West African Vodun

Vodun is a religion practiced in West Africa, primarily in Benin and Togo. Benin's former President Soglo declared Vodun the national religion in 1996. It is also practiced in parts of Ghana and Nigeria. Between 30 and 50 million people practice vodun, which is known for numerous gods, animal sacrifice, and spirit possession. In the United States and worldwide, the religion is most often referred to as voodoo. Other spellings include vodon, vodoun, vodou, vudu and voudou. The word vodun means “spirit” or God in the Fon and Ewe languages of West Africa. The word can also be attributed to the god Vodun of the West African Yoruba people who lived in Dahomey, a former West African kingdom that existed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The roots of Vodun may go back thousands of years in Africa. Adherents believe voodoo is “older than the world,” and claim it is everywhere in nature. Vodun has been described as a way of life, not just a religious belief. It encompasses culture, philosophy, language, art, dance, music, and medicine.

Background

Festivals are common in the practice of Vodun. For example, in the village of Glidji, Togo, members of the Guen tribe gather annually for the Epe Ekpe festival. A sacred stone is central to this festival, and it is sought by a priest inside a sacred forest. The color of the stone foretells the coming year’s fortunes. For instance, a white stone signifies wealth, happiness, and a world free of accidents. Events like the International Festival of Porto-Novo in Benin also include Egouns, or Egunguns, people dressed as spirits. Respect for the spirits of ancestors is core to Vodun. During the dance of hooded Egunguns, the dead are thought to walk among the living. The Egunguns spin through the village in embellished costumes. It is believed that one could die if they touch a dancer during the trance.

Rituals are important in Vodun. Priests must learn secret, sacred languages and dances. They must also adhere to particular diets upon their initiation. The gods found within the Vodun religion are somewhat similar to Greek gods—some are moody, some are seductive, some are prone to anger. About one hundred gods, also called voodoos, are responsible for different aspects of life, including love, health, hunting, and war. Mahou is the supreme being of Vodun. Sakpata is the god of the earth, and is responsible for life-giving rain, but can also bring smallpox. Vodun followers sometimes gather to dance for Sakpata, thanking this god after rain. Priests ask gods to intervene on the behalf of people. People may get help from the gods on a variety of issues, including curing diseases, finding a job, completing a business deal, getting pregnant, or finding a spouse. Sacrifice to the gods is important in the practice of Vodun as well. This is generally done with animal sacrifices. Human sacrifice no longer occurs in West Africa.

Fetishes are another core component of Vodun. They can be symbolic representations of animals, objects, or places that serve as a communication channel between people and spirits. Fetishes are sometimes sold in what are known as fetish markets. Here, shoppers can find things like statues of voodoo gods; dried animal heads that are sold for medicine and spiritual power; wood carvings; clay figurines; and nuts. The most common fetishes found at these markets are animal parts, including skulls and other bones, tails, paws, hides, and more. Many of the medicinal treatments also come from wildlife. For instance, bones are ground into dust and mixed with herbs and liquids to create special pastes that are believed to heal certain ailments. Some fetish markets have Vodun healers and practitioners, who prescribe cures to people. This could mean cutting skin and rubbing paste into a wound, or sacrificing an animal, such as a chicken or a goat, with the hopes of ensuring a better harvest. Not all fetish markets in Africa are related to Vodun, however. While many of the wildlife species that appear in these markets are endangered, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) only prohibits international trade of these animals and their parts. Therefore, it is up to each nation to regulate the trade of these species within their country. However, many species that are found in these markets, such as chimpanzees, are not found in Benin or Togo, which points to an illegal international trade of these animals.

Adherents to Vodun also belief in sorcerers called botono who can perform hexes by using the dark power of a Vodun spirit. While this is seen as the dark side of voodoo, prominent anthropologist Wade Davis said it is similar to the concept of heaven and hell in Western religions. He said the point is to manifest darkness so that the goodness can overwhelm it. However, many Christians don’t see it that way. In fact, Vodun was demonized by Catholic missionaries when Benin was under French colonization. In present-day Togo, Catholic priests and other Christian missionaries attempt to convert Vodun followers to Christianity. However, attempts to fully convert the population have proven difficult. Although nominally Christian, many people continue to practice Vodun and generally revert to animal sacrifices, dances with spirits, and fetishes.

Impact: In the Americas

Prior to the nineteenth century, as enslaved peoples were shipped from West African nations to the Americas, they brought their Vodun beliefs with them. Variations of the religion still exist in Haiti, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. As Vodun moved from Africa to modern-day Haiti, a mixing of traditions took place that helped it to take root in the Catholic-dominant city of Saint-Domingue. Vodou, as it is called in Haiti, was outlawed during the country’s French colonial period. During this time, the French would give enslaved Africans images of Catholic saints in an attempt to convert them. However, the people saw in those images the spirits they recognized from their homeland. These became a cover for the spirit they were actually serving. For instance, when they would honor St. Patrick, the saint known for driving snakes out of Ireland, they were actually honoring Damballa, a serpent spirit. Twentieth-century Trinidadian historian C.L.R. James called voodoo a “medium of the conspiracy,” saying that it was at the center of a 1791 Haitian revolution against colonialism and slavery.

In modern Haiti, vodou plays an important role in health care. Vodou religious spaces can become therapeutic sites where the sick go to seek help. Meanwhile, the religion is blamed for health disparities by the country’s elites and aid groups, and many still associate it with sorcery and satanic worship.

Voodoo began having a presence in the United States after enslaved people were brought to the Southeast from Saint-Domingue. In modern New Orleans, which is known as the voodoo capital of the United States, there is a movement to create a greater and deeper understanding of the religion.

In the twenty-first century, Vodun is on the rise in the United States, with practitioners mainly be found in New York, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Louisiana. In the late 1950s, there was an influx of Haitian immigrants and refugees, and with them, an uptick of Vodun in the United States. In the 1970s, an American-born vodou priest named Baba Oserjeman Adefunmi established a traditional Yoruban village in South Carolina. This was the first of its kind for West African religions, such as vodou in the United States.

It is estimated that there are 450,000 practicing Vodun in the Greater New York City area alone. In Maryland, the religion is also on the rise, along with other West African religions like Ifa. According to scholars, many who practice keep their involvement private, which makes tracking difficult. Albert Wuaku, a professor at Florida International University, said West African religions like Vodou appeal to African Americans who have been struggling with questions of identity or who do not feel like they fit in well with the American system.

Europe

A water tower turned museum called the Château Vodou in Strasbourg, France holds the world’s largest West African Vodun collection with over 1,200 pieces, including a “living” fetish named Kéléssi, that until the early twenty-first century, was regularly offered alcohol and the blood of sacrificed chickens. The majority of the items in the museum come from Marc and Marie Luce’s personal collection. The couple began traveling to West Africa in the 1960s, and began collecting pieces for the museum. The museum was opened in the historically preserved water tower in 2014.

Bibliography

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