The Anti-Defamation League has a list of symbols used in hate speech. Unfortunately, Zalktis is on this list. I should not have been surprised. But I was very upset and saddened. I am also disappointed by those who make horror movies based on pagan themes. I remind myself that animism has been around for thousands of years so it was a belief system held by both good people and bad... rather like Islam and Christianity. Personally I refuse hate.
So, the Anti-Defamation League lists Zalktis as “wolf’s angel”, also known as “double haken” (double hook). They do not seem to know it’s real name or meaning - Zalktis is the snake, typically the good snake who inspires awe but not fear. My friend [P.R.W.] says that pagans did not worship snakes, any more than Christians worshiped bread and wine. These things were special, holy, a link to God...
I have no information why it was called wolf’s angel. Could it be that as pychopomp, the snake was more dangerous than the wolf? I suspect that they spent a lot of time thinking about the greatest beast in the forest. I need to explain the lion images in heraldry. And what if there had been some belief that as a snake may take away life, it may also give life? This is a very vague guess, but some of the old pictures of dragons focus on the dragon’s mouth - looks like the gate of Mara/ gate between life and death...
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So, the Anti-Defamation League lists Zalktis as “wolf’s angel”, also known as “double haken” (double hook). They do not seem to know it’s real name or meaning - Zalktis is the snake, typically the good snake who inspires awe but not fear. My friend [P.R.W.] says that pagans did not worship snakes, any more than Christians worshiped bread and wine. These things were special, holy, a link to God...
I have no information why it was called wolf’s angel. Could it be that as pychopomp, the snake was more dangerous than the wolf? I suspect that they spent a lot of time thinking about the greatest beast in the forest. I need to explain the lion images in heraldry. And what if there had been some belief that as a snake may take away life, it may also give life? This is a very vague guess, but some of the old pictures of dragons focus on the dragon’s mouth - looks like the gate of Mara/ gate between life and death...
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