Smiling JOe
SoWal Expert
Well-stated, Chick! 
From the Walton Sun:
Snakes were early man?s best friend and are yours, too
Yes, I know what you?re thinking. Pooches are man?s best friends and not, God forbid, snakes. But let?s look at the maligned reptile.
The life-giving symbol of the physician who makes you feel better is the snakes and the shield. The early statues of blind justice had the snake curled about the scales. The problem of seeing the bad side of our fellow reptile brothers came from bad press in the Bible.
Early artifacts ? burial pots and bowls, inscribed clay tablets, woodcarvings, gold, silver and inscribed gem stones ? relate man?s relationship to the snake. It?s almost from the dawn of time the snake has been revered. The worship of the slithery creature predates by thousands upon thousands of years our adoration of a one god. Why? Why venerate such an often unseen and sometimes poisonous thing?
Most archeologists understand why; that all over the world there was a love and respect for the ground creature.
Simply put, the snake was a giver of a good life more than a deadly one of agony. It helped the witch doctor for ages, as we shall read further.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about important Indian burial finds at Point Washington. One of the bowls or pots found at Jolly Bay near Point Washington showed the ?man snake,? so even here in small Santa Rosa Beach the earth-sliding being was highly respected.
Most ancient Indian communities welcomed the snake into the their life cycle as it did an effective job on the large insects, rats, and mice. A non-poisonous snake was often welcomed into the hut to keep vermin from biting sleepers and babies, and were even kept and taken care of like other pets and domestic creatures. They would be placed in earth or beehive corn granaries to rid them of the thieving rodents. The natives? food for existence depended upon the snake.
Dogs were loved sentinels and cats were both worshiped by some and eaten by others.
In my college days (that was BC as I?m very old now) it was required for an archeological class to go dig at Cherokee burial mounds around the Memphis area. The Cherokee Indians had a community near one of the mounds and one weathered and wrinkled Indian gave us a lecture on the snake symbol. I remember so well one statement he made on how the reptile and the Indian village doctor, before white man?s medicine, worked together to show compassion.
It seemed when a person was struck down with say cancer (they called it ?bad spirit?), or a wound that slipped into blood poisoning, appendicitis, bad childbirth, etc. ? and the unrelenting pain became never ending ? the patient was given a strong concoction to drink that would make them go into a profound stupor. Then the doctor?s poisonous snake was forced to bite. The combination of solutions sent the suffering person to the happy hunting ground while in a deep merciful sleep.
During the many years I have lived here I have killed only one snake: a water moccasin. All others merely run away and are my friends.
When we had Bayou Arts and Antiques I would often hear bloodcurdling screams from the grounds when city ladies would encounter Sam, our local black racer. I loved Sam.
Charlene, our employee, would sometimes come in sort of shaking and report that Sam was out and about, but she too learned to like him ? not love him, but tolerate him.
Ignorance has put the extremely gentle scarlet snake on the endangered list simply because of its vibrant Technicolor color. The mind set is that if it?s colorful it must be a coral snake, so kill it.
Florida records show only one coral snake fatality since record keeping began in the early 1900s.
That?s like saying if you have red hair you?re more violent than a brunette.
Rattlesnakes account for most deaths.
The ?Boss? created every creature for an important purpose. I do, however, have problems with no seeums, but then again baby frogs and chameleons must have them to survive. See, my friends it?s all in understanding the cycle as the Indian did so well.
Ah! Just slapped a mean no-seeum.
Fair winds to ye matey.
Chick Huettel is a long-time Walton County resident and former owner of Bayou Antiques. He is a member of a number of local organizations including the Emerald Coast Archeological Society.
HIGH TIDE
Chick Huettel
From the Walton Sun:
Snakes were early man?s best friend and are yours, too
Yes, I know what you?re thinking. Pooches are man?s best friends and not, God forbid, snakes. But let?s look at the maligned reptile.
The life-giving symbol of the physician who makes you feel better is the snakes and the shield. The early statues of blind justice had the snake curled about the scales. The problem of seeing the bad side of our fellow reptile brothers came from bad press in the Bible.
Early artifacts ? burial pots and bowls, inscribed clay tablets, woodcarvings, gold, silver and inscribed gem stones ? relate man?s relationship to the snake. It?s almost from the dawn of time the snake has been revered. The worship of the slithery creature predates by thousands upon thousands of years our adoration of a one god. Why? Why venerate such an often unseen and sometimes poisonous thing?
Most archeologists understand why; that all over the world there was a love and respect for the ground creature.
Simply put, the snake was a giver of a good life more than a deadly one of agony. It helped the witch doctor for ages, as we shall read further.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about important Indian burial finds at Point Washington. One of the bowls or pots found at Jolly Bay near Point Washington showed the ?man snake,? so even here in small Santa Rosa Beach the earth-sliding being was highly respected.
Most ancient Indian communities welcomed the snake into the their life cycle as it did an effective job on the large insects, rats, and mice. A non-poisonous snake was often welcomed into the hut to keep vermin from biting sleepers and babies, and were even kept and taken care of like other pets and domestic creatures. They would be placed in earth or beehive corn granaries to rid them of the thieving rodents. The natives? food for existence depended upon the snake.
Dogs were loved sentinels and cats were both worshiped by some and eaten by others.
In my college days (that was BC as I?m very old now) it was required for an archeological class to go dig at Cherokee burial mounds around the Memphis area. The Cherokee Indians had a community near one of the mounds and one weathered and wrinkled Indian gave us a lecture on the snake symbol. I remember so well one statement he made on how the reptile and the Indian village doctor, before white man?s medicine, worked together to show compassion.
It seemed when a person was struck down with say cancer (they called it ?bad spirit?), or a wound that slipped into blood poisoning, appendicitis, bad childbirth, etc. ? and the unrelenting pain became never ending ? the patient was given a strong concoction to drink that would make them go into a profound stupor. Then the doctor?s poisonous snake was forced to bite. The combination of solutions sent the suffering person to the happy hunting ground while in a deep merciful sleep.
During the many years I have lived here I have killed only one snake: a water moccasin. All others merely run away and are my friends.
When we had Bayou Arts and Antiques I would often hear bloodcurdling screams from the grounds when city ladies would encounter Sam, our local black racer. I loved Sam.
Charlene, our employee, would sometimes come in sort of shaking and report that Sam was out and about, but she too learned to like him ? not love him, but tolerate him.
Ignorance has put the extremely gentle scarlet snake on the endangered list simply because of its vibrant Technicolor color. The mind set is that if it?s colorful it must be a coral snake, so kill it.
Florida records show only one coral snake fatality since record keeping began in the early 1900s.
That?s like saying if you have red hair you?re more violent than a brunette.
Rattlesnakes account for most deaths.
The ?Boss? created every creature for an important purpose. I do, however, have problems with no seeums, but then again baby frogs and chameleons must have them to survive. See, my friends it?s all in understanding the cycle as the Indian did so well.
Ah! Just slapped a mean no-seeum.
Fair winds to ye matey.
Chick Huettel is a long-time Walton County resident and former owner of Bayou Antiques. He is a member of a number of local organizations including the Emerald Coast Archeological Society.
HIGH TIDE
Chick Huettel
