tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176769156825838190.post6872101507493900858..comments2022-04-11T01:28:17.873-07:00Comments on A Blog of Beasts!: Good Snake, Bad SnakeAnimals in the Middle Ageshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10809281152134119502noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176769156825838190.post-53400669121843159162016-09-03T04:19:20.669-07:002016-09-03T04:19:20.669-07:00Thanks for the blog post buddy! Keep them coming.....Thanks for the blog post buddy! Keep them coming... <a href="https://www.serpsautopilot.com/" rel="nofollow">seo miami florida </a><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06028978473058801225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176769156825838190.post-7404163613020254912014-02-10T05:43:46.095-08:002014-02-10T05:43:46.095-08:00When a family buys a new puppy in the cold seasons...When a family buys a new puppy in the cold seasons, they may have some different training needs. In this <a href="http://www.petitepaw.net/blogs/178/what-do-mammals-eat" rel="nofollow">link</a> a pet in winter time may not want to go outside for potty training.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08278445203151069013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176769156825838190.post-40266878423168093002010-12-06T08:49:50.930-08:002010-12-06T08:49:50.930-08:00Excellent meditation on the scriptural images that...Excellent meditation on the scriptural images that most likely influenced Francis' reactions (and/or his biographers') to snakes and lambs. I like very much the way you read the snake as potentially ambiguous (I don't remember mentioning Moses' use of the brazen serpent, but I'm glad you did!). It is very interesting, given our present-day use of sheep to mean "blind followers", that sheep were so consistently unambiguous in medieval thinking. My suspicion is that our present-day use is conditioned not only by such animal stories as <i>Animal Farm</i> but also by the changing valuation of faith as such. So long as it is considered a virtue to follow faithfully, sheep come off well, but with the criticisms that modern thinkers have brought against faith, so the sheep suffers symbolically. Likewise, there are those now who would use snakes positively, although, off the top of my head, the only examples that occur are negative (the basilisk in Harry Potter 2, the snake sisters in Pratchett's <i>Witches Abroad</i>, the snake that Martin battles in <i>Redwall</i>). I do suspect that our relative inability to use snakes positively even in stories stems from the innate fear that snakes seem to provoke in our species (snakes are one of the few animals that seem to elicit particular phobias), but there are theories that the reason that the snake in Genesis in fact symbolized the older Mesopotamian cults that the Hebrews rejected. Whether this meant that the snake in these religions was positive as such is another question.<br /><br />RLFBAnimals in the Middle Ageshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10809281152134119502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176769156825838190.post-14192856108046615852010-12-01T23:18:44.437-08:002010-12-01T23:18:44.437-08:00You're absolutely right! We do perceive sheep ...You're absolutely right! We do perceive sheep as being blind followers- sometimes to their own demise. However, would it be safe to say that because of their meek/docile nature plus the fact that they really pose no harm to humans or other animals, sheep are inherently "good" animals? The snakes on the other hand, even though they were sent from God (in the Bible) they are nonetheless dangerous to human beings.Sandra Parkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09982749331150977133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4176769156825838190.post-32685288953783539602010-12-01T21:32:45.548-08:002010-12-01T21:32:45.548-08:00One of the things I have thought was interesting a...One of the things I have thought was interesting about medieval v. modern ideas of the lamb is that, like you said, there doesn't seem to be any negative imagery attached to the sheep during the Middle Ages. However, now we can be quite negative toward sheep. We think that they're stupid animals (which is arguably true) and associate them with things like groupthink. The word Sheeple refers to people who just follow the crowd like sheep http://xkcd.com/610/. I don't know for sure whether there is no negative imagery connected to sheep, but if there is not then sheep would seem to be a very curious example of Biblical imagery completely overriding a potential symbol.B.T.Carolushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10549741099055782849noreply@blogger.com