Devereux] MOHAVE ETHNOPSYCHIATRY AND SUICIDE 125 



of the warm feeling around the legs while wading may be that children — and 

 sometimes even adults — urinate into the water in which they wade or swim, 

 which causes a sensation of heat on the legs.* If this interpretation is cor- 

 I'ect, it ties up with Hivsu : Tupo :ma's statement that the hikwi :r illness is 

 caused by coitus under water — both coitus and urination being phallic feats. 

 Speaking in the most tentative manner, entering water often symbolizes a return 

 to the womb and/or dying. It may be noted in this connection that the land 

 of the dead is under the Colorado River (Devereux, 1937 a). Crossing water 

 often symbolizes death and rebirth ; the idea of rebirth being present in Mohave 

 society, especially in connection with twins (Devereux, 1941). Another be- 

 lief in the return to the womb is discussed in part 4, pp. 150-175. (See also 

 Devereux, 1948 b.) The presence of snakes (=phalli) in the water may con- 

 ceivably be related to the Mohave belief in an interaction between the phallus 

 and the fetus within the maternal body (Devereux, 1948 b, 1949 c). It should 

 be stressed, however, that the preceding interpretations are highly tentative. 

 They are cited here not so much in order to offer a psychoanalytic interpretation 

 of the dream, as in order to stress the importance of understanding the cultural 

 meaning of personages ot events occurring in a dream, before offering a psycho- 

 analytic interpretation. Even if the preceding interpretation should prove in- 

 correct, it is quite certain that a more correct interpretation of this dream would 

 be impossible without taking into account the cultural significance of the ele- 

 ments occurring in this dream. On the other hand, it is extremely likely 

 that one purpose of this dream was to bring the — possibly still only preconsciously 

 perceived — onset of the illness in line with cultural beliefs regarding its etiology, 

 and, as regards the warm breath of the snakes, to deny the illness, since heat is 

 a recognized therapeutic agent in Mohave culture, while cold water (=wading 

 through watei*) is deemed to be harmful. (Devereux, 1949 d, 1950 g). This 

 interpretation suggests that in this dream the snakes perform a typically 

 shamanistic double role: they cause illness, and yet blow warm breath on the 

 legs of the dreamer. This is in line with the Mohave belief that shamans can 

 both cause and cure a given illness (Devereux, 1937 c). 



CASE 29 (Informant: The patient) : 



Dreamer. — The aged wife of the shaman Hilyera Anyay reported the following 

 recent dream : 



"I shall tell you first about my illness. My abdomen was swelling up and I 

 could not breathe. Then, one night, I dreamed that I was standing by an adobe 

 structure or house. A woman, whom I did not recognize, was sitting by my side. 

 This woman told me that two people wished to treat me, and I said 'AH right.' 

 I lay down outdoors, near the south side of the house, when I noticed two snakes 

 near the southwest comer of the house. As I lay down, I closed my eyes and 

 wondered how it would feel to have two snakes doctor me. (Polyandrous fan- 

 tasy?) The snakes came out of their hole, crawled on my abdomen and chest, and 

 blew their breath upon me, the way shamans do when they doctor a sick person. 

 Then, almost as soon as they had come, they went back to their hole again. When 

 the snakes were gone I got up and stood there, looking at the hole into which 

 they had disappeared. Then I woke up." 



Associations. — "Shortly after I had this dream I began to notice that the swell- 

 ing of my abdomen was decreasing. It went down so much that I could once more 



*This interpretation was suggested by Martin H. Stein, M.D. (personal commuDication, 

 1957). 



