Aida Wedo

In the beginning, a large snake encircled the Earth to protect it from crumbling into the seas. When the first rains began to fall, the Haitian deity, Aida Wedo, the rainbow Lwa, appeared, and the serpent (who was really the Lwa Danbala) fell in love with her, and they married. It is said that the semen of men and the milk of women are actually the spiritual nectar of Danbala and Aida Wedo being passed through each generation. The two Lwa taught humanity about the link between life and blood, menstruation and birth, and the ultimate power of (blood) sacrifice in Haitian Vodou.

This sort of creation story involving powerful male and female spirits is not unusual. Many world religions share similar creation myths, where contrasting ...