Votive Object in the Form of an Anaconda Engorged with Prey
Ica culture
14" long

The allure of snakes has as much to do with their shamanistic and cosmological implications as with their deadly beauty. Along with the raptor and feline, the snake ranks as a principal shamanic archetype. In the Andean selva, moreover, the boa is mother and guardian spirit of a legendary vine, the ayahuasca plant (Banisteriopsis caapi). This liana, a potent hallucinogen, induces euphoric states and kaleidoscopic visions of places teeming with snakes and jaguars. Pre-Columbian shamans, who drew creative and spiritual power from the animals and magic plants of the tropical forest, clearly exploited the vine’s mystique in their own rituals.

Anacondas prey on all sort of animals, even other snakes. While they apparently prefer bigger mammals such as capybara or deer, they are also known for tackling large caimans and the occasional jaguar.

Having ambushed and squeezed its quarry until it suffocates or drowns, the constrictor swallows it whole by unhinging its loose jawbones and stretching its mouth around it. Engorged with prey, it remains immobile for several days: an utterly disconcerting and compelling vision of predation and underworld power.