Damballa

The ancient lwa of the white serpent: wisdom, calm, purity and water.

Damballa, also Danbala or Damballah Wedo, is one of the oldest and most venerated lwa in Haitian Vodou. He appears as a great white serpent, and stands for wisdom, calm, purity, fertility and the primordial water from which life came. He belongs to the Rada lwa, the cool lwa with roots in old Dahomey, where the serpent Dan was an important deity.

Damballa does not speak in words. In ceremonies in which he rides a participant, that person moves like a snake, hisses or climbs, but says nothing. Everything about Damballa is white and calm: white cloths, white food, silence. In Haiti he is connected with Saint Patrick, who according to legend drove the snakes from Ireland, or with Moses, who made a bronze serpent.

His wife is Ayida Wedo, the rainbow. Together they are depicted as two serpents winding around each other, an image of balance between heaven and earth, man and woman, water and light.

For dreams Damballa matters, because in many traditions snakes evoke fear, and in Vodou not automatically. A white snake, calm water or a quiet, white atmosphere in a dream is often connected by practitioners with Damballa, and read as blessing, calm, wisdom or a call to purity and patience. A rainbow can recall Ayida Wedo along those lines.

Because Damballa is so ancient, he is sometimes called the father of the lwa. His day is traditionally Thursday.

Dreamkin does not establish that a dream comes from Damballa. Whoever finds such a dream weighs heavily discusses it with a houngan or manbo.