Oxumaré

Oxumarê (in the scholarly Yoruba orthography Òṣùmàrè, revered in the Jeje vodun cult under the complementary forms of Dan and Ayida-Weddo) is the dazzling orisha of the rainbow, the cosmic serpent, universal mobility, the perpetual circulation of waters and the endless cycles of cosmic renewal in traditional Yoruba religion and in the Afro-Atlantic religions of the diaspora (Candomblé Ketu, Jeje and Angola, and Cuban Santería). In traditional African metaphysics, Oxumarê performs the function of primordial connector between the earthly world (Ayé) and the celestial sphere (Ọ̀run): he is the magical serpent who absorbs the moisture of the earth's rivers and oceans, lifting it through the seven resplendent colours of the rainbow to the realms of Olorum, so that the rains return to fertilise the harvests. Sovereign representative of vital dynamism, of continuous transformation and of monetary prosperity (owó), he embodies the balanced harmony of cosmic opposites, moving with sovereign agility between the depths of the soil and the immensity of the firmament.

6 min read · Reviewed on September 29, 2026 · How we research

The serpent, the rainbow, the snake biting its tail and the varied colors

Primary sources

• Pierre Fatumbi Verger, Notes sur le culte des orisha et vodun à Bahia, la Baie de Tous les Saints, au Brésil et à l'ancienne Côte des Esclaves en Afrique. translation: Dakar: Mémoires de l'IFAN, n. 51, 1957 (monographic section on Dan and Òṣùmàrè).
• Melville J. Herskovits, Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom. translation: New York: J. J. Augustin Publisher, 1938 (analysis of the pantheon of the serpent Dan).
• Wande Abimbola, Sixteen Great Poems of Ifá. translation: Ibadan: UNESCO / Oxford University Press, 1975 (verses of Òtúrá Méjì).

Studies

• Juana Elbein dos Santos, Os Nàgô e a Morte: Estudos sobre o além e os ritos de Égun. Editora Vozes, Petrópolis, 1976.
• Roger Bastide, Les Religions africaines au Brésil. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1960.
• Robin Law, Ouidah: The Social History of a West African Slaving 'Port', 1727–1892. Ohio University Press, Athens, 2004.