Dragon Mountains and Water Serpents

[lumukanda]

there is a range of mountains in southern africa called the drakensberg (dragon mountains).
it extends from the kwazulu-natal (zululand) in south africa to the southern part of mozambique.
these mountains abound with stories of water serpents and large reptiles, especially in the so-called mountain kingdom of lesotho. this is of interest to me when one considers the proximity of the northernmost part of the drakensberg to the southernmost part of the great rift valley, and the chitauli city of umbaba.

i've found some interesting things in a book called 'africa through the mists of time, by brenda sullivan, foreword by credo mutwa.
she was married to a diamond miner, and during her and her husband's many travels througout southern africa, they found many engravings either on rocks, such as driekopseiland, or buried deep beneath the earth in kimberlite tubes, where one finds diamonds. after the death of her husband, she beagin travelling and documenting what they'd found.
she relays some interesting stories and ideas.

some of it relates to water demons and dragons of the drakensberg (dragon mountains) of northern south africa.
she finds evidence of water serpent worship (or appeasment), and evidence of sacrifice of people to these serpents.
children of naron and auen khoisan tribes play a game whereby a line of children form a chain and move towards a 'lake'. one child pretends to be a water serpent, and they all sing a song of such antiquity that the words are no longer understood. they circle the lake until the water serpent 'catches' one of them and 'swallows' him or her. the game ends with this mock sacrifice. in addition, the auen also practise self inoculation to snake bites, something found in snake cults all over the world.

something else found in the citrusdal district (a very powerful energy centre for the khiosan, also incidentaly where apartheid was decided upon in the stadsaal caves) is a picture of a human headed serpent. this image is linked with the libyan god erichthonious, son of Neith/Athena. he is also known as the son of the heather, interesting because erica (heath/heather) grows as much in this rgion as it does on the mediterranean coast. he is also said to have taught his people how to use silver, sacred to the moon goddess. what is interesting about this is that the region where this picture is found is in one of the few regions in southern africa where silver was mined, leading sullivan to believe that his cult may have originated in southern africa.

the story of the Ba-Fiki relates to the possible phoenician influence in southern africa. they had a serpent cult, and regularly burned diamonds as an offereing to the sun god, mBali (the zulu word for a writer to this day is mBhali, reminiscent of Baal). this was done in a ritual furnace, deep in the heart of the drakensberg. two concentric rings of power surrounded this place, which mutwa says is still there, and priests who serve the serepnt goddess Tegati, the AbaTegati, still observe these rituals today.
the xhosa tribe have a story about a serepent who lives in a gorge in the drakensberg, who has a diamond where its third eye should be. in the past youths and maidens were regularly sacrificed to this serpent. the sotho also speak of a huge serpent, with a light shining out of it's head, that lives in deep lakes in lesotho's mountains.

the name drakensberg, which means dragon mountain in afrikaans, is traditionally said to be named that because of the fact that its ragged peaks resemble the back of a dragon, another story says that the white settlers heard legends of a dragon that lived within the massif, in reality the local had been calling it the mountain of the dragon for years. today a large part the drakensberg range is within the borders of the mountain kingdom of lesotho, an independent country landlocked by south africa.
but the real reason, sullivan believes, the area is called the drakensberg is because the kingdom is surrounded by no less than thirteen (a prime moon number) of representations of reptiles, and a tail of five of these snakes off into the eastern cape mountains. these painting are in addition found in inaccessable areas. this is the first ring of power surrounding the shrine where the AbaTegati still perform their rituals to this day. most of the drakensberg within lesotho has never fully been explored by western scientific means, she believes that if they were, this second concentric rings of power would be found.

this is a very interesting story, which not only talks about sacrifice to reptiles, but also of a subterranean network under the drakensberg mountains, centering around a cult of reptile worshippers.
another interesting point i feel is that, whereas the apartheid government was never afraid to steal land from the black tribes, they did it to the xhosa, the zulu, the venda and many others, lesotho has always remained sovereign. and this despite the fact that diamonds are plentiful there. could it be because of the reptile power in this region, perhaps even a city of some kind, is within this area? this could not be uncovered first of all, and secondly the reptiles call the shots don't they?

this is an intersting story about a serpent in khoisan culture :

Serpents

The Bushmen tell of many enormous beasts that are not known of in modern days. There are tales of serpents big and strong enough to kill a full-grown antelope. There are numerous paintings of snakes and serpents in caves where bushmen were known to live. One of them is believed to depict the master of the water: Kouteign Koorou.

This serpent was much larger and dangerous than a hippo this serpent roamed the reeds and the swamps in the rivers of the bushmen. The only way the bushmen could capture this beast was by weaving traps of reeds and poles. These had to be strong enough that the serpent could not break through. When the serpent was caught in one of these traps it would try to escape with all its might. He would lash at the water in such a matter that it would make a spray so big that a rainbow would appear. The serpent received his name by this rainbow "crowning" him. There are a lot of paintings of this serpent in this state.

http://library.thinkquest.org/C00832...n/Serpents.htm

once again we see the water god (enki) but this time a reptile. this thing is huge, bigger than a hippo,is it some kind of dinosaur maybe? it fits in with stories of water monsters amongst the khoisan:

The San of the Central Kalahari believe in an evil god !Kaonxa responsible for death. For them, there is, "a subterranean realm, occupied by these spirits (g/amadzi) and “monsters” or “angry things” (//a:xudzi) who surface and “impinge on human lives when angered by the breaking of certain taboos” (Silberbauer 1982:113). Valiente-Noailles (1993:196-99) obtained a detailed account of !kaonxa as the source of evil from a //gana man. !Kaonxa was described as “coming back” from the west; he became a big snake and was said to be still alive (indeed, immune to death). He was said to be living “in places where there is big water. And when a person comes to get water he may just splash him a lot of water and dig him into the water” [i.e. drown him]. He is the “master of all illnesses” and brings violent winds and rainstorms (Valiente-Noailles 1993:196). He is also associated with the //gamahare, or spirits of the dead."11 The Khoisan believe in a rain being called !Khwa. "In /Xam lore, !Khwa is the embodiment of the rain and of the water in the water hole, his home; he is particularly linked to violent and dangerous rain storms. Like the Nharo /gauwa, he is attracted to women (Guenther 1989:117) and is particularly linked to initiation (amongst the /Xam, female initiation). Most of the !Khwa stories pivot on his attraction to female initiates in seclusion. One narrator, Dia!kwain, described drowned female initiates as “the water’s wives” (Bleek and Lloyd 1911:395). !Khwa appears in herbivorous form, including the eland, or, generically as a rain animal or rain bull."12 !Khwa is viewed a wrathful deity, and his punishment for wrongdoing, especially breaking taboos is severe. "The girl’s story; the frog’s story” (Bleek and Lloyd 1911:198-205) exemplifies the tenor of the menarcheal stories. A female initiate, unhappy in menarcheal seclusion and with the associated food rationing and taboos, sneaked off to the waterhole, killed a “water’s child” (described as “like a calf”) and cooked and ate it while her relatives were out foraging. On her next attempt, an angry !Khwa enveloped her in a whirlwind and deposited her in the waterhole, where she was drowned. Frogs and reflections of stars on the surfaces of the water were said to be disobedient initiates abducted and killed by !Khwa. Her family was likewise afflicted - abducted, drowned and turned into frogs. Their possessions revert to an unworked state: mats and arrows become grasses and reeds respectively. In a similar narrative, skin karosses revert to being springbok (L V-20:5612-5617)."13 As can be observed, !Khwa possesses the ability to change his form at will, and was not only responsible for the providence of rain but the observance of rites and taboos. Viewed in such terms, !Khwa is not only a rain-giver, but also a death-giver. His abode is the waterhole, which is seen in terms of a gate between the worlds of the living and the dead. "The waterhole in /Xam myths and stories is primarily a place of death and the home of the death-giver, !Khwa (Solomon 1989, 1992a, 1994). It is this symbolism which, I propose, supports Qing’s contention that the painted rhebok-headed figures [found in rock art] represented men who had died and now lived in rivers. In terms of /Xam mythology, death and underwater are equivalents. In Lewis-Williams’ argument, “underwater” describes the sensations of trance experience; however, a strong case may be made for the reverse, namely that trancers or curers construe their experience as a journey to the realm of sickness and death, conceptualised as a nether realm accessed through the waterhole, the home of the death-giver, !Khwa. (The curer’s task in the underworld is to wrestle with the spirits who cause illness.)"14 As well as the importance of the waterhole, and the equivalence of underwater and death, one can also note that rivers are believed to be inhabited by spirits of the dead, and the conception of curing illness by combating spirits through the medium of trance, trance itself being equivocated with "underwater".

Lake Fundudzi in the Northern Province of South Africa is treated as sacred. The only natural lake in South Africa is fed by the Mutale River. There are several different beliefs held about it, one of which being that it is inhabited by a god of fertility in the form of a python. As is the case in other animistic religions, ancestors are employed as intermediaries between the people and the god. They are invoked by a ritual in which a maiden with a pot of beer is sent into the lake. "She must then pour the beer into the water and if the water and beer mixes it is going to be a good season. If not, then other measures must be employed to enlist the help of the ancestral spirits to have a good season."

also stories in lesotho, a mountain kingdom, completely surrounded by south africa :

One finds in Lesotho a number of animistic beliefs despite the prevalence of Christianity; indeed, it is an example on how existing beliefs can be assimilated and survive despite the best efforts of a proselytising religion. The deep points of lakes or rivers are held to contain monsters or snakes that hypnotise people into entering the water and drowning, these areas are called koeetsengs.10 Subsequently, there is a fear of approaching the water in areas of Lesotho.

and also the rest of africa, interesting to note the water and incest similarities between Kuitikuiti and enki

A well-publicised example of a water-spirit is that of the Nyaminyami of the Tonga people. The spirit is believed to inhabit the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Tonga (who lived on both banks of the river before their forced removal with the construction of the Kariba dam) regarded him as a god. Although only a few sightings have been claimed, his physical form is serpentine, with a snake's body and head similar to that of a Tiger fish. In times of hunger, he acted as a protector to the Tonga, giving them sustenance by providing strips of meat from his own body.2 In return the Tonga demonstrated their allegiance with ceremonial dances in his honour.3 Nyaminyami had a wife, and together they roamed between Kariba, the Kariwa gorge and the Mana pools. However, he was separated from his wife by the building of the dam at Kariba.4

During the construction of the dam in 1957, the Tonga were forcibly resettled from the banks of the Zambezi to the surrounding barren highland areas. However, construction was set back by the occurrence of a millennial flood.5 The resulting damage was the destruction of the constructional coffer dam. Following floods proceeded to remove the suspension footbridge and road bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Further setbacks occurred including the death of eighteen workers who fell to their deaths during construction.6 Nyaminyami was claimed to have been involved for two reasons. He was said to be lonely as he was separated from his wife who was still residing at Mana pools, and so in his anger had caused the floods. The Tonga people had also claimed that he had acted to defend them, when they invoked his protection as an act of resistance against their forced removal. However, the Tonga also claim that the only reason that Nyaminyami did not completely destroy the Kariba project was due to the intervention of their elders to placate him so as to spare further destruction.7 Nevertheless, the completion of the dam and the resettlement of the Tonga people away from Kariba has not destroyed belief in Nyaminyami. Occasional earth tremors are felt in the region. These are believed to be caused by the wandering of Nyaminyami, lonely and still wishing to be reunited with his wife. This, furthermore, will eventually be accomplished by the destruction of the dam.8

The Congo River provides us with another example of serpentine gods. It was believed that the river was inhabited by a family of water spirits in the form of four serpents. They were not only responsible for conditions and phenomenon on the river, they also were attributed the status of creator gods:

"Four spirits resided in the water beneath the rapids in the Congo River, in the form of four serpents, Kuitikuiti the Waving one, his wife Mboze the Fertile one, and their children Makanga and Mbatilanda. They lived in the Infernal Cauldron, as the white men call it, the maelstrom where the powerful current of the Congo meets the rising tide at every noon. The people say that Kuitikuiti has been seen in many other parts of the river as well.

Long ago there was only the earth with the bushes on it. Then Kuitikuiti rose out of the water and created all the tail-less animals, and Mbatilanda created all the animals with tails. When they came home they found that Mboze was pregnant. She had committed incest with her son, Makanga. Furious, Kuitikuiti seized a club and beat her to death. Dying, she gave birth to a serpent daughter, called Bunzi. Bunzi is the goddess of rain and fertility. She gave birth to another water spirit called Lusunzi, who comes to visit his mother regularly, and whenever he does, there is -kalema-, springtide, in the vast estuary of the Congo.

Kuitikuiti resuscitated his wife Mboze, but now her skin was white instead of black, so he also exchanged his black skin for a white one. Kuitikuiti also lay with his granddaughter, Bunzi, and the issue of this union was a daughter, Kambizi the Storm, who floods the low lands of the delta and drags the sailors and bathers down so that they drown. On the bottom of the sea she makes love with them, like the princesses of the old days who had the right to pick any man they fancied to satisfy their desires."9

As can be observed from this, the river gods were not exempt from taboo practices such as incest or murder. Indeed the fruit of the incestuous union between mother and son results in the goddess of rain and fertility. They show examples of benevolence in creating the animals that inhabit the world, but could equally be responsible for such malignant acts as drowning men or sending floods. They reflect human nature in possessing both good and bad natures. There is no strict dichotomy of good and evil. For example the creator Kuitikuiti committed murder in killing his wife Mbonze, yet he demonstrates forgiveness and regret and brings her back to life. However, despite his action against his wife for her incest, he himself sleeps with his granddaughter Bunzi, product of the initial incestuous act!

http://www.thewaterpage.com/religion_animism.htm

[biblegirl]

What a great post! I would love to see some photos related to this thread, if you know of any.

[strt]

Bookmarked, hope to see more

[biblegirl]

Originally Posted by lumukanda

there is a range of mountains in southern africa called the drakensberg (dragon mountains).
it extends from the kwazulu-natal (zululand) in south africa to the southern part of mozambique.
these mountains abound with stories of water serpents and large reptiles, especially in the so-called mountain kingdom of lesotho. this is of interest to me when one considers the proximity of the northernmost part of the drakensberg to the southernmost part of the great rift valley, and the chitauli city of umbaba.
]

Lesotho: Cultivating the Upside in the Mountain Kingdom

Business Day (Johannesburg)

COLUMN
21 July 2008
Posted to the web 21 July 2008



PRINCE Harry's visits to Lesotho , while not exactly a media sensation, have generated more publicity for the tiny kingdom than just about anything else in years.

Although the British royal is a media magnet who is putting the tiny country on the map, the downside is he is not being photographed holidaying in Lesotho's stunning mountains. Rather, he is there to tackle the fallout of one of the country's biggest problems - its rampant HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is estimated to kill about 80 people a day in a population of 2-million.


Notwithstanding this, the prince's visit is a golden opportunity for the country to sell itself - to brand itself as the roof of Africa, and to market itself as a tourist and investment destination.

[lumukanda]

Originally Posted by biblegirl

What a great post! I would love to see some photos related to this thread, if you know of any.

thanks biblegirl, i'll see if i can find some pics of some of the art i mentioned.
the prince is a regular visitor to lesotho, i've wondered about that myself.

[biblegirl]

Here we have the "son of the earth" who is part snake and human who was educated by the Goddess of Wisdom.
Interesting that Cecrops and Erichthonious are both know as" sons of the earth." Both were supposed to be human head and torso with a serpent body. They are virtually the same myth King and successor / father and son
The snake beside the shield of Athena refers to Erichthonious,

[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=517&i=cecropsen1.jpg][IMG]

[biblegirl]

[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/img521/drakensbergly6.jpg

[biblegirl]

[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=530&i=lesotho1ju4.jpg][IMG]http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/5445/lesotho1ju4

see any faces in these rocks?


[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/img88/lesotho2ja0.jpg/1/][IMG]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/lesotho2ja0.jpg/1/w320

[ufo_swatter]

The Serpent Gods are in my experience nothing to do with reptilians, in fact they are the enemies of reptilians. The stories of Serpent Gods and Dragons are stories based in fact, which are mostly memories of a time when human beings could still see natures spirits, that is before our alien enslavers locked them down and altered the Earths energy lines in such a way as to lock up the power of the Gods of mountains,rivers and lakes.

So now the human beings who are still real believe in corrupting religions that aliens made up like xtianity and slaaam or stumble around in the darkness seperated from their protector Gods to face the danger alone. Until humanity finds its way back to the Dragons they will be lost.

The tale about the Tonga people is exactly the sort of power our true Gods have, the power to destroy those who harm the mother and her children, the mistake of the Tonga was to show mercy.

I've seen how the alien elite have changed the energies of water spirits and I've seen as clear as day with others present,a very big serpent rise from a pool of water once their chains were removed.

I just don't want people to confuse the devils with scaley skin with our Dragon Kings and Serpent Lords, they are two very different creatures.