(Please be patient if I belabour points that you already know.  It is important in order to make
my point).

The "Battle for this world".   That battle started long ago in a different dimension, when God
created the individual spiritual intelligences.  The  most beautiful, intelligent and powerful
creature was called Lucifer.   So powerful and beautiful this archangel was,  that he became
convinced that he could be on equal footing with God, and that is exactly what the whole
battle between good and evil  is all about.  Wanting to be God.  Why?  Because God receives
worship.                                             
 Lucifer rebelled against God and started to seek worship for himself.  Lucifer who
became Satan after his rebellion, made plans to be worshipped  by  the creatures that God
had created .  In turn,  God  planned  to rescue His creatures back from the grasp
of Satan.

So far  as we can see,  we have a problem of worship and 2 disputing parties:  One
with full rights and the other the usurper. (The Bible records an occasion on which Satan
approaches Jesus in the wilderness and offers him all the kingdoms of this world -of which he
is temporarily god- if  Jesus would just  worship him).  There are also 2 plans in action. 
Although these two plans are much more complicated and detailed we will only mention the
highlights.

SATAN'S PLAN:

He would tell mankind ( starting from the garden of Eden and down through the ages) that
1.-  We all are immortal and  2.-  That we all have the potential of becoming gods.  All we
have to do, is  eat of the forbidden fruit ( i.e APPLE).  In the book of Genesis,  we find 
Satan's visit to Eve in the Garden of Eden in the form of a Serpent.  Genesis 3:4 "And the
Serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall  not surely  die:  For God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes  (3rd eye?)shall be opened , and YE SHALL BE AS GODS...
Here some symbolism is introduced .  Satan becomes The Serpent and the forbidden fruit
(APPLE) becomes the means of becoming as Gods.

GOD'S PLAN:

He would Get his creatures back, first, by mending the broken bridge created by man's
disobedience to God;  that rebellion is called sin, and by God's own law, sin must be paid
with death (both flesh and spirit).  Since we are all sinners, we are all condemned to die,
so God offered to pay Himself the price of our sin that we may have a second chance. 
So He took human form in the person of his Son and died on the cross. (this was possible
for God is omnipresent).  Part one of His plan is accomplished.  Part two is for us to
accept His Holy Spirit since it is the only way in which we can  truly share  God's nature.
How do we do that.  After repenting of our sins, we ask Jesus to come into our lives, when we
do that we get the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.                                                     
The symbolism of  this plan is The Cross and the Blood.   So we have, Cross and blood
vs Serpent and Apple.

SERPENT = SATAN (HIS WORK IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN CREATED A  GAP BETWEEN 
                        GOD AND MEN).
APPLE     =  FALSE  WAY TO GODHOOD.

CROSS =  CLOSES THE GAP.
BLOOD =   CLEANSER OF SIN.

So now we have 2 Gods, I will call the one "THE SERPENT OR DRAGON" and the other
one "JEHOVAH OR YAHWEH".  (By the way I am not a Jehovah's  witness or carry any
label other than Christian).  Another thing I want to make clear is that these two Gods
have real powers, so just because THE SERPENT is a lower temporary god it doesn't mean
that he is not powerful.   Remember that God created him in all beauty power and splendour,
he was endowed  with great power which he will hold,  till the moment when his time is
finished, and his purpose is concluded.
Also we have perfect freedom to choose which one we want to follow, that is our right; 
my only concern is that you and others have all the facts in order to make that choice.
 
With this in mind lets go looking for SERPENTS and APPLES.

India.   Mother of Hinduism ,Oriental Religions and New Age teachings.  In India we find
the worship of the Cobra  in many of the primitive regions.   The Cobra is considered a
god.  All kinds of rituals,  prayers,  food offerings and festivals are celebrated in it's honour. 
We also find many temples there dedicated to the Cobra.   At the higher levels we find
a religion  in which the entire world and universe and everything within it, is God.   The goal 
for all Hindus is to come to self-realization" or the realization that they themselves are a part
of god,  and to gain control of their spirits.  Means (=APPLE) to achieve this end, include 
techniques of Transcendental  Meditation, chanting, visualization, Yoga, breathing exercises
etc.  
These exercises are meant to wake up the SERPENT GODDESS (HERE WE GO AGAIN)
which is supposedly coiled dormant in the spine.  When the SERPENT wakes up, it unleashes
the kundalini energies.  The truth is, once you relax , blank out your mind and get into an
alternate state of consciousness,  you hand your mind over to the SERPENT.  This is not to
say that you should  be a nervous wreck,  I have nothing against normal rest and relaxation
as long as you remain in control of your own mind.   The problem is, once you go into an
alternate state of consciousness you are no longer in control, even if you think you are.. 

Many of the Indian gods and goddesses are represented holding SERPENTS i.e.  Shiva
founder of Yoga is represented with a COBRA around the neck. Vishnu and his consort
are depicted under the protected hold of the divine COBRA.  Manasah has cobras around
her neck and arms.
The Vedanta Society of Toronto ( the word Vedanta means spiritual wisdom)  a Hindu
religious Society, has as its symbol,  a swan, and  a lotus flower  sitting upon a rough ocean;
also a rising sun in the background, all surrounded by a coiled king COBRA.  What do they
teach?  1.-  The truth is one 2.-  The essential nature of the human being is DIVINITY.  3.- 
There are innumerable ways (APPLES) to realize this divinity.  

Hinduism in its many forms and contradictions, basically either denies the existence of
a personal God or teaches that there are many ways to share into Gods nature (Nirvana). 
The important thing is to destroy the concept of a personal "One"  God (Jehovah) to which we
are accountable to ; therefore robbing God  of praise and recognition (that thing about the
worship again).

China and the Oriental block.  We find the SERPENT everywhere. Their  national symbol
is a Dragon (in Biblical terms the Dragon and the Serpent are one and  the same ) .  They
parade this dragon down their streets on New Year's day.   The dragon is frequently used to
adorn their pagodas, restaurants, shopping malls, walls, etc.    Buddhism in its different forms
is the religion of these people.   Buddhism,  an offshoot of Hinduism,  preaches the
abandon of desire, necessary to achieve Nirvana.  It is a naturalistic religion in which
everything  including us, is part of god.  There is no particular God, to which we may be
accountable  (denial of worship to the true God).   Means to achieve Nirvana  (APPLE)
include the usual techniques of meditation, chanting, visualization etc (arising of the
SERPENT GODDESS or kundalini energies).

A brief look  at  the Old World will show that the serpent  theme is present in many of their
representations of their Gods.  Take for instance:  Crete had an old  Goddess called the little
Goddess of the Serpents, she holds a serpent in each hand.  Egyptian Goddess Hathor and
Canaanite Goddess Ashtoreth also hold serpents and flowers in their hands.   Cobra Goddess
Ua Zit, Patron deity of all Lower Egypt in predynastic periods.  Goddess Athena, Greece,
depicted also with her sacred serpent.  We also find the Cobra on the headdresses
 of the Egyptian Pharaohs and their Queen's.

World wide.  The New age is sweeping the world.  We all have been touched by it, even
if we did not know it by the specific name of New Age.  It is very important to keep in mind
that  India is the mother of today's new age philosophies,  stress relieving and enlightenment
seminars.  The basic teaching of the New Age is the DIVINITY of man.  Basically there is no
personal God,  we are all gods in the making.  We are about to take a quantum leap of
consciousness and became a super-race.  The path of enlightenment is through inner
development just like in Hinduism and Buddhism.  The means (APPLE) are the same ones: 
Meditation, visualization, chanting, breathing exercises,etc. etc.  (remember all these  awaken
the dormant SERPENT  GODDESS coiled in the spine, or Kundalini ENERGIES).

Although New Age philosophies came from India, they are dressed up in a more palatable
way, take for instance the following quotes taken from the book  "Understanding the New
Age" by Russell Chandler: " Pete Saunders, head of Success Potentials Unlimited, a
division of his nonprofit psychic organization' Free Soul', says 'The psychic foot in the door
to corporate America has been stress management.   Business equated psychic with
weird... but they understood stress and... needed help with that.  When they saw how
effective our mental dynamics worked for stress they said 'Give us more'.  So now you
talk about psychic attunement and expanded mental states, and they say, 'How can I use
that in my business?" "
 In July 1986 representatives of some of the nation's largest Corporations, including IBM,
AT&T and General Motors, met to discuss how metaphysics, the occult and Hindu
mysticism might help executives compete in the world market". 
 "Watring , the Budget Rent a Car executive said in an interview.  "Meditation techniques
are recommended for stress management, and visual imaging for improving intuitive
faculties, creativity and to get employees to accept greater responsibilities for
themselves...BUT ALONG WITH THAT COME SOME SIDE EFFECTS... if you practice
a new age technique often enough with intensity you'll have this mystical experience...." 

Elaine Smith, a pioneer in developing transformational techniques for businesses and the
peace movement, said " To help a CEO connect with the level of consciousness where
all truth exists, you don't have to teach him Kundalini Yoga, she explained, adding that
'creative juices' can be tapped rather like slipping a drinking straw into a pool of creativity" 
in other words THE SERPENT GODDESS can be tapped into.      

The WAY to God is through GRACE (as opposed to APPLE (s)) .  God has mended the gap
through  Jesus Christ;  the way of enlightenment is The Holy Ghost. There is no karma to pay
for.  All we need to do is repent,  turn away from wrong doing and follow God's way as
provided through Jesus Christ :  John 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the WAY the truth,
and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"  John 10: 1 "  Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber". 
 All those great feelings of joy, peace, tranquility, serenity etc are achieved by the Holy Ghost,
pure and simple, I can testify to that..   When  we choose to disregard God our creator, and
go the Serpent's way  (=APPLE = KUNDALINI ENERGIES) ,  we do not accept God's grace,
therefore we are accountable for our sins.  God mentions only one final resting place for the
DRAGON  (=SERPENT) and his followers " A LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE".  See Rev.
20:10.

To have no God, or a God of our own making, is but an illusion, they are both lies of the
Serpent.  We are called to serve and worship  God  our creator and to love one another.
He created us for His pleasure, that we could have a relationship with Him;  when we fail to
do that,  we are pleasing Satan therefore serving and worshipping him;  which is exactly what
he wants.