Ayida-Weddo
Encyclopedia
In Vodou, especially in Benin
and Haiti
, Aida-Weddo (also Ayida-Wedo, Aido Quedo) is a loa
of fertility, rainbow
s and snake
s, and a companion or wife to Damballah-Wedo
. Ayida-Weddo is known as the Rainbow Serpent.
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
and Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, Aida-Weddo (also Ayida-Wedo, Aido Quedo) is a loa
Loa
The Loa are the spirits of the voodoo religion practiced in Louisiana, Haiti, Benin, and other parts of the world. They are also referred to as Mystères and the Invisibles, in which are intermediaries between Bondye —the Creator, who is distant from the world—and humanity...
of fertility, rainbow
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc...
s and snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s, and a companion or wife to Damballah-Wedo
Damballa
In Vodou, Damballah is one of the most important of all the loa . Damballah is the Sky God and considered the primordial creator of all life. The veve of Damballah comprises two serpents prominent among other emblems.-Family:...
. Ayida-Weddo is known as the Rainbow Serpent.