A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The selected Mayombe account describes a great nkisi serpent leaving water and ascending a nearby high tree when rain is halted. It also warns against standing at the rainbow’s apparent emergence point or staring at the mist there, associating that action with dimmed sight. Werner links the account to the Bakimba society but hesitates over the English word worship. The profile keeps that uncertainty and does not recast the society as a fantasy monster faction.
The passage gives a route from water to a high tree rather than treating the colored sky arc as an ordinary snake overhead. The warning focuses on the misty emergence point and the observer’s eyes. Its named ritual association accompanies that local landscape description, while the collector’s uncertain English terminology remains distinguishable from the narrated actions.
Origins & earliest records
The selected witness is Alice Werner’s 1933 comparative collection, section Rainbow Snakes. Its stated source context is Père Bittremieux’s Idioticon, vol. I, p. 387, cited by Werner. Publication and collection dates do not establish the beginning of the oral tradition.
Records & interpretation
Rainbow Snakes explicitly supplies the features and narrative actions summarized here. The account is mediated through named collectors or reported narrators, not a current community statement or independently verified encounter. Broad colonial interpretations are not adopted as facts.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Myths and Legends of the Bantu
Rainbow Snakes; cited source context: Père Bittremieux’s Idioticon, vol. I, p. 387, cited by Werner. Selected historical witness, not exhaustive.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical collection and comparative commentaryMyths and Legends of the Bantu — Rainbow SnakesResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.