Mru-kra-o, the Giant Snake
Kayapó · numen · Kayapó traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The Giant Snake is the great serpent of the rivers and pools in Kayapó myth, a monstrous anaconda-like being that seizes and swallows those who come carelessly to the water. It belongs to the wider Amazonian imagination of the water-serpent as owner and danger of the aquatic world, and in Kayapó telling it figures among the perils the ancestors and heroes must overcome or avoid. Recorded as mru-kra-o and among the giant serpents of Gê narrative, it embodies the menace of the waters as the jaguar embodies that of the forest.
Domains
- waters
- monsters
Powers
- seizes and swallows those who venture near the water
Sources
- A monstrous giant snake or anaconda inhabiting the waters is a recurring dangerous being in Kayapó myth.: Anton Lukesch, Mythos und Leben der Kayapó (Vienna, 1968) (primary); Johannes Wilbert & Karin Simoneau (eds.), Folk Literature of the Gê Indians (UCLA Latin American Center, 1978-1984) (secondary)