Meek snakes in a Mediterranean religious rite: an intercultural path towards an anti-speciesism dimension

This article examines the handling of snakes for ritual and religious purposes, namely a “tradition” that some groups consider “good to think”, as well as “necessary” for the survival and moral identification of the group itself. For at least four centuries, the inhabitants of Cocullo (a tiny village in the province of L’Aquila) have been capturing and handling non-venomous snakes in honor of Saint Dominic Abbot, who resided in the area in the eleventh century. The extra-ordinary tradition of using snakes in a Catholic rite has been handed down to the present day, with the difference that the snakes are not killed now but released in the same spot where they were captured, in compliance with a zoological monitoring plan (snakes are becoming extinct) sponsored by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. This is the result of a three-decade mediation managed by collaborative anthropologists. In this case, the macroscopic tensions between local traditions and animal rights are overcome by the moral obligation to respect the environment that originated the village’s ritual, and which is a cultural legacy of collective interest. From a cultural point of view, Cocullo represents a biodiversity and a cultural diversity where tradition helps safeguard nature. This path towards an anti-speciesism dimension embodies a true moral examination of humanity in an equal relationship with animals and plants. Here lies the main cultural device of humankind, so much so that all the others derive from it.