Polycephaly (having more than one head) is a condition that may occur in nature. Among the more widespread instances of polycephaly in folklore is the two-headed snake, a tradition that has developed over the years within a wide variety of cultures and in a diverse array of geographical settings.
In the ancient world, Aztec and Mayan peoples both venerated the two-headed snake. For the Aztecs, the creature represented Tlaloc, the rain god, or his ally, the feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl. Indeed, there are many Aztec snake deities. Perhaps the most famous Aztec representation of the two-headed snake is owned by the British Museum, possibly given to Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) by Montezuma II. It is a mosaic consisting of turquoise, crab shell, and conch shell applied to a wooden base. For their part, the Maya had a sacred feathered serpent, which was symbolically linked to the water lily, its stem being snake-like and its flower being feathery. The water lily may have been used as a psychotropic drug in rituals. In South America, the Mochica (ancient Peruvian) civilization had a two-headed snake figure that represents the rainbow, as expressed in a subsequent folktale.
In North America, the Seneca and Mohawk of the Iroquois or Six Nations record a story of a two-headed snake with different variations. In light of Native American relations with the European colonists and the United States government, one version is especially interesting. In the narrative, a kind Seneca boy named Hahjanoh helps a weak, two-headed snake. The snake is red, white, and blue, its body pale and its two heads red and blue respectively. The snake is ungrateful, and after growing big and strong from Hahjanoh’s generosity, it starts consuming the village children. Only with the aid of his spirit protector—a bird—is Hahjanoh able to kill the monster.
Aztec and Mayan cultures represented certain deities with a two-headed snake figure, and it appears in the folklore of several Native American traditions in the United States. In many cases, the appearance of a two-headed snake signals a reversal of fortune or bad luck. (Mgkuijpers/Dreamstime.com)
In Pacific Northwest Native American cultures, the Sisuith, a sacred two-headed snake, is depicted in totem poles. It is thought to be taboo to come into contact with it, but some believe that ancestors long ago were able to use its powers. In this way the Sisuith resembles the A’yahos of the Salish people. The A’yahos are reported to be shaped like two-headed snakes and are associated with earthquakes. Their horns symbolize power. The Salish likewise have two-headed snakes on their Sxwayxwey masks, and the Cascadia and Quileute have two-headed snake representations as well.
One popularly anthologized poem about a two-headed snake is by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) entitled “The Double-Headed Snake of Newbury.” Its subject is the Amphisbaena, a two-headed, ant-eating snake from Greek myth created when the blood of Medusa’s head dripped on the ground. Whittier, a Quaker and sharp critic of slavery, expresses in his poem both an appreciation for the wonder and charm of legends like that of the Amphisbaena and a disapproval of a credulous, fearful, and shallow form of religion. He uses Cotton Mather’s ready belief in the Amphisbaena as an example of the “shallow pool” of his mind, and he playfully likens an argumentative married couple to the double-willed snake.
American folk traditions associate two-headed snakes with negative traits like duplicity, indecision, or inner conflict. Encounters between humans and two-headed snakes are thought to occasion a reversal of fortune or bad luck, and possibly bewitchment or presence of demonic spirits. In this way the two-headed snake is a classic point of reference for negative powers or omens in the various traditions of American storytelling.
Nathan Fredrickson
See also Hoop Snake; Joint Snake
Further Reading
Aymar, Brandt. 1956. Treasury of Snake Lore: From the Garden of Eden to Snakes of Today, in Mythology, Fable, Stories, Essays, Poetry, Drama, Religion, and Personal Adventures. New York: Greenberg.
Bruchac, Joseph, and Daniel Burgevin. 1985. Iroquois Stories: Heroes and Heroines, Monsters and Magic. Trumansburg, NY: Crossing Press,
Carlson, John B. 1982. “The Double-Headed Dragon and the Sky: A Pervasive Cosmological Symbol.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 385 (1): 135–163.
Laurence, Margaret Robin. 1984. “The Double-headed Serpent in the Indigenous Art of the Northwest Coast.” Ottawa: National Library of Canada.
Levy, Sidney J. 1996. “Stalking the Amphisbaena.” Journal of Consumer Research 23 (3): 163–176.
Webber, William Lester. 1936. Thunderbird “Tootooch” Legends: Folk Tales of the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest Coast Indians. Vancouver, BC: W. L. Webber.