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So. Apparently JKR said that there would be a lot to do with snakes in book 7, and that "snake lore" would be important. I mean, the first thing that obviously jumps to mind is the quest for Nagini if she really does have a part of Voldemorts soul... so I went along and had a look at what else it might be. And I stumbled on Greek mythology. It's interesting.
Thoughts about "snake lore"
Our medical symbol of two snakes wrapped around a staff comes from ancient, Greek mythology . According to the myth, Asclepius (the son of Apollo and Coronis) discovered medicine by watching as one snake used herbs to bring another snake back to life1. For Asclepius brought his patients back from the dead Zeus killed the healer with a thunderbolt2. At Apollo’s request, Asclepius was placed among the stars as Ophinchus, the serpent-bearer.
1. Two snakes = Snape and Draco? Harry watched Snape heal Draco. Dumbledore was going to use the Draught of Living Death in book 7 on Draco and his family to hide them from Voldemort. Still going to happen?
2. Irony much with the lightningbolt (scar)? Harry kill Snape? Voldemort kill Snape? Why isn't Snape a Healer if he hates children so much?
The Constellation Draco.
In the most famous of the myths, Draco represents Ladon, the hundred-headed dragon that guarded the golden apples3 of the Hesperides. The eleventh of The Twelve Labours of Heracles4 & 10 was to steal the golden apples. Heracles killed Ladon with a poisoned arrow, allowing him to freely take the golden apples. According to the legend, Hera later placed the dragon in the sky as the constellation Draco. Due to its position and nearby constellations in the zodiac sign of Libra (i.e. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Boötes), the group of constellations can be seen to tell the tale of the eleventh labour5.
By astronomical chance, the Dragon's Head and Dragon's Tail mark the positions of the lunar nodes, those points where the paths of the solar and lunar orbits intersect and where solar and lunar eclipses may occur. The Dragon's head (Caput draconis6) refers to the ascending node, the Dragon's tail (Cauda draconis) the descending node. In several cultures, an eclipse was attributed to the disappearance of the moon7 or sun as they were swallowed by a dragon. The fact that the stars of this circumpolar constellation never set plays an important part in its mythologies.
Stars with interesting names in the constellation, Draco8:
* The basilisk
* The head of the basilisk
* The head of the dragon (also called Caput Draconis)
* The wolf
* "Southern One of the Basilisk's Belly"
* "Northern One of the Basilisk's Belly"
* Two wolves
3. Draco eats apples in PoA. Irony much? Guardian. Interesting. What could Draco be guarding?
4. JK loves the number 12, LOL.
5. Eleventh hour = final battle. Draco to die? Possible "reprieve" JK was talking about i.e. a character who was MEANT to die, but doesn't.
6. Gryffindor Common Room password, Philospher's Stone, Chapter 7, just after the Sorting.
7. Moon -> werewolves. Swallowed by the Dragon... Draco to capture Greyback?
8. Basilisk. Constant referrals to snakes and wolves (no Dragons though). Made up of snakes and wolves, but is still the Dragon.
The Constellation Gemini (Draco - born 5th June, 1980)
The orientation of the constellation can vary (since they readily form stick figures whether leaning right or left), though the twins are usually viewed as left leaning. However, when right leaning, one of the twins resides in the Milky Way, and the other outside it, a situation making it appear that one of the twins is stealing the cattle9, and the other is observing. In this situation, together with the area of the sky that is deserted (now considered as the new and extremely faint constellations Camelopardalis and Lynx), and the other features of the area in the Zodiac sign of Gemini (i.e. Orion, Auriga, and Canis Major), this may be the origin of the myth of the cattle of Geryon, which forms one of The Twelve Labours of Herakles10.
Gemini is associated with the Greek myth of Castor (or Kastor) and Pollux and with the Greco-Roman god Hermes/Mercury and sometimes also the gods Loki11, Asklepios/Aesculapius, and Veles and the goddesses Eris/Discordia, Hebe, and Ate.
9. Draco steals in the Chamber of Secrets movie. Irony again?
10. Twelve Labours of Herakles again. Ties Draco firmly to Gemini. Coincidence?
11. Loki was Fenrir's father!!
The links continue. Snake, Draco (basilisk, wolf and moon), Gemini, Loki, Fenrir. 0.o Dude. I have no idea what all of this means, but it's bloody exciting and interesting! :D
So that's my random study notes on what snakes might have to do with Draco is book 7. Watcha think?
Personally, I reckon that Snape is going give Draco the Draught of Living Death, Voldemort's gonna go "Whoops, he's ded", and then Snape's gonna smuggle Draco to The Burrow on Fleur and Bill's wedding and just leave him, like on the ground so he trips the security and they come and find him. And he'll leave a letter from Dumbledore or something explaining why Snape killed Dumbledore.
I've thought too much about this. LOL.
I had this insane idea that Draco was a werewolf. It's looking... insanely coincidental... with all of the links to the constellation having wolf and moon... and the way Draco reacted to Fenrir in The Lightning Struck Tower... SOMETHING is going on. I don't know what, but it is. LOL.
Peace,
Rotae
- Music:Buffy Theme Song
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Comments
Plus, the reprieve! When I heard about it, I thought immediately: Draco's gonna survive! YAY! XD
Because, who else could get a reprieve?
And, could it be that Draco's sick appearance through HBP was more than fear and frustration? Oh no, I hope JKR won't fall for such easy redeeming scape: 'oh, now he's learned, but alas, shall carry such curse!'
Oh, and great research ♥
Yeah. The only reason I didn't automatically go "DRACO" is because I never really thought she was going to kill him off in the first place... LOL. But this makes me think maybe. The character that I think has a reprieve is Tonks, actually. I don't reckon Tonks/Lupin was going to happen when she was first planning and now Remus has to be happy at the end, so Tonks WAS expendable but now she's not :D YAY!! LOL
Yeah... I know. I read that BRILLIANT essay by Lady Lupin over at Mugglenet about Draco being a werewolf, and it IS insanely coincidental that he has the exact same imagery that Remus has after a transformation. And all of the other things. And now tying Draco to Fenrir in mythology... it's... weird. LOL.
LOL. Thanks. Usually I don't post my ramblings, but no one was really posting about this, so I thought I should :D
*huggles* Thank you for your input!! :D
Peace,
Rotae
Well, as long as she doesn't kill Draco, everything else is game to me. But, if Tonks died, Remus would kill himself - I mean, after Sirius, werewolf curse... or maybe he would go batshit insane and kill Volds. That would be cool. Harry probably would go all WTFBBQ!!11!
XD
Oh, I want to read more ramblings, yes I do *hugs*
I don't think that Remus would kill himself though... I mean, Lily, James and Peter were murdered and Sirius betrayed them, and he didn't do it. So, I don't really see himself doing that. LOL. WTFBBQ?!!11 Indeed XDDD HAHAHA.
Awww... thank you!! Hopefully I shall put more ramblings up over the Christmas. Especially my thoughts on Draco :D They are going to be really scattered. LOL. XDDD *huggles*
Peace,
Rotae
With the snake lore thing, she was specifically talking about how all mythologies referenced snakes all around the globe. So, I took a stab at some mythologies. XDDD LOL.
*huggles*
Peace,
Rotae
Anyway, I was just considering, because I'm getting impatient for the last book to come out. That's the most I can do, though, is consider. I'm no good about the whole analyzing stuff. ^^
OMG. YES. I am SO SICK of typing Book 7... AGHHHH!!!! GIVE ME A TITLE ALL READY!! I WANT TO ABBREVIATE IT AND LOVE IT!! XDDD lol. If everything goes to plan (i.e. release date of 07.07.07), we should be getting the title for Christmas. :D
And LOL. Yeah. I just got all of this info and just shoved it all together and went "NOW. What does it MEAN?" LMFAO. XDDD
Peace,
Rotae
I'm totally not a fan of Slytherin in the books, so. ^^ I think part of it is the "OMFG YAYZ SLYTHERIN!!11" fandom crap, but the rest is just that I don't understand their motivations in the book. I couldn't be more Hufflepuff.
I think the connections are all mainly just cos JKR gets assloads of things from Greek/Norse/Roman mythology anyway and so they're going to be somewhat connected even if they have no purpose in the story. Maybe, but I don't think the 'snake lore' is going to have a whole lot to do w/ Draco per se.
Draco to capture Greyback? HAHAHAHA Lupin is going to be the end of Greyback.
Snape's gonna smuggle Draco to The Burrow ...Why? If Voldemort thinks he's dead, why not leave him with Narcissa like, at their own house?
Our medical symbol of two snakes wrapped around a staff comes from ancient, Greek mythology It does :O I thought it came from the bible :| But I can't remember really.. something about "are snakes evil and should we kill them all" and some prophet dude or God or Jesus was like "no dudes, they're ok" and then heals people with it and a staff...or.. something I dunno xD xD.
Why isn't Snape a Healer if he hates children so much? I think you mean... Why IS Snape a healer? I mean this was Draco, dude. If he didnt' heal Draco then Snape would DIE xD. And even if it wasn't Draco, just cos Snape dosen't like children dosent' mean he's going to let one die in front of him, in the school where he teaches, no less.
LOL. Yeah. I started out looking for snake stuff and then went off on a tangent to Draco. It's something that happens a lot. LMFAO. XDDD I just think it's weird that the contellation Draco (the one he was named for), has all of these references to the Basilisk and wolves and the moon and stuff. :D
Hmmm... yeah. See, this is the same problem that I have with Neville killing Bellatrix. He'd be ripping apart his soul to kill him... I just... meh... I mean, I know he was going to kill Peter, but dude, it's PETER. HAHAHA. I just... eesh... like I said, they were ramblings. And that's what fitted with the myth. LOL. I don't know about Greyback. I'm still so undecided about what I think is going to happen to him.
Because Narcissa can't know. And it'd be pretty easy for them to find him there if they suspected he was still alive. It's a bit harder to search The Burrow. LMFAO. XDDDD PLUS. Then Lucius will think he's dead and go super psycho crazy and awesome :D XDDD
Yep. It sure does come from Greek mythology :D I looked it up! :D Interesting, right?
Ah. No. You misunderstood me. Sorry. That's my brain going off on a tangent again. Not why would he heal Draco... it was, why didn't Snape BECOME a healer? I mean, he obviously has the training. And Voldemort only wanted him there to spy on Dumbledore. When Voldemort "died", Snape could have done anything he wanted to do. (even though his feeble excuse was that he was 'comfortable', I mean pfft. Yeah right. LOL). So, why did he STAY? Why did he put up with kids for 19 years?
*huggles* Thanks for your thoughts. :D I thought you were on some sort of hiatus?
Peace,
Rotae
also did you know Rabastan is the name of the "head of the basalisk"? ayus...
oh yeah the whole kill and ripping your soul etc.. I'm really curious as to what kind of reprocussions a split soul has.. you know? Do you like.. not get to go to the best kind of afterlife? I mean otherwise who cares if your soul is whole or cut in half? xD
Wait why can't Narcissa know?? lmfao what is she going to do, tell on them? You just want to see Draco in the hands of the Order! x))) STUPID ORDER HE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO HIS MOMMY SO SHE KNOWS HE'S OKAY :(((( STFU x)
I secretly want to see Lucius think Draco and Narcissa are dead just so he can get some good freak out time x))). And to rub it in malfoy haters faces..
Ohhhhh ok ok ok no dude, like, I figure all accomplished wizards know some kind of healing technique though. And certainly Snape would know how to heal a spell (a Dark one nonetheless) which he made lol.. I don't think Snape'd let himself be ignorant of healing spells, and he probably knows a good deal of every kind of magic. Dosen't mean he was in Healer training. Healers are more for long term healing stuff though too. Lmfao Snape as a healer... "Here's your medicine" "I don't wanna!" "Take your medicine or YOU SHALL NEVER AGAIN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY YOU INSOLENT LITTLE WHELP!"
HAHAHA. I did the exact same thing with Rabastan. Cept it's not Rabastan. Look at it: Rastaban. Rastaban. I think we must both suffer from lysdexia. LOL. :D XDDD
Yeah. I think that the whole "soul splitting" thing is really interesting. I hope we learn more about it. And I mean, if you DO kill someone, then you may as well make a horcrux... LOL. I mean, it'd be wasted otherwise. XDDD HAHAHAHA.
Narcissa can't know because she's too emotional about him. Voldemort would need to see pure grief. And plus, Snape would be a bastard and do that to her. LMFAO. XDDDD AHAHA. Yes. I DO just want to see Draco in the hands of the Order. You've got me. (Am I that transparent?! LMFAO). Yeah. You wait. The Order will need something from Draco at some point (Draco guarding something), and they'll have to go to his house and he'll be like, "Uh... Hi mum" and Narcissa will be like "OMGWTFBBQ?! *keels over*" LMFAO. XDDD
LOL. Yeah. I reckon he'll think that Draco's dead and go all spaz. :D I kinda only want it to be Draco though, because everyone already knows that he loves Narcissa... so it'd be like, "OMG he actually LOVES Draco? WHUT?" and we can be all *upsides your heads* LMFAO XDDD
Hmmm... good point. Interesting that Harry, Ron and Hermione haven't learnt anything like that yet. (That goes with the whole, Snape teaching Harry healing stuff though... interesting...) Snape is just very good at it. I mean, Dumbledore is always calling for Snape to heal him. No one else. I suppose that's because it's Dark Magic as well.
OMG. HAHAHAHA. YES. Snape would totally HATE working with children. He'd so be on the Dark Arts ward or something :D
Peace,
Rotae
And the two snakes thing I believe is called a caduceus - it was used on as the symbol on Hermes staff and earlier depictions of Athena had her wearing one because it also doubles as a symbol for fertility and she was originally a fertility goddess.
Um, I just hope that JKR doesn't just go with the biblical meaning that i've seen so many authors go with already ie snakes=bad; Slytherin's symbol is the snake and all his House is 'bad', etc.
This is what I got:
From the early 16th century onwards, the staff of Asclepius and the caduceus of Hermes were widely used as printers’ marks especially as frontispieces to pharmacopoeias in the 17th and 18th centuries. Over time the rod and serpent (the Asclepian staff) emerged as an independent symbol of medicine.
Despite the unequivocal claim of the staff of Asclepius to represent medicine (and healing), the caduceus, a rod with two entwined serpents topped by a pair of wings appears to be the more popular symbol of medicine in the United States, probably due to simple confusion between the caduceus and the staff of Asclepius, the true symbol of medicine. Many people use the word caduceus to mean both of these emblems. :D See, we're both right. LOL.
LOL. Yeah. I highly doubt it. It's WAY too prejudiced. Seriously. The series is all about non stereotyping. If snakes always = bad, then it's ruined. I don't see JK doing that :D
*huggles*
Peace,
Rotae
And wow, those are some complicated notes. I got lost because i'm tired.