removed, factual based science needs to prevail.. Whats logical isn't always the answer.. And Zachariah Stitchin is a fiction writer in my opinion.. And his self proclaimed ability to read sumarian text is completely bogus and designed to serve 1 purpose.. Sell Fiction novels!

The Rainbow Serpent represents the bending of light.

We are over complicating it.