SNAKES. Because of their shape and their relation to the environment, snakes play an important role in the beliefs of various peoples. Their swiftness and peculiar locomotion, along with the periodical sloughing of their skin, their glistening beauty, and the venom of some species have given them a place apart in the animal world. Their supposedly sinister character and dangerousness cause fear; their enigmatic and ambivalent nature has led human beings to contradictory assessments of them: On the one hand, they are thought of as evil and as a cause of death; on the other, they are believed to embody beneficial and even divine powers. As a result, in some religions they may be both accursed and worshiped. The serpent Apophis was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as the worst enemy of Re, the sun god; yet Re is also protected by the serpent Mehen on his journey...