Early human relationship with water were expressed through beliefs in serpentine aquatic deities: rainbow-coloured, feathered or horned serpents, giant anacondas and dragons. Representing the powers of water, these beings were bringers of life and sustenance, world creators, ancestors, guardian spirits and law makers. Worshipped and appeased, they embodied people’s respect for water and its vital role in sustaining all living things.
Yet today, though we still recognise that “water is life”, fresh- and saltwater ecosystems have been critically compromised by human activities. In her book, Veronica Strang explores water beings, and what has happened to them in different cultural and historical contexts.
She demonstrates how and why some – but not all – societies have moved from worshipping water to wreaking havoc upon it, and asks what we can do to turn the tide.
In this book launch, Strang will meet doctoral researcher Saumya Pandey for a conversation on her new book Water Beings: From Nature Worship to the Environmental Crisis.