Damballa
Damballa | |
|---|---|
 Veve for Damballa and Ayida-Weddo | |
| Venerated in | Haitian Vodou, Folk Catholicism |
| Patronage | bodies of water[1] |
Damballa, also spelled Damballah, Dambala, Dambalah, among other variations (
Mythology
Damballa is said to be the
Damballa is seen as benevolent and patient, wise and kind, yet detached and removed from the trials and tribulations of daily, human life. His very presence brings peace, and he represents a continuum which is "at once the ancient past and the assurance of the future."[6] As a serpent, and due to his extreme age, he does not speak, but may whistle or make a soft, hissing sound.[3]
Damballa, like many other loa, is subdivided into different spirits who play different roles. For example, as Damballa Tocan he is a spirit of the intellect. When he manifests in the
Damballa's wife is Ayida-Weddo,[1] although in some Vodou societies she is his sister, and in others Damballa himself after a different fashion. Erzulie Freda is his lover,[7] although, once again, she may be considered his wife in some societies.
Worship
When a serviteur is believed to be possessed by Damballa during a ceremony, he or she moves on the floor like a serpent. A white sheet is laid down for him, and another waved over him to fan and cool him. His purity is such that it cannot be allowed to be exposed to impure or unclean things.[3][8] Some peristyles maintain a basin full of water into which the possessed will plunge, to swim and cool off.
Offerings to him include milk, white foods and flowers, rice, coconut, orgeat syrup, and a perfume called lotion pompeia.[8] Damballa's symbol is an egg,[1] so his offering par excellence is a white, uncooked egg on a mound of white flour.[8]
In popular culture
Bahamian folk musician Exuma wrote and recorded the song "Dambala" for his 1970 self-titled album, in which he exhorts Dambala and God to punish slavers. The song was later covered by Nina Simone in many live performances.
A segment in the Amicus 1964 portmanteau horror film Dr. Terror's House of Horrors features an unscrupulous jazz musician (Roy Castle) appropriating ritual music of a Dambalah ceremony.
A 1981 short-story collection by African-American writer John Edgar Wideman is entitled Damballah.
In the
An upcoming Roblox Series Damballa Risen was titled with inspiration of Child's Play franchise.
In Sierra's Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, protagonist Gabriel Knight meets Damballa while investigating a series of murders in New Orleans.
In the animated series Conan: The Adventurer episode "Bones of Damballa", the High Priest Sadinar worships Damballa, revealed to be an aspect of the serpent god Set.
In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in episode Never on Sunday.
In the book Pays sans chapeau by Dany Laferrière.
In Extralarge in the episode Extralarge: Black Magic (1992).
In The Champions episode Shadow of the Panther, a stage magician in Haiti performs under the name Damballa.
See also
- Obatala
- Kengue
- Theistic Satanism
- Witchcraft
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-135-96397-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7387-3069-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-26810-4.
- ^ Perrault, Alix. "Vodou and the Loas". The Vodou Element. Archived from the original on 2014-11-07.
- ^ Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, p. 56.
- ^ Deren, Maya (1953). Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. New York: Mcpherson and Company. p. 115.
- ISBN 978-0-7641-5249-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7387-3069-1.
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