What is the name of a person who trains snakes? The secret of the snake charmer. Why is music so captivating to cobras? The secret of the magic pipe

Shami is a hereditary healer, his father and grandfather worked here. Now he is the main one who prepares antidotes; local residents trust him more than official medicine, so he is not without work. Near the house there is a special extension in which snakes live. To prepare the antidote, the healer collects snake venom. IN Lately things are not going well, tourists help out, to whom he shows his pets for about 5 dollars.

01. Snake house.

02. Certificates and publications hang on the wall.

03. Cobra. In total, there are 4 species of cobras living in Sri Lanka.

04. Cobras are most active from mid-April to June and from September to mid-November. In July, the female lays 9-19 eggs, from which juveniles emerge in late August - early September. Cobras feed on rodents, amphibians, and birds, but, like other adders, they readily eat snakes, including poisonous ones. The cobra poses an undoubted danger to humans and animals, but unlike viper snakes it always warns of its presence. Only in case of an immediate threat does the cobra make several lightning-fast attacks towards the enemy, one of which, as a rule, ends with a targeted bite. At the same time, unlike vipers, cobras do not bite instantly, but rather “chew”, moving their jaws several times before releasing the victim.

05. If you do not take an antidote, death will occur 2-3 hours after the bite.

06.

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08. In total, 98 species of snakes live in Sri Lanka.

09. Chain viper. Very strong poison. After 30 minutes the kidneys begin to fail.

10. Even if you take the antidote, there will be bite marks on your body. This is what a finger looks like after being bitten.

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12.

13. Indian krait, as Shami said, it is the most poisonous on the island. Death occurs within 40 minutes.

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16. A chain viper tries to bite its owner.

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18. This is the most fast snake. It moves at a speed of 2 km per hour and loves to live on coconut plantations. Not poisonous.

19. Grassy-green whipweed. They grow up to 2m in length. and only 1.5-2cm thick. Has excellent vision. In the depths of the mouth there is a pair of poisonous teeth, which do not pose any particular danger to humans. Leads wood image life.

20.

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22. Python.

23. Father Shami, also a healer, but has now retired. He was bitten by poisonous snakes 32 times.

24. Family photo.

25. There are a lot of snake tinctures in the closet.

26. Medicines for all diseases are made from snakes and poison. These balls help with headaches.

27.

On my page on the website of the travel community Turbina.ru you can find

Every person who dreams of taming a snake often asks himself the same question: is it possible for me to tame a snake?

So what do people understand by the word “tame”? First of all, this is affection, the ability to unmistakably distinguish one’s owner among thousands of other people, the ability to feel sad or bored when the owner is not around, joy and delight at the sight of the owner, and so on.

If we take into account all these definitions of domestication, then the answer to the first question posed is only one: “No, a snake cannot be tamed.”

Then the next question arises: how do snake handlers and fakirs in the circus cope with poisonous snakes, why do they listen to them?

Any person who knows how to handle it correctly can make a snake obey (not in the literal sense, of course), so if you want to have your own snake at home and become a famous trainer, first of all you need to clarify some points in this dangerous hobby.

Firstly, you need to remember that not every snake can be fearlessly picked up. To demonstrate to the public that they are not afraid of snakes and can safely handle them, handlers usually perform simple operations to remove poisonous teeth, and sometimes the poisonous glands are removed along with the poisonous teeth. Having done this, according to environmentalists, savagery with the snake, the “tamer” gets the opportunity to demonstrate to everyone that he has tamed the snake.

There are cases when the poisonous glands are removed unprofessionally, and in the case when the snake still decides to bite the tormentor, you will have to pull your hand away very quickly, because the smallest drop of poison will be enough to poison a person.

Then man came up with another terrible thing - using the most ordinary needle, the jaws of a snake are sewn together. Nothing is visible from the outside, the snake has the ability to hiss and stick out its tongue, but it does not have the ability to bite. Such snakes die very painfully from starvation.

But there is another option, which is used by tamers who play a special pipe for the snakes, and the snake sways in time with its movements.

Training occurs in this way: the snake is beaten with this pipe and forced to stand in a stance each time until the time when it stops throwing itself at the pipe and simply stands in the stance and follows the movements of the pipe. Then the snake is ready to perform.

However, it should be said that serpentarium specialists have long noticed that from one species of snake there may be some that simply do not want to bite. In order to take the poison from them, they need to forcefully open their mouth. As serpentarium workers say, you can fearlessly pick up such snakes; they don’t want to bite and won’t bite.

But that’s not all you need to know in this case. When a snake crawls along the handler’s hand, it doesn’t want to bite and just crawls, but at any moment something can frighten it, some change in the situation, and the situation can change. To avoid this, it is worth remembering two tricks: do not allow the snake to crawl freely and constantly distract from it, and it is also important to constantly remove the bends of the snake’s body, preventing it from attaching to the hand.

There are snakes that like to bite inanimate objects, so you need to constantly remember this feature and always be on alert.

So, I wonder, are there tame snakes or is it all an illusion set up by skilled fakirs?

It happens when a snake gets used to the fact that a person will not harm it and it simply loses the desire to bite. Especially if such addiction begins from the very childhood of the snake, so to speak, from the very first days. However, not everything is as easy as it seems at first glance. Sometimes it happens that the smaller the snake, the more violently it bites, because it must protect itself, and big snake and so has the opportunity to scare everyone with just his appearance and therefore does not feel the need to bite.

And very rarely, not all eyewitnesses come across stories that the snake, under the influence of any circumstances (for example, injury) did not show any signs of aggression and really became, if you can call it that, almost tame. She could be picked up, she accepted food from her hands, but this was all based on conditioned reflexes, since scientists have long proven that the snake does not have mental reality and cannot be aware of what it is doing. But since such precedents have happened, it means there is hope that this can happen again.

Referring to the above, everyone who wants to purchase and tame a snake can be confidently informed that there is not a single person who has worked with snakes and has not been bitten. No one is immune from mistakes and mistakes. But if you are ready to take a risk, the very first thing you need to do is study the habits and characteristics of snakes, and then who knows, maybe even the impossible will become possible.

There are many deadly professions in the world. Snake charmer is one of them. In India, the secrets of craftsmanship are passed on exclusively from father to son - and so on from generation to generation. No one will ever reveal to a stranger the nuances of the profession, the secrets that their ancestors possessed - this is considered disrespect for the dead.

Spellcaster Villages

India is full of villages in which hereditary snake tamers live. One of them is the village of Chincholi in Karnataka.
It is home to only 400 inhabitants, but all of them, without exception, find great mutual language with poisonous reptiles. Without this skill you simply cannot survive in the village, because snakes are everywhere there.

According to travelers, even women and children are not afraid of creeping reptiles. Here is what the Frenchman Samuel Roche, who had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in this village, writes: “One morning I was smoking in the courtyard of the house where I was staying, and I saw a giant snake crawling 2 meters from me.

Poisonous? - I asked the hostess of the house, backing away in horror.
- Yes. But don’t be afraid of her, just don’t touch her.

At the same time, the woman continued to calmly hang out the laundry, while her three-year-old son played a meter away from mortal danger.”

Snake catchers

In Chincholi, almost every house has five or six snakes. These are actors who are raised and bred for business. True, since the law on protection wildlife, which prohibits keeping snakes in captivity for profit, there are much fewer people willing to train them. And in order to somehow feed their numerous families, some residents of Chincholi changed their profession and turned from charmers into snake catchers. They simply sell their goods at snake markets, where they can get at least some money for the creeping reptiles.

The smartest residents of Chincholi went further and, joining forces with relatives, created modest companies for catching reptiles in the cities. Such a business in India is a win-win option, because every year 300 thousand people suffer from snake bites, of which 75 thousand die.

But those who have perfectly mastered the art of training snakes earn much more and enjoy great respect among local residents. After all, Indians know very well that even for the most experienced professionals in their field, this business remains incredibly complex and deadly.

Many people mistakenly believe that snake charmers raise their performers from infancy. Actually this is not true. Cobras and vipers come to the trainer as adults. And there is an explanation for this. Young snakes are very aggressive and stupid, and therefore you should stay away from them. Adults are smart, cautious and calm, and therefore bite much less often. Raising them from a young age to accustom them to yourself is a waste of time.

A snake is neither a cat nor a dog, one wrong move - and this ungrateful creature will attack you, despite the fact that you groomed and cherished it long years. That is why spellcasters in their work use exclusively the stick method, and not the carrot.

Fakirs buy snakes at special snake markets. Cobra costs 20 rupees, python 5 rupees per yard, viper 6 rupees per dozen. And the rupee costs slightly less than the Russian ruble.

Cruel business

As for the performance itself, of course, cobras with an open hood look most impressive. Sometimes the snake makes sharp throws towards the tamer, but he deftly pacifies it. It seems that the cobra can be trained, that it is obedient to him, but is this really so? Of course not. According to experts, snakes cannot be tamed; you can only change their place of residence, for example, bring them home from the forest or to the serpentarium. And organize the pet comfortable conditions accommodation.

Experienced tamers know the habits of the animal and use their habitual behavior in their performances. During the performance, it seems that the cobra, swaying from side to side, is closely watching the tamer. In fact, the snake almost does not see what is happening (it receives most of the information through the organ of touch and the organ capable of detecting temperature differences). By sticking out its tongue and vibrating it, it does not so much frighten a possible victim as study it.

Before the performance begins, the artist sleeps quietly in a basket. Only some kind of disturbance can make it come out, for example, a light blow to the lid of the basket. The snake raises its head and begins to vibrate from side to side. The audience thinks that she is carefully listening to the music of the flute, but in fact she is simply trying to defend herself - she opens her mouth, hisses, moves her tongue, opens her hood, moves from side to side behind the flute. At this time, the tamer himself also leans in different directions to the beat of the melody he performs and imperceptibly taps his feet on the ground. The snake becomes even more lost, believing that there is someone else nearby, and behaves quietly.

However, this is only apparent humility. And the trainer needs to be extremely careful and attentive. Sometimes unscrupulous spell casters take the path of least resistance and remove the organ containing the poison from the snake. The animal becomes lethargic and absolutely safe, but does not live long. After the death of an actor, careless fakirs buy a new product, and this continues ad infinitum. It's a tough business. This is why snake shows are now officially banned in India.

Posture matters

During times of danger, all snakes try to defend themselves and assume a fearsome pose. The cobra spreads its neck ribs, and we see an unusual wide hood. Rattlesnake vibrates the scales at the end of the tail, and we hear the specific tapping of a rattle. The viper raises its head, hisses and shakes its head threateningly from side to side. However, we must remember that a snake never attacks a person first. She is secretive, timid and always tries to avoid collisions with large animals, and especially with humans. She does not at all seek to waste her only means of defense and hunting - poison. After all, in order to synthesize it again, she will need a lot of time and energy.

The secret of the magic pipe

The snake is unable to recognize its owner. For her, he and the audience are one, they are enemies, disturbers of her peace.
But what the snake recognizes immediately is the pipe. When she sees her, she immediately becomes quiet. And it’s not about any special melody - snakes are deaf and do not hear music, this was established 50 years ago by French herpetologists who played melodies for the reptiles, but they did not react to them in any way. The secret lies in the pipe itself, as well as in the smooth swaying of the caster from side to side.

During numerous training sessions, snakes develop a fear of the pipe. First they tease her, forcing her to stand up, and when she rushes at the offender, they hit her on the head with a pipe. If the snake tries to crawl away, it receives blow after blow until it stands up again. And so every day - they tease and beat. Attempts to get rid of the hated object lead to nothing - musical instrument I don't care about snake teeth. Eventually the snake stops biting, because by its nature it is not inclined to waste poison in vain.

Snake spell - unusual and dangerous profession. Almost all the spellcasters I knew died at the hands of their own snakes. The only secret that is unknown to these fearless people is the secret of survival.

I think the art of snake charming originated in Egypt, a country that has given the world many inventions. Snakes are the bane of Egyptian villages, which is perhaps why some of the most skilled snake hunters and charmers in the world can be found there. On the banks of the Nile I have seen performances much more interesting and sophisticated than those seen in India.

Cobras served as a symbol of royalty, like tiaras on Egyptian statues. Cleopatra's snake was a cobra. The Pharaohs' wizards could turn snakes into wands, imitating the miracle that Moses demonstrated. This, I think, was done by squeezing the snake’s head so much that its brain was affected, and the snake seemed to become stiff.

Sorcerers throughout Africa know a lot about the habits of snakes. White people living in tropical Africa often call a sorcerer for help when they think there are snakes in their homes. And the Mganga medicine man rarely fails to detect a snake. For this he will receive a well-deserved reward. And what is five or ten shillings when the house is permanently free from poisonous mambas?

So the medicine man comes with his reed pipes. He casts a traditional spell and plays the pipe in different corners of the house until the mamba crawls out onto open place. This wriggling creature is very beautiful, but there is so much poison in its teeth that it could kill an elephant. At the right moment, the healer rushes towards her with his forked stick, grabs the snake and throws it into his bag. Now such an operation almost always turns out to be the result of fraud. This is usually a trained snake without teeth, which was placed in a bungalow and then “lured” out of its hiding place.

Probably the best snake charmer of his time was Sheikh Moussa (the Arabic equivalent of the name Moses) from Luxor, familiar to many thousands of tourists. Both Moussa's father and grandfather were snake charmers, and both of them died from snake bites. One day, Moussa's youngest son went into the desert to collect snakes and was fatally stung. Moussa was always ready to share the same fate. This is what happened in 1939, when he somehow climbed into a cobra’s hole.

Sheikh Moussa's skill was unsurpassed. Before the start of the performance, he allowed himself to be undressed and searched. The snakes he pulled out of their holes under the mud huts were untrained. He could smell a scorpion sitting under a rock or a snake hiding in a hole.

The smell of the snake, he said, is reminiscent of ammonia.

By pronouncing spells and chanting, Moussa lured snakes out of their holes and called them to him. Sometimes the cobra tried to attack. Moussa carefully threw the snake away with his stick. Then the cobra rose and carefully watched the caster. This probably gave Moussa the opportunity to do what he wanted. He, without stopping his singing for a moment, slowly approached the snake. Finally, he would put his hand on the ground, and the cobra would lower its head and place it on Moussa's palm.

Other snake charmers, including Senior Keeper Balda of London Zoo, were also able to perform the same performance, where the snake rested its head on the palm of his hand. This was the most exciting moment of the performance that the wise spellcaster Husain Mia gave for many years in Cape Town. But old Moussa had other sensational tricks that only a few spellcasters of the present and past could show.

Moussa placed a wild, freshly caught cobra in a circle, which he drew with a stick in the sand. In this circle, the cobra remained as if locked until Moussa allowed it to leave it. Of course, I understand that almost anyone can hypnotize a chicken in this way, but try doing it with a cobra! Having completed the operation of capturing the snakes, Moussa placed four or five of them in a circle and began to conjure them all together. Their attempts to escape were clearly visible to anyone watching the performance, but not a single snake could crawl far when Moussa was looking at it.

Without a doubt, Moussa simply created a special atmosphere for performances with his spells, because snakes have a very poor hearing. However, they do respond to high-pitched flute music. There is a theory that a certain vibration in the air strikes the scales of the skin or the tips of the ribs of the snake - much the same way as the feet hit the ground when walking. So playing the flute excites the cobra rather than bewitches it.

Watch a snake charmer with his cobra baskets and you will see that he does not rely on his pipe when he needs to lure snakes out of there to start the show. He hits each basket lightly and then a snake appears. Snake charmers do have real skill, but the audience rarely realizes that what actually happens is not what they think. The cobra's swaying in time with the music of the caster is nothing more than the snake's attempts to follow the movements of the human hand. It is worth carefully studying the behavior of a snake charmer, and you will see: thoughtful movements of his hand and body seem to control the behavior of the snake. He approaches her slowly, always trying not to alarm the animal. And as soon as she shows signs of irritation, he puts her back in the basket and, to continue the show, chooses another one.

Hagg Ahmad, another famous Egyptian snake charmer and friend of Russell Pasha, claimed to be able to hypnotize snakes by whistling. He caught rare snakes for zoos and serum manufacturers. Hagg Ahmad was a member of Rifai, a secret society of snake charmers whose activities are religious in nature and regulated by their own rules. He got himself vaccinated, like other members of the Rifai, but nevertheless, complete immunity to snake bites cannot be achieved. His career was very successful - until the very day when he died from a cobra bite.

Russell Pasha had a snake expert on his staff in the Cairo city police, an Englishman named Bain. Russell and Bain studied snake charmers independently but came to very similar conclusions. They decided that the secret to luring snakes out of their holes often lay in the ability of the charmers to imitate. Nothing, of course, can force a hibernating snake to move, but during the mating period, the caster imitates a specific whistle emitted by the female and lures the male into an open place.

Another explanation that I heard in Egypt was that experienced spellcasters used some substance secreted by snakes, which has the property of attracting other individuals. I think this theory has some scientific support. The remedy is said to be particularly effective when collecting snakes.

Russell Pasha emphasized that the caster needed keen eyesight and quick hands. To these qualities I would add the ability to concentrate on my work at any time and at any age. Many snake charmers have died simply because they were thinking about something else instead of keeping a close eye on the snakes.

When I first became acquainted with the exoticism of Egypt, five years after the First World War, one could meet a peculiar type of youthful snake charmers whose performances were so disgusting that the government had to restrict this line of work. These daredevils might come up to your table in a café on Port Said Boulevard or even on the terrace of the luxurious Shepard Hotel and offer to show them how they swallow a cobra alive. Although there were always people willing to pay for such a spectacle, the sight of it made strong men sick and women fainted. Such artists no longer appear in luxury hotels.

I remember one young guy, who wore scorpions in his long black hair and held a cobra pressed against his skin. Some of these people smeared snake oil on their bodies, believing that thanks to this they would gain the trust of the snake tribe. Perhaps this is true. One trick they did remained a mystery to me for a very long time. The caster grabbed the cobra by the throat, forced it to open its disgusting mouth and spat into it. Let's be honest, it was not the most sophisticated entertainment, but the effect on the snake was simply amazing. After a second, she became as if petrified, and she could be held like a cane. Only a few years later I was told that the caster had some kind of drug in his mouth, which worked as soon as it entered the snake’s mouth. This is another one of those tricks that looks like magic on the surface.

Some spellcasters may pretend that they have been bitten by a cobra and show two small cuts on their finger. Rest assured, that "bite" was there before the show even started. These people usually apply a porous "snake stone" to their finger, a remedy they would never use if the bite were real.

The snakes favored by charmers everywhere are cobras. Undoubtedly, their sinister-looking “hood” adds an extra edge to the show. It should be noted that the cobra spreads its “hood” only when it is excited. This means that the snake is not under the influence of hypnosis when it sways to the caster’s tune, and of course it does not “dance.” Most likely, it is simply curious about what the caster is going to do, and you can be sure that the caster is closely watching the snake's eyes to see if it is aiming for his hand.

There are seven species of cobra in Africa, and they are so widespread that snake charmers have no trouble collecting their “inventory.” The so-called Egyptian cobra, which is found from Mediterranean Sea to South Africa, is not a spitting snake, nor is the Cape cobra. But the ringhals and the black-necked cobra aim for the eye of their prey and can hit their target from a distance of seven feet. So you will have to rummage through the caster's bag for a long time before you discover a spitting snake. Using it for performance would be pure suicide.

Egyptian snake charmers often display highly poisonous horned viper. They also catch the dangerous carpet viper, but this species is extremely rare.

Husain Mia, the snake charmer whose performances in Cape Town I mentioned above, sometimes asked for a king cobra to be sent from Burma. This snake has a very impressive appearance: it is the largest poisonous snake in the world, and it seems huge among its smaller (less deadly) counterparts. The largest king cobras reach a length of 18 feet. They devour their fellows, and a spellcaster who keeps even one in his possession can lose all the other snakes if he is not careful.

Unfortunately, the king cobra in South Africa doesn't live long. Husain Mia lost 14 expensive reptiles one by one, but they greatly enlivened his performances. Some of them are good-natured and calm, some are restive. But nevertheless, every snake charmer craves the applause that only a huge and obedient king cobra can bring him. This is a snake that is subjected to a trick known as the “kiss of death.” Only a few female spellcasters can perform it. Looks like some kind of hypnosis is really needed to kiss the face king cobra.

Husain Mia loved Cape Town so much that he called himself "Cape Town Charlie". He was a graduate of the University of Magic, Fire Swallowing, and Snake Charming at Pune, as befitted one from a family of hereditary Indian wizards. Husain Mia arrived in South Africa at the end of the last century, and can hardly be found in Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa locality, wherever they would see this bearded, smiling artist in a turban with a small tom-tom and snakes. He stated that he even performed at Buckingham Palace. (“I made snakes dance for King Edward and King George,” he boasted.) He did perform at Parliament House in Cape Town, but his usual venue was the entrance to the Adderley Street pier. When this pier was dismantled, he usually performed on Parade (one of the main streets of Cape Town).

Among my memories of Husain Mia is an episode full of childish humor that I must have watched dozens of times and never got tired of. Husain showed the crowd a small basket with a lid. He would then select a suitable victim from the crowd - preferably some brute who would mock his performance. He asked the “victim” to carefully examine the basket and show everyone that it was empty. Husain covered the basket with a cloth, played several mysterious bars on the flute, put the basket forward and asked the victim to cup his palms under it and catch what would appear from there. This trick was a complete success if he managed to convince the “victim” that the basket had magically been filled with money. The next moment, the frightened victim had a live snake in his hands. This snake was not at all dangerous, but it did not look harmless. Perhaps I have a primitive sense of humor, but rarely in my life have I laughed more sincerely. Husain Mia could put on performances that lasted for hours without repeating a single trick or joke twice. He also demonstrated another trick with a basket: his son Ibrahim wrapped himself around it like a snake, and Husain thrust a dagger into the weaving. But still, Husain was primarily a snake charmer. He sent his son to Pune to improve his skills and then be able to continue the family business.

Husain Mia entertained me until I became an adult. He lived to be 75 years old, which is probably a record for people in such a dangerous profession. The Cape Cobra he was training bit him on the thumb on right hand during a speech at the entrance to the Mount Nelson Hotel during the Second World War. They called their son, who was giving an independent show with snakes a mile from this place. But when he arrived, Husain was already unconscious, and he was taken to the hospital too late.

Dr. Hamilton Fairley, who was interested in this deadly activity, traced life path 25 snake charmers over a 15 year period. During this time, 19 of them died from snake venom. There have been many South African snake charmers who have let their guard down when working with snakes. Bertie Pierce, known to scientists and naturalists around the world, was the most famous among them. His main occupation was selling snakes for museums and milking snake venom to make anti-bite serum.

Pierce should never have been involved in this case. He had a weak heart, and after each bite he doubted whether he could bear the treatment. One day, a viper bit him on the hand when there was no serum nearby. So he decided to burn off the poison, and from then on the sleeve of his shirt hid the terrible scars. One day he went to his usual place in Cape Town, where he performed snake shows to entertain the usual crowd when his African assistant was absent due to illness. A small cobra bit him on the ankle - and bites to this place are always especially dangerous, since there are many small blood vessels there. Pierce was given medical care, but this time it didn’t help. Before this, snakes had bitten him nine times.

You may wonder why snake charmers don't milk the snakes before performing. The fact is that snakes accumulate poison in a special bag quite quickly. And getting a snake to bite a piece of fabric over and over again until its venom sac is empty is quite a painstaking task. Of course, a charmer can completely pull out a snake's teeth, but people who are truly proud of their work rarely do this. Such snakes become lethargic, sick and do not live long.

Desmond Fitzsimons, a South African snake expert and son of the famous F. W. Fitzsimons of the Serpentarium in Port Elizabeth, during one of his snake charming performances, it seemed that one of the snakes looked very much like a viper. This was so unusual that he began to examine her carefully. It turned out to be a harmless carpet snake, so naturally colored that from a distance it looked exactly like a South African viper.

There was another medicine man in Sinai, in Southern Rhodesia, who achieved great fame by performing various tricks on green mambas without fear. During one of the performances, this man was bitten and died. A local surgeon sent one of the animals to Fitzsimons to determine its breed. It turned out to be a type of tree snake, or boomslang as it is called in South Africa, very bright green in color. Boomslang is a snake whose back teeth are poisonous. That healer was very unlucky: boomslang rarely manages to grab someone with his teeth and kill. But when scientists found out the type of snake, the mystery immediately disappeared. No snake charmer, no matter how skilled, could survive after so many performances involving a real mamba.

The art of snake charming probably arose as a result of snake worship in ancient world. Doctors were also snake charmers, and to this day the symbol of the medical profession is the snake. It is therefore not surprising that the members of the Rifai, the most skilled snake charmers in Egypt, are deeply religious people. They will clear your house of snakes, but at the same time they will stipulate that the snakes will be taken into the desert and released into the wild. Without a doubt, snake charmers still possess secrets that are still unknown to anyone outside their caste.

Answer from Vasilisa kyueapngshoshchzhd[active]
Sometimes we see images of an eagle holding a snake in its talons, which reflects the dominance of the spiritual over the natural evil force of the snake and the archetypal idea of ​​​​the conflict between good and evil.
Snakes are also associated with sexual energy.
Poisonous snakes have been the subject of special worship since ancient times. Ophiolatry is the name given to the deification of snakes. Snake worship has survived: today you can see a picturesque, risk-filled, chilling dance performed by the priests of the famous snake cults of Myanmar (Burma). The object of worship is the king cobra - the world's largest poisonous snake: its length reaches five meters. Cobra is considered one of the most aggressive snakes. Intending to attack, it stands on its tail, and the front part of its body, raised almost vertically, is at least a meter long. When meeting with this majestic representative of the fauna, a person tries to increase the distance separating him from the cobra. The snake priestess from Myanmar has a completely different task - to dance with her poisonous deity.
As soon as the location of the king cobra is determined, the priestess begins her performance right in front of the cobra, at a distance of one or two meters. With his hem long dress she manipulates like a matador and is very skillful at dodging deadly throws. Soon the priestess's robe becomes damp, and golden droplets of poison flow down it. The most main danger still to come. At the end of her performance, the priestess suddenly leans forward and kisses the cobra. Sometimes to the head, sometimes right to the lips. The girl repeats this twice. Then he slowly backs away, joining the rest of the snake worshipers and giving the snake the opportunity to retreat. The snake does this, and quite hastily. The dance is completed, the deity has left.
How do you learn to dance with a cobra? Girls with early age are being trained for non-poisonous species snakes or “cold” (lacking a poisonous tooth) cobras. Their task is to thoroughly study the behavior and movement of the snake in order to be able to anticipate their attack in a split second. The dance of the priestess has a special musical accompaniment. It distracts attention or even hypnotizes the snake, reduces the speed and accuracy of strikes.
Snake charmers learned from the snake-worshipping priests.
The English writer Lawrence Greene in his book “The Last Secrets of Africa” writes:
“Snake charming is an amazing and dangerous profession. Almost all the spellcasters I have known have died from their snake bites. These fearless people could not master one secret - how to stay alive. It seems to me that the art of snake charming originated in Egypt, which was the cradle of many arts. Snakes are the scourge of the Egyptian village. Perhaps that is why the most skilled snake hunters and charmers appeared there. On the banks of the Nile I saw performances much more complex than in India.
...Cobras were a symbol of royal greatness. Cobra-shaped tiaras crown the heads of Egyptian statues. Cleopatra died from a cobra bite. Magicians at the court of the pharaohs could turn a snake into a stick, repeating the miracle once performed by the prophet Moses. Apparently, they squeezed the snake’s neck so that the brain was paralyzed and the snake became hard as a stick.
African sorcerers have an excellent knowledge of the habits of snakes. Europeans in tropical Africa They often turn to witches if they suspect the presence of a snake in their home. And it almost never happens that the mganga does not discover the snake and leaves without reward. And what does five or ten shillings mean when a house gets rid of a mamba? Usually the sorcerer brings a pipe with him and begins to play his melody in different parts premises, waiting for the mamba to slip out into the open. A lithe, graceful creature, but it carries enough venom in its tooth to bite an elephant. The sorcerer seizes the moment, quickly grabs the snake with a forked stick at the end and throws it into his bag. These days it's almost always a scam. The sorcerer usually throws a tamed snake into the house, whose poisonous teeth have been pulled out, and then uses the power of “charm” to call it out of its shelter.