Damballa - Haiti Observer Blog

Have you ever noticed that the majority of protests in Haiti often starts one way. Someone will draw in the middle of the street the Voodoo Symbol in Haitian language called Damballah-Wedo, then a campfire will be set right in the middle of the sign where people participate in song turning around the fire. I am trying to understand the meaning of all that. Anyone with some knowledge, please share with us. In Haitian Voodoo, Damballah-Wedo is viewed as a loving father to the world and associated with creation. However, in many protests in Haiti, we find lots of destruction. How do you explain that?

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Simbi, the Haitian Voodoo Snake God is a god for the modern world, shedding its skin from the past and unveiling a new and improved, digital persona that allows it to communicate through the Internet.

In earlier, less advanced iterations, the Voodoo Lwa, or god, was a sorcerer of great skill, giving service to the secret societies of Sanpwel. It has also been known in Voodoo as Mercury, the messenger of the sun, Legba. In its capacity as such, Simbi acts as the conduit for creativity and also the carrier of souls from place to place.

The Simbi is a serpent that traverses the land of the living as well as the dead. Its more terrestrial counterparts grace from the many and varied snake family of the Loa, found in the Kongo region of West Central Africa. Traditionally associated with water, shown in the names of two types of Loa, the Simbi Dlo or Simbi of the Water, and the Simbi Makaya or Simbi of two waters, the Voodoo culture has ascribed a variety of associations with the serpent, one, Simbi LaFlambeau, even being associated with fire.

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