Free Secrets Of The Serpent's Heart (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 6) by N. S. Wikarski

sovereigns followed by five emperors. You must understand that the terms ‘sovereign’ and ‘emperor’ are honorary titles since imperial China didn’t exist until 221 BCE. The three sovereigns were: Nu Kwa—the Creator, Shen-Nung—the Divine Farmer, and Huang Di—the Yellow Emperor. Nu Kwa is the first, which makes her the primordial ancestress. As I said earlier, Chinese imperial historians married her to a brother-consort but in the original myths she reigned alone. Early records are vague on timing but some say that Nu Kwa lived around 2900 BCE. That would make her contemporary with the Hongshan culture. In myths, she is often called the ‘snake goddess’. The upper half of her body is human while the lower half is that of a snake.”
    Griffin nodded sagely. “Women and snakes have been mythologically connected since the beginning of time. The python seer in Botswana, the West African goddess Mawu, the Egyptian cobra goddess Wadjet, the Pythia at Delphi, the Medusa, Minoan snake handlers, even Voodoo queen Marie Laveau and her python.”
    “There’s a very simple explanation for that association,” Jun said. “And it’s not the silly phallic connection that overlord historians are so fond of making.”
    Both Griffin and Cassie gave him puzzled looks.
    The trove-keeper continued. “It all has to do with shamans—women who were the oldest spiritual guides of humankind. They existed in every culture around the world. In order to visit the phantom realms, they had to rely on substances to alter their states of consciousness. To this day in the Americas, shamans will ingest mushrooms or smoke peyote. Siberian shamans depend on repetitive drumming ceremonies to induce a hypnotic state. But the most ancient tactic used by shamans was snake venom.”
    “I never thought of that,” the Scrivener murmured in surprise.
    “But snake venom is so toxic it would kill the shaman who used it,” Cassie objected.
    “That depends on the species of snake,” Jun countered with a smile. “Not all are lethal. In fact, most produce the kind of venom that is a powerful hallucinogen. Shamans knew which snakes to use for their rituals. Have you never wondered why so many folk religions revere the wisdom of the snake?”
    “It always seemed odd to me,” the Pythia commented. “There’s nothing particularly brainy about reptiles.”
    “Not as such,” Griffin said. “But the idea makes sense in light of Jun’s explanation that their venom can induce paranormal states which impart wisdom to the shaman.”
    “Of course, shamans and their snakes were a threat to overlord religion and needed to be driven out,” Jun added.
    “Just like Catholic St. Patrick drove the pagan snakes out of Ireland,” Cassie joked.
    “Exactly so,” Jun concurred in all seriousness. “There are many examples of serpents being destroyed by one overlord hero or another. The snake who caused all the trouble in the Garden of Eden was crushed under the foot of the Christian Virgin Mary. The Python who protected Delphi was slain by the Greek god Apollo. Tiamat was destroyed by Marduk in Babylonian origin stories. These are all examples of shamanic religion being eradicated to make way for overlord ideology.”
    “A bloodless form of religious genocide,” Griffin noted sardonically. “I’m sure those myths correlated closely with the actual extermination of shamans living in the newly-conquered overlord territories.”
    “Speaking of which,” the Pythia said. “It’s obvious that your Nu Kwa was based on some kind of matristic shaman until the overlords got hold of her story. So where did the overlords come from? Those barbarians on horseback couldn’t have ridden all the way from the Caspian Sea to carve up China.”
    “Ah, but that’s exactly what they did,” Jun countered knowingly.
    “But when?” Cassie persisted.   “How?”
    Without answering at first, Jun glanced around the restaurant. His listeners followed his gaze. Cassie