I44. Chthonic serpent .12.14.18.-.21.23.-.25.27.-.29.31.33.35.43.44.47.48.50.51.58.66.67.

A huge serpent borders, embodies, or supports the earth.

Background, Dogon, Ancient Egypt, Unambal, Majprat, Truk, Fiji, Mangaia, Tibetans, Kachin, Wancho, Hinduism, Himachal Pakhari, Lohar, Tamils, Malays, Bataks, Nias, Engano, Udinum, ngaju, dayaki (ibanas?) , Java, Bali, Roti, Bagobo, Mandaya, Serbs, Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Abkhazians, Georgians, Armenians, Edda, Kazakhs, Northern Selkups, Tutni (Joshua), Winnebago, Shawnee, Chumash, Kitanemuk, Yuma, Huichol, Warrau, Shipibo, conibo.

West Africa. Background: Herskovits 1938 [Aido-Hwedo was created before earth and sky; carried a demiurge in her mouth when he created the world; mountains arose from her excrement; then the demiurge told her to curl up with a ring, having bitten its tail, to keep the ground on himself; so that AH does not suffer from the heat, the demiurge created the sea; AH feeds on the iron bars that monkeys make for it; when it moves, they occur earthquakes; when there is no iron left, AH swallows its own tail, the earth will collapse into the sea; another (twin?) AH lives in the sky, it is a rainbow snake, thunderstorms descend on it; the snake's tail is twice as long as the distance from heaven to earth, so thunder peals are lengthy]: 247-250 (retelling in Kotlyar 1975:108, 2009 , no. 113:104, in Chaplin 1959:156); Parrinder 1967 [the snake collected the earth by squeezing it with its rings; 3,500 rings are now above the ground, 3,500 below it; var.: the snake has set up 4 pillars to the cardinal points to support sky]: 22; catch-up [there is water around the earth; a serpent bordering its tail in its mouth; if it releases, everything will collapse]: Griaule 1938:43.

North Africa. Ancient Egypt: Mathieu 1956:34 [Ra fights Apop-the great serpent of the underworld], 36 [Mehent's serpent means "surrounding the earth"], 38 [the last part of the underworld is filled with a 1,200-long snake elbows, through whose body the boat Ra must pass in order to swim to the surface of the heavenly Nile in the morning; the god of the earth Geb was depicted with the head of a snake (Figure 18)], 40-41 [after midnight Apop drinks water of the underground Nile; Ra pierces every bend of Apopa's body with spears and knives, makes him spew swallowed water].

Australia. Unambal [the earth is embodied by the Ungut snake, trees "grow on Ungood's back"; Wallanganda personifies the Milky Way in the sky, he is the lord of heaven; heaven and earth have always been; V. sprayed from heaven to earth with fresh water, W. made the water deep, created rain]: Lommel 1952:7, 10.

Melanesia. Majprat (Western Prat District) [during the day the snake is reflected in the form of a rainbow, at night it is the Milky Way, and it also holds the earth with the water surrounding the earth]: Elmberg 1968:207; Fiji [in Na Cave Vatu on the Raki-Raki coast lies a serpent; when it turns, the ground shudders]: Pleyte 1894:96.

Micronesia-Polynesia. Truk [Nigoubub, a female eel supports the earth; when it moves, an earthquake occurs]: Bollig 1927:12; Mangaia [Avaiki is like a coconut with a root, there are tiers inside it; terrestrial the world is outside it, on its upper surface; at the base of the root is Te-aka-ia-roe ("root of existence"; roe is a worm, thread-worm); above it is the demon Breath of Life, on it Long-lived; these three make up root; at the lowest and narrowest part inside Avaika itself, a demon woman Varima-te-Takere ("the very beginning") sits crouching; from a piece of her right side, she created the first Avatea (Vatea) man - Noon, half-human half-fish (vertically); his eyes are the sun and moon; he climbed to the very top of Avaiki, just before leaving A. outside; his eyes come out of the hole every day and return there; from On the other piece of the right side, the great mother created her second son Tinirau (Countless); he is also a half-fish (like sprat); lives on a tier below Avatea, lord of the fish; from the left side of the foremother Tango (Support), then daughter Tumuteanaoa (Echo), then son Raka (Trouble, controls the winds); sixth, again from the right side, Tu-metua's favorite daughter (Stick-by-the Parent); they occupied tiers from top to bottom, Tu-metua is the lowest with mother; Vatea was married by the Pope ("foundation"), their first sons Tangaroa and Rongo (the first purely anthropomorphic creatures); Rangi and Rongo's two other grandchildren pulled Mangaia out of the lower world, her ancestors inhabitants]: Gill 1876:1-11 in Williason 1933 (1): 11-14.

Tibet is the Northeast of India. Tibet [The Himalayan and eastern zones of Tibet are characterized by the idea of the universe in the form of a continent floating on the back of a turtle, or a fish crushed for greater stability by a mountain ( Lepcha - Mount Kanchenjung), at the base of which is the Begsha snake; earthquakes occur when fish turns their heads from fatigue]: Ogneva 1982b: 508; Kachin: Zapadova 1977 [arose in the void and masculine and feminine principles combined, gave birth to King Ingaunuamagan; he surrounded the ground with a naga dragon, when he moves, an earthquake occurs; supported the sky with four pillars, put the fifth in in the center; it was too high, celestials appeared from the sawn off upper part, living in water from the sawn off lower part; the central pillar connecting heaven and earth turned into a Sotpunnu tree]: 144-145; Chesnov 1982 [fish swam in the ocean, Mutum poured earth on it, the female spirit laid an egg on the ground, the lower half of the egg remained on the ground, the upper half became a heavenly vault; var: the earth is poured on the crab or on the Shirutru crocodile; earthquakes occur when S. tosses and turns]: 188; Gilhodes 1908 [feminine and masculine create many different creatures and objects, including earth, sky, drum, Poles separating the sky from the ground, ropes supporting the ground, a big bird, knives, a venomous fer-de-lance snake, scissors, a snake bordering the ground around the perimeter; etc.]: 673; vancho [earth rests on the head of a snake swimming in the lake; the snake's movements cause earthquakes; rivers flow into this lake, and then rise to God Rang, fill the pool, from there R. sends water again to land]: Elwin 1958b, No. 24:90; Taraon (Digaru) Mishmi [the earth rests on a pole; from time to time the Devibri snake tries to destroy humans and shakes the pole]: Elwin 1958b, No. 15:99; lhota, Abor, better [the serpent encircles the world; when it bites its tail, an earthquake occurs]: Hutton 1925:123.

Burma - Indochina. Khmers [first in Cambodia's place, the sea; waves and sea foam created a sandbank; in the evenings Soma, the daughter of the snake Naga, the owner of the waters, came out; she was seen by the king's son, expelled by his father from his country; Naga allowed marriage; so that his son-in-law could live on land, drank the water that covered the country, called the resulting kingdom Kambuja; left Tonle Sap fish lake and the Mekong River]: Marunova 1972: 6-7.

South Asia. Hinduism [the thousand-headed serpent Shesha supports the earth; at the end of each Kalpa, it destroys the universe with poisonous fire; according to popular belief, earthquakes are caused by Yawning Sh.]: P.G. 1982:642; himachali plowmen [the brahmana's wife died leaving her young son; the brahmana took another one, her daughter; the stepmother harasses her stepson, gives ash cakes; the black cow hits her hoof, and good food is created; the stepmother is surprised that the stepson is not hungry, her daughter is forced to tell everything, the stepmother demands that her husband sell the cow; she puts the boy on her back, runs away; they live in the forest, there is a big snake hole, who keeps peace with the bull; the cow pours milk there every day; the snake crawls out, fulfills the cow's wish for the boy to wear gold clothes, all gilded; one day his golden the hair falls into the water, the fish swallows it, the fisherman catches it, brings it to the king, the princess wants to marry only a young man with similar hair; he is found, he becomes the princess's husband; remembers the cow, comes into the forest, sees bones, wants to commit suicide; a cow appears: she just wanted to test his loyalty; all is well]: Dracott 1906:83-87; Lohar [Guru Mahadeo and Gutiya Dewar created the land began to look for someone to support her; it turned out that only Cobra's son (milk cobra) and his wife; they were made raja and rani of the lower world; the wife would keep the world on her head; the husband would gather from all over the world torn fabrics (rotten rags), will make them a pillow on his wife's head; once every 12 years they make love, then the earth shudders]: Elwin 1949, No. 28:46; Tamils (Thiruvarur): Shulman 1978: 108 [Śiva first appeared in Velūr as Sāmbaśivamūrti in the form of a five-headed serpent living in an anthill], 124 [the earth rests on the immortal snake Ananta-Ādišeşa, which has no beginning or end; when he grows old, he is reborn every time; through this ritual, snakes overcome death, crawl out of their old skin].

Malaysia-Indonesia. Malays [the earth is surrounded by a serpent or dragon (Ular Naga) holding its tail in its teeth]: Skeat, Blagden 1900:6; Toba Bataki [supreme god Mula Dyadi lived on the upper of the 7 tiers of heaven; created three sons; created a tree on one of the lower tiers, its branches reaching the upper tier; created a chicken, it sat three eggs on a tree, three of which were born girls, he married them to his sons; one was the face of a lizard, the skin of a chameleon, the girl refused, began to spin, dropped the spinning wheel into the lower world; a snake swimming in the sea descended along the unwound thread; put a handful of earth in it, brought at her request by the MD swallow; the serpent was tired and turned over, the world that arose was flooded with water; MD created eight suns, they dried up excess water; the maiden plunged her sword into the snake, nailing it tightly to the ground, so that he would not turn over again; taking new soil, created the earth anew; MD shot the maiden's fiancé with a blowpipe; once on the ground, the young man shot the throat, grabbed the arrow, flew away; following her and taking on a new, gorgeous look, he found a heavenly maiden, married her; they gave birth to people]: Warneck 1909:30 in Dixon 1916:160-161; in Stöhr, Zoetmulder 1965:51; a more succinct retelling in Hatt 1949:33; bataks: Loeb 1935 [the lower world giant Naga Padoha is nailed to the ground with a sword; therefore, during earthquakes, they shout "suhul, suhul" - sword-grip; this snake is the main a representative of the forces of evil; until the sword was pierced, the serpent crawled, creating valleys and mountains]: 37, 77; Chesnov 1982 [Páne na Bolon - a horned serpent, ruler of the lower world and the sea; for a year turns around the Earth's disk, sending warriors, epidemics and other misfortunes on his way to earth]: 281; dairi bataki [Batara Guru made a raft, put the Naga podaha snake on his back; broke the knife handle, asked the snake to hold it for a while, not to move until it repaired it; since then, during earthquakes, people have been shouting for the serpent to calm down]: Van der Tuuk, t.4:56 in Pleyte 1894:95; bataks (Madailing) [ the earth rests on one of the horns of the half-snake monster]: Van der Tuuk, v. 4:54 in Pleyte 1894:96; northern Nias [Luo Mewöna's wife created a ring bordering the world, turning it into a snake Sawa Wucha; sea and fire poured out of the snake's mouth to make it boil; the snake causes sea turmoil and earthquakes]: Suzuki 1959:2 (see Pleyte 1894:96 for a more detailed retelling); central Nias [ Nadsjuna Danö has gone to the lower world to support the earth; it is compared to a ring on which round-bottomed vessels are placed; he is also a snake ancestor that borders the earth and swallows part of the sea water, to lower sea levels]: Suzuki 1959:3-4; Southern Nias [Nazarata, wife of upper world god Lowalani, turned a peace-supporting ring into a snake whose movements cause earthquakes]: Suzuki 1959:4; Engano [had an idea of the world's serpent like the Bataks and Dayaks]: Loeb 1935:216; Dayaki (ibanas?) [The Nagapousai snake embodies the earth; it had a huge head and tiny body, so it swayed on the waves; Hat-alla sent his servant Praman to find out what N. was complaining about; when he found out what was going on, he descended and connected N.'s head to a larger body, and to protect the snake from the sun, he placed the ground on top; his son Batou Djompa noticed two eggs on the surface of the snake, went down and broke them, and a man came out of them and a woman; they gave birth to 7 sons and 7 daughters, but they were soulless at first; BJ told the man named Soupou to bring 14 souls from the snake; when he left, he told his wife not to go out from under the canopy above her bed ; but she got hot and went swimming; as soon as she lifted the curtain, a thunderstorm broke in and revived the children; therefore, people are mortal; when S. returned, became angry and scattered the children away in pairs; one pair fell into the water and gave birth to the sea god Djata; the rest settled the land ("fields") and the air]: Backer 1874:280-281; let's give it back [(Schwaner 1853-1854, 1:177; Münsterberger 1939:222-223, 227 -228; Sundermann 1912:171-172); Mahadara drops earth from the sky on the backs of seven snakes; the earth rests on the head of the Naga Bussai snake, decorated with a diamond crown; the snake swims in the ocean]: Launscher 1977: 246-247; ngaju: Schärer 1946 [the earth rests on the back of a water snake, between its head and tail; the snake borders the ground with its tail in its mouth; when it gets tired and turns, they happen earthquakes]: 68 in Pleyte 1884:96, at Stöhr, Zoetmulder 1965:26; Schärer 1966: Schärer 1966:68 [at first there is water everywhere, with Naga Bussai snake in luxurious clothes and jewelry; Hatala threw Earth on his head; Ranjing Mahatala Langit went down, found seven eggs made up of earth; out of five came all plants and animals, the first two were male and female; he went to the Creator for a breath for them , at this time Sangiang Angoi came out of the earth, breathed into people, they came to life but became mortal; RML saw this, took back divine gifts: immortality, eternal youth, enjoyment of eternal leisure], 71- 73 [(according to Hupe 1846:138); first water, God created the snake Nagapusai; he is unhappy that his body is too small for his head; Hatala sent his servant Praman to find out what the serpent is complaining about; gave him a huge the body was covered with earth, protecting it from the sun; the son of Hatala Batu-Djampa (more precisely Ratu Tjampa) saw two earth eggs on the ground, went down, broke them, and they appeared, a man and a woman, gave birth to seven sons and seven daughters without signs of life; BD gave her husband a porcelain vessel, ordered him to go to the snake for children's souls; when leaving, the husband told his wife not to go out from under the mosquito net at that time; she looked out in a gust of wind revived bodies; now people are mortal, because their lives are just wind (breath); the husband is angry, drove the children out in pairs; from those who fell into the water comes the water god Djata, from those who fell into the fields, into the forest - corresponding categories of water spirits; the rest flew to heaven, settling on three rivers, gave rise to categories of immortals; the man left the last couple on earth, people come from them; Hatala gave they have everything but rice; his son stole rice, iron, fire, dropped it to people; fire fell on the rocks from which they extract it], 73-74 [(according to Sundermann 1912) at first, people lived on the head of a snake resting at the base of the earth ; 8 guests came, refused rice, asked them to eat two types of wood - Keang and Mahang; when they left, they left their excrement, ordered them to make the sky out of the heap to the right of the path, and earth from the heap to the left of the path ; the sky was first near the ground, Kakang Ajus began to raise it; Grandma des Barurong asked higher; finally, too high, but not to lower it back; the remnants of the right heap made a man, the left pile made a woman] , 144-146 [Lahatala created everything except land and people; Ramjing Pahatara found seven earth eggs, made them the figures of a man and a woman, went to bring them stone breaths and bones; at this time, to his Peres came to Andin Bamban's wife, said that people with stone breath will live forever, the earth will overflow, we need to take breath from the wind, bones from wood, blood from water; AB agreed, bones are made of wood Angoi, Uncle Rangang Tingang, carved out; when he returned, RP found people alive, made them only hair, teeth and nails from the stone he had brought; people were first hanging in the air, RP caught a sea serpent, placed it on his people, the serpent became earth; var.: RP poured earth on the snake, when it moves, it shakes]; Java [the ground is supported by the Ontôobogō (Ananta) serpent; he borders it with his tail in the mouth]: Pleyte 1994:96; Bali: Covarrubias 1956 [emptiness at first; through the meditation of the world's serpent, Antaboga created the foundation of the world - the Bedawang turtle with two snakes curled up on it; on the world The turtle lies Black Stone; this is the lower world, there is the god Batara Kala, the goddess Setesuyara, the serpent Basuki; Kala created light and Mother Earth; above it is a layer of water; above it is a layer of clay, it has dried up, forming earth and mountains; above the layers of the sky, each with its own deities]: 6-7; Parnickel 1983 [the turtle and the world serpent support the earth and throne of the sun god]: 268; Rassers 1959 [Mngukuhan, Balinese theater play (lacon); god Guru in his Marchukaņda palace sees radiance in the sea; there the hermit Kanekaputra subjects himself to austerities; the messengers are unable to distract him; G. himself comes to him and says he knows he wants to become equal to him; it is pointless to strive for this, for only the sun and moon appeared before him, G., and even earlier than them, heaven and earth; only Sang Hyang Wnang is older than him; the hermit laughs and says that SHV not older than anyone else; asks what was created first during chaos; G. does not know; showing mercy, K. takes him to heaven, makes him chief over the gods; G. asks K. what he holds in his clenched hand; K. says that this is a Rthna dumilah treasure, which makes him insensitive to hunger, thirst, fire and water; warns that if you loosen your grip, it will fly away with an arrow; G. asks to throw it to him, tries grab, the treasure flies from heaven to seventh earth, where it is swallowed by the Antaboga serpent; K. asks him back, A. tells him to be transferred to heaven for this; K. says that this is impossible, A. is as big as the earth; A. curls up in a ring; the gods penetrate A. through his nose, ears and mouth, but just start fighting there; they try to take A. to heaven, but he disappears, finds himself at G.'s feet, belches the treasure box, but not he and others can't open it; G. breaks it, inside a three-year-old girl Ken Tisnawati and her palace; when she is 14 years old, G. wants to make her a wife; she demands that he take out clothes first, which is not wears out, food that satiates forever, and gamlan ktopyak; G. sends the jester Kalagumarang for them; he mocks the gods, they want him to become an animal; he pursues Dewi Sri, her Vishnu's husband shoots him, arrows, becoming vines, entangle his legs, he falls, becomes a boar; G. takes possession of T. by force, she dies; she is buried on the ground; a coconut palm grows out of her head, genital rice, banana from the palms, corn from the teeth; Boar K. continues to chase Dewi Sri, who has now taken the form of Dewi Tisnawati, ravages rice crops; Vishnu pierces him with an arrow, his blood turns into insects and diseases that harm rice; the spirit enters the bodies of the children of the ascetic Puţut Jantaka; rice crops are ravaged by the god Pritanjala (guardian of the northeast) in the form of a bird, hides among arenga palm blossoms; these stems are cut off, the juice is harvested, this is how palm wine appeared; the children of the PJ ascetic are rat, pig, monkey, buffalo, all wild bulls, deer and other animals; they come to ruin fields; hardly defeated; monstrous brothers Sngkan and Turunan turn their penises into whips, tame a bull and a buffalo with them, and thread a rope through their nostrils]: 14-19; Roti [huge a snake under the ground causes earthquakes]: Pleyte 1994:96.

Taiwan - Philippines. Bagobo [Pamulak Manobo (one of the diwata, gods) created the sea, land, plants, stars, made a man and a woman out of clay; created an eel whose body borders the entire earth; a crab by placing it next to eel; when a crab bites an eel, it wriggles, earthquakes occur; white clouds are smoke from the bonfires of the gods (diwata); when it rains, it's God (Diwata) spits]: Benedict 1913, No. 1:15-16 (=Eugenio 1994, no. 36:92); mandaya [A crab in the sea causes ebbs and flows; when it opens its eyes, lightning flies out of them; when it tries to eat its mother the Moon, an eclipse occurs; the Star wanted to take the place of the Sun, He cut it apart, it turned out to be stars; the mountains on earth were created by a woman Agusanan; the ground on the back of an eel; when crabs and other creatures bother him, the eel moves, shaking the ground]: Cole 1913:172.

The Balkans. Bulgarians: Belova 2004 [1) snakes and carp wrap around the ground; 2) when the Lord raised the ground, a serpent lay under it]: 112; People of Reconciliation 1893 (Sofia District) [the land is held on their fingers by two saints; her borders and holds a serpent whose tail is at his head so as not to fall apart]: 126; Kovachev 1914 [the earth does not fall apart because it is wrapped around a ring of snakes holding its tail in their mouths]: 50; Stoynev 2006 [a huge snake wraps around the ground or heaven and earth are held together from above by a huge snake]: 139; Serbs: Janković 1951:10 [the earth lies on a curled snake; because it lies unevenly, then on the ground uneven terrain], 11 [the snake encircles the ground].

Central Europe. Ukrainians (Podolia) [the ground is held by a huge fish wrapped around the ground; the earth rests on fish holding its tail in its mouth; if it releases its tail, the world will end; this description correlates with the iconography of the biblical Leviathan, as he is presented in the decor of Jewish picas (community books), sometimes next to the "bull of God"]: Belova 2004:111.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Abkhazians (villages. Achandara, Gudauta County) [the land rests on the Agulshap dragon]: Chursin 1956:157; Georgians [the land rests on the Gveleshapi dragon]: Chursin 1956:157; Armenians [the land is surrounded by the body of a huge fish (Lekeon or Leviatan); the fish seeks to catch its tail, its movements cause earthquakes; if it manages to catch its tail, the world will collapse]: Harutyunyan 1980a: 105.

Baltoscandia. Scandinavians [from giantess Angrboda, Loki has children: the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jormungand, daughter Hel; Odin threw the snake into the sea surrounding the land, he encircles it, biting his tail]: Younger Edda 1970:31 (=2005:31).

Turkestan. Kazakhs [the earth rests on a huge fish that swims on water supported by steam and wind; the ground is girded by a dragon (aydagar); on its edge stands a blue bull holding everything on one horn sky]: Chuloshnikov 1924:242.

(Wed. Southern Siberia - Mongolia. The Mongols (Khalkha) [there was only one water; two fish came together and formed a ring; grains of sand began to accumulate in it and Mount Sumbur-Ola grew; we live on four tubes outside the fence formed by fishes]: Potanin 1919:49.

Western Siberia. Northern Selkups (b. Taz) [the seven-headed serpent Varga-syl-Loz lives in the oceans, has two wives and many children; when it moves its tail, a wave rises, the world (bug) begins to swing, earthquakes occur; his Varga-syl-tet's third wife ("great seven-bird mother") commands stagnant waters, Varga-sul-shi's wife over flowing waters]: Pelikh 1998:20-21.

The coast is the Plateau. Tututney (Joshua) [at first only water and sky; the Creator (The Giver) and his companion are in the steam room on the water; a white object arrives, two trees grow on it; it grows turns into earth; it swings, freezes after the Creator and his companion fumigate it with tobacco; now there are only two trees on earth - red-wood in the south and ash in the north; days and nights have become alternate, grass has grown, leaves on trees; The Creator sculpts five lumps of clay, turns them into stone, throws them into water; hears a distant blow, the water is deep; the next stone is the bottom closer, another is the earth almost at the surface of the water; buruns ran in, after the sixth the water retreated; the Creator notices someone's traces in the sand; floods the earth five times again and frees it from water, but traces appear every time; it means that disorder and evil (trouble) in the world cannot be avoided; The Creator sculpted two figures out of clay, gave it to his companion; 4 days later, a female and a male appeared, they have many puppies; The Creator again sculpted two figures, from they turned out to be snakes and snakes, they have many snakes; the Creator put the snakes in the basket, crushed them, threw them into the sea; but two crawled out, all snakes from them; the Creator ordered these two large snakes to be wrapped around the ground like a belt, so that it does not fall apart; five bad dogs The creator of urosil went into the ditch, they gave rise to water monsters (or possibly seals, marine mammals); the Creator's companion smokes all night; a woman appears The creator tells the companion to marry her, give birth to people; the companion lies down with her, she does not see him, gives birth to a son; he grew up, his wife is not mentioned)]: Farrand 1915, No. 16:224-226.

The Midwest. Winnebago: Radin 1909, No. 4 [the creator of Ma-ona cries in empty space; his tears form the primary ocean; created the earth with his thought, it swings; created four Winds, putting four each to the sides of the world like four mighty men; threw four snakes with their heads east, they pierced the ground, it stopped swaying; created four Thunderbirds, they hit the ground with clubs, creating hills and valleys; created four brothers, gave them tobacco, sent them to land]: 307-310; 1932:56; Smith 1997:18-22 [The creator woke up, cried, his tears formed the sea; by the power of thought he created light, the earth, it swayed on waves; grew grass, created stones, placed four Winds to the cardinal points, but the swing continued; then he pierced the earth with four snake heads to the east, the earth froze; created four from clay Thunderbirds in his likeness; created four brothers by giving them tobacco, the Thunders lowered them to the ground; by hitting clubs, they created hills and valleys], 149 [the creator of Ma-ona saw that the land he created was smooth, people They slip off her; he began to cry, his tears formed seas, rivers, washed valleys, mountains appeared; under their weight, the earth moved, people stopped sliding].

Southeast USA. Shawnee: Trowbridge 1939:42 [people pray to four snakes on four cardinal points], 61 [After creating the earth, the Great Spirit places four very large animals to the cardinal points so that the earth stood firmly].

California. Chumash [two snakes support the earth; earthquakes occur when they get tired and move; the cannibal eagle Slo'v supports the upper world; overshadows the moon with their wings spread]: Blackburn 1975, No. 1:91-92; Hudson, Underhay 1978:40; Kitanemuk [The creator creates earth, sky and first humans by blowing on clay figures; these are the ancestors of today's birds and animals; more important than others, five brothers with sister; they create five worlds one above the other; the disc-shaped world swims in the ocean; it's supported by two snakes whose movements cause earthquakes]: Blackburn, Bean 1978:568.

The Great Southwest. Yuma: Gifford 1926 [Komaiaweta bordered the world at the time of the creation of snakes; whoever calls him will be fine; the creator of Kukomat was bewitched by his daughter Frog; refused call Komaiaweta, died]: 67; Harrington 1908 [A rattlesnake bit a man, began to grow in the sea, his body circled all over the earth; Kumastamxo sent a Spider to ask him for the Serpent cure a person; in fact, there is a dummy in the house; The serpent put four heads into the house, K. cut them off at once; the snake's blood became gold, saliva became silver, from his urine the sea, so it is salty; K. does a hole in the ground, draws the Colorado riverbed with a spear]: 340-342.

NW Mexico. Huichol [a Tatu Ipou snake with heads on both ends of its body rings around the world; it is the sea itself; the sun sinks between its mouths every night and throws a person at each]: Lumholz 1900 : 80; 1986:120-121.

Guiana. Warrau: Wilbert 1975 [around the land of serpents, its ends converge in the east; below the land and ocean, there is a four-headed snake with antlers on each of its heads]: 164; 1979 [same as Wilbert 1975]: 135; 1981 [The oceans and the submerged part of the earth are enclosed within a cylindrical abyss; mountains run along the perimeter of the earth; in the center of the submerged part below the ground is the Goddess Nadir in the shape of a serpent, each of whose four heads are crowned with deer antlers and directed to one side of the world]: 38.

Montagna - Jurua. Shipibo, a conibo [the earth's disk is bordered by a serpent holding its own tail in its mouth]: Gebhart-Sayer 1987, Abb.2, 11.

Bolivia - Guaporé. Tupari [the earth is in the form of a plate, along the perimeter of the palisade, the sky rests on it; all together, the ancestor Patsíare supports outstretched arms; along the perimeter of the earth lies a giant snake] : Caspar 1975:188.