Key Info

- Serpent deity who acts as the mediator between the living and the dead

Brief Bio

Damballa, is one of the most important of all loa, spirits in West African Vodun, Haitian Voodoo and other African diaspora religious traditions such as Obeah. He is traditionally portrayed as a great white or black serpent, but may also be depicted as a rainbow. 

Damballa is said to be the sky father and the primordial creator of all life, or the first thing created by the Bondye. In those Vodou societies that view Damballa as the primordial creator, he created the cosmos by using his 7000 coils to form the stars and the planets in the heavens and to shape the hills and valleys on Earth. In others, being the first thing created by God, creation was undertaken through him. By shedding the serpent skin, Damballa created all the waters on the Earth. As a serpent, he moves between land and water, generating life, and through the earth, uniting the land with the waters below. Damballa is usually syncretized with either Saint Patrick or Moses. He is counted among the Rada loa.

Like many other loa, Damballa is subdivided into spirits who play different roles. For example, Damballa Tocan is a spirit of the intellect. When he manifests in the Petro rites, he is Damballa La Flambo.

Damballa's wife is Ayida-Weddo, although in some Vodou societies, she is his sister and in others, Damballa himself after a different fashion. Erzulie is his lover, although, once again, she may be considered his wife in some societies.