Editing Damballa (section)

== Mythology ==

Damballa is said to be the [[sky father]] and the [[:wikt:primordial|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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=McCarthy Brown|first=Karen|title=Mama Lola: a Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn|publisher=University of California Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0-520-26810-4|location=Berkeley, CA|pages=274}}</ref> Damballa is usually [[syncretism|syncretized]] with either [[Saint Patrick]] or [[Moses]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Perrault|first1=Alix|title=Vodou and the Loas|url=http://www.thevodouelement.com/damballah.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107054958/http://www.thevodouelement.com/damballah.html|archive-date=2014-11-07|website=The Vodou Element}}</ref><ref>Maya Deren, ''Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti'', p. 56.</ref> He is counted among the [[Lwa#Rada loa|Rada]] loa.<ref name="coulter">{{cite book |last1=Coulter |first1=Charles Russell |last2=Turner |first2=Patricia |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities |date=4 July 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-96397-2 |page=141 |language=en}}</ref>

Damballa is seen as benevolent and patient, wise and kind, yet detached and removed from the trials and tribulations of daily human life. His presence brings peace and represents a continuum, "at once the ancient past and the assurance of the future."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Deren|first=Maya|title=Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti|publisher=Mcpherson and Company|year=1953|location=New York|pages=115}}</ref> As a serpent, and due to his extreme wisdom, he does not speak, but may whistle or make a soft, hissing sound.<ref name=":1" />

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 [[Lwa#Petro loa|Petro]] rites, he is Damballa La Flambo. 

Damballa's wife is [[Ayida-Weddo]],<ref name="coulter" /> although in some Vodou societies, she is his sister and in others, Damballa himself after a different fashion. [[Erzulie]] is his lover,<ref>[[Leah Gordon (photographer)|Leah Gordon]] (1985), ''The Book of Vodou'', [[Barron's Educational Series]], p. 62, {{ISBN|978-0-7641-5249-8}}.</ref> although, once again, she may be considered his wife in some societies.