Echidnaic Priesthood

The Echidna is a term that means Viper.
The name for the ancient priesthood, applies to those going back to Medea.

Associated names:

• Oracular (Delphic), Pythian, Eleusinian. These reflect structural or ritual similarities rather than literal institutional identity.

The Viper in the Acts of Philip

A possibly related creature to the Hesiodic Echidna is the "Viper" (Echidna) cast into an abyss, by Philip the Apostle, in the apocryphal Acts of Philip. Called a "she dragon" (drakaina) and "the mother of the serpents",this Echidna ruled over many other monstrous dragons and snakes, and lived in a gated temple at Hierapolis, where she was worshipped by the people of that land. She, along with her temple and priests, was swallowed up by a hole in the ground that opened beneath her, as the result of Philip's curse.

• from Echidna @ wikipedia

Here’s the actual Greek from the Acts of Philip that this paragraph is (loosely) referring to.

Work & location

• Πράξεις τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ πανευφήμου ἀποστόλου Φιλίππου (Acta Philippi), in Bonnet’s edition (1903), usually numbered in the “Martyrdom” section around §§16–17, 23–28.

1. The viper-goddess, her serpents, and her temple

This is where the text explicitly talks about the temple of the viper (ἔχιδνα) and the serpents as “sons of our goddess”:

Key bits:

• τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ εἰδώλου τῆς ἐχίδνης – “the temple of the idol of the viper”
• τοὺς ὄφεις τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς θεᾶς ἡμῶν – “the serpents, the sons of our goddess”
• ἡ ἔχιδνα ὑπνώσῃ – the viper is put to sleep with wine (ritual sedation of the cult-beast/goddess)

This is the closest thing in the Greek to “mother of the serpents”: the goddess whose children are serpents.

2. The abyss swallowing the temple, the viper, and the priests

This is the curse-scene where Philip calls for the abyss to open and swallow the whole cult complex:

First the curse itself:

Then the narrative result:

And a bit later, when the abyss is re-opened and most of them are brought back up, note who stays down:

So we have, in the Greek:

• ἡ ἔχιδνα ἣν ἐσέβοντο – “the viper which they worshipped”
• οἱ ἱερεῖς τῆς ἐχίδνης – “the priests of the viper”
• The entire ἱερὸν plus the ἔχιδνα and her priests being swallowed by ἡ ἄβυσσος as Philip’s curse takes effect.

3. About “δράκαινα” and “mother of the serpents”

In the extant Greek text above:

• The cult-beast is consistently called ἡ ἔχιδνα (“viper”), and her clergy are οἱ ἱερεῖς τῆς ἐχίδνης.
• The snakes are called ὄφεις, explicitly “sons of our goddess” (τοὺς ὄφεις τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς θεᾶς ἡμῶν).

• δράκαινα or the exact phrase “μήτηρ τῶν ὄφεων/δράκοντων” in the standard Greek text of this section; that language looks like later paraphrase/interpretive gloss in secondary literature or wiki-summaries, built from:
  • Hesiodic Ἔχιδνα = “she-dragon” / drakaina in the mythic tradition, and
  • This Acts of Philip scene where the goddess’ children are serpents.

Sythian Echidna

From the fifth century BC historian Herodotus, we learn of a creature who, though Herodotus does not name as Echidna, is called an echidna ("she-viper") and resembles the Hesiodic Echidna in several respects. She was half woman half snake, lived in a cave, and was known as a mother figure, in this case, as the progenitor of the Scythians (rather than of monsters).

The Eua who is Eve

• drakaina (δρακαίνης)
• aion (αἰωνίου)

τῆς Εὔας - what is Eve (Εὔας) doing so close to the drakaina (δρακαίνης)? To the new priestess, who succeeds the mother, when the greater must fall? Who is she? She is the Eve. What is the Eve? the Eve is the Eua (Εὔας), she is the shout of the satanic Bacchant. Do you know who else is the Echidnaic Priestess? Mary. This is what our christian sources are telling us, straight to our faces.

No theology middle man here. This is history. The Echidnaic Priesthood is a fact that we find ALL OVER the christian works. Because it is the uncorrupted mystery.

• from Christed Child Sacrifice @ LadyBabylon

Blood and Venom are her drugs

From The Mystery

She the priestess, The bacchic satanic priestess, she possessed both drugs. One was her blood, one was her venom. She was a virgin from the waste up, from the waste down she was a viper. Welcome to the Bacchic satanic chorus of antiquity.

Did you know this was going on around Jesus?

see also

• Medea
• wikipedia Echidna
• Apocryphal Acts: Acts of Philip, Acts of John, Acts of Peter – many contain serpent/dragon motifs linked to priesthoods.
• Classical references: Hesiod Theogony (Echidna as mother of monsters).
• Hellenistic mystery parallels: Eleusinian, Orphic, Mithraic rituals, especially “she-dragon/guardian of secrets” imagery.
• Secondary scholarship: Look for articles on “drakaina in early Christian literature” or “Echidna motifs in late antiquity” for credible source references.