Ayida-Weddo is a
loa of fertility,
rainbows, wind, water, fire, and
snakes in
Vodou, especially in
Benin and
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
. Ayida-Weddo is known as the "Rainbow Serpent". Variants of Ayida-Weddo's name include Aida-Weddo, Ayida-Wedo, Aido Quedo, and Aido Hwedo.
Family
Ayida-Weddo is a member of the
rada family and a root or (Old French) ''racine'' loa. She is married to
Damballa. She shares her husband with his concubine,
Erzulie Freda.
Symbols and offerings
Ayida-Weddo's symbols are the rainbow and white
paquet congo. Her ceremonial colors are white and green. Appropriate offerings to her include white chickens, white eggs, rice, and milk. Her favorite plant is cotton.
Function and presentation
The
Fon people
The Fon people, also called Fon nu, Agadja or Dahomey, are a Gbe ethnic group.[Fon people]
Encyclopædia Britan ...
of Benin believe the rainbow snake Ayida-Weddo, created to serve
Nana Buluku, held up the heavens. The creature had a twin personality as the red part of the rainbow was male while the blue part was female. She is portrayed as a narrow green snake. Like Dambala, she lives in the sky as well as in all the trees, springs, pools, and rivers.
Leah Gordon
Leah Gordon (born 1959) is a British photographer, artist, curator, writer and filmmaker. Her work explores the intervolved and intersectional histories of the Caribbean plantation system, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Enclosure Acts and the ...
(1985), page 60 ''The Book of Vodou'', Barron's Educational Series . In some
West African mythology,
Mawu the creator sent down
Adanhu and
Yewa from the sky with the rainbow serpent Ayida-Weddo.
"In the beginning there was a vast serpent, whose body formed seven thousand coils beneath the earth, protecting it from descent into the abysmal sea. Then the titanic snake began to move and heave its massive form from the earth to envelop the sky. It scattered stars in the firmament and wound its taught flesh down the mountains to create riverbeds. it shot thunderbolts to the earth to create the sacred thunderstones. From its deepest core it released the sacred waters to fill the earth with life. As the first rains fell, a rainbow encompassed the sky and Danbala took her, Ayida Wedo, as his wife. The spiritual nectar that they created reproduces through all men and women as milk and semen. The serpent and the rainbow taught humankind the link between blood and life, between menstruation and birth, and the ultimate Vodou sacrament of blood sacrifice."
She is
syncretized
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
with the
Catholic figure of
Our Lady of Immaculate Conception.
Leah Gordon
Leah Gordon (born 1959) is a British photographer, artist, curator, writer and filmmaker. Her work explores the intervolved and intersectional histories of the Caribbean plantation system, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Enclosure Acts and the ...
(1985), page 50-1 ''The Book of Vodou'', Barron's Educational Series
See also
*
Rainbow Serpent
References
External links
Anida Wedo
{{Afro-American Religions
Fertility goddesses
Fire goddesses
Rainbows in culture
Snake goddesses
Voodoo goddesses
Water goddesses
Wind deities