★ Snake & Serpent

And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. Exodus 4:1-7

And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Numbers 21:6

A snake lurks in the grass. Virgil, Eclogues

Why don’t snakes have balls? Hardly any of them know how to dance. Penn & Teller, Bullshit! s4e8: Manners, Showtime 2006

In the forests of the Congo, how huge was this snake which rose up and menaced a helicopter? Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World, ITV 1980

This giant anaconda was killed on the Amazon. According to a Rio paper, it was a hundred and thirty feet long. ibid.

When this snake allegedly one hundred feet in length emerged ... The militia was called out. Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World, India

The obvious thing to everyone’s amazement is that the snake is actually dancing to music, so they think. We have stories such as a radio playing a certain tune, and snakes coming to their house and just their dancing on their own to this beautiful music coming from the radio. Romulus Whitaker

It’s the flute that he likes rather than the music. He’ll follow that just about anywhere. Romulus Whitaker

Steven Price: Snakes don’t attack, unless they’re provoked. Something up there’s making them go crazy, possibly some kind of drug.

Neville: Well, that’s good news: snakes on crack. Snakes on a Plane 2006 starring Samuel L Jackson & Julianna Margulies & Nathan Phillips & Rachel Blanchard & Mark Houghton & Byron Lawson & Sunny Mabrey & Todd Louiso & Kenan Thompson & James Hibbert & Bruce James et al, director David R Ellis

But the strangest creature of them all is the Tibetan Hot-Spring snake. The highest living snake in the world. Here on the Tibetan plateau there are thermal pools. Mountain: Life at the Extreme, BBC 2017

Pythons are most active under the cover of darkness, and travelling at night they move virtually undetected. Cities: Nature’s New Wild I: Residents, BBC 2018

Something is lurking in our homes and backyards. Hidden in plain view a beast that’s appearing where it shouldn’t be. MonsterQuest is searching for pythons in America. MonsterQuest s4e3: Giant Pythons in America, History 2010

Florida: Something frightening may be making its home here. A slithery menace that strikes fear in the hearts of many. Eye-witnesses report seeing massive serpents measuring fifteen to twenty feet in length and weighing up to four hundred pounds. ibid.

Things like heroin and alcohol can and should be used for the purpose of worshipping, that is entering into communion with the Snake that giveth knowledge and delight and bright glory. Aleister Crowley, Diary of a Drug Fiend @364

One of the prairie’s most persistent hunters – the Bullsnake. Mexico: Earth’s Festival of Life III: Burning North, BBC 2017

I keep you because you are a serpent. Wolf Hall IV: The Devil’s Spit, King to Thomas

I was a snake charmer. I used to stand in the market place going, ‘Hall-oh, you’re a nice looking snake, aren’t you? The All New Alexei Sayle Show s1e6, BBC 1994

Ohio, a stunning example of an effigy mound. A gigantic earthwork shaped into the form of a living creature. In this case, a 400-metre long snake. It’s called Serpent Mound. Ancient Apocalypse s1e6: America’s Lost Civilisation