Warburg Serpent

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A Lecture on Serpent Ritual

Author(s): A. Warburg and W. F. MainlandSource: Journal of the Warburg Institute, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Apr., 1939), pp. 277-292Published by: The Warburg InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/750040

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278 A. WARBURGpsychology f the PuebloIndian. The evidencehas been contaminated.Several ayersof culturehave been superimposed.The basicculture f thenativeAmericans as ubjectedo Catholic-Spanishducation, hich uffereda violentset-back t the end of the seventeenth entury, evivedat a laterdate, but was neverofficially e-instatedn the villagesof the Mokis. Andthen therecame the last layer-the educational ystemof NorthAmerica.Yet, when we come to studymoreclosely he religious ife of the Pueblos,we shall recognise t least one purelyobjectiveand relativelypermanentgeographicalactorwhichhada formativenfluence n religion the scarcityof water in the country. For until the railway-tracksenetratedo thesettlements,ack of waterand the need for it gave rise to magicpracticessuch as are adopted n primitivepagancivilizations ll over the world norder o coerce he hostile orcesof nature. Scarcity f water aughtpeoplethe artsof prayerand necromancy.

The nhabitants f theseregions n pre-historicnd historic imeshavemadetheirhomeon a tractof land to whichNaturehas not on the wholebeen bountiful. Apart from the narrowvalley in the north-east hroughwhich he Rio Grandedel Norte lowson its way to the Gulfof Mexico hecountry s mainly able-land extensive, orizontal eposits f limestone rtertiary ock, orming igh, evelplateauswithsteepescarpmentscomparedin the language f the districtwith tables mesas). On the otherhand theground s deeply earedby water-courses,iththe result hat ravines rcanonsoccur, ometimes thousandeet deepwith wallsalmostverticalat the top,as if they had been cut out with a saw... For the greaterpart of the yearthere s no rain or moisturen the plateau-countrynd the majority f thecanonsare completely ried up; only in the periodwhen the snow meltsor during he briefrainyseasona considerableody of waterrushesdownthe bareravines.''lIn the north-westernart of the plateau, n Colorado, re the so-calledcliff-villages,. e. dwellings ow abandoned,whichare built in the cleftsofthe rocks. The eastern roupconsists f abouteighteen illages,whicharefairlyeasilyaccessibleromSantaFe and Albuquerque.The Zunivillages,which are of especial mportance,ie farther o the south-west,nd can bereachedromFortWingaten a day. The mostdifficult f access, ndthere-fore the ones which show the older features n their purest orm, are thevillages f the Mokis six all told whichare erected n threeparallel idgesof rock. The rock village furthestwest is Oraibi,of which I shall havesomethingmore to say.Right in the midst, n the plain-country,ies the Mexicansettlementof Santa Fe, the capitalof New Mexico,whichcameunder the ruleof theUnited States only after a grim struggle hat continuedeven down tothe last century. From Santa Fe and from the neighbouringown ofAlbuquerquehe majorityof the easternPueblovillages can be reachedwithoutmuchdifficulty.Near Albuquerques the villageof Lagunawhich, though t does notlie so high as the others, s nevertheless very good exampleof a pueblo

1 E. Schmidt, Vorgeschichte%ordamerikasm Gebiet er Vereinigtentaaten,894.


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A LECTURE ON SERPENT RITUAL 279settlement. The village proper lies on the other side of the railway-trackwhich connectsAtchisonwith Topicaand Santa Fe; the European ettlementin the plain abuts on the railway-station. The nativevillage consistsof two-storeyedhousesentered rom above by meansof a ladder,there being no doorbelow. This type ofhousewasprobably ntended n thefirstplace as a meansof defence against attack; the Pueblo Indians have thus produced a crossbetween a dwelling-placeand a fortress; t is typical of their civilizationandprobablygoes back to pre-historic imes in America. The houses are builtin tiers, a second or even a thirddwellingof rectangular hape restinguponthe first.In the interiorof such houses (P1.4sf) dolls aresuspended not ordinarychildren'sdolls; they hang there rather like the figuresof saints in RomanCatholicfarm-houses. They are called kachina dolls,faithful mages of themaskeddancerswho act as demonicmediatorsbetweenman and the naturalforces n the ceremonieswhich accompany he yearlyround of activitiesandare among the most typical and remarkable features of this religionofhunters and peasants. On the wall appears a symbol of the intrudingAmerican civilization, the broom.But essentiallya productof craftsmanship,ervingat once a practicalanda religiousend, is the clay vessel used for carryingthe necessarybut scantysupply of water (P1.44f). It is typical of the drawingon such vesselsthata kind of heraldic skeleton of natural forms is represented. A bird isdissected nto its essentialcomponentparts so that it appearsas a heraldicabstraction. It becomesa hieroglyph,not meant simplyas a pictureto lookat but rather as something to be read an intermediarystage betweenimage and sign, between realisticrepresentation nd script.In the mythologyof the Indiansthe bird plays an importantpart whichwill be familiar o all who know the Leather-stocking ales. Apart fromthefact that it is revered ike any animal as an imaginaryancestor,as a totem,the bird is a special object of worship in connectionwith the burial-cult.It would even appear that in prehistoric imes a rapacious oul-birdwas oneofthe essentialmythical igures onjuredup by the imagination f theSikyatki.The bird owes itsplace in idolatrousworship o its feathers. The Indiansuse,as a special vehicle for transmitting heir prayers,small sticks called bahos,which have feathersattachedto them and are placedbefore etish altarsandplanted on graves. Indians who were asked about this practice offered heplausible explanationthat the feathersacted as wings to bear requestsandwishes to the demonic forcesof nature.There can be no doubt that themodernpotteryof the Pueblosbearstracesof the influence of mediaeval Spanish workmanship,which was introducedin the sixteenthcentury. On the other hand the excavations f Fewkeslhaveshown conclusivelythat quite independentlyof Spanish influence an oldertechnique existed, involving the heraldic bird-motivestogether with theserpent, which, in the Moki religion as in all heathen cults, is speciallyreveredas a potent symbol.

1 Expedition to Arizona in I895 in AmericanEthnology,895-96, Pt. II, publishedSeventeenth nnualReportof the Bureau of in I898.


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b Cleo Jurino,CosmologicalDrawing p.

::t ;f

:

f'-0'+ i,,,TZ . Xt tt t e X L\g:0e 6 \;

d 00;;

t; 0003E0 0 X;

: tV Ct:d Drawing by Indian Schoolboy,with Lightning nthe Shape of Serpents p. 292)e-Moki Sand Painting,after ffournal f AmEthnol. ndArchaeol.894, p. I8 (p. 287)


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b Acoma) ndiansStandingbeforeChurchDoor(tt. 80)a Walpi, View ol the Village (p. 284)

e Acoma, Interiorof Ghurchwith BaroqueAltar(p. 28I) Walpi, Vlllage Street (p. 284)


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A LECTURE ON SERPENT RITUAL28Ino easy matter to induce them to go in. They have to be summonedbyshouting loudly down the three parallel streets of the village a duty per-formedby the chiefhimself. At last all the Indiansare assembled.They are clad in colourful woollen garments,which are woven in theopen air by the women-folkof nomadic Indian tribes, though the Pueblosthemselvesalso make them. These costumesare ornamented n white, redand blue and produce a most picturesqueeffect.In the interiorof the church there is a regular ittle baroque altar withfiguresof the Saints(P1.4se). The priest, not understanding word of theIndians' anguage,had to have an interpreter o translate entenceby sentenceduring Mass-and the interpretercould have said just what he liked.During the serviceI noticed that the wall wascoveredwith pagancosmo-logical symbols, executed in the same style as the drawingsof CleoJurino.The church of Laguna is likewisecovered with such paintings,symbolisingthe universewith the stair-shaped oof. I can show you only a small partof such a stair. (P1.44c) For our attempt to photograph he interiorof thechurch was resistedby the Governador,ho refused o hand the keys even tothe priest a resistancewhich duringthe afternoonhadbeen strengthened ythe wine from the priest'scarriageof which the Indianshad in the meantimehad their full measure.In the photograph P1.44c) an Indian s standing n the doorway to hisleft there appears a bit of the painting. At least a denticulateornamenta-tion is visible, whichrepresents staircase not a rectangular tonestairway,but a much moreprimitive orm, cut out of a tree a form still to be foundin use among the Pueblos. I later found one in the plain leaning on to a

little granary (P1.44a).Steps and ladders are an ancient and universaldevice for representingthe growth, the upward and downwardmotion of nature. They are thesymbol of achievement n the rise and descent through space, just as thecircle, the coiled serpent, s the symbol for the rhythmof time.So the Indianestablishesherationalelement n hiscosmologyby depictingthe world like his own house, which he enters by means of a ladder. Butwe must not think of this world-houseas the simplereflectionof a tranquilcosmology. For the mistressof the house is the most fearsomeof all beasts-the serpent.* * *

The Pueblo Indian is not only a tiller of the soil: he is a hunter too,although not to the same extent as the savage tribeswhich used to live inthose same regions. The Pueblo usesmeat as well as maize for food. Hismasked dances,which seem at firstsight like a festiveshow accompanyingthe daily round of his life, are in reality meant as a means of providing oodfor the communityby the art of magic. The maskeddance is essentiallya serious,and indeed a warlike,measure n the strugglefor existence. Wemust not forgetthat althoughby the exclusionof cruel and bloody practicesthese dances diffierundamentally rom the war-dancesof the nomads-thePueblos' worstenemies they still remain predatoryand sacrificialboth inorigin and tendency. When the hunter or the tillerof the soil puts on hismask -that is, changes nto the shapeof his booty,whetheran animal or the


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282 A. WARBURGproduceof the field-he believesthat in a mysteriousmimic transformationhe cansecure n advancewhathe trieseverydayto winby soberandvigilantworkas hunterand peasant. The communalactionof providing orfood s,therefore,of schizoidnature: magic and labourcoexist.The existenceside by side of rationalcultivationand imaginativemagicrevealsthe heterogeneoustateof transitionn whichthe PuebloIndianlives.He is no longera meresavagewho is unacquaintedwith actionscontrollingthe futureand who graspsonly the object directlybeforehim; but on theother hand he has not yet acquiredthe sense of technicalsecurityof theEuropeanwhoawaits he futureeventas somethingboundto occuraccordingto an organicor mechanical aw. The Indianstandsmidwaybetween ogicand magic, and his instrumentof orientation s the symbol. Betweentheprimitive man who snatchesthe nearestbooty, and the enlightenedmanwho plans and awaits the resultof his actions,is the man who interposessymbolsbetween himselfand the world. This stage of symbolicthought

and behaviourcan be illustratedby a few examplesfromthe dancesof thePuebloIndians.WhenI firstsawthe antelope-dancen San Ildefonso t struckme as veryharmlessand almostcomical. Forthe studentof folklore,however,who setsout to studybiologically he rootsof culturalexpression,hereis no momentmoredangerous han when popularand apparentlycomicalpracticesmovehim to laughter. A man who laughsat comicfeaturesn folklore s wrong,forhe at once obstructs he insightinto the tragicelement.In San Ildefonso,a puebloin the neighbourhood f SantaFe with a longtraditionofAmericannfluence, he Indiansassembledorthedance. Firstofall the musiciansgot ready,with a huge drum. Then theyformed wo rowssideby sideand assumed he characterof the antelopein masksandgestures(P1.4sc). The two rowsof dancersbegan to dance in two differentways.Theyeitherimitatedthe animals'walkor elsesupported hemselveson theirfrontegs,i.e. on twolittlestickswithfeatherswoundroundthem,withwhichthey moved about on one spot. At the head of each row was a femalefigureand a hunter. With regardto the femalefigureI was only able todiscover hat she was called the motherof all the animals.l The animalmimeaddresseshis invocations o her.By slipping into the animal mask in the hunting-dance he animal iscapturedn anticipationby a mimingof the attackto be made duringtheactualhunt. And this measureis not to be thoughtof as mere play. Inestablishingontactwith somethingentirelynon-personalhe maskeddancemeanso primitivemanthemostprofound ubmissiono someexternalbeing.When he Indianin his mimingcostume mitatesfor examplean animalbymovement nd sounds,he is tryingto transform is own selfand so to wrestfrom atureby magicmeanssomething o whichhe feelshe cannotattainsolongas his personality emainsunchangedand unextended.Imitation in the miming animal-dance s thereforea highly religiousritualact of self-surrendero some external being. The masked dance17roTvla71puV,f. Jane E. Harrison,Prolegomenao the Studyof GreekRelagion,922,p.264.


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A LECTURE ON SERPENT RITUAL 283among the so-called primitive peoples is fundamentally an example ofcollective piety.The Indian'sattitude towards the animal is totally differentfrom thatof the European. For the Indian the animal is a higher being, becausetheintegrityof the animal-naturemakes t seem a moregifted creature n contrastto man, who is weak. Before I startedon my journey, these psychologicalfacts about the urge foranimal-metamorphosisame to me as an overwhelm-ing surprise rom the lips of FrankHamiltonCushing,who was a pioneeranda veteran n the explorationof the Indian mind. With his pock-markedaceand his sparsesandy hair, his age a completeenigma, he told me, as hepuffed at his cigarette, of what an Indian had once said to him: Whyshoulda man standhigher than an animal? Look at the antelope. It is aRun. It runs so much better than a man. Or the bear, it is just Strength.Men can only do a little; an animalcan do wholly what it has in it to do.And however odd it may seem, this fairy-tale-likeway of thinking is thepreliminary o our scientificgenetics. In a state of reverentialawe, in whatis called totemism,these pagan Indians, like all the pagans throughout heworld, unite with the animal kingdom by believing in animals of all kindsas mythical ancestors of their tribes. Their explanation of nature byimaginatively nterrelatingman with animals is not so very far removedfrom Darwinism; oras we impute a physical aw to the processof evolutionin nature, the pagans try to establishan imaginaryassociationof man withthe animal-world. The decisive actor n the lives of these so-calledprimitivepeoples may be called a kind of mythical Darwinismof elective ainities.

* * *It is obviouslya hunting-dance hat has survived n San Ildefonso. Butas the antelope died out upwardsof three generationsago, it may well bethat the antelope-dancemarks a transition o the purely demonickachina-dances, the chief purpose of which is to pray for a good harvest. For inOraibi there still exists an antelope-clan,whose main function s the workingof weather-magic.Whilst the imitative animal-dancemust be regarded as magic mimingthat belongs o a civilizationof hunters,an entirelydifferent haracter ertainsto the kachina-dance,which formspart of the regularly recurringannualfestivitiesof the peasant-people. The natureof the kachina-dances revealed

in its entirety of course only in regions far removedfrom the centres ofEuropeancivilization. The masked dance, with its magic ritual extendingits appeal to inanimate nature itself, can only be witnessed n its more orlessprimitiveform in parts untouchedby the railway, and where, as in thevillagesof the Moki,even the veneer of oicial Catholicism o longer persists.In Oraibi, the most remotewesterlypoint, I was privileged by a luckychance to witness what is called a humiskachina-dancen the market-placeof a cliff-village. Here I saw the living originals of the maskeddancersI had alreadyseen as puppets n a room of this samevillage of Oraibi.To get to Oraibi I had to travel two days in a small carriage rom thestation of Hollbrook. The carriagewas what is called a buggy, with fourlight wheels, admirablyadapted for getting over the desert, where gorse is


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284 A. WARBURGthe only plant to be seen. The driver,FrankAllen, who took me throughthis country,was a Mormon. We had a very bad sand-stormwhich obliter-ated the cart-tracks,he only meansof findingone's way about that otherwisetracklesswaste. But we were lucky enough to reach Keam's Canon aftertwo days' journey, and here we were cordially receivedby Mr. Keam, anIrishman.From this point I was able to make excursions o the cliff-villages,whichlie on three mountainplateaus extending in parallels rom North to South.The first place I saw was the remarkable ettlement of Walpi. It has aromantic ituation,perchedhighup on the cliffs ike a massof rock. A narrowpathhigh up leadspastthe groupof houses P1.4sa, d) The positionof Oraibi,where I was to see the humiskachina-dance,s very similar. Up in themarket-place,where the old blind man sits with his cow, they had prepareda place for the dance (P1. 46a). The humiskachina-dances the dance ofthe growing corn. I witnessed t from April 28th to May ISt, I896. Theevening before the dance I was in the kiva,where the secret ceremoniesare performed. There was no fetish-altar. The Indians simply sat thereceremoniously moking. Every now and then a pair of brown legs wouldcome down the ladder and presently he whole man would appear.The youngermen were busy painting their masks n preparation or thenext day; for the big leather helmets are used again and again, since newones would be too costly. The painting was done by blowing a spray ofwaterfromthe mouthon to the leathermaskand then rubbing he colourson.The next morning he whole audience, includingtwo groupsof children,was assembled on the wall. The Indians' relationship o their childrenhas somethingvery attractiveabout it. The childrenare reared gently butwith disciplineand they are very friendlyonce you have succeeded n winningtheir confidence. So the childrenwere assembled here in the market-place,full of tense excitement, but all very solemn. They are brought up withtremendousreligious respect for the kachinas. They all come to regardthem as fearsome,super-naturalbeings, and the moment when the childreceives nstructions s to the true natureof the kachinasand is itself admittedto the companyof the dancers s the great turning-point n its life.The dance was performedby about twenty or thirty male and about tenfemale dancers, that is men representingwomen (P1.46b). There are tworowsof dancers,with five men forminga sort of apex. Althoughthe dancetakes place in the market, there is an architectural erminal: a little stonestructure, n frontof which a dwarfpine-treehas been planted and bedeckedwith feathers,forming a little temple where the prayers are offered up inthe form of the dance itself and of the hymns which accompanythe dance.This temple makes a sort of visual focus for the whole ceremony.The dancers'masksare green and red with a diagonal white strip withthree spots on it. These latter, I was told, are meant to be rain-drops; ndthe whole symbolism n the helmet again showsthe world as a seriesof steps,with the sourceof rain always indicated by semi-circular louds and strokesemanating from them. These symbols are repeatedon the woven scarveswhich the dancerswear round their bodies red and green ornamentationvery gracefully executed on a white ground. The male dancers carry a


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b- Oraibi, HumiskachinaDance, Squatting (p. 284)()ld Man on L)anclng (iround (p. 284)

d L)ancers resting (>9.284) e HumiskachinaDance, Turning (p. 285)


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A LECTURE ON SERPENT RITUAL 285rattlein theirhandsmadeout of a hollowgourdcontainingstones. Roundtheir kneesthey wear a tortoise-shellwith pebbleshangingfrom it, so thattheir knees too make a rattlingsound (P1.46f).The chorusperformswodifferentacts. Either he girlssit in front of themen and make a noise with theirrattles and a piece of wood, in whichcasethe men one afterthe othermerely spin round; or else the womenriseandaccompanythe men in their gyration. And all the time two priestskeepsprinkling he dancerswith consecrated lour (P1.46b, c, e).The costume of the 'female' dancers consistsof a cloth covering thewhole figure,concealingthe fact that they are men. At the sidesof theirmasks, at the top, they wear the special hair-dressof the Pueblo-girls,a curiouskind of columbine-ornamentcf. P1.48d). Horse-hair,dyed red,hangsdown fromthe maskto symboliserain, and decorationsrepresentingrain are seen on the scarvesand otherwrappings.The dancelastsfrommorning ill evening, the dancersat the head of thedance remainingalwayscloseto the little temple. At intervalsthe Indiansleave the village and go to a projectingpiece of rockto rest for a moment(P1.46d). Whoevercatches sight of a dancerwithout his mask will die.The little treehungwith featherswhich, as I said, is the realfocus of thedance, is called Nakwakwochi. I was struckby the fact that this tree wasvery small, so I went up to the old chief who was sitting at the end of themarket-placeand askedhim why. He said: We used to have a big tree.Now we have taken a little one, for the soul of a child is pure. So in thisregion we meet the perfectanimisticcult of the tree which as we knowpersists o this day in the heathenpracticesat harvest-time n Europe andbelongsto the basicreligiousconceptionsof all mankind.The functionis to establisha connectionbetweenman and the naturalforces,to createa symbol,that is, to link them magicallytogetherby meansof someintercessor; nd in this case the intercessor s a tree,which is nearerto earththan man because t is rootedin the earth. This tree is the fittingmediator eadingto the powersbelow.The feathersare carrieddown on the followingday to a certainspringin the valley and planted there or else hung up as offerings. They aremeant to give effectto the prayer for fertilisation,hat the maizeshall growbig and profuse.Late in the afternoonthe dancerswere there again, unwearied,grave

and ceremonious, ontinuing heirmonotonousmovements. Butjust as thesun was about to set, a spectaclewas enacted beforeour eyeswhichrevealedwith devastatingclarityhow calm and sober ritual draws its magic formsfrom the verydepthsof humanpassion,and howin the faceof this, ourreadyand shallow acceptanceof a purely spiritualinterpretation f ceremony sdoomed to defeat.Six figuresappeared: three men almost naked, their bodies smearedwith yellow clay and their hair made up to resemblehorns. They werewearingsimpleloin-cloths. Then came threemen dressedas women. Andwhile the chorusand the priestscontinued heirreverentialdance calm andunperturbed,hese six executedan obsceneparodyof the choralmovements.And not one personlaughed. This rude parody was not felt to be a piece


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A LECTURE ON SERPENT RITUAL 287part in the dancein Walpiare themselvesorcedto intercede n the offeringup of the prayer. In the course of a ceremonyextendingin Walpi oversixteendaysthey are caughtalive in the desertin the month of Augustandthen kept underground n the kiva,where they are guarded bv the chiefsof the snake- and antelope-clansand undergocuriousceremonies,he mostimportantand startlingof which is the washingof the snakes. The snake streated like a novice, and notwithstanding ts struggles it is dipped inconsecratedwater, to which all kinds of medicamentshave been added.Then it is cast on to the floorof the kiva,wherethere is a picturedrawnin sand representingourlightning-snakeswith a quadruped n the middle.In anotherkiva hereis a sanddrawingof a bankof cloudswith fourdiffer-entlycolouredstreaksof lightning,in the shape of serpents, P1.44e). Thesnakes are flung down violently on to the first sand pictureso that thedrawingis obliteratedand the snake tself is covered in sand. There is nodoubt in my mind that this magic throwis intended to make the snakeprovokethe lightningor bring rain.This is clearly the meaning of the whole ceremony,and the partsof theritual whichfollowprovethatsnakes husinitiatedbecome n the mostpatentway petitionersand provokers f rain,in conjunctionwiththe Indiansthem-selves. They are living weather-saintsn the shape of animals.The snakes,numberingabout one hundred-with their poison fangs,aswe know, still left in them are kept in the kivaand on the last day of thefestivalheld captive in a bush with a bandround t. The ceremony ulmin-ates in theseacts : the approach o the bush, the seizing and carryingaboutof the live snakes,and finallythe sendingaway of the snakes o the plain asintercessors. Americananthropologists escribethe seizingand carryingofthe snake as an amazinglyexcitingact. It is done in the followingway:A group of three approachesthe bush where the rattle-snakes re lying.The high priestof the snake-clanpulls a snakeout of the bush,anotherIndianwith his facepaintedand tattooedand wearinga fox-skinon his back,seizesthe snakeandputs it in his mouth. A companion, akinghim by the shoul-ders,distracts he attention of the snake by waving a featheredstick. Thethird is the watcherand the snake-catcher,who standsready in case thesnake shouldslip out of the secondman'smouth. The dance is completedin little over half an hour in a small space in the village of Walpi. Whenall the snakeshave thus been carriedabout to the accompanimentof thedancers'noise they have rattlesand tortoise-shellsnd pebbleshung roundtheir knees they are swiftlyborne down to the plain, where they escapeand disappear.Fromwhatwe knowof the WalpiIndianmythologywe may be surethatthis form of serpentworshiphas a background n tribal legends. We aretold of a certainhero called Ti-yo, who set out on a journeyundergroundto discoverthe sourceof the longed-forwater. He passes the variouskivasof the princes of the lower regions,accompaniedall the time by a femalespiderwho sits unseen on his right ear and guides him -akind of IndianVergil to this IndianDante; and eventually,afterpassing he two housesofthe sun in the westand in the east, he comes to the greatkEvaf the snakes,where he is presentedwith the magic baho,which invokes the weather.


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288 A.WARBURGAccordingo the storyTi-yo bringsback with him two femalesnakes,whobearim children,alsoin the formof snakes verydangerous reatureswhoinhe end compelthe tribes o changetheirdwelling-place; owe seethat inthismyth the serpentsare both weatherdeities and totem animals withpowerver the migrationsof the clan.The snakein this dance is thereforenot sacrificed; t is transmutedbyconsecrationnd by the mimicryof the dance and sent out as a messenger,sohatwhenit comesto the soulsof the dead t maybringdownthe thunder-stormromthe heavens n the shapeof lightning.

It is naturalforthe laymanto thinkof thiselementaryormof emotionalreleasehroughreligiousmagicas typicalof a primitivesavage-state ntirelyunknowno Europe. Andyet, two thousandyearsago, in Greece the verycountryromwhich we deriveour Europeanculture ritualpracticeswereinvogue which surpass n their blatantmonstrosity ven the thingswe seeamonghe Indians.In the orgiasticcult of Dionysus or example,the Maenadsdancedwithlivesnakesentwiningtheir hair like diadems,a snakein one hand and intheotherthe animalwhichwas to be tornto piecesin the ecstaticsacrificialdanceperformedn honourof the god. - The blood-sacrifice,arriedout in astate f frenziedexaltation(P1.47a), is theculminationand the realmeaningofthis religiousdance, in contrastto the present-daydancesof the MokiIndians.The emancipation romblood-sacrifices an ideal of purificationwhichhas eft a profoundmarkon the developmentof religionfromeast to west.Thesnaketoo undergoes his processof sublimation. In man'srelationtothesnakewe can measurethe changingof his faith as it movesfromfetishtothe purereligionof redemption. In the Old Testament he serpent s thespirit f evil,of temptation,ike the snakeTiamatin Babylon. In Greece t isthemerciless,devouringmonsterof the nether-world;he Erinys s encircledwith serpents,and the gods in their wrath send a serpentas executioner.This conceptionof the snakeas a destroyingpowerfrom the nether-worldhas foundits mostmovingtragicsymbolin the myth and in the sculpturedgroupofLaocoon. Thevengeanceof thegods,wroughtupontheirpriestandhis two sons by means of the destroyingserpentsmakesthis famouscom-position of antiquity a vivid embodiment

of dire human suffering. Theprophetpriest,seekingto aid his people by warningthemagainstthe wilesof theGreeks,allsa preyto thevengeanceof the partialgods. So the deathof the fatherwith his two sons becomesa symbolof the antique Passion;death as revengewroughtby demonswithoutjustice and withouthope ofsalvation. That is the tragicpessimismof antiquity (P1.47b).Thissnakeasa demonexpressive f ancientpessimisminds tscounterpartin an antiquesnake-god n which we can at last recognise he benevolenceand transfigured eauty of the classicalage. Asclepius, he god of healing,hasa snake winedroundhisstaffas a symbol (P1.47c). His featuresmarkhimas the paganworldsaviourn theplasticartofantiquity. It issignificant,however,that even this most exaltedand detached

god has his rootsin the


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a-Maenad dancing, from a Neo- b-I.aocoon. Rome, Vatican (>5. 88). t_ . , 5 * TAttlc Ke 11el. rarl, Louvre t . 200)

d-Serpentarius, StarConstellation. eyden,God. Voss. Q7g, f. I ob (p. 289) e- Brazen Serpent and Crucifixion, Biblia Pauperum.London, Brit. Mus. Add. 3I303 (p. 290)


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A LECTUTREON SERPENT RITUALnetherworldof thedeparted ouls,where the livingsnakehas its abode. The 289earliest ributeof worship s paid tohim as a serpent. The snake winedroundhis staff and he himselfare one and the same a departedsoul that goes onliving and reappearsn the form of a serpent. For the snake s not only, asCushing's Indians would say, the fatal bite threatening or inflicted anddestroyingwithoutmercy; the snake shows also, by sloughing ts skin,howthe body slips out of its husk, begins again and goes on. The snakecanglide into the earthand reappear. The return romthe earthwhere he deadare lying, togetherwith this faculty of renewing its skin, makes the snakethe most natural symbol of immortality, of revival from sickness and theagonies of death.lIn the temple of Asclepiusat Kos in Asia Minorthe deity wasrepresentedin transfiguredhuman form, holding in his hand the staff with the serpenttwined round it. But in this sanctuary he more trueand potent natureofthe God was not to be seen in the lifeless mask of stone: it was there as alive serpent in the innermostpart of the temple, and in the observanceofthe cult it was fed, cared for and attended as only the Mokis care for theirsnakes.In astrologicalmanuscripts f the Middle Ages,Asclepiusappears n thesky as a fixed star over Scorpio (P1.47d). He is encircledby serpentsand ishenceforthregardedas a constellationunder whose influenceprophetsandphysicians re born. By this elevation o the stars he snake-godhasbecomeatransfiguredotem. He is the cosmicfatherof all whoare born n the monthof the year (October)when hisvisibility s at its height. For in the astrologyof antiquity mathematicsand magic came together. The snake-figurenthe sky, which is found also in the constellationof the Serpent, s used as amathematicaloutline. The points of light are linkedtogether by means ofan earthly image, in order to make what is boundlesscomprehensible,orwithout some outline it evades our sense. Asclepius s both these things-a mathematical igure and the bearerof a fetish. Human culture evolvestowardsreason n the same measureas the tangiblefullnessof life fadesintoa mathematicalsymbol.About twentyyearsago, in the northof Germanyby the Elbe I discovereda thing whichshowed me in a curiouslyvivid way how lasting the ceremonyof the snakecult must be in spite of every attemptat religiousenlightenment;

1In the firstdraftof this passage,Warburg Verbindungmit der absoluttodlichenWaffieexplained the symbolicpower of the snake des Giftzahns.image as follows: 4. Fur das Auge bietet sie dabei ein Mini-WelcheEigenschaften ringtdie Schlange mumder Sichtbarkeit,besondersennsiesichmit, um sich als verdrangenderVergleicher in der Farbenachden Gesetzendes Mimikriin Religion und Kunsteinzustellen? der Wuste anpasst,oder aus dem Erdloch,I. Sie durchlauft mit dem Jahr den in dem sie verborgen iegt, herausschnellt.Lebenskreislauf om tiefstenTodesschlafbis 5. Phallus.zum starkstenLeben. Das sind Qualitaten, die sie fur das, was2. Sie wechselt die Hulle und bleibt die- in der Natur ambivalent st, tot und leben-selbe. dig, sichtbar unsichtbar, (ohne vorheriges3. Sie ist nicht imstande, auf Fussen zu Warnzeichenund rettungslosbeim Anblicklaufen und besitzt trotzdem ein Maximum verderblich)als verdrangendesSymbol un-von sich vorwartsbewegender chnellkraftn vergesslichmachen.


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A. WARBURG90for in this case the ChristianBibleitselfwas the vehiclefor perpetuatinghepagan tradition. In the courseof a trip throughthe Vierlandefound onthe rood of a Protestant hurcha numberof biblicalillustrationswhichhadobviouslybeen copied froman Italian Bible of the I8th century. Here Isaw anotherLaocoonwith his two sonsat the mercyof the serpents,but inthe act of being saved by anotherAsclepius. For we readin Deuteronomythat Mosesin the wildernesshad commanded he Childrenof Israelto setup a brazenserpentas a remedyagainst snake-bites. In this passageweare confrontedby a remnantof idolatryin the Old Testament. We knowthat this passagecan only be an insertion,made in an attemptto explainsubsequentlyhe presenceof such an idol in Jerusalem. For the main factremainsthat the brazen idol of a serpentwasdestroyedby KingHezekiahatthe biddingof the prophetIsaiah. Againstthe cult of humansacrificeandthe worshipof beasts the prophetsengaged in a grim struggle. And thisstruggleis the dominant theme in oriental and in Christianreformationright down to the most recent times. It is clear that the setting up of theserpent s directlyopposedto the Ten Commandments,hat it runscounterto the iconoclasticzeal of the prophetswho aim at reform.But there s anotherreasonwhy every studentof the Biblemust see in theserpentthe most vehementchallenge from the powersof evil; the serpentin the garden of Eden dominates he Biblical account of the world order,as the causeof evil andof sin. In the Old andthe New Testaments he snakeis joined to the wood of paradiseas the satanicpower causing the tragedyof man who in the midst of sin still cherisheshope of redemption. EarlyChristianity in its struggleagainstidolatry was, therefore,plainlyhostiletowards he cult of the serpent. Paul was lookedupon by the heathensofMalta as a sacred and immunemessengerwhen he cast the viper that hadbittenhim into the flamesand did not die of the bite. So stronglydid theimpression f Paul'simmunityagainstvipers survive n Malta that down tothe sixteenthcenturyItalianjugglers,encircledby snakes,appearedat fairsand festivals, alling themselves men of the house of St. Paul and sellingMaltesesoil as an antidoteto snake-bites P1.47f). Here the belief in theimmunityof those who are strong n faithreturns o the practiceof superstit-

* ilOUS maglC.In mediaeval heologywe findthe miracleof the brazenserpentcuriouslyretainedas a legitimatepartof the religious ult. On the basisof the isolatedpassage in Deuteronomy,directly opposed as it was to Old Testamenttendencyand doctrine,but re-enforcedn the New Testamentby a passagein St. John (III, I4, I5), the image of snake-worshipwas typologicallycompared o the Cruxifixiontself (P1.47e). Even thoughit is treatedas athing to be overcome, he settingup of the animal-figure nd the worshipofthe kneelingmultitudebeforethe staff of Asclepius s retainedas a stagein man's progresstowards salvation. Moses himself who, as we read,destroyedtheTables of theLaw becauseof theworshipof the GoldenCalf,is forcedto serveas shield-bearer f the brazen serpent.* * *

What we have seen in this all too brief summaryof the snakecult


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A LECTURE ON SERPENT RITUAL29Iis intended to show the change from real and substantial symbolismwhich appropriatesby actual gestures to that symbolism which exists inthought alone. I shall be content if the picturesof the daily life and festiveactivitiesof the Pueblo Indians have proved to you that their maskeddances

are not a meregame, but the heathen'sanswer o torturingquestionson thewhy and whereforeof things. The Indian who confronts he incomprehens-ible happenings n nature with a will to comprehend, dentifies himselfbytransmutationwith the causes of things. Instinctively, or the unexplainedeffiect, e substituteshe cause in its most real and mosttangibleshape. Themasked dance is the danced law of causality.If religionmeans'binding ogether'( religioa religando,a vinculopieta-tis, Lactantius,IV, 28), then the sign of developmentout of the primitivestate will be that this linking togetherof man with what lies beyondbecomesmore and morespiritualised: no longer cleaving to the symbol of the mask,man realisescausality in thoughtalone, and moves onwards to a systemofmythologyexpressedn words. The will to surrendern devotion is a noblerform of assuminga mask.In the movementwhich we call cultural progress he being which claimsour submission nd was so prodigiouslynear, withdraws rom our graspandbecomes n the end an unseen and spiritualpower. Mtehave observedhowChristian hought uses the heathenpicture language of the snake to expresstheidea of bothsuffieringnd salvation. We mightperhaps ay that whereversuffieringnd helplesshumanity s found n blind quest for salvation, hesnakewill be close by, as an explanatory mage of the cause.How is mankindfreeing tselffrom this coercivebond with a venomousreptile n which it sees the cause of things? Our technicalage does not needthe serpent to explain and control the lightning. The lightning no longerfrightens he dwellers n our cities, nor do they long for a stormas the onlyhope of relief from drought. We have our water supply,and the lightning-snake is led down into the ground by the lightning-conductor.Scientificargumentputs an end to mythological xplanation. Weknow that the snakeis a reptile which must succumb if we set our minds to it. Where thetechnicalexplanationof cause and eXectreplacesthe mythical magination,man loseshis primitive ears. But we should be loth to decide whetherthisemancipationfrom the mythologicalview really helps mankind to find afitting answer to the problemsof existence.The Americangovernment, ike the Roman Catholic church in earliertimes, has been admirablyactive in establishing choolsamong the Indians.And its intellectualoptimismhas had this apparentresult, that the Indianchildren now go to school in pretty suits and little aprons (P1.48c) and nolonger believe in the pagan demons. This is at any rate true in the case ofmost. And it may denote progress. But I doubt whether it reallysatisfiesthe soul of the Indian, who thinks n images and forwhom poeticmythologyis the true haven.I once tried to get the childrenof an Indian school to illustratea Germanfairy-tale,which they did not previouslyknow. I chose a story in whicha storm happens to occur, for I wanted to see whether they would drawthe lightningrealistically r in the formof snakes. Out of fourteendrawings,


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A. WARBURG292all of which were very graphic but were obviously nfluencedby Americaninstruction, welvewererealistically rawn;but two of them used the irrepres-sible symbol of the snake, sharp as an arrow (P1. 44d), just as it occurs inthe kiva (P1. 44e).In San FranciscoI caught a fleeting glimpse of the type of man whooverthrew he cult of the serpent and overcame the fear of lightning thedescendantof the indigenousrace and of the gold-diggerswho expelled theIndians: Uncle Sam (P1.48b) in his tall hat walking proudly along thestreet past a pseudo-classicalotunda. And away above his top hat runs heelectricwire. In this copper-snake,nventedby Edison,he has wrested helightningfrom nature.The Americanof to-day no longerworships he rattle-snake. Extermina-tion (and whisky) is his answer to it. Electricity enslaved, the lightningheld captive in the wire, has produced a civilizationwhich has no use forheathen poetry. But what does it put in its place? The forces of natureare no longer seen in anthropomorphic hapes; they are conceived as anendlesssuccessionof waves, obedient to the touch of a man's hand. Withthese waves the civilizationof the mechanicalage is destroyingwhat naturalscience, itself emerging out of myth, had won with such vast effort thesanctuaryof devotion, the remotenessneeded for contemplation.The modern Prometheusand the modern Icarus, Franklin and theWright Brotherswho invented the aeroplane, are those fateful destroyersof our sense of distance who threaten to lead the world back into chaos.Telegraphand telephoneare destroying he cosmos. But mythsand symbols,in attempting o establish piritualbondsbetweenman and the outsideworld,create space for devotion and scope for reason which are destroyedby theinstantaneous lectricalcontact unless a disciplinedhumanityre-introducethe impedimentof conscience. Translatedby W. F. Mainland


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a A. Warburgand a Pueblo Indian O ---uncle zam tp. 292J

d Pueblo Woman and Girl with ColumbineDress (p. 285)

rn School (Shlldren (p. 29I)

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Warburg Serpent