Snakes/Nagini (was JKR Dictionary?)

[Celeste Chang]

No: HPFGUIDX 12202

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., pbnesbit at m... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> > > 
> > Yeah, but most of us will make the Rikki-Tikki-Tavi connection, 
> where
> > Nag and Nagaina were definitely *not* good. (Of course, Kipling 
> named
> > them that because of nagas.) I think the lady cobra's name was 
> Nagaina,
> > something like that, but very close to Nagini and the connection 
> clicked
> > for me. Anyone else a Kipling fan? Or see the animated version 
some 
> eons
> > ago? Am I the only one that thought of this?
> > 
> > --Amanda
> > 
> > 
> > Ah, thank you Amanda!  Yes, I'm a *huge* Kipling fan.  Nagini 
> sounded *so bloody familiar*!  The brain cells must have been taking 
> a nap that day, because I couldn't for the life of me think where 
I'd 
> heard it.  
> 
> Peace & Plenty,
> 
> Parker

Yeah, serpents have a LOT of associations with immortality in many 
religions... it is often said that serpents stole the secret of 
immortality from humans, and humans have been trying to get it back 
ever since. Early people likely watched snakes shed their skin and 
emerge brighter and larger than before. They thus concluded that the 
serpent must have conquered death. There is also the ouroboros, the 
snake that bites its own tail, symbol of eternity and unity. Legends 
of serpents devouring their own tails occurs in ancient instructions 
for alchemy and the making of the philosopher's stone... ^_^

- Celeste Chang