Don't Tread On Me
A propos of absolutely nothing, here are some photographs of a venomous snake, Echis Coloratus, also known as the Israeli Saw-Scaled Viper, Burton's Carpet, or Painted Carpet.
This deadly snake is most likely the one described as the "Fiery Flying Serpent" in biblical accounts (e.g. Numbers 21). The Caduceus symbol of the medical profession might also be grounded in that same story.
This snake can lunge through the air at high speed. Its venomous bite leaves a fiery burning sensation, and death occurs from slow internal bleeding.
But there is another mystery here. The same story (Numbers 21) says that the cure was to gaze upon a bronze cast of the snake, mounted on a staff. How could that save you?
Keep in mind that the venom in the bite contained a powerful anti-coagulant, so that the panicked victim bled to death. The panic, of course, was mediated by the operation of the Amygdala and Hippocampus — the brain's fear processor — which released heart-pumping Adrenalin which hastened the bleeding. By gazing upon a bronze replica of the snake, the person 'faced their fear' and that helped arrest the panic attack. With the adrenalin surge attenuated, the victim was less likely to bleed to death from a racing heart.
The name of this snake suggests it may also be the inspiration for the storybook notion of the Arabian Flying Carpet.
The notion, suggested in Numbers 21, of conquering one's fears by contemplating a harmless model or a replica of them is found today in our unending fascination with games, simulations, plays, and other artistic recreations of dreadful situations.
We do not make idols of our gods, but of our demons. By reckoning the idol of a demon, we lose our dread of it.
And the goofy demon thereby loses its grip on us.
This deadly snake is most likely the one described as the "Fiery Flying Serpent" in biblical accounts (e.g. Numbers 21). The Caduceus symbol of the medical profession might also be grounded in that same story.
This snake can lunge through the air at high speed. Its venomous bite leaves a fiery burning sensation, and death occurs from slow internal bleeding.
But there is another mystery here. The same story (Numbers 21) says that the cure was to gaze upon a bronze cast of the snake, mounted on a staff. How could that save you?Keep in mind that the venom in the bite contained a powerful anti-coagulant, so that the panicked victim bled to death. The panic, of course, was mediated by the operation of the Amygdala and Hippocampus — the brain's fear processor — which released heart-pumping Adrenalin which hastened the bleeding. By gazing upon a bronze replica of the snake, the person 'faced their fear' and that helped arrest the panic attack. With the adrenalin surge attenuated, the victim was less likely to bleed to death from a racing heart.
The name of this snake suggests it may also be the inspiration for the storybook notion of the Arabian Flying Carpet.
The notion, suggested in Numbers 21, of conquering one's fears by contemplating a harmless model or a replica of them is found today in our unending fascination with games, simulations, plays, and other artistic recreations of dreadful situations.
We do not make idols of our gods, but of our demons. By reckoning the idol of a demon, we lose our dread of it.
And the goofy demon thereby loses its grip on us.
posted by Moulton | 5:35 PM
1 Comments:
I asked ChatGPT to take the text of this blog post and turn it into a poem.
Here is what ChatGPT produced:
"Don't Tread On Me"
The Israeli Saw-Scaled Viper,
Echis Coloratus, deadly and dire,
The "Fiery Flying Serpent" of old,
In Numbers 21, its story is told.
With a venomous bite and burning pain,
Slow internal bleeding leads to death's reign,
But a cure is found in an unlikely way,
By gazing upon a bronze cast each day.
The panicked victim, their fear controlled,
The heart-pumping Adrenalin on hold,
The victim's chances of death recede,
And the power of the venom will concede.
The notion of conquering fears,
By contemplating replicas, it appears,
A fascination with art and play,
A method we still use to this day.
We make idols of our demons, not of gods,
And with a reckoning, we lose our odds,
The demon loses its grip on us,
And our fears are no longer a fuss.
So let us remember the snake of old,
And how we can conquer our fears, so bold,
With a simple gaze upon a model,
And the fiery serpent's deadly throttle.
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