Snake Talk

The Serpent in Aboriginal stories is both creator and destroyer, dwelling between physical and spiritual worlds, between story and history, weaving across earth and sky. The Great Dividing Range is the body of the Serpent, but he does not separate us—he brings us together.

What if this ancient Lore can be found everywhere? What if the stories of the Basilisk, Wyvern, Naga, Quetzalcoatl and many other mythic Serpents also contain the knowledge we need in this moment of crisis?

In Snake Talk, Tyson Yunkaporta and Megan Kelleher follow these stories around the world from Kathmandu to Aotearoa, from Mesoamerica to China to northern Europe. They ask how we can align our human gifts with the patterns of creation, seeking answers from makers who pay homage to the Serpent in images and objects.

‘This exhilarating new book—like Sand Talk and Right Story, Wrong Story—shines an Indigenous light on contemporary society. Snake Talk invites us to see the world through the eye of the Serpent.’ Australian Arts Review

‘Rich and layered...At a time when our world feels fragile, we sorely need the kind of fresh thinking found in this expansive and visionary book.’ Readings

‘the perspective is capacious yet intimate in tone’ Age