"I believe the serpent has been given a bad press because it represents universal knowledge and truth, something the powers in control of populations have been trying to supress[sic] for millennia for fear of losing their dominance over their subjects, congregations and populations. The serpent promotes learning so the spirit within can develop and grow, shedding off its skin, representing the eternal soul, shedding its body to allow rebirth to occur in a new existence."
Thus Irvine lays out the essential premise of The Magic of Serpents, a short book along the lines of the publisher's Pagan Portals series. Serpents looks at how many cultures view this creature, starting with the Anunnaki reign of the Babylonians and moving through Mesopotamia, India, China, South America, Egypt, Greece, Romans, and thus into the rest of the world.
Irvine's writing is full of information, but not presented dryly. This is an accessible book and readers will enjoy having disparate cultural information gathered in one place.
~review by Lisa McSherry
Author: Scott Irvine
Moon Books, 2023
pp. 96, $10.95
