Looking to the vast human history of water worship, a crucial study
of our broken relationship with all things aquatic - and how we
might mend it. Early human relationships 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. This major study of water beings, and what has
happened to them in different cultural and historical contexts,
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. 'A far-ranging and gorgeously illustrated
study, Water Beings explores humanity's enduring but always
transforming connections to the wellsprings of life. A profound and
entertaining book for a time when reimagining humanity's future has
never been more vital.' - Caspar Henderson, author of The Book of
Barely Imagined Beings 'With passion, rigor and creative depth,
Strang eloquently takes readers across the world to further our
understanding of water's natural, cultural, and symbolic qualities.
Water beings are brought to life alongside relational beliefs and
practices. This is a magnificent work that reflects a rich
human/water/culture relationship, and explores possibilities to
avoid a climate crisis future.' - Sandy Toussaint, University of
Western Australia 'A spellbinding anthropological itinerary through
the winding ways of serpentine water beings as they have manifested
through history and across cultures. Luminously illustrated,
ingeniously researched, and beautifully narrated, Strang's book is
a treasure, a store of revelatory stories about how materiality,
meaning, and myth have intertwined to create the aqueous spirits
and deities that have accompanied human being and becoming.' -
Stefan Helmreich, Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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