Da (Aido-Hwedo)

deity · Benin · West Africa

Da (Aido-Hwedo) is the primordial rainbow-serpent of Fon Vodun cosmology: the cosmic support said to have coiled beneath the earth to hold the universe stable, companion of the creator Mawu-Lisa. The rainbow is his manifestation. At Ouidah, living royal pythons are honored as his incarnations, and in the diaspora he endures as Damballa in Haitian Vodou.

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