Obscure Mythology Chapter 4: Dan Ayido Hwedo A Divine Python of the Fon people of Africa.

     Welcome back and Happy 4^th. I am one of those people who Love my Country but Fear my government. I am a veteran and I grew up a patriot but sadly if things don’t change soon this country won’t be the one I grew up loving any longer. That is what I fear the most. I am not here to spew politics or to push my opinions of them upon you, that’s my other blog, I am here to bring you rare or obscure mythology and that is what I intend to do. Well at least until I get to Z and then we shall see where my curiosity and research takes us from there. I may intersperse the mythology posts with others once or twice just to keep things fresh but I do for once have a plan for my posts, or a schedule at least. Today we are looking at another African myth, as I’ve stated African myths are the most probable links to our very ancient ancestors beliefs and customs so reading and researching about them makes it seem as if I am seeing how our ancient ancestors used myth and symbolism  to explain the world around them some 75,000-100,000 years ago! I am also fascinated by the way so many of these myths from vastly different parts of the world hold some of the same characteristics. The flood myth, snakes, deities and heroes with eerie similarities found in myths from Africa and Australia. I have plans on sharing some more Central American and Native American myths here soon enough. I am going through over 1500 pages of material looking for the most interesting myths out of about 20,000 entries. It is exhausting but fun research none the less. My biggest problem is whittling down an entry for each letter because there are so many good ones. I set myself with a certain criteria for this episode of my blog, the myth must be rare or obscure and it should contain at least one common trait with more well-known Western and/or  Classic Mythology, although that doesn’t have to be a qualifier in general, I may post an entry just because it was clever, funny (drunken rabbits) or truly original. Most importantly though I want to choose an entry that could cause a discussion among my readers and peers. Sorry, I have a tendency to ramble, let us get on with the entry. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me present:

Dan Ayidoe Hwedo: A divine python of the Fon people and Rainbow Snake demon of the Haitian people.

He was made by Mawu (the creator God) and carried him on his journeys when Mawu created the Earth. The python’s excreta was used to make the mountains. When the work was complete he coiled himself in the sea beneath the Earth to support it. If he moves there is an earthquake. When he has eaten all the iron bars in the sea, he will start to eat himself, starting at the tail, and then the Earth will fall into the sea from lack of support.

     In some accounts, he has 3,500 coils above the Earth and 3,500 below, holding it safe. One of his arched coils is seen as the rainbow.  (The Dictionary of Mythology an A-Z of themes, legends and heroes, J.A. Coleman)

Well there you have it folks. I’ve never heard of snake poop being the reason for mountains that one is new to me. I’m sure there are other myths where excreta is used for creation, I’ll have to remember to keep an eye out for that one. So Dan the python was the faithful  companion of Mawu the creator God, again we see a snake as a big part of a creation myth, it doesn’t surprise me but I am starting to think there is more to the snake symbolism than what we already know. I am making a mental note to keep the snake and its symbolism in mind for further research as well. The part that got me the most about this was the numbers involved with how many iron bars and coils Dan has before the earth collapses from lack of support. When added together they get 7,000. Seven thousand may not seem to significant but it actually has some if you dig deep enough. The number could be associated with years, 7,000 years is about the time it takes Planet X (more famously known as Niribu) to make its pass by Earth, according to some Planet X researchers. Others range its orbit from 3,500 years to 10,000 years. Anyhow, if the coils and bars were to represent years and if it is 7,000 then it is possible that the Fon people were predicting and end times much like the Mayan calendar represented the changing of cycles, each cycle was between 5,000-7,000 years long. (We are currently in the fifth cycle of the Mayan calendar which was erroneously predicted as 23 Dec 2012, there is no set date per say. Also, it isn’t the end of the world it would be the end of the current cycle, again the Mayan calendar will be explained way better in a different post a different time).  I also found it interesting that the Fon had associated the snake and his coil or rod eating as the cause of Earthquakes, I wonder if a high priest or shaman counted the Earthquakes to keep track of how many coils/rods were left before the Earth crumbled upon itself. I don’t know why but this myth also seem to perpetuate the Flat Earth theory as I picture the snake coiled under a large disc of land, much like the Fon must have. This is another post worth doing more investigation into and it will happen in the near future but before I close out today I also wanted to mention the link Dan had to Haitian voodoo. Sadly, it isn’t hard to know how the myth got from Africa to Haiti but I would like to know how Dan became a Snake Demon in voodoo and what his place is in their beliefs. I will research his Voodoo form for the blog when we come across it alphabetically. I love how many options for research this book has given me and I absolutely love sharing all of this with you guys. I hope you enjoy it as well. Have a safe and Happy 4^th and as always: PEACE!!!!!!!