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Connected with these practices (Belteine, etc.), is the vivid memory still retained of one universal Ophiolatreia, or serpent worship; ... The Celtic word for a serpent is expressive of its wisdom. A knowing man, one versed in the mysteries, was called a serpent. Was it the serpent's silence which distinguished it in the animal creation that brought this reputation, and made it a fitting emblem of the esoteric system? It was the symbol of productive energy, and was ever associated with the egg, symbol of the progressive elements of nature. The male was the Great Father; the female, the Great Mother...