These sites also have archaeological significance and are central to on-going studies of early human history. In both places, initiates would have to cross mythical boundaries associated with the snake, facing a lifelong and well-established fear as part of their ritual process. Yet I was still told about Go-Mohana in my formative years, and as far back as I can remember it was where the snake resided. The Ga-Mohana rock shelters, located on a remote hill away from the nearest settlement, have also been associated with initiation rituals, but for boys rather than girls, and much less so now than in the past. Logobate Cave, located on the fringe of Logobate village just north of Kuruman town, is a site for teenage female initiation and other forms of supplication. However, these spaces, as much as they are dreaded, are precisely where teenage initiation and other ritual practices are performed. People sometimes avoid crossing a stream or entering a particular space associated with the snake. In my youth, though less so today, we were forbidden to go to particular parts of the landscape because these are the places where the snake resides, dangerous for people like me, with my snake-like features.(1) Caves and water bodies in general, and specific caves known to be the dwelling place of the snake in particular, are seen by some in the community as frightening. Change is forced on those who meet and are abducted by the snake, becoming a kind of grace, invoked through ritual as, ultimately, a death of the self. Similarly, the girl had no control over her thirst the snake stole her agency. I was warned that the snake would take me because my eyebrows were interlinked, something over which I have no control. Being taken, unlike willingly giving yourself up, involves the relinquishment of personal agency. When the girl reaches to help the child, the hand, which she now realizes belongs to the terrible snake, pulls her down into the water. She goes closer still and sees that there is a small child’s hand reaching out from under the water, but the water is dark, and the rest of the body is not visible.
She is drawn to a nearby waterhole, and as she draws closer, she hears the voice of a child. One story is that of a young girl herding sheep who is suddenly overcome by thirst. It is especially associated with “taking” people to specific places, especially water bodies and caves. It is strange in form and character, travels along underwater rivers and channels, is known to shapeshift, and tricks its victims.
The snake is known to be attracted to people with interlocking eyebrows and beauty spots because it shares these features.
It turns out that this is in fact an ancient tradition connected to female initiation. Some of my earliest memories are of being told that the snake was going to take me because of the shape of my eyebrows. I was told that the snake takes people with connected eyebrows, which I happen to have. In my own life I was told about the snake primarily because of its tendency to abduct people with particular bodily features. It is known to be the cause of natural forces like whirlwinds, responsible for environmental calamities, lost people, and other tragic situations. It is a way to be sensitive to its changes-to adapt and make meaning.įrom a very young age people in Kuruman are told stories about a mythical snake. My people have always found ways to connect to this vitality through engaging particular spaces in the landscape.
#Scary snake sketch full
In the animistic worldview of some of my people in Kuruman, water, earth, sky, rock shelters, and caves are full of vitality, animated by the flux that defines the landscape. It is a magical landscape, sometimes harsh with heat, and in the wet seasons, precious water collects in pans and water holes and falls down the ridges of rock shelters and caves. It is characterized by the great, flat Bushveld savanna, gentle hills, and a towering, crisp blue sky. Its beautiful, large, and wild landscapes have always held meaning for us, and continue to do so even today. Kuruman is my home, and my people have inhabited its landscape for thousands of years.
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