Yaldabaoth - the worm demiurge

In ancient gnostic and Christian texts there's a description of a fallen evil god called Yaldabaoth, meaning "son of chaos". He is usually depicted as having the head of a burning lion and the body of a snake or worm.
In christian-gnostic theology, he was the original version of what we today know as "the devil". In contrast to the true God, who is the God of the holy spirit, and in whose name Jesus Christ preached, Yaldabaoth is the creator of matter. He trapped the human souls into fleshly bodies in order to control them. He is also often referred to as "Samael", meaning either "god of the blind" or "blind god", depending on the context. He is blind enough to think he can become the true God through control, which is impossible, and thus he becomes just the god of those who are blind enough to believe him.
In ancient times the term "worm" was also used to describe snakes, dragons or insects, so usually snake depictions and worm depictions are interchangeable.

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