The people who poach creepy crawlies
Snake charming is the centuries-old practice of playing an instrument and feigning that the snake has been hypnotized.
Ancient Egypt served as home to one form of snake charming. Charmers there mainly acted as magicians and healers.
Snake charmers are mentioned in the Bible, in Psalm 58:3–5: "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely."
Snake charming as it exists today likely originated in India, where it has a long history. Under Hindu belief, the serpent is considered sacred.
In India, snake charmers were considered holy men due to their ability to control the snake. These individuals were also likely traditional healers by trade.
In fact, serpents are believed to be related to the Nagas, a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala). Many gods are pictured under the protection of the cobra.
These healing skills came in handy because as part of their training, the holy men also learned to treat snake bites.
Skilled snake charmers knew how to handle snakes. So much so, in fact, that as a lucrative sideline, they were often called on to remove errant serpents from people's homes.
Over the centuries, snake charming evolved into more of an entertainment than religion.
Indeed, snake charming eventually became big business. Savvy charmers often incorporated dancing, music, and magic shows into their acts.
The bansuri is another musical instrument used to coax serpents from their slumber. This ancient flute is also from India, and Nepal.
The musical instrument of choice for most snake charmers was—and remains—the pungi. Originating from the Indian subcontinent, it's played by blowing air into a reservoir, which is then channeled into two reed pipes.
The late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century proved something of a golden age for snake charmers in many countries.
Here, a woman in a sari is carrying a camera and watching a snake charmer at work. In the 1930s, photography had reached the traveling public, and the holiday snap culture was born.
By the early 20th century, governments were eagerly promoting snake charming to draw tourism, a fact not lost on advertisers. In this 1907 illustration, a French manufactured Berliet automobile is parked in a bazaar. A group of people surround the car to look at it while a snake charmer appears to be playing to it. In the foreground is his snake, temporarily abandoned in favor of the vehicle.
In this 1890 photograph, snake charmers attract a sizeable crowd on the streets of Rangoon, today known as Yangon, the capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Meanwhile in the United States, there was a resurgence of snake charming in the 1930s as a form of religion. The practice began in rural Appalachia. In Kentucky, the Reverend Oscar Hutton (pictured), leader of one particular snake cultist group, would often handle several venomous snakes, including copperheads, while preaching. The practice of using snakes during church services was illegal, but the cultists worshipped secretly.
While the pungi is instrumental in appearing to coax a serpent out of its basket, the truth is that snakes actually lack the ability to hear and thus do not recognize the music. Instead, they respond to the vibrations and movements of the flute and charmer.
In this image, a group of worshippers reach for a snake held aloft by a "handler" during a service in 1952 in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite laws in place banning the practice, plus the dangers associated with handling venomous snakes, there are still some diehard practitioners left today operating out of small Christian churches across the rural South.
In fact, most controlled snake handling and snake charming performed today are done for the purpose of entertainment. For example, belly dancers often incorporate a snake into their routines. The general consensus, however, is that it's an unnecessary spectacle often viewed as dangerous and cruel to the animal.
Sources: (Courier Journal)
In September 1972, the Wild Life (Protection) Act was enacted by the Parliament of India in order to conserve animals, birds, and plants. Included in the legislation was a ban on the export of snakeskins. In addition, those owning or selling snakes faced being jailed for up to seven years.
In 2003, hundreds of snake charmers descended on the temple of Charkhi Dadri in Haryana to bring international attention to their plight.
Caught in evocative silhouette, a Sri Lankan snake charmer performs for crowds at the Galle Face promenade in Colombo.
By the late 1990s, more stringent wildlife laws effectively ended the practice of snake charming, at least in India. The downside was that many charmers instead sought a livelihood in the interior, performing to smaller crowds in rural villages. Most snake charmers today barely make a living from the age-old practice.
One solution proposed by the Indian government was to retrain the performers to be snake handlers, capturing and removing venomous snakes from city and suburban gardens.
Another idea put forward would try to focus attention on the snake charmers' traditional music skills and treat them like other street musicians.
Beyond the Indian subcontinent, the snake charmers' art is still practiced, for the most part legally. Here, a snake charmer plays his pungi to prompt a cobra to dance during a cultural festival in Islamabad, Pakistan.
At Djemaa el Fna square in Marrakech, it's common to see snake charmers at work.
While traditionally a role reserved for men, women are known to work as snake charmers as well. Here, a woman in a village in Myanmar sets about appeasing a particularly long cobra.
A few fortunate snake charmers are actually professionals hired to work as part of stage shows hosted in tourist resorts. This image was taken at Phuket in Thailand.
The practice of snake charming has its origins in ancient Egypt. But it's in India where this centuries-old street entertainment evolved and where it's associated with Hinduism and the Nagas: half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld. Snake charming today is a rare sideshow, at least in India where it's effectively banned. Elsewhere, however, dancing serpents are still being hypnotized by music from a flute. Or are they?
Click through and be mesmerized by the delicate and dangerous art of snake charming.
Snake charming: the beautiful yet dangerous centuries-old practice
What's the story behind the practice of hypnotizing a serpent?
LIFESTYLE Culture
The practice of snake charming has its origins in ancient Egypt. But it's in India where this centuries-old street entertainment evolved and where it's associated with Hinduism and the Nagas: half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld. Snake charming today is a rare sideshow, at least in India where it's effectively banned. Elsewhere, however, dancing serpents are still being hypnotized by music from a flute. Or are they?
Click through and be mesmerized by the delicate and dangerous art of snake charming.