Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Ayida Weddo Card

Story of Ayida Weddo: As snake goddess and the consort of serpent and rainbow god Damballah, Ayida Weddo’s name means both love and unity. Damballah and his wife are both known as the Rainbow Serpent. Some sources have them as husband and wife while others suggest that they are really twins. In Dahomey, what is now Benin, Ayida Weddo was believed to be created to hold up the sky and also the sun with her spine. She does this when appearing as a rainbow serpent. Her snake skin is iridescent and glitters like a suit of armor in the sunlight. Sometimes she is shown as a serpent with an egg in her mouth which indicates she is also a fertility goddess. For this reason, Ayida loves eggs left as offerings to her as well as milk, honey, rice, and sweet syrups. She also prefers white hens and white goats when petitioned. Ayida’s favorite plant is the cotton plant. Sometimes Ayida Weddo is depicted as a slender green snake, as beautiful as a new blade of grass. Ayida’s primary colors are bright green and white – a luminous white that holds all of the colors of the rainbow. She is fond of cool tones.
            Ayida Weddo and her mate Damballah are said to appear on opposite sides of the rainbow. Ayido is represented by the blue side and Damballah is represented by the red side. Like the other female loas she is known as both a spirit and a goddess. At certain times she is called “Ayida, Queen of Heavens.” In voodoo, the loa serve in different capacities. She and Damballah are ancient loas that come from the African homelands. She is a new world form of Oya, under goddess of the Niger River.
            In voodoo, snakes act as intermediaries between the world of matter and the world of spirit. Ayida Weddo and her consort Damballah belong to the skies, but are very much in charge of the weather, seasonal changes, the vegetation and growth on earth. Ayida is a benevolent spirit, abundant, giving and kind but sometimes her wrath is invoked and she will react by creating earthquakes and thunderstorms. When she and Damballah move in reaction, life on earth responds. In many ways they are parallel to Adam and Eve, in the garden, with their innocence and then partaking of the apple of wisdom and knowledge suggested to them by a serpent.
            When a “possession” take place by Ayida Weddo during voodoo ceremonies, the one possessed slithers on the floor or ground while wearing a jeweled headpiece. This is thought to symbolize the treasures that are to be found at the bottom of the rainbow. During such rites she does not talk she can only hiss. Ayida Weddo is the projection of all of the Damballah snakes, or cults of a mother goddess.
Like Mambo Brigitte, Ayida is the patroness of doorways, sitting rooms, barriers and even wishing wells. After all, she is the goddess of blessings and the lifting of obstacles. She helps unite the three worlds of Heaven, Earth and the Underworld. As “Mother Queen” she stabilizes marriages and uses her gentle powers to help those be happier in a state of matrimony. In Congo square in New Orleans, voodoo queen Marie Laveau would dance with a snake to honor Damaballah and Ayida Weddo. But she does not want to be associated with the ghede spirits who drink and party.
"In the beginning there was a vast serpent, whose body formed seven thousand coils beneath the earth, protecting it from descent into the abysmal sea. Then the titanic snake began to move and heave its massive form from the earth to envelop the sky. It scattered stars in the firmament and wound its taught flesh down the mountains to create riverbeds. It shot thunderbolts to the earth to create the sacred thunderstones. From its deepest core it released the sacred waters to fill the earth with life. As the first rains fell, a rainbow encompassed the sky and Danbala took her, Ayida Wedo, as his wife. The spiritual nectar that they created reproduces through all men and women as milk and semen. The serpent and the rainbow taught humankind the link between blood and life, between menstruation and birth, and the ultimate Vodou sacrament of blood sacrifice."— Leah Gordon, The Book of Vodou, 1985, Barron's Educational Series.
Ayida Weddo meaning: Concerning your questions, now is a time for obstacles to be lifted giving you a chance to move forward. This card is simply the rainbow, and all the bounty at the end of the rainbow which awaits you. If there are blocks to impede your progress, they will cease to be a frustrating as the one before. It is a time other will open up to you, be more in tune with your needs and desires. This is also a card of a great and caring mother, where the abundance comgin from nature and other parts of the natural world will figure in prominently. If you are in a love relationship, or open to a new one, this may turn out to be a more mature love, one that is deeper and more aligned with your goals. It may seem less passionate but will be a period of a greater, more contented love. However, this does not mean it will not be sexual, in fact, it will be a greatly sensual affair. Now is the time for your relationships of all manners and ways to deepen and be ones of satisfaction.
You are directed at this time to follow your bliss, to reach further, and higher for that end of the rainbow where the results of your most strident and cherished dreams await you. Whether you are a man or a woman, you are about to take on a more maternal role, at least one that nourishes and supports others. It is time for you to be generous and trusting in what you give and also receive. You will feel less of a need for competition, reaching a deeper happiness in your goals and dreams.
This is the card of mother and giving birth, nurturing and caring for others, and even working with children. It is having more than enough, and receiving deserved pleasures. Awards and other acknowledgements are promised, over work that has been diligent and also more sensible.
Doorways are opening when this card presents itself, a doorway opening into a garden of richness, beauty and plenty. It has to do with harmonizing with the natural rhythms with the world of matter and into the world of spirit. It is divinity found in nature, and a focusing on the body, improving health and becoming vibrant. In a man’s reading, this represents his ideal woman or the woman he loves or hopes to love. In a woman’s reading, it is finding a nurturing mentor or female friend, or a more realistic relationship based on common goals. With that said, it is also a card of sex and sensual pleasure. It represents mature love, giving and receiving pleasure and can also be the card of pregnancy.
Things associated with Ayida Weddo:  Fecundity, riches, sense of well- being, satisfying sexual relations, the adoration of a woman, to the man, a perfect woman,
Catholic Saint: Our Lady of Immaculate Conception
Egyptian Deity: Nut
Colors: White, green and blue
Day of the week: Saturday
Astrological archetype: Libra
Tarot Card: Empress

Holiday: September 7th

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