The cult of the seven-headed deity, who was worshiped in the ancient world

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Looking through the petroglyphs found in Khakassia and represented by ancient images of Southern Siberia: from the mountains of Oglakhty, Tepsei, Shabolinskaya and Sulek writings, the small and large Boyar writings, my attention was drawn to the image of a "seven-headed deity". The age of the Khakass rock paintings dates from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD.

Having seen this petroglyph, I realized that I had already seen exactly the same deity among other no less ancient peoples. The Khakass "seven-headed" is at least 5000 years old and this image cannot be confused, it is the seven-headed hydra and the menorah described in the Bible and the Indian deity and many examples from other peoples of the ancient world.

Also, it is worth paying attention to the symbol present on the Khakass petroglyph.

World tree

World tree or "axis mundi". This is one of the most common prehistoric symbols, a universal tree that unites all spheres of the universe. As a rule, its branches correspond to the sky, the trunk - to the earthly world, the roots - to the underworld.

Indian goddess Manasa

In Hinduism, the goddess Manasa Devi or Mansa Devi is considered the queen of snakes, whose worship is very popular in the eastern part of India, and especially in Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa. The cult of Manas Devi, according to researchers, is one of the most ancient cults in India. Historians claim that she was worshiped in pre-Aryan times.

Interestingly, seven-headed snakes, as an attribute of deities, appear throughout the Indo-European world. Sometimes they are men and sometimes women. In Sumerian mythology, for example, there is a seven-headed serpent known as Mushmau, which probably became the model for the Lernaean hydra, killed during the second feat of Hercules.

In Hinduism, many deities fight with multi-headed snakes - Indra, Krishna and even Bhishma in Mahabharata, attacked by snakes. But this is not too surprising, as the shared cultural influence between Mongolia, India, Iran and Ancient Greece is not controversial.

The name Hydra is associated with water. Like almost all the mythological snakes that we have mentioned so far. In Indo-European mythology, snakes and dragons were the guardians of water. The hero must defeat them in order to free the water and return fertility to the earth.

However, even if these similarities may relate to common Indo-European heritage, this statement does not apply to links to ancient Mesoamerican cultures, at least not in light of current, mainstream history. And in Ancient Mexico there is also a figure with seven snake heads. How can this be explained?

Sun screen

The Aztec goddess of fertility was Chicomecoatl - that is, seven snakes. She was a mother goddess who uses the sun as a shield. Note that her sun shield looks exactly like the sun on the Siberian petroglyph.

This prehistoric symbol has had a similar meaning in India, from the seals and beads of the Indus Valley civilization to the tattoos of modern tribal women.

Goddess

The Khakass petroglyph depicts a goddess. If you're wondering how I know this, the answer is simple - due to the presence of other human figures under her feet and to the side. Also because of the characteristic leg posture of the “birth goddess”.

The same posture, in the same context of childbirth, existed all over the world. We see it from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, but I will illustrate it here with one example from Neolithic China. I chose this image because, although she does not have seven heads, her head is shaped like the same sun symbol.

Chicomecot as the constellation Virgo

Now we can draw some really interesting conclusions.

There are amazing parallels between Chicomecot and the constellation Virgo: Chicomecot holds ears of corn in his hand and sits on a seven-headed snake. Virgo holds the trees of wheat and she is located right next to Hydra. The solar shield simply represents the Sun passing through these constellations.

The summer solstice was in Cancer (with the head of the Hydra behind) from about 2500 to 500 BC. e. Well, that's too much of a coincidence, isn't it?

Back to the solar shield symbol

While this symbol probably refers to the sun, you may wonder why it looks like a cross with four dots. The answer to this question may lie in another famous episode from Hindu mythology - Samudra mantan - the churning of the ocean.

In short, this episode depicts the creation of the universe. The good and evil deities used the serpent god Vasuki (brother of the aforementioned Manas) to rotate the mountain (axis mundi) and whip milk (Milky way) to create the nectar of immortality.

Spreading more than 100 degrees across the sky, the constellation Hydra was the longest constellation known to ancient people. Therefore, it is not surprising that it is the snake that moves the Mundi axis.

This event is celebrated in India at one of the most important festivals known as the Kumbh Mela. According to legend, after the churning process was completed, four drops of nectar were spilled in four different places in India. Since then, these four cities have become places of pilgrimage for this religious festival. Each of the cities has its own celebration date. These dates are not fixed, they depend on the position of the Sun, Moon and Jupiter (Indra).

But if you look at the position of the Sun, you will see that it should be in the signs of Aries, Leo, Capricorn and Libra (one for each city). These four constellations represent the heavenly cross on the zodiac, and in ancient times they were used to represent the four seasons. I believe that it is for this reason that our sun shield symbol has a cross and four dots.

Menorah

It is one of the oldest symbols of Judaism and Jewish religious attributes.

According to the Bible, the prescription for making the Menorah (as well as all the sacred utensils in the Tabernacle), as well as its description, were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex. 25: 9).

“And make a lampstand of pure gold; be hammered yes the lamp will be made; his thigh and his stalk, his cups, his ovaries, and his flowers must be of him. And six branches go out from its sides: three branches of a lamp from one side of it, and three branches of a lamp from the other side of it. Three almond-shaped cups on one branch, ovary and flower; and three almond-shaped cups on the other branch, ovary and flower. So on the six branches emerging from the lamp. And on the lamp there are four almond-shaped cups, its ovaries and its flowers. An ovary under its two branches, and an ovary under its two branches, and an ovary under its two branches, in the six branches that come out of the lamp. Their ovaries and their branches must be made of it, all of it is of the same minting, of pure gold. And make seven his lamps, and he will light his lamps, so that he may light his face. And tongs to it, and scoops to it made of pure gold. Of the talent of pure gold, let them make it with all these accessories. Look, and make them according to the model that was shown to you on the mountain. (Ex. 25: 31-40)

conclusions

Now we have one important question - how the symbol of the seven-headed "deity", which we see on the Siberian petroglyph, which is 5000 years old, was distributed throughout the globe, at a time when peoples could not contact each other, like this system beliefs reached ancient Mesoamerica?

It is also interesting that there is an inscription on the petroglyph from Khakassia that looks like the Brahmi alphabet or the ancient Turkic alphabet, and by the way, no one has deciphered it yet …