Lord of Flies

Sometimes things are named after what they look like. Such as the color orange is named after the fruit, the orange, the name of the fruit which is derived from Sanskrit nāranga "orange tree", and not used as a name for the color until the 1540s.

Fly on Orange, pencil and marker drawing by Julie O. /chthonickore

Sometimes things are named after what they do as well. Like the insect, the fly, originally from Proto-Germanic *fleugon "flying insect", literally "the flying (insect)". 

Beelzebub or Beelzebul, referred to as Lord of Flies, is derived from the Philistine god known as Ba'al Zevûv or Ba'al Zebub, Baal of Flies, literally Lord (Ba'al) of Flies (Zebub). 

"Beelzebub and them that are with him shoot arrows" from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince (ruler) of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."  Matthew 12:24

Lord of Hosts is one of the names of God as translated from the Old Testament. "Hosts" meaning organized body of angels. A transliteration to English being YHWH Sabaoth. 

However, Satan or Beelzebub, is Lord of the hosts as well, i.e., the army of demons, which could be called his nasty "flies". Flies in this sense is meant to be derogatory showing that this host is made up of demons and not angels of God. They are a host of flyers, metaphorically a swarm of flies. Swarm, in Hebrew is arob "swarm, swarm of flies". It is used to describe the fourth plague inflicted upon Egypt in the book of Exodus, known as The Plague of Flies. 

And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by flies [arob].  Exodus 8:24

Because the kings of Israel were said to have fallen away from true worship of the one God, YHWH / YHVH (Yahweh), God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, and to have fallen into idolatry and were leading the people astray, their LORD, Ba'al Zebub, Beelzebub (also associated with the Canaanite god, Ba'al as well), came to be bosheth "shameful thing", and their "LORD" labeled as a major demon associated with Satan. Whereas, YHWH is often translated as LORD. Ba'al, which also means Lord, is left as Ba'al, not translated. So the more complex context is lost in English because not many people know that Ba'al simply means "Lord" in a different language.

The stele of Baal with Thunderbolt found in the Ruins of Ugarit

It is clear from this translation, below, of a passage from Hosea, how this word Ba'al was at times even used to refer to YHWH (the Tetragrammaton often translated as the LORD [Hebrew "Adonai"], instead of the supposed transliteration Yahweh). 

"And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' Hosea 2:16, ESV

It is a confusing passage to translate because the words translated here as "My Husband" ish (man), and "My Baal" bali (my master), have similar definitions. So why is it that YHWH is making a distinction between the two nouns? 

It is true that ish sometimes translated as "husband" as in Genesis, Adam is ish "man, male, husband", and Eve (isha)"woman, wife, female", however these words are differentiated from THE ADAM "man, mankind, all men and women", the creature that God (Elohim) made having two sides, i.e., ish-masculine and isha-feminine, out of the dust or from adamah (f.) "the ground, earth, red earth, blood of the earth".

      Adam and Eve, Lucas The Elder Cranach, 1533

                             

And Baal, also, can be translated as "husband, master, lord, owner". So, rather than it being important so much how the words are are translated into English, it seems that the connotation of meaning behind the words is important. Maybe the passage is meant to distance YHWH from erroneous concepts which sprang up around the use of the title Baal, meaning LORD. Baal having a harsher ownership, i.e., master to slave understanding, than ish, the complimentary masculine half of an intimate partnership, i.e., husband of Israel? So, YHWH is talking about a free partnership [love], not owneship [dominance].

But back to Beelzebub . . .
Ahaziah, son of Ahab and Jezabel, followed after his parents in the worship of Ba'al Zebub, and when Ahaziah was injured in an accident and sought to consult this god, the Angel of YHWH then sent Elijah to condemn Ahaziah and tell him he would die.

Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice [sebakah] of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury." 

But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 2 Kings 1:2-3

This passage states that Ahaziah fell through the lattice. In Hebrew the word used is sebakah "lattice-work, network" the feminine form of sobek "lattice, network of boughs, nets of network, networks, webbing."  Lattices are built for shade, and privacy. They can also oppositely be used for peering, lurking, and spying. 

The Who / Tommy album cover, 1969

Sobek can even be a trap or snare as in the case of Absolam, son of King David, who was entagled in the branches of a tree and was then easy prey for Joab, comander of the king's army.

Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches [sobek] of a large oak, Absalom's hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept going. 2 Samuel 18:9

It is interesting then that Sobek, Sbk is also the name of an Ancient Egyptian deity / god [nTr] associated with the Nile crocodile. Sobek was often depicted with the head of a crocodile. Crocodile skin has a definite lattice [sobek] print to it. 

Hermès Graphite Shiny Porosus Crocodile Birkin 35 PHW

Sobek is also a Lord of Hosts, associated with pharaonic sovereign power, military prowess, patron of armies / hosts, and additionally a protective deity. He symbolized raw strength, known as "The Rager", a formidable patron for the army. He also was seen as an assister of the just dead, and associated with the fertility, known as "The Lord of the Waters".

... many scholars believe that the name Sobek, Sbk, is derived from s-bAk, "to impregnate", others postulate that it is a participle form of the verb sbq, an alternative writing of sAq, "to unite", thereby meaning Sbk could roughly translate to "he who unites (the dismembered limbs of Osiris)." Sobek: Character and Surrounding Mythologies 

Alex Grey’s Cardiovascular System: Painting 1980, Oil on Linen

Our bodies are joined together by many systems or networks, like the lattice (sobek) of the cardiovascular system. It may be fitting then that Sobek helped to united the body of Osiris. Sobek was at certain times considered to be an aspect of Horus taking the form of a crocodile to retrieve the parts of Osiris' body lost in the Nile after being murdered by his brother Set / Seth, in this way helping the healer, Isis, in her quest to restore her husband's, Osiris', body (knit it back together). So in this way, he IS Sobek "he who unites", or it could also be translated perhaps as he who "collects, pulls together". This uniting may not be unlike the tangled collection or network [lattice] of branches in a river jumbled together along the shore which make an excellent place for an ambush predator, like a crocodile, to hide. 

Since their speed and agility on land is rather outmatched by most terrestrial animals, they must use obscuring vegetation or terrain to have a chance of succeeding during land-based hunts. wikipedia, Nile Crocodile

Whether on land or in the water, crocodiles rely on stealth to surprise and capture their prey. Grass, reeds, sticks, and branches serve as a lattice or network which the crocodile can silently peer through waiting for the right moment to strike. Think of those crocodile eyes just above the surface of the water as it waits patiently, then suddenly erupts, the rager!

A crocodile lurks amid the rushes along the Nile at Murchison Falls in Uganda.

ERNST HAAS/ERNST HAAS/GETTY IMAGES

There is a kind of sewing together or knitting involved with this lattice like uniting. Nit, Neith, Net is the primordial goddess of war and mother goddess of Ancient Egypt, and the mother of Sobek. She is the network (lattice) of the universe, the mother of all the gods who wove the universe (matrix) on her loom (some more neat things about Neith in this post). 

Neith, From the Tomb of Khaemwaset, Valley of the Queens, Luxor

And interesting! Her son is named Sobek, which has the meaning of "network," in Hebrew, and his skin, in his association with the crocodile displays his very name. 

Perhaps it is even possible that this Hebrew word was somehow influenced by the name of the Egyptian god. Not unlike how the color name "orange" was influenced by the orange (fruit). The Israelites spent a long and intimate time in Egypt. Think of the high positions of Joseph, second only to Pharaoh Genesis 41:40, and Moses who grew up in the house of Pharaoh. They would have seen Sobek depicted as a crocodile, and crocodiles sport lattice print hides, therefore it is possible that the name Sobek could come to be associated with the look of the crocodile skin, i.e., lattice patterned skin, or Sobek-like.

Sobek in his crocodile form, 12th Dynasty. Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich. Photo:Einsamer Schütze

Sobek did not have the title "Lord of Flies", however swarms of flies generally would be associated with the marshy areas along the Nile where crocodiles live, so in that sense Sobek would be Lord of Flies. He was somewhat a chaotic god, both protective, but also fearful.

Scene in the Nile Marshes, Louvre Museum, Paris

Another creature that might be found along the Nile are snakes, such as the Egyptian cobra, a deadly venomous snake, definitely to be respected, as much as the Nile crocodile. The Ancient Egyptian goddess Wadjet was a snake goddess. Wadjet was synonymous with the Eye of Horus or Eye of Ra, she is the risen (like a cobra) one, the open eye, like the Sun, Ra, opening his eye in the morning at the break of day, from darkness then suddenly the world is illuminated. She is this mysterious, mystical, powerful, enlightening, searing, penetrating, fearful / awesome energy. She has certain similarities with the concepts of Kundalini, from Sanskrit, meaning "coiled (snake) one", and the third eye, and / or Ajna chakra. In fact Wadjet, depicted as a cobra (Uraeus) is often seen at the third eye point on the crowns of the Pharaohs. She sat as "the raised / risen one" on their brows denoting protection, wisdom, and right of rulership.

                                                Uraeus(Wadjet) on the Crown of burial mask of Tutankhamen

                                             The Eye of Horus (AKA Wadjet) Bracelet, c 890 BC- Cairo Museum

Winged Uraeus(Wadjet) with Sun Disk

Bronze Uraeus(Wadjet) with Sun Disk

With an understanding of this snake goddess symbolism, the story of the Israelites and the bronze snake in the wilderness Numbers 21:9  takes on new meaning and makes a lot more sense. What kind of sense does it make for God to command Moses to put a serpent on a pole?

When the people speak against God, YHWH sends nachash ("serpents") seraph (fiery serpents") Num. 21:6, generally translated as "venomous snakes", and they nashak ("bite") the people. Then when the people speak to Moses about the serpents Num. 21:7, they refer to the snakes simply as nachash ("serpents"), then YHWH tells Moses Num. 21:8 to make a seraph (?) and to put the seraph on a pole . . . so then what does Moses do? Moses makes a nachash ("serpent") nechosheth ("bronze") and puts it on a pole! So this seraph is represented by a bronze snake? Just as Wadjet is often represented in bronze and gold as the Uraeus? [The Israelites were out of gold probably because of the golden calf incidence, amirite?] And was not Wadjet a seraph ("fiery serpent"), one of her title's being "Lady of Flame"? Basically Moses makes something that resembles Uraei and puts it on a pole . . . and these people have just recently left their home in Egypt.

Then when you look at all the extended meanings of these words related in Hebrew, having to do with nachash and seraph things get even more interesting.

Nachash: phonetic spelling (naw-khawsh') "serpent, serpents, snake"

Nachash: (naw-khash') "to practice, divination, observe signs”

Nachash:  (nakh'-ash) "divination, enchantment, omen"

Nechash:  (nekh-awsh') "copper, bronze”

Seraph: (saw-raf') “to burn”

Seraph: (saw-rawf') "fiery serpent, seraph"

From saraph; burning, i.e. (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically, a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color) -- fiery (serpent), seraph - Strong’s Concordance 

Seraph / Seraphim: in Isaiah chapter 6, six-winged, fear inducing, heavenly beings flying around with hot coal 

Serappim: (sar-af') “disquieting thoughts, anxious thoughts”

Whatever you want to say about it, there is definitely more to the story than people simply being bitten by venomous snakes. I'm not saying that the people in the story were necessarily not being bitten by literal snakes, but then again, is the story something that necessarily literally took place? What else could this story be alluding to possibly? When you look at the connotation of serpents having to do with divining, enchantment, cunning (as the serpent in the garden of Eden), and, then, these serpents being the cause of certain, mental distress, falling into darkness, or anxiety, it begins to look a lot like a testing or a dark night of the soul. 

They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! Revelation 6:16

". . . he drove out the man (the adam) . . . And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." Genesis 3:24

According to this understanding, just as Jesus went out into the wilderness to be tested and had all sorts of "hallucinations" of demons and angels, so too, the Israelites were tested in the wilderness when they spoke against God. Intense stuff! That bites! 

Jesus and the Devil (Beelzebul [?]), The Children's Bible, copyright 1965, Western Publishing Co., photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

Perhaps this is why Jesus says, "Lead us not to the test (or temptation, Gk. peirasmos/perasmon), but deliver us from evil (or the evil one)" Mt. 6:13. It is because it is fearful and not just anyone can survive it, and you certainly DO NOT want to bring it upon yourself by speaking against God like the Israelites did. 

Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. Numbers 21:6

So after God sends the Israelites this "punishment" (at least it was perceived as punishment because they were guilty of sin), or could we say this "teaching moment", he then gives to the people the seraph, as a sign of hope, a savior of sorts, for, " . . . anyone who is bitten can look at it and live" Numbers 21:8. It had to be something they could believe would have power to save them, a savior with a face so to speak. However, YHWH was wanting them to understand that the power to heal from this seraph came from him. 

For when the dire venom of beasts came upon them and they were dying from the bite of crooked serpents, your anger endured not to the end.

But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized, though they had a sign of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law.

For he who turned to it was saved, not by what was seen, but by you, the savior of all. Wisdom 16:5-7

If we are to suppose that this punishment / consequence of unbearably disturbing, anxious thoughts, searing, was brought upon the Israelites because of their grumblings, who do we say is the author of these thoughts, these biting snakes? Are the fiery serpents the devil, Satan "the accuser", Lord of Lies, Beelzebub? Are they the goddess Wadjet, Lady of flame, the risen eye of Ra? Are the biting serpents Seraphim, the fiery Angels of God? Or is the difference only in your mind? 

In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eye will see strange sights and your mind will imagine confusing things.  Proverbs 23:32-33

Neo stops the flying bullets, Lord of Fliers, The Matrix

The Forbidden Serpent to Its Creator

Your love is like the warm sand under my skin

Your face is the afternoon sun

I close my eyes 

It leaves me content

like dark wine

Time is only the motion of the breeze and the peaceful waves

Soon it will be night

– by Julie  O./ Ember Elektra

 April 27, 2010, photos by Julie O. /chthonickore

Testing, One, Two, Three

 

 Nuclear Bomb Test, Operation Castle - Romeo

Tests can be about small things, like testing out a new recipe, and tests can be about big things, like testing out a nuclear bomb.

A test is a trial. You can test something by trying it out, and you can test something by putting it under trial, adding heat, putting a flame to it. When you test something you see what it is really made of. Will it pass the test? Or will it crack under the pressure? Can it stand the heat?

Sometimes you just don't know until something is tried, or put to the test. And sometimes the very act of putting something to the test not only shows you the quality of that thing, but the test itself causes something new to emerge from the ashes of the trial, like a phoenix from the ashes of its burnt nest.

Phonios Phoenix, (depiction by Friedrich Justin Bertuch, 1806)

The word phoenix, from ancient Greek phoinix φοîνιξ meaning "Phoenician; reddish purple; or phoenix." It is thought to perhaps be derived from the word "Phoenician" by way of  the Greeks' association of the color purple-red with the Phoenicians who produced purple dyes, therefore the word phoinix also had the meaning "(the color) purple," and this color was also the main hue of the bird, a royal purple or phonios "blood-red" scarlet color.  Phoinix was also the name of the date palm. Dates turn from a golden color to reddish or purplish-brown color upon ripening, and perhaps also, the tree looks a bit like a phoenix with its feathery looking fronds.

    Date Palm - Phoenix dactylifera

Clay can also have a reddish hue and is used to make pottery. Pottery is not pottery unless it is fired or heated. The Latin word for "earthen pot" is testum. A testum (pot) is put to the test in the furnace.  If it survives the process it is changed and it is strong and durable. It needs to withstand the pyr / pur πυρ, πυρός "fire" in biblical Greek (pyra / pura  πυρά "a fire"), and it becomes a pot, something that can withstand high temperatures like a  parur "a pot" (Hebrew). Which seems to indicate a certain purity of the vessel after the pure"a fire"- ing  process, or a sincerity after the incineration.

What does it mean for a person to be put to the test? In the Bible there is one word that is translated as either test or tempt. As in, Jesus was "tempted" or "tested" in the desert. Jesus goes into the erémos (Greek "deserted, desolate, desert, lonely place", what we might call an "ered / arid" [from Latin aridus, from arere "to be dry"] place) peirasthenai πειρασθηναι "to be tempted," from peiraso / pyraso πειραζω "trial, temptation, testing". In Hebrew, as well, there is one word, nawsaw that is translated as "test, try, prove, tempt". 

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil . . . And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report concerning him went out through all the surrounding country  Lk 4:1, 14

    Temptation of Christ - Vasily Surikov, 1872

We see that this forty days of testing or tempting is a time of soul searching, a time of fasting and mental struggle, a dark night. But when it is over, Jesus returns stronger than ever, after his period of purification, pyra-fication, firing, and begins his public ministry in "the power of the Spirit".

The devil, the tempter in the desert, is most often equated with the tempter in the Garden of Eden, i.e., nachash, the snake. So we see the devil is  sometimes shown as a snake, and sometimes with wings, as a fallen angel.  But, as the story goes, he started out as the most beautiful luminous angel, Lucifer, the light bearer. So, bright, "flying", snake / hisser / whisperer are all associated with this tempter / tester.  

We could say that Jesus wrestled with thoughts in the desert brought to him by the tempter. One word for "thoughts" in Hebrew is serappim, as in "anxious/disquieting thoughts". Those serappim were brought to him by the whispering voice of the tempter, the voice of the snake, the fallen angel.

We could say then, that Jesus was tested by the snake, i.e., the devil, in the wilderness.  He was tested by the snake like Eve, and maybe we could say he felt the bite of the fiery snake, i.e., tempting / testing, hissing / wispering / serpent, fiery/burning serpentine messenger of the God as did the Israelites when YHWH sent nachash seraphim to them in the wilderness Num 21:6. The simple, but perplexing, translation for nachash seraphim is that YHWH sent nachash "serpents," seraphim (pl.) "fiery serpents"(s.  seraph, from verb seraph "to burn"). It is usually translated as "fiery serpents."  However, what if, instead  being redundant,  we take nachash (serpent) to indicate the form of the seraphim and we equate it with the nachash in Genesis? Then it would be  "tempter seraphim", "seraphim devils" or "fiery / poisionous / burning serpent tempters." And what are seraphim? Are they simply poisonous serpents as is the common interpretation for seraphim in the passage from Numbers?

Seraphim are mentioned two other times in the bible. In Isaiah it is transliterated to English simply as "seraphim" and not "fiery serpents". The seraphim are described as heavenly beings with six wings who sing "holy, holy, holy" before YHWH Sabaoth, that is "Lord of Hosts"Isaiah 6:2 And in Isaiah 14:29 an uwph seraph,  uwph "brandishing, flying, shining forth, waving" seraph is translated as a "flying serpent".

      Seraphim 12th Century Fresco

It seems that to say a seraph is simply a poisonous serpent is to really be missing the point. 

Serpents have been important symbolically from the beginning of civilization. 

Here is pictured an ancient Sumerian goddess statue from around 5000 B.C. Notice the serpent-like features of this mother goddess nursing a baby. Very odd.

  

      Sumerian Goddess, Ubaid Period c. 5000 B.C.

In Babylonian mythology Sarpanit "the shining one" is mother goddess and consort of Marduk.

I don't know which goddess this Ubaid period staue is supposed to represent. But it is interesting, nevertheless, that the name Sarpanit is very close in sound to the word "serpent".

In Sanskrit naga is "cobra", or generically it can mean "snake." It is similar, then, to the English word "snake", like (s)+naga. Another common word used for snake in Sanskrit is sarpa / sarpah "snake." This is similar to saraph meaning "serpent".  The ancient Indian Sandskrit epic, the Mahabarata, calls the class of deity beings that take the form of snakes "Nagas". They are not generally considered to be negative beings, 

Naga (Sanskrit: "serpent") in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, a member of a class of mythical semi divine beings, half human and half cobra. They are a strong, handsome species who can assume either wholly human or wholly serpentine form and are potentially dangerous but often beneficial to humans. Naga, Hindu mythology, Brittanica

however the Nagas are described in book one of the Mahabharata as "persecutors of all people" and, 

Indeed, as the snakes were of virulent poison, great prowess and excess of strength, and ever bent on biting other creatures . . .  Bk.1: Adi Parva, sec.20

     Nagas Carved on a Temple

So, we can see from the Nagas, that snakes are not always just snakes, but sometimes they are meant to represent divine beings. And, as in this case, they can represent what is perceived as adverse or unpleasant.  

One of the oldest ancient Egyptian goddesses was called Wadjet, wdyt "the papyrus / green colored one," called Uto / Buto by the Greeks (which is actually from the name of her city, Buto). In her symbolic form of the rearing cobra she was called the Uraeus ούραîος by the Greeks, from ouraîos "on its tail," a translation of the ancient Egyptian, iaret,  j'rt meaning "rearing cobra," "the raised up one / one who rears up." Wadjet was protector of Lower Egypt.  

The serpent was the symbol of deity and sovereignty in ancient Egypt. Therefore Pharaoh was recognized by wearing this symbol as his crown or on the crown. As a symbol it conveyed legitimacy of the rightful ruler.

      Wadjet, Uraeus with Red Crown

Because the different gods and goddesses merged over long periods of time the Ureaus is sometimes shown in varying aspects. Some attributes given to Wadjet are also attributes of other goddesses as well. Sometimes the Uraeus is shown with the sun disk, and is called the "Eye of Horus, or the Eye of Ra," she was said to spit poison and flame to protect Pharaoh as wepset "she who burns"(she would upset / oopset his enemies), she was also called nesert "the flame, searing one," in her association with Sekhmet "powerful," and in her role as protector of Ra, "Lady of Flame" Nebet Neseret, nbt nsrt, foremost of  perneser, pr "house" of nsr "flame" (punisher?). After unification of Upper and Lower Egypt she was combined with the vulture goddess of Upper Egypt. The protective qualities of Wadjet were joined with the protective qualities of, Nekhbet, the goddess of Upper Egypt, who was represented by a Griffin vulture, rather than a cobra. So, at times, the goddess was called nebty "two ladies" and was represented by a combination of serpent and vulture. 

    Mask From the Tomb of Tutankhamen, Showing the Nemes Crown with "Two Ladies"

At times the Uraeus is even shown with wings.

    Winged Uraei with Sun Disks

It appears that Uraei, actually have a lot in common with the nachash seraphim. We should remember that according to the story, the Israelites had just come out of Egypt (and Moses himself had been raised in the house of Pharaoh) and would have been familiar with the symbolism of the Egyptian Uraei. When the Exodus took place, sometime around 1446 BC, Upper and Lower Egypt had been unified for a quite a long time. Unification took place c. 2686 BC. To an Israelite the Uraeus symbolism of the Egyptians, divine winged serpents, could  have been connected to their understanding of the seraphim, which seem to be divine beings of mysterious and enigmatic appearance. They are at times said to be serpentine, bright, fiery, burning, bitting, waving/flourishing, capable of speech and praise of God, sent by YHWH, so are messengers or angels of God. 

After the Israelites grumble against God and are bitten or stricken by the nachash seraphim they believe they are being punished for sining and ask Moses to pray to YHWH to take away the nachash (the snakes who are testing, tempting, accusing, the people, i.e., the devil, Satan the punisher, perhaps?). YHWH then tells Moses to make a seraph and put it on a nes "pole / standard / flag," so Moses then makes a nachash nechosheth "serpent bronze" and puts it on the pole. Why would Moses make a bronze serpent when YHWH told him to make a seraph? Moses obviously meant to represent a seraph by the bronze snake, just like the goddess Wadjet in Egypt was represented by the raised serpent, the Uraeus. 

  Bronze Serpent, Uraeus 305-30 B.C.

So the Uraeus is a "brazen" serpent meant to represent the goddess. Maybe the brazen serpent, nachash nechosheth, of the Israelites was supposed to represent a heavenly being as well, i.e., a seraph.

Jesus compares the symbol of the "seraph", nachash nechosheth, i.e., the serpent put on the pole, to the symbol of "lifting up" or "exhalation"(hysopsen in the Septuigent) of the son on man, while talking to the Pharisee Nicodemus.

 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." John 3:14  

It seems to be the act of exalting the symbol or "sign of deliverance" as it is called in Wisdom of Solomon 16, and the very belief of the people in its power to heal them, that enabled them to receive the healing of God. The sign, i.e., the serpent, did not heal them, as it states in Wisdom, but the Savior healed them. 

They were terrified only for a little while as a warning, since they had a sign of their salvation as a reminder of the command of your law. Those who turned to that sign were saved not by what they saw but by you, the savior of all. Wisdom 16:6-7

Just as belief in the ability of a man who is God, and desires to save us, allows for the belief that it is possible to become like him, a Christ, and be saved.

So should we say, then, that the lifted / exhaulted "serpent," was nachash, a "snake, tempter, devil" that was up on the pole to save the people, or was it a raised "serpent," as in a seraph, "heavenly being, fiery serpent, angel, Uraeus"? 

Jesus as Messiah and Son of God is often equated with "the Son of man", and there are also certain stories of Jesus making appearances in the form of a seraph. Boneventure writes about St. Francis of Assisi who is said to have had an encounter with Christ crucified under the appearance of a seraph some 1800 years after the time of the Exodus.


    St. Francis and Seraph, Wood Carving

Jesus also appears to John, in the book of Revelation, as a wondrous fearful messenger of God, not unlike a seraph. 

. . . his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters; in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Revelation 1:15-16 

So Jesus is associated with the seraph, who seem to be fearful fiery angels / heavenly beings, who are at times described as having a serpentine appearance, but Jesus is not usually associated with the serpent/snake, the most prudent of all wild creatures, i.e., the most arum (Hebrew from arom "shrewd, crafty, sensible," also arom "bare, naked") one from the garden, the devil, Satan, bringer of adversity, testing/temptation.

    Alpha and the Omega - by Peter Olsen

There seems to be a lot of overlap and mixing between the symbolism of the snake, the vulture/hawk/eagle, and lion with representations of the divine. A griffin-like creature depicted in ancient Egypt, a lion with head of a falcon, is named srf or sfrr, sefer, meaning "the one who tears to pieces".

     Pharoh as a Griffin - Pectoral Ornament of Usirtasen III,  Middle Kingdom c. 2050-1700 B.C.

So is srf / sfrr, the griffin, a seraph (servant of God), serf (as in slave/servant)? The ruler is servant of God for the people, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all" Mark 9:35. A sefer-ing servant? To suffer is to be pained or grieved. To experience grief is to suffer. A grieving (or "griffon") servant?  

    Marduk Pursues Anzu after Anzu steals the "Tablets of Destiny"

Anzu (from An "heaven" and Zu "to know"), Zu (Akadian) or Imdugud (Sumerian "heavenly wind" written with ideogram for bird at the end [what we might call a bird emoji]) who is depicted in a griffin-like way, son of the bird goddess Siris, was servant (or heavenly / divine messenger) of chief sky god Enlil. Anzu steals the "Tablets of Destiny"(which give one authority as ruler of the universe) from Enlil, and Marduk ends up retrieving them.  Apparently, Marduk had a gripe (from greipanan Proto-Germanic, greifen, meaning "to seize") with that griffin-like seizer of the tablets, Anzu.

Just as the Word of God, the sefer / sepher in Hebrew, meaning "text", of the bible is a servant of God. And another similar word, sephirot (Hebrew "emanations", the ten sephira) is the way the infinite reveals itself to us and how it continually creates the physical and metaphysical realms, which sounds a lot like the Word of God as well, OM. Notice it has something like three pairs of wings, as does a seraph (or we might say even, three projections, side areas, as in "wings" like wings of a building). 

    Sepherot of the Ein Sof or Ain Sof ("No End, Infinite") - Three Different Versions


So, the serpent, bird, and lion symbolism were morphed together, this way and that, all around.  

The sphinx is another hybrid creature. It is usually said to have the head of a woman, body of a lion, and wings of an eagle.

  Oedipus listening to the Riddle of the sphinx, c. 467 B.C.

And this is Mušḫuššu, associated with Marduk, the sun god, here he looks to be part serpent, bird, and lion, but he is often described as a dragon.

    Mušḫuššu - Ishtar Gate, Babylon 575 B.C.

The name, Mušḫuššu, comes from the Sumerian for "reddish snake" or "fierce snake". Dragon is from the Greek drakon meaning "serpent, giant seafish", with the root derkesthai "to see clearly"(so here again cunning, knowing, wise). Or, in other words, Anzu, i.e. "to know heaven," perhaps? So dragon has the meaning of a wise serpent, not just any snake, but a more mystical connotation. 

Dragons in some stories like to ask riddles, as well, like the sphinx. A riddle is a kind of test, or in the old sense of the word, a tempting. Many dragons are fire breathing as well which helps when you put something to the test, it needs to be heated. 

Whew, all this was a big hunk of clay! Let's fire it up and see what happens! I hope it doesn't torment you, or cause dis-ease.

Bombs away!