Damballa

Damballa

Veve for Damballa and Ayida-Weddo
Venerated in Haitian Vodou, Folk Catholicism
Painting of Damballah La Flambeau as a winged snake-woman.
Damballah La Flambeau, by the Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite.

Damballa also spelled Damballah (Haitian Creole: Danbala) is one of the most important of all the loa. Damballa is the Sky Father and the primordial creator of all life. He rules the mind, intellect, and cosmic equilibrium. White rum is sacred to him. Damballa, as the serpent spirit and The Great Master, created the cosmos by using his 7,000 coils to form the stars and the planets in the heavens and to shape the hills and valleys on earth. By shedding the serpent skin, Damballa created all the waters on the earth.[1] Damballa is syncretized with either Saint Patrick, Christ the Redeemer, Our Lady of Mercy, or Moses.[2]

Damballa's wife is Ayida-Weddo, and Erzulie Freda is his concubine.[3]

Damballa's name is invoked by Chucky, the antagonist of the Child's Play movies, whenever he attempts to transfer his soul into the body of his potential vessels.

See also

References

  1. Perrault, Alix. "Vodou and the Loas". The Vodou Element.
  2. Old Testament, Book of Exodus 4:1-17
  3. Leah Gordon (1985), page 62 The Book of Vodou, Barron's Educational Series ISBN 978-0-7641-5249-8.
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