3.3. Western Africa

The Legend of Da

The world was created by Nana-Buluku, the one god, who is neither male nor female. In time, Nana-Buluku gave birth to twins, Mawu and Lisa, and it is they who shaped the world and control it still, with their fourteen children, the Vodou, or lesser gods.

In the beginning, before Mawu had any children, the Rainbow Serpent, Da, already existed - created to serve Nana-Buluku. The creator was carried everywhere in Da's mouth. Rivers, mountains, and valleys twine and curve because that is how the Rainbow Serpent Da moves. Wherever they stopped for the night, mountains arose, formed from the serpent's dung. That is why if you dig down deep into a mountain, you find riches.

Now, when Nana-Buluku had finished creating, it was obvious that the earth just couldn't carry everything - all the mountains, trees, peoples, and animals. So, to keep the earth from capsizing, the creator asked Da to coil beneath it to cushion it - like the pads the African women and girls wear on their heads when they are carrying a heavy load.

Because Da cannot stand heat, the creator made the ocean for the serpent to live in. And there Da has remained since the beginning of time, with his tail in his mouth. Even though the water keeps Da cool, he sometimes shifts around trying to get comfortable, and that's what causes earthquakes.

Nana-Buluku tasked the red monkeys who live beneath the sea to keep Da fed, and they spend their time forging the iron bars that are the serpent's food. But sooner or later the monkey's supply of iron is bound to run out, and then Da will have nothing to eat. Famished with hunger, he will start to chew on his own tail, and then his writhings and convulsions will be so terrible that the whole earth will tilt, overburdened as it is with people and things, and slip into the sea.

This legend mentions the serpent serving the creator god. This serpent resembles Ananta Shesha, who serves Vishnu as a bed and supports the universal structure. They are both situated at the bottom of the universe on the great ocean called Garbhodaka.