Snake worship she sold herself to a man named Gonga no Tayu, who (unbeknownst to Sayohime) intended to sacrifice her to the snake deity of his village in place of his own daughter. When presented to the snake, Sayohime read from the Lotus sutra, enabling the deity to achieve enlightenment and shed its monstrous form. The deity then returned Sayohime to the care of her mother. In Australia, various Aboriginal mythologies tell of a huge python, known by a variety of names but universally referred to as the Rainbow Serpent, that was said to have created the landscape, embodied the spirit of
Gloucester sea serpent with humps, which they believed was the offspring of the serpent. The Society's analysis was published in a pamphlet which announced it was a new species which they dubbed "Scoliophis Atlanticus". However, the specimen was examined by naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur who determined it was only a common snake with tumors on its spine. Charleston playwright William Crafts lampooned the reports of the serpent in his play "The sea serpent; or, Gloucester hoax: A dramatic jeu d'esprit, in three acts", published in 1819. Gloucester sea serpent The Gloucester sea serpent is a creature reportedly seen around and off the coast