The practice of Voodoo:
Preserving a world
heritage
By
Dah Jah &
Netiva Caftori
www.netiva.net
Koffi Jacob Eric AHOUANSOU (aka Dah-Jah) is an
artist and assistant Architect. He works and lives in
Benin. Dah-Jah is initiated in the Cult Egou goun
(cult of the dead) and of the Cult Oro (Cult of the
protective mother). He is also a musician-singer.
Hello Benin
Hello Benin
Netiva Caftori, Fulbright scholar to Benin,
West Africa
VOODOO
Voodoo is a religious tradition originating in
West Africa, which became prominent in the
New World due to the importation of African
slaves.
(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
West African Vodun is the original form of the
religion;
Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo are its
descendants in the New World.
History


The Portuguese began trading African slaves in
Europe in the 1440s, and by the early 1500s ships
filled with slaves captured in Africa began sailing
across the Atlantic to the New World.
During the four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave
trade, an estimated 12 million Africans were taken
from their continent and brought to the New World
and Europe.
Benin, home to ancient kingdoms








Allada,
Abomey,
Porto-Novo,
Kétou,
Tchabê,
Nikki,
Kouandé, and
Djougou




They thrived on the
commerce of slavery till
its abolition in 1807,
then on palm oil.
England, Denmark,
Portugal and France
1704-Ouidah-French
1752-Porto-NovoPortuguese
Ouidah, Benin
Mamy Wata, the goddess of the Sea.
Transculturation
or
Creolization
Colonization had initiated a creative process of
appropriation, revision, and survival leading to
the mutual transformation of two or more preexisting cultures into a new one 
Contemporary Caribbean cultures.
Preservation of the heritage
African diaspora






Haitian Vodou,
the similar Vudu of the Dominican republic,
Candomblé in Brazil (which uses the term Vodum),
Louisiana Voodoo, (or New Orleans Voodoo),
Santería in Cuba, which are syncretized with
Christianity,
the traditional religions of the Kongo people of
Congo and Angola.
Candomble





Candomblé is practiced chiefly in Brazil.
It originated in the city of Salvador, the capital of
Bahia.
It is also practiced in neighboring countries and is
becoming more popular worldwide.
The rituals involve the possession of participants by
Orishas, animal sacrifices, healing, dancing and
drumming.
It features aspects of the Yoruba Orisha religion.
Orishas are religious deities that are said to represent
human characteristics such as bravery, love and
honor.
La Santeria, Regla de Paolo




It is comprised of a hierarchical structure
according to priesthood level and authority.
Orisha "ile" or temples are usually governed
by:
Orisha Priests known as Babalorishas, "father
of orisha", or
Iyalorishas, "mothers of orisha", and serve as
the junior Ile or second in the hierarchical
religious structure.
Shared characteristics of Creole Religions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.





Monotheism and polytheism (orisha, loas..)
A cult of dead ancestors
Belief in supernatural power upon objects
Animism: Belief in other spirits (like trees)
Contacts between humans and spirits through:
divination,
initiation,
sacrifice,
spiritual possession, and
healings.
Shared characteristics of Creole Religions
(cont.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Consecrated objects are receptacles of divine
power.
Practice of magic (spells, conjurations, medicinehealing)
“Magical accumulation” (with European magic)
Music and dance
Conscious sense of community
Religious leaders
Possession live altars
Syncretism
It is often believed that it is these aspects of the
religion, similar in many ways to the Trinity
and the intervention of saints and angels,
which made Vodun so compatible with
Christianity, especially Catholicism, in the
New World, and produced such strongly
syncretistic religions as Haitian Vodou.
Where it all started:
Togo
Burkina Faso
Ghana
Vodun is practiced by the:





Ewe,
Kabye,
Mina,
Fon, and
Yoruba
peoples of
southeastern Ghana,
 southern and central
Togo,
 southern and central
Benin,
 and southwestern
Nigeria.
The word vodún is the
Gbe (Fon-Ewe) word
for spirit.

Benin
The Republic of Benin is a small, culturally
rich nation in West Africa with an ethnically
diverse population and a varied landscape
stretching from the coast of the Gulf of Guinea
in the south, to the Niger River in the north.
Danhomé (in the entrails of the Snake) is at the
origin of all Voodoo cults, known not only as
the cradle of the traditional Voodoo but also to
have played a great part in the fight against
colonial establishment
Socio-cultural groups
Fon (35%),
 Adja,
 Yoruba,
 Goun,
 Bariba,
 Dendi,
 Somba,
 Peuhl, etc..
Languages:
 Fongbé, Gengné or
Mina, Yoruba,

Baatonu, Dendi, Bariba,
Adja-gbe, Ayizo-gbe,
Ditammari, Tem, Peul
6.2 M Beninese:
 Cotonou: 850,000
 Porto-Novo: 200,000
 Parakou: 110,000
 Abomey: 70,000
 Natitengou: 60,000
Vodun cosmology
Vodun cosmology centers around the vodun, spirits
and other elements of divine essence which govern
the Earth.
Vodun is essentially monotheistic: Mawu (or Nana
Buluku) ---> a dual cosmogenic principle:
 Mawu, the moon, female
 Lisa, the sun, male aspects.
Henotheism: “monotheism in principle; polytheism in
fact”


There is a hierarchy of lesser creations, the
vodun, which range in power from major
deities governing the forces of nature and
human society to the spirits of individual
streams, trees, and rocks, the more impressive
of which may be considered sacred.
God does not trifle with the mundane, so the
vodun are the center of religious life.
Religion in Benin
30% are Muslims: women are head covered
 20% are Christians
 50% voodoos
Most people still practice Vodun which is not
just a religion but a culture and a way of life.
Old secrets though are dying with an aging
population of wise men. Women are mostly
left out, though they do consult the féticheur.

Muslim tradition
Transportation
It is better to travel alone than with a bad companion. - Senegal
Vodun ceremony
Rituals in a particular
convent. The oracle
(Ague) is behind.
Knowledge is like a garden; if it is not cultivated, it cannot be
harvested. - Guinea
Sacred forest
You have 3
friends in this
world:
courage,
sense, and
wisdom. Fon
Ouidah, Temple of the pythons
At the temple of serpents
Masks used in ceremonies
What a
child
says,
he has
learned
at
home. Nigeria
The young cannot teach tradition to the old. - Yoruba
Tata
Somba
On the roof of
a tata somba
Feticheurs
Before healing
others, heal
yourself. Nigeria
Zangbettos: Night guards







Zan=Night
Gbetto=man
Protectors of the people of the village of all
evil things.
They blow a horn to announce their presence.
They have no face so wear a straw suit from
the head to toes.
They are initiated.
By respect, women and non-initiated cannot
look at them.
Vodun national holiday,
Jan. 10th
Hurrying and worrying are not the same as strength. -
When spider webs unite, they can tie up
a lion. - Ethiopia
No one tests the depth of a river with both feet. - Ashanti
Yoruba Orisha religion
The Yoruba Orisha religion is said to be
animistic, or mysterious.
The highest deity, Olodumare, the Creator, is
considered to be an unknowable, distant God.
It is only his children that deal in the lives of
humans. The Orishas, Orixas in Portuguese,
are said to "mount", or possess the participant
during the rituals.
When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.
- Ashanti
He who asks questions cannot avoid the answers. – Cameroon.
Being happy is better than being king. - Hausa
To try and to fail is not laziness. – Sierra Leone
By going and coming, a bird weaves its nest. - Ashanti
A child who is to be successful is not reared exclusively on a
bed of down. -Akan
A single
bracelet
does
not
jingle. Congo
The humble pay for the mistakes of their betters. - Baguirmi
He who boasts much can do little. - Niger
The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe others; the heart
believes the truth. - Ibo
Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. -Bondei
Restless feet may walk into a snake pit. – West africa
Gri-gri






To punish a driver who stole customers: cola &
grains and his name.
To compete with the best student in class: take a page
with his writing.
To be loved by all (for a few days): wash in
chameleon in powder mixed with a dried leaf and
soap.
To be loved by one’s beloved: eat a recipe using
Hahehe plant and recite the virtues and expectations.
A plant added to the drink sodabe (like Viagra)
Become old or young: some live to 130 w black hair
Gri-gri (cont.)


Fear of poison in one’s drink
Soccer game between Nigeria and Kenia during a
thunderstorm.
For news of the
heart, ask the
face. - Guinea
You are beautiful; but
learn to work, for you
cannot eat your beauty.
- Congo
In the Vodun culture
everything from nature
has a significance: A
fallen dry leaf, a green
leaf, the tree itself.
Hope is
the
pillar of
the
world. Kanuri
We will water
the thorn for
the sake of the
rose. - Kanem
Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse. - Nigeria
The moon moves slowly,
but it crosses the town. Ashanti
Bye Benin
Appendices:
The Divine Will
( DJROLO MAHOU
TON ) in the Fongbé
language is most
important.
Any one respecting
the "LAW "(
GBèSOU ) in fongbé
has divine protection:
GBé = Life
SOU = LAW
to = father
Gbèto = man
(human) or father of
life for the initiate
(Hounssiyoyo).
Hevi = bird
Osso = point, Ozo =
fire
Heviosso = bird of
fire, phoenix
Vodun and the Divinities of Mythology
Greco Romaine




The divinity Hèbiosso (Shango in Yoruba) is the
god of Lightning, corresponding to Thor, god of
War, Scandinavian divinity.
The divinity Sakpata is the goddess of the
ground; corresponding to Greek Demeter divinity
personifying the ground.
The divinity Dan is the goddess of fortune,
corresponding to Lakshmi, a Hindu divinity.
The divinity Gou is the god of the war,
corresponding to Vulcan, divinity Greco Romaine
of fire and metals.
Voodoo cults in America derive from the
animism imported by former slaves of African
extraction. This animism crystallized around
the polytheist religion probably the most
evolved , at the time, in Africa. When one says
“voodoo” one often thinks of black magic or
with secret ceremonies. But the voodoo is
before all a great African traditional worship.
The voodoo comprises nearly 400 divinities,
each one honored according to a particular
worship.
Resulting from the culture yoruba, the
worship vodoun, of the ex-Danxomè
(Dahomey in French, or Benin of present day.
danhomé: “in the entrails of the Snake”), is at
the origin of all voodoo cults which appeared
in the islands of the Antilles (Haiti for
example) or the countries of Latin America
(like Brazil). Benin, a West-African country
known not only as the cradle of the traditional
Voodoo but also to have played a great part in
the fight against colonial establishment
traditional monotheistic organized
religion of coastal West Africa, from
Nigeria to Ghana.
Benin and Nigeria:
Vodun or Vudun (Fon language)
Togo and Ghana:
the Ewe language
Vodon, Vodoun, Voudou, etc.
Spelling:



Vodun (capitalized) denotes the religion.
vodun denotes the spirits that are central to the
religion.
Note that “Voodoo", the most common spelling
in American popular culture, is often viewed as
offensive by practicing communities of the
African Diaspora, due to the farcical and often
racist depictions of Hollywood.
Yoruba Orisha religion
The religion was brought over during the Atlantic
slave trade by African priests and adherents who were
dedicated to the worship of the Yoruba Orishas.
Those people were brought as slaves between 1549
and 1850. The slaves united themselves under the
Nago name when they arrived. After the arrival of the
Yoruba Orishas in Brazil, there was some association
with the Catholic Saints and many of the Orixás are
now referenced with their Catholic Saints. This
religion, like many African religions, is an oral
tradition and therefore has not been put into text
throughout the years.
Some myths








according to Kenneth Addison
African-Americans came from an uncivilized
continent (arrived in North America in 1619)
Africans came to the Americas only as slaves
Only 10 Million African slaves
Africans enslaved their own ethnic groups
Slavery was coercive but not brutal
Slavery does not affect African-Americans
today (abolished in 1865 in US)
African-Americans have contributed little to
America
Slavery destroyed African culture
Transculturation
This is a counterbalance to the notion of
acculturation, a one-way imposition of the
dominant or conquering nation.
Creolization
The ongoing and ever changing process of new
forms born or developed from the interaction
of people and forces due to ”adaptive pressures
omnipresent and irresistible” in the Americas.
Worship in the New World


Nanã in Candomblé
Worship of the deity spread to the rest of the
world, especially through centuries of captured
slaves who were purchased and sold all over
the Americas. She is celebrated as Nanã in
Brazilian Candomblé Ketu, where she is
pictured as a very old woman, older than
creation itself; as Nana Buruku, primordial
swamp spirit in Orisha tradition.
References








Wikipedia
Creole Religions of the Caribbean: an introduction
from Vodou to Santeria to Obeah and Espiritismo, by
M. Fernandez Olmos &L. Paravisini-Gebert
The serpent and the Rainbow, by Wade Davis
African Sculptures, by Ladislas Segy
Voodoo, a short introduction, by Astrid Reuter
The Soul of Africa, by Julie Mars
Spirits Speak, African masks, Prestel
The Slave Coast of West Africa 1550-1750: The
Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on an African
Society, by Robin Law.
Dressed
like a
Beninese