192 Danbala Wedo
many Dagu is Islam, they retain the cultural forms
of their ancestors in their music, dance, festivals,
styles of women dress, and specific Dagu elements
of courtship and kinship patterns. The memory of
the ancestors, a central aspect of African religion,
is never far from the Dagu. They are profoundly
impacted by the integrative nature of all forms of
human life, and the cyclical nature of the African
world is still a part of their deepest thinking.
Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoDinka; Nuer
Further Readings
Asante, M. F. (2007).The History of Africa.London:
Routledge.
MacMichael, H. A. (1922).The History of the Arabs of
Sudan and Some Account of the People Who
Preceded Them. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Trigger, B. (1966). The Languages of the Northern
Sudan.Journal of African History, 7 (1), 19–25.
DANBALAWEDO
Danbala Wedo is pronounced to be one of the
oldest and most beneficent African lwa (also
known asloas) spirits of the Vodou religion in
Haiti. He is imaged in the form of a snake or
serpent. The name Danbala originates from
Dahomey, a kingdom in West Africa that is now
positioned in today’s Benin; it is constructed out
of the termsDanandAllada.“Dan” is the cult
of the snake in Heaven, whereas “Allada” is the
name of the coastal kingdom in South Dahomey,
which is the native land of the Aja people who
founded the kingdom of Dahomey and eventu-
ally dominated the Fon people, another West
African group in Dahomey. In Africa, where
Danbala Wedo is known as Dan or Danbada-
Wedo, he is thought to be the grandson of Nana-
Buluku, the Fon people’s Supreme deity, and the
son of Nana-Buluku’s twin siblings, Mawu-Lisa,
deities who created the universe. Danbala
assisted in the creation of the universe and sup-
ports it with his snake coils. Thus, Danbala, the
snake, is most closely associated with cosmic
motion—that is, life itself. He is the patriarchal
god of fertility and rainbows.
As a lwa of the Arada or Rada rite, one of three
major rites of Vodou in Haiti, that represents the
lost mystic world, Danbala embodies gentleness
and peace; he is portrayed as a warm, benevolent
presence who sustains the world. He plays a signi-
ficant function through certain healing processes,
and his principal characteristic rests in the fact that
his actions are directed toward excellence.
Danbala is associated with wisdom and rain.
Since Danbala is seen to be able to solve the prob-
lem of drought, he is accorded the status of a spirit
of wisdom. This means, of course, that the people
see Danbala as one who guards morals, principles,
customs, and all African traditions. He is con-
nected to the color white in representation of his
pureness and is married to Ayida Wedo (or Aida
Wedo), the goddess of the rainbow. His lover is
Erzulie Freda Dahomey, also known as Ezili,
goddess of beauty and grace.
As an Arada lwa, Danbala Wedo will be one of
the first lwa served during the ceremony, and his
vèvèmarks that he will be part of the coming cere-
mony. Danbala’svèvèis a religious coat of arms or
symbols that personally identify him. It is made up
of a series of intercrossed lines, triangles, snakes,
and flags and is usually drawn on the ground by a
Houngan, a Vodou priest, or a Mambo, a Vodou
priestess, with corn maize. An offering of pure
white eggs, Danbala’s sacrificial sign, is then placed
on hisvèvè as part of inviting Danbala into the
Houmfort, the designated temple for Vodou prac-
tice. Danbala and his wife, Ayida Wedo, are also
often provided with a basin of pure water, and the
person mounted by Danbala may decide to “swim”
in it. Danbala can ride his horse only when he is
called or invoked by a particular drumbeat. The
hounsi will respond only to the beat that corresponds
to Danbala. He or she simply needs to focus on
Danbala’s rhythm to surrender himself or herself to
it, and this is executed through the movements
associated with the Yanvalou dance, a dance that
imitates snakelike motions.
Once Danbala arrives in the peristyle of the
houmfort, a barn-like addition to the houmfort
used to distinguish it from other farm structures,
he takes possession of a devotee or an hounsi
(initiate) who becomes the “horse” of Danbala.