Ayida-Weddo is a

loa ( ), also called loa or loi, are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the lwa derive their identities in part from deities venerat ...

of fertility,

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

s, wind, water, fire, and

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

s in Vodou, especially in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

and Haiti. 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 The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Se ...

family and a root or (Old French) ''racine'' loa. She is married to

Damballa Damballa, also spelled Damballah, Dambala, Dambalah, among other variations ( ht, Danbala), is one of the most important of all loa, spirits in Haitian Voodoo and other African diaspora religious traditions such as Obeah. He is traditionally ...

. She shares her husband with his concubine,

Erzulie Freda Erzulie (sometimes spelled Erzili or Èzili) is a family of loa, or spirits, in Vodou. Overview The Erzulie is a family of loa that are often associated with water (fluidity), femininity, and feminine bodies. They are one of the only group of ...

Symbols and offerings

Ayida-Weddo's symbols are the rainbow and white

paquet congo Paquet congo ( ht, Paket kongo) are Haitian spiritual objects made by vodou priests and priestesses (houngans and mambos) during ceremonies. Their name comes from the ancient Kongo Kingdom in Africa, where similar objects called nikisi wambi a ...

. 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 of Benin believe the rainbow snake Ayida-Weddo, created to serve

Nana Buluku Nana Buluku, also known as Nana Buruku, Nana Buku or Nanan-bouclou, is the female supreme being in the West African traditional religion of the Fon people (Benin, Dahomey) and the Ewe people (Togo). She is one of the most influential deities in We ...

, 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 (1985), page 60 ''The Book of Vodou'',

Barron's Educational Series Kaplan, Inc. is an American for-profit corporation that provides educational and training services to colleges, universities, businesses and individuals around the world. Founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan, the company offers a variety of test pre ...

. In some West African mythology,

Mawu Mawu-Lisa (alternately: Mahu) is a creator goddess, associated with the Sun and Moon in Dahomey mythology. In some myths, she is the wife of the male god Lisa. Mahu and Lisa are the children of Nana Buluku, and are the parents of Xevioso. Af ...

the creator sent down Adanhu and

Yewa The Ẹgbado, now Yewa, are a subgroup of the Yoruba people and inhabit the eastern area of Ogun West Senatorial District, Ogun State, in south-west Nigeria, Africa. In 1995 they changed their name to the Yewa which comes from the Yewa River wh ...

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 Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric ...
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 with the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

figure of

Our Lady of Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

. Leah Gordon (1985), page 50-1 ''The Book of Vodou'',

References

External links

Anida Wedo
{{Afro-American Religions Fertility goddesses Fire goddesses Rainbows in culture Snake goddesses Voodoo goddesses Water goddesses Wind deities

Family

Symbols and offerings

Function and presentation

See also

References

External links