Question Time: Is the Dark Queen the same as the Snake?

Miss R. Stephens asked the following question in a community that we're both part of.

As a newbie to Filianism, I may have made a connection that is either totally preposterous and misguided or really super obvious to the rest of the faith that I just haven't caught onto before, and I'd like some input! A few nights ago, I was reading through the Scriptures again, and it struck me that first daughter of the Mother embraced the 'snake' or the darkness that was before things were created, and the outpouring of her energy/creative power gave this darkness a shape, a body 'like hers.' In at least one version of the Scriptures, I know the Snake is written as 'he.' But here I wondered - a body like the daughter's. Wouldn't that mean a female body? And then as I read further along, and went through the story of the Daughter descending into Hell and seeing the Dark Queen, I also thought - what if this is the same snake? In the body that the first daughter gave it? I had previously thought this was the Thea-Beyond-Form, since I've seen her referenced as the Dark Queen. But now I wonder if this is the same? It would make sense. . . . . like I said before though, this is probably either absolutely ridiculous or something really obvious to other believers. So. Give me your thoughts. Did I read this the right way or I am missing something??

Before I give my thoughts upon this, I wanted to share the position of the esteemed Bishop Georgia Cobb, who is head of the Elegant Lady Feminine Seminary, of which I am a member. She writes:

The Snake is not a person (he or it or she).  The snake is a concept.  The concept is "distraction: from Dea and Her Divine Will.  It is the "space" between that which Dea has Created and that which she allows to happen (i.e. the consequence of free thought and free will). Embracing the snake (embracing those things which "distract" ; her from looking to Dea for guidance) does not give the snake ("distraction") a life of it/his/her own.  It is only a weight which drags the soul of the first maid away from Dea.  This weight, takes on the shape of she who embraces it.  But this weight (distraction) does not then become a person like the first maid (nor does it enter into a relationship with her). 

This is not the same story as is told in the Palagians Myth in which the Goddess Eurynome has an intimate relationship with a snake (the north wind) as is impregnated by it/him.

The Dark (Evil) Queen is not the same as the Dark (Mysterious) Mother aka Dea Beyond Form, The Absolute Deity, The Darkness Beyond the Light and the Light Beyond the Darkness). 

The Dark Queen is not the snake. 

The Dark Queen is another concept which represents the power of Evil, that which is furthest away from Dea (Goodness and Light).

The Mythos of the Divine maid is a mystery, not a history lesson.

The question of the relationship of the Snake and the Dark Queen to Dea can be difficult to understand. To examine this more fully, let us take a moment to look at the scriptures in question. The first one we consider is that of the Creation. In chapter two, verses six through nine, it speaks of how the First Daughter of Dea embraced the Snake and that it took on 'shape like hers.'

Now, just as Bishop Cobb noted, the story of the Creation is not an entirely literal story. Much is detailed here that is difficult to see as literal events. In my consideration and meditation upon the elements of the Creation story, I too struggled with the concept of the Snake. I then realized that the Snake is an allegorical figure. The First Daughter and the events surrounding her are also allegorical.

The Snake symbolizes that which is not of Dea. Bishop Cobb describes the Snake as an aspect of the power of Evil. It could also be understood as the essence of self deception. In engaging in self deception we 'embrace' the Snake. One who is completely given over to their self deception has taken the Snake in their arms and cut themselves off from Dea.

Additionally, the Snake can be understood as the illusion of the world. It is the pleasant lies that we tell ourselves about life and how the world operates. By immersing ourselves in these deceptions and giving them our thought energy, we give 'form' to the Snake. It is something like an egregore and the more thought we give it, the more powerful it becomes.

Now, the second set of scripture verses that we consider come in the Mythos of the Daughter. In chapter five, verses twelve through nineteen, the Daughter is confronted by the Dark Queen. Again, we must consider that the story of the Daughter's decent into Hell is not like the story of Jesus of Nazareth. The Daughter and her mythos take place outside of the scope of history. It is like the Creation story, a tale intended to reflect the greater truths by way of symbols that we might understand.

The Daughter's confrontation with the Dark Queen could be rephrased as the Divine's confrontation with that which opposes it. Within the Filianic understanding of the universe, the Divine confronts that which opposes it for the sake of all that is. In confronting opposition, the Divine suffers as that which exists does. Then, by way of Grace and Love, the Divine is restored to wholeness, and in the process restores all of existence to wholeness.

The Gospel of Our Mother God speaks of a term 'khear'. Khear is not only the Snake within the context of the Creation story. Khear is the Dark Queen and her daughters. Khear is akin to the concept of sin. It speaks of the abyss that divides all of existence from Dea. That abyss is understood to have opened up between existence and Dea when the first essence of existence turned from Her and embraced the Snake.

The mythos of the Daughter speaks of how that abyss is bridged by the Daughter's death and resurrection. Additionally, we are cautioned within the Gospel to be vigilant and mindful of how we tend to turn away from the Truth. We are called upon to repent and correct our ways. We are also called upon to reach out to the Daughter for aid, because while we are frail and fallible, Dea herself might bring us into her arms.

There are elements of the Gospel that I interpret differently from Bishop Cobb. Like her, I agree that the Snake and the Dark Queen are separate emanations of the antithesis of Dea. I, however, do not see them as beings of pure evil. I see them as beings of pure illusion. If we can resist the temptations of the lies about reality, then we might learn to see truly.

Evil is not an intelligent thing. It is a trait. Can the Dark Queen and the Snake be perceived as evil? Yes. That is possible.

I can not separate reality from Dea. She is present in all things. As such, the Snake and the Dark Queen are some how bound to Her. I understand the Snake and the Dark Queen to be illusions. I understand evil to be the actions of humanity. Once we master illusion and see things for what they are, we see that there is only Dea.