Lwa and men by female Lwa, blurring gender
boundaries, as these devotees,chwalof the Lwa,
take on these different gender and sexual roles
with other participants.
Aida Wedo represents fertility along with
Danbala, and together the two bestow luck,
happiness, and wealth on those who serve them.
Aida Wedo’s colors are blue and white. Her day
is Thursday. Her trees are the cotton and silk
trees, and, along with her husband, worship-
pers offer her white foods: cauliflower, eggs,
rice, hens, milk, and white corn. She dwells in
springs and rivers along with Danbala, which
makes their realm water; they are both part of
theRadafamily. Aida Wedo’s symbols are rain-
bows and rainbow serpents; Danbala’s symbols
are snakes and eggs, which symbolize their role
in the dawn of Life. Aida Wedo is commonly
associated with fertility.
The couple Aida Wedo–Danbala Wedo owes its
existence to the Fon couple Aida Wedo–Danbada
Wedo from the Vodou tradition of Benin, West
Africa. This comes as no surprise because many of
the Africans who were taken to Haiti by force dur-
ing the European slave trade came from that
region of Africa. There are many parallels—“dual
deities,” male and female creator-spirits—in other
religions, although in each tradition the pair of
dual forces varies from brother and sister to hus-
band and wife or even rivals. In addition to the
original Fon couple, other African creator gods
and goddesses who resemble Aida Wedo and
Danbala are Aido Hwedo and Mawu (Nigeria/
Yoruba), Isis and Osiris (Egypt/Egyptian), Olorun
and Obatala (Nigeria/Yoruba), and Papa and
Rangi (Polynesia/Maori).
Claudine Michel and Kyrah Malika DanielsSee alsoVodou in Haiti
Further Readings
Crosley, R. (2000).The Vodou Quantum Leap. St. Paul,
MN: Llewellyn.
Derren, M. (1953).Divine Horsemen:The Vodou Gods
of Haiti. New York: Thames and Hudson.
Desmangles, L. (1992).The Faces of the Gods. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Metraux, A. (1958).Le Vodou Haitien. Paris: Gallimard.
AIR
The earliest philosophical treatment of air is
found in ancient Egypt in the form of Shu.
According to the ancient texts, Shu was one of the
ENNEAD that dwelled at the temple in On
(Heliopolis) and represented one of the fundamen-
tal elements. The tradition says that the Ra, the
Supreme Deity, created Shu and his sisters, Tefnut,
Geb, and Nut, as the four basic elements of the
Universe. Shu represented air, Tefnut represented
moisture, Geb represented Earth, and Nut repre-
sented the sky.
Shu’s function, like that of the other elements,
was critical to the sustaining of the cosmic order
put in place by Ra. Shu, as air, was responsible for
lifting Nut above Geb, that is, separating the sky
from the Earth. In this function, Shu assumes a
crucial responsibility in maintaining balance.
Should Shu disappear then the sky would collapse
onto the Earth and humans would be unable to
survive. Should Shu lift the sky too far away from
the Earth then humans would also die because of
the lack of protection from Nut. Thus, the role of
air was one of sustaining life, maintaining bal-
ance, and protecting humans.
Ra’s creation of Shu and the other elements set
in motion the fundamental pattern of Africa’s
response to the environment. Shu’s role, as under-
stood by the ancient Egyptians, may be seen as
that of protecting the sanctity of the environment.
One can create chaos in the universe by disturbing
the air. In this regard, the nature of air as some-
thing to be protected because of its relationship
to the environment is one of the world’s first
environmental responses.
Humans have received the air as a gift of Ra,
the Supreme Deity by any name, and should pro-
tect its cleanliness, purity, and energy with good
aromas, elimination of bad odors, and ritual
cleansing of the atmosphere.
Shu, in the ancient Egyptian formulation, had a
duty to perform. In other African societies, Yoruba,
Akan, Zulu, Kikuyu, Bakuba, and so forth, the air
is a sustainer of life and also the container of
numerous powers and energies. The discovery of
air as an animating and energizing phenomenon is
essential to the contemporary African appreciation
of the environment as a spiritual context. What ShuAir 21