A Mexican mayor married a crocodile in an ancient earth fertility ritual Friday, according to reports and video.
Victor Sosa, mayor of the southwestern Mexican town of San Pedro Huamelula, described the marriage as “the union of the Huaves and the Chontales,” and “the result of a problem between these two cultures,” according to a video of the ceremony shared by Reuters. Sosa also described it as “the union between the princess and a servant.”
The Huaves and the Chontales are Mesoamerican Indian civilizations with pre-Columbian roots in present-day Oaxaca. (RELATED: First Ever ‘Virgin Birth’ Recorded In Crocodile Species)
The crocodile is thought to be a deity representing Mother Earth, with the marriage standing as a prayer for nature’s bounty and as the union between the human and the divine, according to Reuters.
The crocodile was dressed in a white wedding dress in the syncretic ceremony, a nod to Catholic influences, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Olivia Perez, who took charge of dressing the crocodile, said the saurian was “important because she is the princess who comes to bring us water, a good harvest, rains, so that God the Almighty Father sends us food, fish, corn, the harvest.”
Other reports, however, described the animal as an alligator or a caiman. The creature is named Alicia Adriana, according to Sky News. Sosa reportedly married a similar saurian around the same time in 2022.
Sosa sealed the union with a kiss on the reptile’s snout, which appeared to be twined shut, video shows.