This is a picture of two snakes getting married. As they do. Well, in Cambodia anyway.
Depending which side of the fence you sit when it comes to huge, scaly, slimy creatures this photograph will either make you laugh, or completely freak you out.
If you’re Cambodian and especially from the Kandal province, 20 kilometers south of Phnom Penh where the marriage ceremony is taking place, you’ll be rejoicing.
According to the Buddhist spiritual custom of animism, these pythons are magic snakes that will bring prosperity and peace.
“We married these pythons to ask for health and prosperity in our village,” said 41-year-old Neth Vy, owner of the female python named Chamrouen.
“We were told (by fortune tellers) that the two pythons are husband and wife and they need to live together, and if we don’t marry them we will meet bad luck,” said Neth Vy, who told SBS World News he found the then-tiny python while fishing 16 years ago.
Prior to their big day, both Pythons lived as domestic “pets” with the male Python’s owner, a 44-year-old woman with no children of her own, claiming the huge snake as “her son”.
Are these people mad? Or could we all benefit from a bit of positive thinking at the start of a new year?
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