Danko Dan Muso

Sudden Visitor; Drawer of the Belly

Origin: Hausa

Classification: Bori

Danko Dan Muso is head of the Bori snake spirits. Danko is an affectionate honorific; his name literally means “honored little son of Moses.” The Moses in question is the biblical law-giver and snake-master, also identified with the Congolese snake spirit, Simbi, and Vodou Damballah. Danko is a freshwater snake who lives in rivers, streams, and wells. Visitors to these places are cautioned not to disturb him or to intrude on his privacy. He is a shape-shifter and may appear in forms other than serpentine. It is crucial always to be very polite when near freshwater, especially to strangers.

Danko Dan Muso has access to scads of wealth, which he can distribute to human devotees as he pleases. He possesses mediums easily, rapidly, and abruptly, hence his epithet the “Sudden Visitor.” He is a healer but also possessesa large repertoire of ailments with which to afflict people. (He also has the power to remedy any illness he can inflict.) He causes stomach ailments, digestive disorders, and female infertility. Danko causes blindness by spitting into the victim’s eyes, an unpleasant trick he learned from his wife, Kwakiya, the Black Headed Cobra. They have a son, Damatsiri (a type of harmless, green snake).

Colors: Black, indigo

Tree: African ebony (Diospyros mespiliformis), also known as the jackal berry tree

Offerings: Danko Dan Muso is always insatiably hungry for raw eggs and raw liver.

See also: Bori; Damballah; Kwakiya; Simbi; and the Glossary entry for Possession