Download or read book The Cross and the Serpent written by Nicholas Griffiths and published by . This book was released on 1996-01 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Griffiths explores in detail the conceptual framework and methods used by the Spaniards to interpret native religion. The defenders of traditional Andean religion, its native priests, were identified with a powerful figure in Spanish demonology, the sorcerer, who was understood to be a charlatan and a trickster rather than a fearful ally of Satan. The Spaniards failed to perceive, and hence to challenge, the very real powers that these religious leaders exercised as the shamans for their communities.