The practice of Voodoo: Preserving a world heritage

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The practice of Voodoo Preserving a world
heritage

• By
• Dah Jah
• Netiva Caftori
• www.netiva.net

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• 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.

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Hello Benin
Hello Benin
Netiva Caftori, Fulbright scholar to Benin, West
Africa
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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.

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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.

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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-Novo-Portuguese

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Ouidah, Benin
Mamy Wata, the goddess of the Sea.
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TransculturationorCreolization

• Colonization had initiated a creative process of
  appropriation, revision, and survival leading to
  the mutual transformation of two or more
  pre-existing cultures into a new one ?
• Contemporary Caribbean cultures.
• Preservation of the heritage

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Shared characteristics of Creole Religions

• 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.

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Shared characteristics of Creole Religions (cont.)

• Consecrated objects are receptacles of divine
  power.
• Practice of magic (spells, conjurations,
  medicine-healing)
• Magical accumulation (with European magic)
• Music and dance
• Conscious sense of community
• Religious leaders
• Possession? live altars

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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.

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Where it all startedTogo
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Burkina Faso
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Ghana
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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.

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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

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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

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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) ---gt a dual cosmogenic principle
• Mawu, the moon, female
• Lisa, the sun, male aspects.
  
• Henotheism monotheism in principle polytheism
  in fact

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• 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.

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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.

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Muslim tradition
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Transportation
It is better to travel alone than with a bad
companion. - Senegal
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Vodun ceremony
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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
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Sacred forest
You have 3 friends in this world courage, sense,
and wisdom. - Fon
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Ouidah, Temple of the pythons
Silence is also speech. - Fulfulde
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At the temple of serpents
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• Masks used in ceremonies

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What a child says, he has learned at home. -
Nigeria
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The young cannot teach tradition to the old. -
Yoruba
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Tata Somba
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On the roof of a tata somba
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Feticheurs
Before healing others, heal yourself. - Nigeria
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Zangbettos Night guards

• ZanNight
• Gbettoman
• 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.

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Vodun national holiday, Jan. 10th
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• Hurrying and worrying are not the same as
  strength. - Hausa

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When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. -
Ethiopia
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No one tests the depth of a river with both feet.
- Ashanti
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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.

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When you follow in the path of your father, you
learn to walk like him. - Ashanti
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He who asks questions cannot avoid the answers.
Cameroon.
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cowrie shells
Being happy is better than being king. - Hausa
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To try and to fail is not laziness. Sierra Leone
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By going and coming, a bird weaves its nest. -
Ashanti
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A child who is to be successful is not reared
exclusively on a bed of down. -Akan
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A single bracelet does not jingle. - Congo
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The humble pay for the mistakes of their betters.
- Baguirmi
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He who boasts much can do little. - Niger
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The eyes believe themselves the ears believe
others the heart believes the truth. - Ibo
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Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. -Bondei
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Restless feet may walk into a snake pit. West
africa
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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 ones 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

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Gri-gri (cont.)

• Fear of poison in ones drink
• Soccer game between Nigeria and Kenia during a
  thunderstorm.

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For news of the heart, ask the face. - Guinea
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You are beautiful but learn to work, for you
cannot eat your beauty. - Congo
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In the Vodun culture everything from nature has a
significance A fallen dry leaf, a green leaf,
the tree itself.
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Hope is the pillar of the world. - Kanuri
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We will water the thorn for the sake of the rose.
- Kanem
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Not to know is bad not to wish to know is worse.
- Nigeria
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The moon moves slowly, but it crosses the town. -
Ashanti
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Bye Benin
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Appendices

• The Divine Will ( DJROLO  MAHOUTON ) in the
  Fongbé language is most important.Any one
  respecting the "LAW "( GBèSOU ) in fongbé has
  divine protection GBé LifeSOU LAW

• to father Gbèto man (human) or father
  of life for the initiate (Hounssiyoyo).
• Hevi birdOsso point, Ozo fireHeviosso
  bird of fire, phoenix

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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.
• The divinity Nayétè (Mami, water) goddess of
  richness and love, corresponds to Venus or
  Aphrodite divinity Greco Romaine, goddess of the
  beauty and the love.

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• 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. 

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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
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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.
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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Dressed like a Beninese