Danbala Wèdo is the great serpent, the oldest of the Rada lwa, and among the most senior in any Haitian house. His wife is Ayida Wèdo, the rainbow, and the two together are often depicted as serpents encircling. He is associated with white — white cloth, white food, an egg — with water, and with coolness in the specific Vodou sense of composure and order. When he mounts someone the possession is unmistakable: the person drops to the floor, cannot speak or produces only a hissing, moves in a serpentine way, and may climb; they are offered a raw egg resting on a mound of flour and take it with the mouth. He is paired with Saint Patrick because of the snakes in the iconography. His antiquity is theologically significant — he is understood as present before the world was organised, and the calm associated with him is the tradition's image of what settled power looks like.