At the same time however the Zohar points out Samael as the rider on the serpent;
Come and behold: the serpent releases many armies to all sides. They abide in the world among men. It is incumbent upon us, then, to maintain the sinew of the vein, because although the rider of the serpent, SAMAEL, approached it, it has not lost its color and is still intact. Vayishlach 7. The sinew of the vein. Verse 114.
which shows that there is a great deal of confusion on this subject.
In several traditions Samael has been equated with Satan in all kinds of texts that were held to be authoritative in the way that the Bible is an authoritative book. Other texts say that it was the serpent (Samael) that approached Eve (as is stated in the Bible). All this led to all kinds of reconciling explanations that only increased the entanglement.
"Now the Serpent was craftier..." Genesis 3:1.
Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Serpent is the evil inclination, which incites one to sin.
Rabbi Yehuda said, It is a real Serpent.
They approached Rabbi Shimon, who said: Both interpretations are correct. It was Samael and he was seen riding on the Serpent. The image of the Serpent is Satan, namely the evil inclination that incites Humans to sin and then ascends to demand punishment above. They are both the same. You can say that the serpent is the evil inclination (Yetzer ha Ra) AND is a real serpent. Zohar; Beresheet A : 47. "Now the Serpent was craftier" Verse 437.
Very diplomatic of course, but isn't it the other way around;
The serpent is an animal being, but a smart one,
Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. Ge 3:1 RSV
a "beast in the field", open to the evil inclination; the Yetzer ha Ra.
Samael is often mistaken for Satan and that is why it is said that Samael was riding the serpent, while in fact Samael was the serpent.
It sooner is Satan (the animal soul; the lower self with its Yetzer ha ra) who is riding the serpent, a beast in the field, and the Serpent is Samael.
It is a Serpent that deceived Eve in Paradise;
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? ... And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die. ... And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. Gen 3;1
But it is the Satan who told him what to do;
And
the devil spake to the serpent
saying, Rise up, come to me and I will tell thee a word whereby thou mayst
have profit.’ And he arose and came to him. And the devil saith to him: ’I
hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, and I have come to counsel thee.
Why dost thou ’eat’ of Adam’s tares and not of paradise? Rise up and we will
cause him to be cast out of paradise, even as we were cast out through him.’
The serpent saith to him, ’I fear lest the Lord be wrath with me.’ The devil
saith to him: ’Fear not, only
be my
vessel
and I will speak through thy mouth words to deceive him.’
It is Satan who rode the Serpent, and as we have seen, the Serpent was Samael.
Samael was a physical serpent and might very well be our preceder here on earth;
one of the demons that lived here before us; an evolved Dinosaur.