African Ophiolatreia ~ An Introduction(1)

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

The day - to - day practices of Ophites have diversified with the times, however, this, one of the most ancient of Pagan Traditions is here to stay and is practiced in many diverse ways by people all over the world, despite much pressure from the new religions in the way of devastation and destruction of Ophite worshipping sites and the forbidding of spiritual practices and customs by certain of the patriarchal religions.

This article is largely a direct transcript of several texts freely available on the web at sacredtexts.com; penned by various authors at the turn of the last century. These are colonial -era accounts ; flavored with the racism of the day and often very biased against Serpent Worship,  identifying Ophiolatreia with Devil-worship  . Once the texts have been analysed with emotional detachment and the chaff removed from the wheat, the texts contain much which is of interest to Ophites and all other Pagans who may be interested in exploring our glorious collective ancestral heritage.

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The Worship of the Serpent is said to have it’s origins in Africa, and evidence does seem to confirm this. It is only because the indigenous !Kung, or San people (erroneously known as “Bushmen”) kept the above-mentioned site secret and hidden from missionary eyes that it remains intact and a lasting testament to the spirituality of our ancestors.

Patriarchal zealots deliberately destroyed all traces of Serpent Worship; as Temples were turned to rubble and the new places of worship built on top of the ruins.

This was not only an African tragedy; in the Americas, the Jesuits and Conquistadores, when first witnessing the Serpent worshipping practices of the Incas, mistook the Feathered Serpent imagery as diabolical. And as was the case worldwide, set about totally obliterating any vestige of our collective Hirstory that they could. From having been venerated as manifestations of Divinity ever since the beginnings of human civilizations, the Great Serpents were to be clearly identified as an absolute evil , intent on ruining mankind’s chances at salvation, and intent on destroying the planet. Now, how can Nature be classified as evil?

The Chinese people see Dragons as essentially aspects of Mother Nature ; just as Nature-based Pagans ,Buddhists and many other spiritual people have for millennia ~ this  would seem to contradict the false belief of Dragons as evil creatures, which only happened much later on, from around 6000 years ago to the present date.

Intensive missionary activity in Africa has resulted in the widespread demonization of anything to do with Serpent Worship. Nowadays, many westernized Africans are actually frightened of snakes! Since time immemorial, Serpent Worship has been widely practiced by many peoples, from Southern Africa to the Middle Orient ~ the confluence of Occident and Orient and one of the main cradles of contemporary civilization.

However, nothing will ever be able to completely wipe out the most ancient of traditions; and so, the Goddess and Her Serpent remain within the collective consciousness of humankind despite the snake having been identified as the devil by the Medieval religions.

This in itself is contradictory in the extreme, as there are actually quite a few Judeo-Christian Serpents. This may surprise many readers, however, the very earliest depictions of Jahweh and Zeus, were as large Serpents. It was a common practice for a new religion to take over the symbols of the Goddess and God so that the religion would attract Pagans who were used to venerating serpents as Divinity. The ancient Greeks before the times of patriarchy named  these Pythons or large serpents, Drakons .

Moses was by all accounts, a Serpent Divinity! His contemporaries are Hermes, who also bears the Serpent Staff,  or Caudaceus and Thoth, the Ancient God of Wisdom.

A bas relief entitled "Jesus"

Anyhow, what I have done is to edit out most of the unpleasant prejudicial text referring to “devil-worshipping Pagans” and anything racist to save everyone the donkey work . My personal comments are in plain italics ~

Enjoy.

All excerpts taken from “” @sacredtexts.com. ; no copyright exists on this work and it can be freely distributed.

Cfr. also, John Bathurst Deane, The Worship of the Serpent, London, 1830, who states in his Preface, p. xii f.: "The plan of this treatise is simple. It professes to prove the existence of Ophiolatreia in almost every considerable country of the ancient world, and to discover in the mythology of every civilized nation, evidences of a recollection of the events in Paradise. If these facts can be established, the conclusion is obvious--that all such traditions must have had a common origin; and that the most ancient record, which contains their basis, must be the authentic history. The most ancient record containing this basis is the Book of Genesis, composed by Moses. The Book of Genesis, therefore, contains the history upon which the fables, rites, and superstitions of the mythological serpent are founded." The Reverend Mr. Deane, M.A., F.S.A. is recorded in the first edition of his work as "Late of Pembroke College, Cambridge: Curate of St. Benedict Finck; and evening preacher at the Chapel of the Philanthropic Society." His avowed purpose, the support of the Biblical narrative and his unquestioning acceptance of the Mosaic origin of Genesis, etc., effectively excludes him from the consideration of most so-called critical scholars. However, while admitting his partiality and bias, and even his lack of modern scientific methods, there is much that he has to say that is really worthy of serious consideration.

[1. Note:--Cfr. C. Staniland Wake, Serpent-Worship and other Essays, London, 1888, p. 105 f.: "The facts brought together in the preceding pages far from exhaust the subject, but they appear to justify the following conclusions:--

"First. The serpent has been viewed with awe or veneration from primeval times, and almost universally as a re-embodiment of a deceased human being, and as such there were ascribed to it the attributes of life and wisdom, and the power of healing.

"Secondly the idea of a simple spirit re-incarnation of a deceased ancestor gave rise to the notion that mankind originally sprang from a serpent, and ultimately to a legend embodying that idea.

"Thirdly, This legend was connected with nature--or rather Sun-worship--and the Sun, was, therefore, looked upon as the divine serpent-father of man and nature.

"Fourthly, Serpent worship, as a developed religious system, originated in Central Asia, the home of the great Scythic stock, from whom all civilized races of the historical period sprang.

'Fifthly, These peoples are the Adamites, and their mythical ancestor was at one time regarded as the Great Serpent, his descendants being in a special sense serpent-worshippers."

Sun and the Serpent:[3] "This work, which is based upon papers read before the Royal Asiatic Society in 1901, was at first intended to refer only to Indian serpent worship. It was soon found, however, that the serpent worship of India did not originate in that country but was, in fact, a branch of the worship of the Sun and the Serpent, which was once well-nigh universal. It became evident, therefore, that a history of the Indian cult would go far to explain the nature and origin of serpent worship, in other countries and in other times."

 

The Gayatri--the most sacred text of the Veda, which must not be uttered so as to be overheard by profane ears, and which contains the essence of the Hindu religion, is a short prayer to the Sun-god, who is addressed as Savitri, the generator or creator. The early Egyptians, and other ancient peoples also, seem to have worshipped the Sun-god as the Creator."

Ditto, p. 206 f. Note:--Dr. Oldham also states, p. 183: "It seems in the highest degree improbable that this close connection between the Sun and the serpent could have originated, independently, in countries so far apart as China and the west of Africa, or India and Peru. And it seems scarcely possible that, in addition to this, the same forms of worship of these deities, and the same ritual, could have arisen, spontaneously, amongst each of these far distant peoples. The alternative appears to be, that the combined worship of the Sun and the serpent-gods must have spread from a common centre, by the migration of, or communication with, the people who claim Solar descent." This is Elliot Smith's theory which would derive the entire cult from Egypt. Oldham, however, differs from Elliot Smith in as much as he would make Asia and not Egypt the point of origin. Thus, p. 197: "The social customs and religious rites of the Egyptians were closely related to those of the Sun-worshipping people of Asia. There can, indeed, be little doubt as to the Asiatic origin of the Pharaohs and their followers." Nevertheless, {footnote p. 3} Wilfrid D. Hambly, in the case of serpent worship, at least, rejects the whole explanation. He finds in zoological evidence, sufficient reason for spontaneous origins of the serpent cult in various parts of the world.--Cfr. Wilfrid D. Hambly, Serpent Worship in Africa, Chicago, 1931, Chapter VII, p. 68 ff.

Canon Roscoe furnishes us with a description of the principal centre of serpent worship in East Africa. He tells l-is: "The python god, Selwanga, had his temple in Budu, by the river Mujuzi, on the shore of the lake Victoria Nyanza. . . . The appearance of the new moon was celebrated by a ceremony extending over seven days; for this the people made their preparations beforehand, because no work was done during the festival. A drum was sounded as soon as the moon was seen, and the people gathered together to make their requests and to take part in the ceremonies. Those who wished to make any request brought special offerings, whilst the rest brought beer and food as they pleased. The priesthood of this deity was confined to members of the Heart Clan; the chief of the. State  upon which the temple stood was always the priest. His dress was the usual priestly dress, that is, it consisted of two bark cloths, one knotted over each shoulder, and two white goat-skins as a. shirt; round his chest he tied a leopard-skin decorated with beads and with seed of the wild banana, and in his hand he carried two fly-whisks made from the tails of buffalo. The priest first received the offerings for the god and heard the people's requests; then, going into the temple to the medium, he gave the latter a cup of beer and some of the milk from the python's bowl mixed with white clay. After the medium had drunk the beer and milk, the spirit of the python came upon him, and he went down on his face and wriggled about like a snake, uttering peculiar noises and using words which the people could not understand. The priest stood near the medium and interpreted what was said. During the time that the medium was possessed the people stood round, and the temple drum was beaten. When the oracle ended, the medium fell down exhausted, and would lie inanimate for a long time like a person in a deep sleep."

"West Africa," he remarks, "undoubtedly yields evidence of python worship, especially in Dahomey and southern Nigeria. There is also supplementary evidence with regard to python cults and beliefs. . . Hambly further observes, p. 69: "Pythons of various kinds have a distribution ranging from the southern Sahara to Natal. The {footnote p. 7} Python sebae, the largest of all, may be found almost anywhere through the Sudan from Senegal to Dafur. Pythons of some species attain enormous size, have great crushing power, are non-poisonous, are easily tamed, seldom attack human beings, and are slow to bite if handled gently. With these points in view it is not difficult to understand why the python should have been selected as a suitable snake for captivity in temples. The reptiles are easily controlled by priests, and at the same time are harmless to those who come with petitions and sacrifices." He had already said, p. 44: "Most observers have remarked on the fearlessness with which priests and priestesses handle large pythons. These snakes are, however, non-poisonous, and their general harmlessness and domesticability are well attested. Very seldom do they attack human beings. The question of immunity in handling poisonous snakes is another problem, but in this connection it must be admitted that many poisonous snakes, unless disturbed suddenly and startled, are reluctant to strike."]

Again: "There are two unquestionable areas of python worship, namely West Africa and a smaller region in Uganda, but there is no definite evidence of similar institutions in the great extent of country between the two centres. There are, however, usages which may be the residue of a decadent python cult. . . . The following factors are common to the East and West African forms of python worship: (1) The python only, but no other snake, is selected for definite worship. This choice may be due to the impressive size of the large species of python. The reptiles are tractable and non-poisonous. All observers are agreed that the python rarely attacks a human being. (2) Hut structures (temples) contain internal arrangements for feeding the reptiles. (3) The python embodies a superhuman being, god of war, spirit of the water, patron of agriculture, or goddess of fertility. (4) The king sends messengers and offerings. He asks for prosperity. (5) Sacred groves are found in addition to temples. (6) Acts of worship bring people who offer sacrifice and make requests. (7) Priests and priestesses are employed; the latter are wives of the python. Both dance themselves into ecstatic trance in which they make oracular utterances which are given in a language not understood by the worshippers."

Hambly later returns to the same point: "One of the most important questions is the possible relationship between the python worship of Uganda and that of West Africa. The points of comparison between these two centres have already been given in detail. Briefly they are: The acceptance of the python as a supernatural being; the honouring of the reptile, which is fed and generally cared for; the appointment of priests and priestesses who undergo special preparation; belief in the python as a source of productiveness in relation to human fecundity, agriculture, and fishing; making of petitions and the offering of sacrifice; ecstatic dances of priests and priestesses. These go into trance during which they prophesy and answer the requests of worshippers.

Canon Roscoe writing of the Banyoro, or as he prefers to call them the Bakitara, located along the eastern shore of Lake Albert in Uganda, stresses the point that in the common estimation rivers and waterholes are usually under the guardianship of snakes to whom sacrifices are offered. Thus, for example, "At the Muzizi there was a medicine-man, Kaupinipini, who was in charge of the river and cared for the snake, to which he made offerings when people wished to cross. He affirmed that it was useless to attempt to build a bridge over the river for the snake would break it down, and the only means of crossing was by large papyrus rafts on which the people, after giving offerings to the medicine-man for the snake, had to be ferried over. The king sent periodical offerings of black cows to this snake and the medicine-man presented them to it with prayers that it would not kill men."[22] And again: "Pythons were held to be sacred, and in some places offerings were made regularly to them to preserve the people. A few men kept pythons in their houses, taming them and feeding them on milk with an occasional fowl or goat. It was said that these pythons did not kill animals in their own villages but went further afield for their prey. The king had a special temple at Kisengwa in which a priest dwelt with a living python which he fed on milk."[23]

 [22. John Roscoe, The Bakitara or Banyoro, Cambridge, 1923, p. 42

Particular value, then, is attached to the following testimony of Roscoe, taken from the very book that we have quoted in the text, The Bakitara or Banyoro, p. 21: "Though the Bakitara had a great number of objects of worship, there was but one god, Ruhanga, the creator and father of mankind. With him were associated the names Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya, whose identity it is not easy to separate from that of Ruhanga. One man asserted that they were a trinity and yet one god; but as he had been for some years a devout Christian, in constant attendance at the Roman Catholic Mission Station his statement may have {footnote p. 11} been coloured by Christian ideas. The general impression gathered, however, was that their belief was entirely monotheistic, and that, if the three were not one deity, then Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya were subordinate gods whose appearance in their theology was later than that of Ruhanga, and more frequently, Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya were called upon by the people in distress or need; prayers were made to them in the open, with hands and eyes raised skywards."

Note~ These Names, Enkya and Enkyaya Enkya, are too close to the Name Enki, Winged Serpent Divinity of very ancient Sumer, to be written off as pure co-incidence in my opinion. And it is not so strange to consider that, as both Goddess Isis and Ma’at were worshipped by African Pygmies in West Africa since time immemorial, that Enki and His legacy remained in the ancestral memories of the Banyoro peoples as mentioned in the text. This would add to the proof which indicates  a universal Serpent Worship throughout Africa and the Orient and the Americas..

 

In connection with East African Ophiolatry, the following citations might be noted.

"The only disquietude to a stranger in their houses arises from the snakes which rustle in the straw roofs, and disturb his rest. Snakes are the only creatures to whom either Dinka or Shillooks pay any sort of reverence. The Dinka call them 'brethren' and look upon their slaughter as a crime. I was informed by witnesses which I have no cause to distrust, that the separate snakes are individually known to the householder, who calls them by name, and treats them as domestic animals."--Georg Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, London, 1874, Vol. I, p. 158.

"When a medicine-man or a rich person dies and is buried, his soul turns into a snake as soon as his body rots; and the snake goes to his children's kraal to look after them."--Masai saying recorded by A. C. Hollis, The Masai: Their Language and Folklore, Oxford, 1905, p. 307.

But if a snake goes in to the woman's bed, it may not be killed, as it is believed that it personifies the spirit of a deceased ancestor or relation, and that it has been sent to intimate to the woman that the next child will be born safely."--A. C. Hollis, The Nandi: Their Language and Folklore, Oxford, 1909, p. 90.

"According to the belief of a great many Bantus, especially in South Africa, the dead appear chiefly in the form of snakes."--Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, The "Soul" of the Primitive, New York, 1928, p. 292.

"The Zulu . . . recognizes the soul of an ancestor in the snake which visits his kraal."--Frank Byron Jevons, An Introduction to the History of Religion, London, 1896, p. 303

it is well to note here what has been remarked by Hambly: "The Wa Kikayu(The Kikuyu people) regard the snake and some other animals as having a mysterious connection with spirits. When a snake enters the village the people offer it milk and fat. These snakes are not exactly the spirits themselves, but their messengers, who give warnings of future evils and come to indicate that an offering to the spirits will be opportune[21. Hambly, l. c., p. 34.]

 

Major Arthur Glyn Leonard, writing in 1906, after ten years of personal contact with the natives of South Nigeria, came to the conclusion that here at least the Ophiolatry practiced was a form of ancestor worship. In his opinion the Nigerian venerates the snakes precisely because he believes that the spirits of his ancestors are embodied in them. Thus he states: "In Benin City, at Nembe, Nkwerri, and in various localities all over the Delta, Ophiolatry, so-called, exists and flourishes, as it has always done ever since man taught himself to associate the spirits of his ancestors with the more personal and immediate objects of his surrounding. And as snakes-living as they did in the olden days in caves and trees, and as they now do not only in the towns, but inside the houses, underground as well as in the thatched roofs-were very closely associated with man, it is no wonder that they were early chosen to represent ancestral embodiment."[25]

[25. Arthur Glyn Leonard, The Lower Niger and its Tribes, London, 1906, p. 327.

Note:--In a Preface to Major Leonard's work (p. xii) Professor A. C. Haddon thus explains the author's general animistic theory. "We learn that the religion of the Niger delta natives is based on the adoration of ancestral spirits, materially represented by emblems, the latter being nothing more nor less than convenient forms of embodiment which can be altered or transferred according to circumstances. These objects, rude and senseless as they may be, are regarded as vehicles of spiritual influence, as something sacred because of their direct association with some familiar and powerful spirit, and not as objects which in themselves have, or carry with them, any so-called supernatural powers. It is not the object itself, but what is in or is associated with it. The object accordingly becomes nothing more nor less than a sacred receptacle, and its holiness is merely a question of association. The thing itself is helpless and powerless. it cannot do harm, just as it cannot do good; the spirit, which is invariably ancestral, even when deified, alone does the mischief and wrecks the vengeance in the case of neglect or impiety, or confers the benefits and the blessings when the ancestral rites are performed with due piety by the household."

In Northern Nigeria there are comparatively few vestiges of the serpent cult, which may formerly have existed there, as indicated by certain finds. Thus C. K. Meek reports in connection with the Bauchi Plateau:[27] "From a surface deposit at Rop there was discovered a representation in tin of a coiled snake. This evidently had some religious or magical significance, and once again points to the presence of a former people who knew how to work in tin, who had a developed artistic sense, and among whom the cult of the serpent was perhaps a feature of their religion."[28] And again, "The Hausa states were foreigners from the East and all belonged to the same racial stock. . . . The legend further suggests that the ancient people of Hausaland reverenced the snake. This we can readily believe, as certain snakes are still regarded as sacred by the Angas, whose language is closely allied to Hausa, and representations of snakes have been dug up on the Bauchi Plateau."[29] Later he adds: "Before the introduction of Islam, among the early peoples of the Hausa states various snakes were apparently common totem animals, especially among the people of Katsina and Daura.

[30. Meek, l. c., p. 174. Note:--In a later work, Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria, London, 1931, Meek adds further details. Thus, Vol. I, p. 164, we read: "The Melim are natural objects worshipped publicly in the bush, but families and individuals protect themselves with minor objects known as 'habtu' which are amulets or 'fetishes,' according as the efficacy is transmitted from outside or is due to the presence of an indwelling spirit." He is referring to the Bura and Pabir tribes located around N. 12º½; E. 10º½. Again, p. 165; "Habtu Pwapu is a striking representation in iron of a snake (pwapu means 'snake') which is commonly seen in houses. Or it may be attached to the leg as an amulet. In the houses they may be seen set in pairs (male and female) in the shell of a baobab nut. They are said to ward off evil influences and appear to have a fertility signification. Their custodians are women, but every householder must at harvest offer benniseed and cotton and the blood of a chicken to his Habtu Pwapu, otherwise one of his household will be bitten by a snake. It may be noted here that the figure of the serpent appears as a personal or house-protecting amulet all through Egyptian history. A specimen of a Habtu Pwapu was obtained."

Writing of the Mumuye, located about N. 9º; E. 11º½, Vol. I, p. 468, Meek states: "The rain cult par excellence for all the Mumuye and surrounding tribes is that centred at Yoro. When a serious drought occurs all the senior priests of the tribe proceed with gifts to the rain-maker Yoro. To this cult even the chief of Kona appeals as a last resort, by sending numerous gifts. The rites are said to be as follows. The priest (the kpanti mi, i. e. rain-chief) removes from a large pot the symbol of the cult, which is a piece of iron fashioned like a snake. It is kept rolled up in a curtain of black string. The priest unwinds the curtain and fastens it to two pegs on opposite walls of the hut. Then taking a blacksmith's hammer in his right hand and a pair of iron scissors in his left, he says: 'What I am about to do my forefathers did before me. Grant that this drought may cease, and that we may have corn to eat.' He then chews a piece of the vitis quadrangularis creeper and spits it out on the implements. which he lays on the ground. Picking up the iron snake he says, 'You we received from Yoro in the East; a drought has come upon us, and if we do not have rain, how shall we obtain food to eat? Grant, therefore, that by your graciousness we may have rain in abundance. and that in due course we may reap a sufficient harvest,' He again takes a piece of the creeper, chews it and spits it out on the iron snake. He then hurls, the snake against the hammer and scissors, and it is said that as soon as this is done the first peal of thunder is heard. It is a sympathetic rite, the clanging of the iron being a simulation of thunder."

As regards the Hausa, C. G. Seligman, Races of Africa, London, 1930, p. 81 f., records the derivation of the word title which now signifies king or chieftain in the Hausa language. The founder of the royal line was said to have been a son of the King of Bagdad. On his arrival at Daura he found the well guarded by a serpent called Ki Serki, who prevented the drawing of water. He slew the serpent, married the Queen of the country, and was thereafter called Mai-Kai Serki, the man who killed Serki. Seligman adds: "This legend is recorded since. on the one hand, it seems to preserve some features of the older organization of the land (matrilineal descent, snake-worship): and on the other emphasizes the constant tendency to borrow and greatly exaggerate Eastern connections, due to the increasing prestige & pressure of Islam."]

It is his suggestion that Ophiolatry reached Nigeria from Egypt and had its origin in the introduction "of non-poisonous snakes into granaries, in order to protect their contents from predatory rodents." He writes: "Possibly the cult of the snake and crocodile has come down from very ancient times. It is well known that both were honoured in Egypt as tutelar gods, and if the Ekoi have trekked, as seems likely, from the cast of Africa, it is probable that the original reason for deifying snake and cat, i. e. that these creatures were the principal scourges of the plague-carrying rat, lies at the back of the powerful snake cult, while traces of cat worship are still to be found. Rats are a great pest all over the land, and every possible means is taken to keep them down, though with little result. In Egypt the snake was not only the guardian of house and tomb, but a snake goddess presided over the harvest festival, held in the month of Pharmuthi or April. Doubtless among other attributes she was regarded as the protectress of the garnered grain, and her cult grew from the practice of introducing non-poisonous snakes into granaries, in order to protect their contents from predatory rodents."[31]

Fourteen years after the appearance of his first book, Talbot brought out a truly scholarly work in four volumes entitled, The Peoples of Northern Nigeria.[32] He was still of opinion that "The striking resemblance between the Nigerian cults and those of ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean area generally can only be explained by intercourse, direct and indirect."

Major A. J. N. Tremearne, The Ban of the Bori, London, 1914, p. 413, remarks: The names of many snake-worshipping tribes in the West Sudan consist of sa or so, in combination with other letters. But sa or za alone or in combination, also mean chief and rulers with these names are said to have come from the cast; Sa, a younger son of Misraim or Menes, the earliest historic king of Egypt, being given the district bordering the Fezzan route to the desert." He personally rejects the opinion of those who hold that the Sa in question really stands for serpent.

Note ~ The earliest Names for Osiris were Azar, or Asar. Au-Set’s Name directly related to Ua-Zit; the primal Cobra Goddess.. Zar is a form of spirituality related to Vodoun ; which involves Serpents and Ancestor Possession rites and the worship of Asar and Au-Set as primary Divinities.

The following excerpts are of interest: "Minor deities often assume the form--or inhabit the bodies of snakes, some species of which, especially pythons, are held sacred throughout the region of marsh-lands and waters inhabited by the most ancient tribe of all, the Ijaw, while there are traces of Ophiolatry in many other parts."[34]

"The chief juju in the Badagri region used to be Idagbe, symbolized by a large python."[35]

"In some parts of the Brass country, the principal worship is that of Ogidiga which was apparently introduced from Benin by Isalema, the first settler at Nembe. He is represented by a python and is supposed by some to be identical with the Bini and Yoruba Olokun, God of the Sea."[36]

"The Elei Edda worship a male Alose named Aru-Nga, who resides in a very nimble snake, probably Dandrapis augusticeps. If anyone kills this, a chief dies. It lives in a grove near the town and comes out when the priest sacrifices to it; it is supposed to bite and kill any bad person."[37]

"The Ake-Eze Edda chiefly worship Ezi-Aku, 'the property of the Quarter,' to whom sacrifices are offered at the foot of a special tree. Snakes are called her children and no one may touch or hurt them."[38]

"Among the Ekoi the most usual name for juju is some form of Ndeum. . . . The Ejagham appear to confine the word to those spirits, usually female, who live in trees, though they manifest themselves at times in the shape of snake or crocodile."[39]

Stephen Septimus Farrow, in his thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, 1924, tells us: "Among the Ibo tribes of the Owerri District (near neighbours of the Yorubas) the boa-constrictor is worshipped. On the 27th day of each month a white cock is offered to him, with cowries, palm-oil or palm-nuts, white cloth and kola nuts. The sacrifice is deposited at cross roads, away from the town. There is, however, no reptile worship among the Yorubas, except in the case of crocodiles, belonging to Olosa the lagoon-goddess.

"Djwi-j'ahnu . . . was a god who formerly resided at Connor's Hill. Tradition says that the people of Cape Coast first discovered his existence from the great loss which the Ashantis experienced at this spot on the 11th of July, 1824. The slaughter was so great, and the repulse of the Ashantis so complete, that the Fantis, accustomed to see their foes carry everything before them, attributed the unusual result of the engagement to the assistance of a powerful local god.  [43. S. S. Farrow, Faith, Fancies and Fetish, or Yoruba Paganism, London, 1926, p. 20.]

They accordingly sacrificed some prisoners to him, and sent to Winnebah to inquire of the priests of Bobowissi if their surmise was correct. The reply being in the affirmative, a regular cult was established, according to the directions of the priests of Bobowissi. At that time Connor's Hill was covered with usually dense bush, which swarmed with snakes. Indeed, even at the present day, when the bush is cleared every year, they are still very numerous, and large numbers are killed by the West India soldiers employed in his work. From this circumstance probably arose the idea that Djwi-j'ahnu ordinarily presented himself to his worshippers in the shape of a serpent--in the shape of the cerastes, one of the most deadly of the ophidians. Other snakes accompanied him, and were regarded as his offspring or dependants. eggs became the ordinary offering. If the god did not present himself to his worshippers in his assumed form., it was imagined that one of their number had given him offence, and the priests then made inquiries to discover the offender. He, being found, would then be mulcted of a sheep, a white cloth, and some rum; and with this special propitiatory offering the worshippers would again proceed to the hill. If the god still remained invisible, it was assumed that he was still dissatisfied, that the atonement was insufficient; and additional offerings were enforced upon the guilty member till the god revealed himself. Djwi-j'ahnu was also believed to assume other shapes; and a leopard, which some thirty years ago haunted the vicinity of the hill, and became by its depredations the terror of the neighbourhood, was believed to be the god who had adopted this form. When undisguised, Djwi-j'ahnu was believed to be of human shape and black in colour, but of monstrous size. He was represented as bearing a native sword in his right hand. His worship has now been extinct for some twenty years, the acquisition of the hill by the Imperial Government, the clearing of the bush, and the building of huts for the accommodation of troops, having proved fatal to the continuance of this particular cult."[45]

46. Note:--Cfr. C. Staniland Wake, Serpent Worship, p. 28: "The fact is that the serpent was only a symbol, or at most an embodiment of the spirit which it represented, as we see from the belief of several African and American tribes, which probably preserves the <primitive form of this superstition.> Serpents are looked upon by these peoples as embodiments of their departed ancestors, and an analogous notion is entertained by various Hindu tribes." Also, M. Oldfield Howey, The Encircled Serpent, p. 17: 'The religion of ancient Egypt is from the earliest times closely interwoven with the symbolic worship of sun and serpent. Not only was the serpent looked upon as an emblem of Divinity in the abstract, but it was connected with the worship of all the Egyptian gods." And a couple of pages later, p. 19: "Both serpent and sun were emblems of the Celestial Father and participated in the honours that through them were paid to the Supreme Being." And finally, J. B. Schlegel, Ewe-Sprache, p. xiv: "Serpents hold a prominent place in the religions of the world, as the incarnations, shrines or symbols of high deities. Such were the rattlesnake's worshipped in the Natchez temple of the Sun, and the snake belonging in name and figure to the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl; the snake as worshipped still by the Slave Coast Negro, not for itself but for its indwelling deity!' As quoted by Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, p. 241

Note: The ancient traditions of Serpent Worship in those lands where Christian missionary activity was intense such as in Africa, the Americas and Australia, were systematically destroyed, at first by means of physical force . The missionary, acting out of fear and wanting to destroy “serpent devil worship”; brought in troops to specifically lay waste to the Temples and Sacred Groves of the Goddess. Often, if the worship site was situated on a Power Spot, a Church would be built in that spot, symbolising the takeover of the Old by the new religions.

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This is a great post. Thanks.

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

My pleasure, C.Grey

I'm glad you are enjoying the group :) I will be adding more on African Serpent Worship as we go.

Blessed be

[1tuw1s3oauy4i]

 

Thank you for this post. I am seriously looking into Snake Worship in West Africa as my ancestors practiced this religion before & during slavery. x