"Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite", a Roman mosaic from Cirta, now in the Louvre (ca. 315-325 AD)

According to the legend, Neptune (in the Greek version Poseidon) once saw the beautiful nymph Amphitrite, daughter of the sea god Nereus, and fell in love with her. At first, she fled, unwilling to marry the formidable ruler of the sea, but a dolphin sent by Neptune persuaded her to return. For this, the dolphin was placed among the stars as a constellation.

The Serpent of Gnosis: Sacred Fire

The image of the serpent runs through every current of mystical tradition. It coils around the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis; it burns in the deserts of Israel as the bronze figure that heals those who gaze upon it; it curls at the base of the spine in the secret lore of yoga; it climbs the caduceus of Hermes, twin serpents circling a staff crowned with wings.

When we speak of the serpent, we speak of the path from ignorance to vision, from matter to Spirit and from fall to restoration. The serpent seduces, wounds and heals. It gives knowledge of good and evil; it awakens the duality of the human heart. “Your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” says the voice in Genesis 3:5.

In the Sanskrit writings of the yogic schools the serpent appears as Kundalini, the power asleep at the base of the spine. She is described as coiled three and a half times, guarding the gate of freedom.

The image of the serpent rising through the body is not foreign to the West. It mirrors the mystical ascent through the four worlds of the Kabbalah, from Assiah to Yetzirah, from Yetzirah to Briah, and finally into Atziluth.

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Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321, Urb.lat.365

Multiplication. Livre des figures hiéroglifiques, Alchimie de Flamel, c. 1701-1800, BnF