And you thought YOU liked snakes...

My roots are from that culture. Hence, I do not find anything in this world too weird :rolleye2: :P :D

Those people worship those animals and they are a major part of hindu culture.

I would also bow down and run as fast as possible from a wild, 13 ft king cobra, hooded up and standing taller than me- but only after a taking few pics to post on bps.net

haha...just showed this link to Rick:

[12:08] Rick: mmm insanitiy
[12:09] Cass: no...these people are insane: "Das, from a lower caste, converted to the animal-loving vegetarian Vaishnav sect whose local elders gave her permission to marry the cobra..."
[12:09] Cass: gave her permission to marry the cobra....um...wtf?!
[12:09] Rick: maybe she is so batty that they just want her gone... Cobra bite = gone. Oh dear!
[12:09] Cass: rofl

And totally about the marriage rights, gay and straight, issues in this country - JUST LAME. I was chatting with a friend the other day who told me friends of his had to move out of a town (in a particular state, I can't remember which) because even they were man+woman, they weren't married. It staggers the imagination.

Hmm, wonder what thier kids will look like??? :O

Recently, from around the area of Bhubaneswar, a girl was married off to a dog.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3004930.stm


OK, all kidding aside.......

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Originally Posted by iceman25

My roots are from that culture. Hence, I do not find anything in this world too weird :rolleye2: :P :D

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OK Raj, edu-ma-cate me on this/your culture... give me a link or something to a site I can read, or maybe you can explain how it is ok to marry an animal you cant even pro-create with? Whats the idea behind marrying an animal?

I hope this does not sound like I am being condescending or rude or anything, actually, just the opposite, I am curious and like to learn things about stuff I would not otherwise know or begin to understand..

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Originally Posted by Jeanne

OK Raj, edu-ma-cate me on this/your culture...

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Lol, I'm more of a cultural outcast. But I'll try my best to explain what I know about the whole thing. I cannot provide any links cause most of the sites I have found online just contain false information. Ok, here goes:

Shiva or Siva as known to others, is considered to be the God of destruction. Some others also consider him to be Creator as well as Preserver of the universe. If you google an image, you will see that he has a Cobra wrapped around his neck. This is an attribute showing his capability to survive all deadly forces of nature. The Cobra also represents "Kundalini," or sepent power. It's believed by some to be the intelligence behind your spiritual awakening/maturity.

Ok, on to the marriage stuff. While it's not widely practiced, it does take palce in some of the really rural parts of India. It is believed that some tribes used to worship and marry cobras even before Hinduism came about. This practice was then handed over and integrated into the culture.

Falling in love with a Cobra and marrying it is not to be confused with marriage inorder to procreate. Obviously that would not be possible with a serpent, and if that is infact ones intentions, then I would have to nominate them for the Darwin award :giggle:

If a woman marries a Cobra, then she is in tradition relinquishing her desire to procreate with a man. She is instead accepting Shiva, the omnipotent creator, preserver and destroyer into her life. That being said, I have no idea about the dog, but I'm willing to bet it has to do something with all the ramblings above. Hec if someone is of sound and sober mind, I think they should be allowed to marry a lamp post, if that is what they want. I however, will reserve the right to poke fun later :fishslap:

My personal take on the Hindu Gods is that they don't exist as such on a physical realm. They are instead to be viewed as symbols of natural or man made phenomenon. This is really an unpopular view to have within the culture, and I'm more likely to suffer physical damage from human prejudices and insecurities than from a Cobra anyday!

That sums up my explanation, and hope it was helpful and educational :oops: :D

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Originally Posted by iceman25

If a woman marries a Cobra, then she is in tradition relinquishing her desire to procreate with a man. She is instead accepting Shiva, the omnipotent creator, preserver and destroyer into her life.

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OH.. OK. Makes sense totally!

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Originally Posted by iceman25

Hec if someone is of sound and sober mind, I think they should be allowed to marry a lamp post, if that is what they want. :

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Yeah, I feel like that too!

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Originally Posted by iceman25

That sums up my explanation, and hope it was helpful and educational :oops: :D

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Very helpful Raj! Thank You so much.

You know, I have learned one really important thing in life, when ppl dont understand something, they "fear" it or have a dislike for it. (fear of the unknown or misunderstanding of the unknown) The biggest reason I asked you about this was because with knowledge and understanding, the fear can be lessened and ppl may be able to get past the "unknown" barriers that we commonly see in society. Again, Raj , I do appreciate your explanation and it was very helpful!

it makes complete sense that the girl would marry the dog... it is considered a form of "protection magick" in her society. she will still marry a man later in life, but right now they fear for her safety and so to remove the negativity, this is their ritual.

now onto the snake... in some religion(s) the priests marry the church... so how is that different than a woman marrying a snake? same thing really.

just my 2 cents :)

edited to add: oops forgot the most important part... when a man marries a man or a woman to a woman... there is no procreation possible between the two... and that certainly doesn't make it wrong in my eyes and IMO shouldn't in societies eyes either. i know married man/woman couples who don't have sex in their marriage... doesn't make their marriage any less-than as all the ones i know have their own reasons for it. (medical reasons etc) so there's no procreating going on there either!

i think more people need to focus on their own happiness... on their own beliefs (and if they don't have any... perhaps find some? or not) and focus less on what their neighbours or other cultures are doing... just because they may not practice or believe in something doesn't make it wrong.

okay, now i'm done :2cent: :2cent: :2cent: :2cent: (that was at least 4 cents worth LOL)

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

now onto the snake... in some religion(s) the priests marry the church... so how is that different than a woman marrying a snake? same thing really.

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I was thinking the same thing when I read Raj's explanation. There are lot of illiterations within Christianity along the same lines. I suppose you could draw similarities between being publicly baptized and stating that you are "taking Christ into your heart" with being formally married to a snake, who represents your god, as public pronouncements of your belief. =)

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

now onto the snake... in some religion(s) the priests marry the church... so how is that different than a woman marrying a snake? same thing really.

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I totally agree.

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oops forgot the most important part... when a man marries a man or a woman to a woman... there is no procreation possible between the two... and that certainly doesn't make it wrong in my eyes and IMO shouldn't in societies eyes either. i know married man/woman couples who don't have sex in their marriage... doesn't make their marriage any less-than as all the ones i know have their own reasons for it. (medical reasons etc) so there's no procreating going on there either!

i think more people need to focus on their own happiness... on their own beliefs (and if they don't have any... perhaps find some? or not) and focus less on what their neighbours or other cultures are doing... just because they may not practice or believe in something doesn't make it wrong.

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For the most part I agree...However, multiculturalism can be taken way too far. Beliefs often from principles of action......some beliefs have no good reasons and can be very dangerous to others.....

If your neighbors believe that they can get in heaven by blowing up cilivians in a plane crash, then this is a barbaric belief system and should be criticize as such.

if your neighbors believe that its ok not to treat their child with medicine and instead use the healing power of prayer...should the state not step in?

on both your points, in my opinion "harm none do as ye will" so, if your actions or inactions do not harm anyone (including yourself) then they are fine... if they do cause harm, then they are not.

of course, there is always that "oh you hurt my feelings" etc which people put to this belief and it doesn't belong there... we are talking "HARM" here!