Snapshots of Serpent Deities: The Water Serpent

By Bethany Youngblood

(Wikimedia commons)

For the Tewa Indians living near the Rio Grande in New Mexico, as well as other Pueblo people of North America, the “mythical” Avanyu was believed to be a very powerful god. According to their ancient religion, this deity can supposedly cause both earthly and supernatural events. Like other serpent deities of ancient North America, the beliefs about Avanyu seem to be similar to those found in Meso-America, leading many archaeologists to lump them together under the same term: “Feathered Serpent”.

The Ancient Island of Malta

By Analea Styles

http://www.wheretogoinmalta.com/qrendi/attractions

In a short account in Acts, wedged between his shipwreck and arrival in Rome, we find Paul and his company on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea (Acts 28:1-10). The brief story describes the unusual kindness of the native people towards the shipwrecked survivors. It is on this island that Paul is bitten by a viper and yet suffers no harm, causing the natives to think him a god.