Go ahead and copy these pics.  I don't mind.  Just give me credit for the ones I drew.

Leon's Essays on the Topic of Serpents

First Essay:  "Serpents: Enemies or Allies?"  

CONCLUSION

No matter what, I'm convinced that the serpents symbolized the union of the male haploid and female haploid DNA strands into one.  Why they had to be either enemies or allies is a mystery to me.

The only exception to the male-female "rule" would be Quetzalcoatl (and his MALE twin).
Here is a quotation from an article entitled "Quetzalcoatl" on the Wikipedia website:

The part in this hue of greenish blue is very interesting to me, because it ties the serpent with FERTILITY.  Interestingly, another article from the Wikipedia website, entitled, "Snakes in Mythology", describes another tie-in to FERTILITY:

WOW!  AND THE SERPENT-FERTILITY ASSOCIATION DOESN'T END THERE...

In the Hindu Religion, (especially in Southern India) intertwined serpents are the symbols of fertility; And, jewelry (such as is depicted below) is made to ensure the fertility of the wearer.

NOW, WE KNOW WHY.  DON'T WE?

I FIND THE FOLLOWING PICTURE INTERESTING BECAUSE THE SERPENT IS INTERTWINED THROUGHOUT THE 'TREE OF LIFE':

Second Essay - "The Single Serpent Vs. The Double Serpent"

Humans are composed of two 'serpent-like' things, which we now refer to as 'DNA strands'.  Each strand makes (composes) 23 chromosomes (see number 23 in numerology).  The 23rd chromosome is the "sex" or "gender" chromosome (this is highly significant, and you'll see why if you see my numerology page).

One serpent (strand) comes from a male human (via spermatozoa), and one serpent (strand) comes from a female human (via ova).  Humans are therefore in essence double-serpent beings.

Yet, there is a life-form, consisting of only one serpent.  It is called a virus.  Viruses are single DNA strands, that reproduce by infecting double serpent bodies and "stealing" their DNA, in order to replicate, causing havoc for the double-serpent beings, sometimes even killing the double serpent beings.

Now, being "armed" with this new perspective or insight, it is expedient to read from Genesis:

Serpents (snakes) are not all cursed, in fact some are liked very much.  But, all viruses are cursed.  And since the ancient Hebrews did not have a word for "virus", why not use "serpent" as a metaphor?

It is written, "dust shalt thou eat".  "Adam" means "dust" in the Hebrew language.  And since the humans were created of the dust of the earth, it means that the viruses would eat us:  HUMANS, i.e., the double-serpent beings!

It is written:  "...between thy seed and her seed".  Do viruses have "seed"?  Yes!  Like I mentioned above, viruses replicate (have seed) by stealing our DNA!

It is written:  [God speaking to the serpent] "...it [the seed of the woman] shall bruise thy head".  Do viruses have heads?  No.  So, this is clearly another metaphor.  The head is considered the most vital part of the body.  Without it, we die.  When we lose a limb, we most likely won't die (provided medical attention is given), but if we lose our head, no amount of medical attention will bring us back to life.  Thus, it means that the double-serpent beings would be able to KILL the single-serpent beings.

It is written:  [God speaking to the serpent] "...thou shalt bruise his [the seed of the woman]'s heel."  Unlike the head, the heel is not a vital part of the body.  Thus it means that the single-serpent beings would only be able to do minimal damage to humans.

It should be known that most viruses do not kill.  HIV doesn't kill, either.  But, what it does is it attacks the immune system so that the double-serpent beings cannot fight other bacteria and viruses that attack the body.  It would seem that the single-serpent beings have found our "Achilles' heel"!!!

Third Essay:  "The HINDU & GREEK Serpent-DNA Connection"

Hindu religion is the oldest religion still remaining on this planet, and it has an interesting perspective on Serpent Symbolism.

Source:  ProbertEncyclopaedia

Also, there is an interesting story in Greek mythology.  Evidently, Delphi (which means womb or navel) was the "center" of the world (and quite possibly the birthplace of human beings).  There was a huge dragon/serpent called "Python", which was the protectorate of "mother earth" (Gaia).  Python almost killed Apollo's mother, and as a result Apollo killed the Python.  [That's a very abbreviated version of the story, by the way].

The parallel between the Greek Python and the Norse Jormungand is fascinating, isn't it?!!!  (Jormungand was allegedly a single serpent sent by the gods to afflict humans).

It is also fascinating to note that Aesculapius (the father of medicine), was the son of Apollo.  And Hygieia (the goddess of health) and Panaceia (goddess of healing) were the daughters of Aesculapius.

What we have here are 3 generations of healers!

I suggest that the Python was a virus, which almost killed Apollo's mother.  He eradicated the virus through an adept use of medical science.  Then, he passed his skills on to his son.

It is also interesting to note that Aesculapius was reported to carry a staff with a carving of a serpent coiled around it, like this:

Now, compare these pictures of viruses to the Ancient Serpents:

  This is the "Y" potato virus.

It could the two-headed serpent of many ancient religions/cultures.

This the "T4" virus.  Notice is has seven extremities.

It could the seven-headed Hydra of Greek mythology, which was eventually killed by Hercules and his nephew.

Interestingly, there is a seven-headed serpert (naga) of Buddhist lore.  It was forbidden to enter Buddhist temples, and statues thereof adorn the exterior of Buddhist temples, as protectors thereof.  Could it be that the statues served as a warning... that warning being that whoever enters here will be infected by a deadly virus?  And only special personages were allowed to enter such temples.  Could it be that those special personages had the antibodies to fight off said virus?  Things that make you go: "Hmmmm."  huh?

Also, interestingly, the seven or nine-headed Hydra was the protector of Hera's Golden Apple Tree.  Could it be that the fruit of the tree was infected with a deadly virus?

It could be the "coiled serpent" of many ancient religions/cultures.

Check out this coiled serpent sculpture from ancient Mexico: (click here).

Virus pics from here.

    "My Dream about a Dragon and a Winding Staircase"

Several Years ago, I was writing a paper for my graduate studies at the University of Birmingham in the area of applied linguistics.  My friend, Stephen, was also writing a similar paper for the same course.  We got to talking about our assignments and the course contents.  During one such discussion, the question came up:  is the ability to learn and produce a language genetic or learned, i.e., is it hardware or software.  Stephen said that he knew the answer, but that he wouldn't tell me.  I'd have to figure it out for myself.  So, I went out to have a smoke, for I think better with the stimulation from the nicotine.  Five cigarettes later, I came back in and announced that I had solved the problem.

Before I write the answer, let take you through the though process in my mind (so far as I can remember).

I remember thinking that there must be some hardware, such as a mouth, a tongue, vocal cords, and so on.  This is provided by the genes (DNA).  Then, I remember thinking that hardware (such as that of a computer) is useless without instructions (software) to operate the hardware.  So, it dawned on me that language ability comes BOTH from hardware AND software.

BUT, I was faced with the problem of where the software came from.  This was the hard part.  I finally came to the conclusion that the DNA is a living, chemical program.  That means that the software and the hardware are one in the same.  They cannot be separated.

It's like energy and matter.  Energy and matter are actually the same thing.  The fact that we have two words to describe the same thing shows the duality of all substance in the known universe.  DNA is likewise dual in nature.  The hardware IS the software, AND the software IS the hardware.

Thus, learning to speak a language is analogous to "filling" in the blanks.  If there is no existing word or expression to fill in the blank, a new word or expression must be created.  The program has accounted for this contingency and humans seem to have a biological imperative to label all things, both concrete and abstract.

After I solved that problem, I began to ponder more deeply the ramifications of this new found knowledge.  It seemed that the genes might actually be intelligent... that they might be fully functioning organisms, living in communities that we call DNA strands.  The fact that they can replicate themselves provides some support for this notion.  Obviously, the more complex and populous the colony, the more complex the being created by the genes.  Then, I got the notion that genes might actually be considered our creators, i.e., our gods.  We, humans are merely organisms composed of zillions of minute organisms, who are our masters... our gods.

So, when religionists say that God lives within each of us, they are more literal than they perceive themselves to be.  When I read Narby's account (above), it reminded me of my previous ponderings, and I think that if we want to meet our makers, the way to do so, is NOT to die, but through the power of our own minds.  We must enter an altered state of consciousness and "listen" to the gods within us, and hear what they have to teach us about ourselves and our environment.

When we dream, we might be actually communicating with our own DNA.  Thus, by paying attention to our dreams, we might be able to gain insights about ourselves.  In fact, I now firmly believe this to be true.

I am reminded of a dream that I had once.  It is particularly relevant to this line of thought.