Motif family
Serpent and Serpent Guardian
The serpent as guardian of sacred knowledge, threshold between worlds, or embodiment of danger-and-wisdom. Includes the serpent at the tree, the serpent at the root of the world, and the serpent as both threat and teacher.
103 traditions
4,119 occurrences
14 mapped motifs
- aboriginal australian
- african akan
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- akan
- amazonian
- andamanese
- armenian
- arthurian
- australian aboriginal
- basque
- bavili
- biblical
- buddhist
- burmese
- buryat mongol
- caucasian
- celtic
- celtic irish
- celtic welsh
- chaco amerindian
- christian apocrypha
- comparative
- confucian
- daoist
- egyptian
- ekoi
- estonian
- ethiopian christian
- fijian
- filipino
- finnic
- finnish karelian
- fjort
- ganda
- georgian
- germanic
- gnostic
- greek
- greek roman
- guiana amerindian
- hausa
- hawaiian
- hermetic
- hindu
- hopi
- inca
- indigenous australian
- inuit
- islamic
- islamicate folklore
- jain
- japanese
- jewish christian
- jewish pseudepigrapha
- khoekhoe
- khoisan south african
- kikuyu
- kimbundu
- korean
- malagasy
- malay
- mangaian
- maya
- maya quiche
- melanesian
- mesopotamian
- micronesian
- mongol
- nahua
- nahua maya inca
- native american california
- native american great lakes
- native american northeast woodlands
- native american northwest coast
- native american plains
- native american plateau
- native american southeast
- native american southwest
- navajo
- norse
- oceanic
- persian
- roman
- romanian
- san
- shan
- shinto
- siberian
- sikh
- slavic
- sufi
- taoist
- temne
- tibetan buddhist
- tongan
- vietnamese
- xhosa
- yoruba
- zoroastrian
- zulu
- zuni
Conserved neighbors: axis mundi · sacred knowledge · threshold guardian · forbidden knowledge
This family has not yet been binned into sub-families; its mapped motifs are listed directly, most widespread first.
Mapped motifs
14 motifs
- Serpent 4,106 occurrences · 103 traditions
- aboriginal australian
- african akan
- african bantu
- afro caribbean
- ainu
- akan
- amazonian
- andamanese
- +95 more
- beneficent serpent or dragon helper 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- shan
- Boundary between mortal and serpent worlds marked by fire and cooked food 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- zuni
- Dangerous treasure guarded by a sleeping dragon 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- daoist
- Dragon guardian of golden apples 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- Dragon sentinel guarding precious treasures 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- guardian dragon and golden apples 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek roman
- Human-brain feeding prescription for monstrous serpents 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- persian
- Monstrous dragon and basilisk imagery 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- gnostic
- Nāga witness to the arising Buddha 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- Naga as helper in procuring a remedy 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- buddhist
- serpent-guarded divine war emblem 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
- Serpent-like destroyer at the threshold 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- roman
- serpent threat in water 1 occurrences · 1 traditions
- greek
Each motif link opens its evidence page: every tagged passage with its quote, and a path into the book where the passage lives.