Morning Myth - The Naga

Change “Our Game” (1)

Before It Is Too Late (2)

Ahh, the naga. My beloved naga. I’ve always liked the naga. Over the years, as I became more familiar with them, I came to like them even more. So much so, that I even visit naga shrines.

The naga has commonly been portrayed as evil in the western lore. At some point recently good nagas have appeared. I suppose this happened as others did more research. As far as we (they) know, the naga originated in India as a race of divine beings in Hindu mythology. The naga thence migrated throughout southeast Asia and into China. (3)

The naga are snake/human hybrids. They can appear with human torsos and snake bodies, snake torsos and human bodies, fully human, or fully snake. They are more like cobras than any they snake. There are male nagas and female naginis, can and do breed with humans (4). As a general rule, the naga are viewed as beneficent to humans and not a natural adversary. They are associated, variously, with fertility, wealth, rain, and similar. A naga even protected the buddha during his seven days of meditation. (5)

Insert image of budda

That said, Brahma relegated the nagas to go and live with the other semie-divine beings because they had become so numerous and a pest to man. This is because by and large, nagas are still all-too-human. I found this interesting because, though generally beneficial, certain snakes can be dangerous. In some areas of India there are still snake rounding up and killing festivals to clear an area for crops or building. Imagine that? In other traditions the nagas live amongst people, especially amongst the traditions of southeast Asia, Nepal, and Tibet.

The nagas are to be split in the next release of the Monsters and Treasures (6). Some will remain in the MT and others will be moved to the Monsters of Legends book. (7) They will not be evil malignant creatures for the most part. I have to peel out a few because they can be dangerous.

For general reference begin here and as always, enjoy your day and be sure to check out the Monsters andTreasure and Mythos Series. Both produced by Troll Lord Games and shipped directly to you if you buy them.  

1: See last blog (Source: link)

2: Better late than never so they say. I don’t know who ‘they’ are but sometimes better never than late is, for lack of a better word, better. (Source: George Bernard Shaw)

3: I actually can not find a source for this. I have not done proper research so this is just random neural firings creating a memory for me. All my myth books and general reference or research material are in boxes. I am still unpacking after 8 years. (Source: 80 boxes of books in my garage.)

4: There was a royal line in India that once claimed, as its right to rule, that its founding king mated with a naga to produce semi-divine heirs something close to that anyway. (Source: Scattered memories.)

5: I don’t know why but I like this short article, perhaps because the author considered the subject matter with care. Tone as it were. ( https://www.burmese-art.com/about-buddha-statues/naga-buddha-statues-with-snake )

6: Or next next. This matter has not been fully nor even partially resolved. 

7: See six above.