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This mysterious bird-headed figure, referred to casually as the “Birdman,” is one of many strange symbols found on inscribed wooden tablets written by the early people of Rapanui (Easter Island.) The tablets have never been translated, but are believed to have been religious in nature.
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The Trinacria ( “Trincaria” means triangular), a three legged design resembling a triskele, is a symbol of the Isle of Sicily.” The three points represent the three capes of Sicily, also known as Trinacria in ancient times.
The gorgon in the center implies the protection of the Goddess Athena, the Patron Goddess of the Isle. (In early mythology, Medusa was the destructive aspect of Athena, and later, a monster slain by the hero Perseus, who adorned Athena’s shield.)
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The Minotaur was the legendary monster of Cretan mythology, a hybrid man-bull creature, the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of the King of Minos, and a bull.
The minotaur lived at the center of a great labyrinth. According to legend, Minos demanded tribute from the Athenians in the form of seven pairs of male and female virgins, who were sacrificed to the Minotaur. This practice was ended by the hero Theseus, who, aided by the daughter of Minos, was able to slay the monster.
The minotaur and his labyrinth are generally viewed as symbolic of internal conflict and the struggle with one’s animal nature.
The Minotaur
See Also: Minotaur Gallery
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Tiamat (“Sea,” in Akkadian) was the ancient Sumero-Babylonian personification of the primordial salt waters of chaos. With her consort Apsu, the ‘sweet’ water, Tiamat mothered the first generation of the gods.
Tiamat took the form of a gigantic winged dragon, whose body was split in two by the hero Marduk to create the heavens and the firmament: her upper body became the vault of heaven; the lower, the earth; her blood, the oceans.
The God Marduk Slays Tiamat
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Horned serpent deities figure in the mythology of most Native American and Meso-American peoples. Most of these horned and/or feathered serpents are associated with rain and thunder, or waterways.
Avanyu
Some, like the Cherokee horned serpent Utkena, or the Australian aborigine monster, bunyip, are malevolent beings or monsters who devour their enemies.
Utkena
Others, like the the Choktaw deity Sint holo, are givers of inspiration, promethian spirits who introduce agriculture, language, and other gifts of knowledge to mankind. The Tewa deity Avanyu is the feathered sky serpent of the Pueblos (Zuni, Kolowisi, and Hopi, Paluluka), a rain and lightning deity who is believed to have given birth to the waterways, and whose voice is thunder.
Avanyu
Algonquin pictographs commonly depict a horned, feathered serpent known as Mishipizheu. Similar icons are scattered across North america.
Algonquin
Algonquin
Moundville, Alabama
The best known feathered serpent of the New world is, of course, the Aztec Quetzalcoatl, (Mayan Kukulkan, Incan Urcaguey) who was exiled by the gods for his gifts of knowledge to the Aztec people.
Quetzalqoatl
The horned serpent is not restricted to the Americas- some version of this creature can be found on every continent. There are literally hundreds of “cosmic serpents” peppered throughout world mythology, whose origin and meaning are never satisfactorily explained. There is the Celtic, ram-horned serpent associated withThe forerunner to the biblical serpent was Ningiszida- in Sumerian texts, this horned serpent guarded the tree of life and the gateway to the underworld. Wadjet, the winged serpent of Egypt, protected the Pharoahs and controlled the waters of the nile.
Ningiszida
Wadjet
For more on serpent symbolism, see: The Secret language of symbols: The Egg and the serpent
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