Rainbow Serpent: The Very Controversial Snakes

The Very Controversial Snake There are many common assumptions, beliefs, and stereotypes about snakes (serpents).The snake is a very controversial figure for they are seen as either cunning, deceiving, and greedy, sign of death and sickness, or as a part of creation, immortality, hero, or as a protector. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of their many characteristics. Asian, African, and Australian snakes are viewed as a great and good power such as a Rainbow and Rain God, the inventor of creation, and a protector from storms. “Man-made laws and social customs do not form the basis of Buddhist ethics” (Buddhists Ethics). This means they do not base their ethics based on what man thinks is right and wrong, but they based it on the “unchanging laws of nature” (Buddhists Ethics). They value happiness above all. In Buddhism and snakes “…symbolize both good and evil, hopes and fears” (Serpents and Snakes). There is one Buddhist legend is which the Snake represents “good” called “Buddha and the Naga …show more content…
They live off of the land and value reciprocity, respect, equality, responsibility, survival and protection, and spirit and integrity. The story of the “Rainbow Serpent” is related to the value of survival and protections. It explains the seasons to the aborigines since they lived off of the land and harvest, plant, and farm in correspondence to the amount of precipitation. The Rainbow serpent, named Kelseru, “…cosmic multi-colored python that lives in deep waters” (Mythical Creatures List). It stays in the stays in the soil in the dry season and goes up to the sky as a rainbow and sends down rains during the wet season to help the crops and plants grow (Mythical Creatures List). Kalseru protects, but can also punish just as well, which is why the aborigines are careful not to break values as to not be punished by Kalseru. He also symbolizes land, weather, and fertility with is linked to rain and