The Gods of Eden - Ch.5

Brotherhood of the Snake

OF ALL THE animals revered in ancient human societies, none were as prominent or as important as the snake. The snake was the logo of a group which had become very influential in early human societies of both Hemispheres. That group was a disciplined Brotherhood dedicated to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge and the attainment of spiritual freedom. This Brotherhood of the Snake (also known as the "Brotherhood of the Serpent," but which I will often refer to as simply the "Brotherhood") opposed the enslavement of spiritual beings and, according to Egyptian writings, it sought to liberate the human race from Custodial bondage.* The Brotherhood also imparted scientific knowl-

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* Because Brotherhood teachings included physical healing through spiritual means, the snake also came to symbolize physical healing. Today the snake is featured on the logo of the American Medical Association.

edge and encouraged the high aesthetics that existed in many ancient societies. For these and other reasons, the snake had become a venerated symbol to humans and, according to Egyptian and biblical texts, an object of Custodial hatred. When we look to discover who founded the Brotherhood, Mesopotamian texts point right back to that rebellious "god," Prince Ea. Ancient Mesopotamian tablets relate that Ea and his father, Anu, possessed profound ethical and spiritual knowledge. This was the same knowledge that was later symbolized as trees in the Biblical Adam and Eve story. In fact, the Biblical tree symbol came from pre-Biblical Mesopotamian works, such as one showing a snake wrapped around the trunk of a tree, identical to later portrayals of the snake in Eden. From the tree in the Mesopotamian depiction hang two pieces of fruit. To the right of the tree is the half-moon symbol of Ea; to the left is the planet symbol of Anu. The drawing indicates that Ea and Anu were associated with the snake and its teachings. This connection is affirmed by other Mesopotamian texts which describe Anu's palace in the "heavens" as being guarded by a god of the Tree of Truth and a god of the Tree of Life. In one instance, Ea reportedly sent a human to be educated in that very knowledge:

Adapa [the name of an early man], thou art going

before Anu, the King;

The road to Heaven thou wilt take.

When to Heaven thou has ascended, and hast approached

the gate of Anu, the "Bearer of Life" and

the "Grower of Truth" at the gate of Anu will be

standing.1

We therefore find Ea designated as the reputed culprit who tried to teach early man (Adam) the way to spiritual freedom. This suggests that Ea intended his creation, Homo sapiens, to be suited for Earth labor, but at some point he changed his mind about using spiritual enslavement as a means. If Ea was a true historical personality as the Sumerians claimed, then he was the probable leader of the Brotherhood at its founding on Earth. The Brotherhood may have adopted the snake as its logo because Ea's first home on Earth was said to have been constructed by a serpent-infested swampland which Ea called Snake Marsh. Another possible explanation for the snake logo is offered by Mr. Sitchin who says that the biblical word for "snake" is nahash, which comes from the root word NHSH, meaning "to decipher, to find out."

Despite all of their reported good intentions, the legendary Ea and early Brotherhood clearly failed to free the human race. Ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and biblical texts relate that the "snake" was quickly defeated by other Custodial factions. The Bible informs us that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was overcome before it was able to complete its mission and give Adam and Eve the "fruit" from the second "tree." Ea (who was also symbolized as a snake) was banished to Earth and was extensively villainized by his opponents to ensure that he could never again secure a widespread following among human beings. Ea's title was changed from "Prince of Earth" to "Prince of Darkness." He was labeled other horrible epithets: Satan, the Devil, Evil Incarnate, Monarch of Hell, Lord of Vermin, Prince of Liars, and more. He was portrayed as the mortal enemy of a Supreme Being and as the keeper of Hell. People were taught that his only intentions were to spiritually enslave everyone and that everything bad on Earth was caused by him. Humans were encouraged to detect him in all of his future lives ("incarnations") and to destroy him and his creations whenever he was discovered. All beliefs and practices named after his various appellations ("Satanism," "Devil Worship," etc.) were to be made so horrific and degrading that no right-thinking person would (or should) have anything to do with them. He and his followers were to be viewed by human beings with nothing but the utmost loathing.

This is not to say that Ea was actually portrayed by ancient Sumerians as a saint. He was not. He was described in Mesopotamian texts with distinct character flaws. If Ea was a real person, then he appears to have been a genius who could get things done, but who was often careless about anticipating the consequences of how he went about accomplishing his goals. By engineering a work race (Homosapiens), Ea wound up giving his enemies a powerful tool of spiritual repression. Ea then appears to have compounded the blunder by founding and/or empowering the early Snake Brotherhood which, after its reported defeat, continued to remain a powerful force in human affairs, but under the domination of the very Custodial factions that Ea and the original Brotherhood were said to have opposed. History indicates that the Brotherhood was turned under its new Custodial "gods" into a chilling weapon of spiritual repression and betrayal, despite the efforts of many sincere humanitarians to bring about true spiritual reform through Brotherhood channels all the way up until today. By reportedly creating a work race and the Brotherhood of the Snake, the "god" Ea had helped build a trap for billions of spiritual beings on Earth.

As we shall now begin to carefully document, the Brotherhood of the Snake has been the world's most effective tool for preserving mankind's status as a spiritually ignorant creature of toil throughout all of history. During all of that time, and continuing today, the Brotherhood and its network of organizations have remained intimately tied to the UFO phenomenon. This corruption of the Brotherhood, and the overwhelming effect it would have on human society, was already apparent by the year 2000 B.C. in ancient Egypt— the next stop on our journey.

- pages 53-56, The Gods of Eden, by William Bramley