The practice of Voodoo: Preserving a world heritage

1. The practice of Voodoo: Preserving a world heritage By Dah Jah & Netiva Caftori www.netiva.net

2. 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.

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

4. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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 Benin, home to ancient kingdoms

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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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.

16. Where it all started:Togo

17. Burkina Faso

18. Ghana

19. 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. Vodun is practiced by the:

22. 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

24. 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 Socio-cultural groups

25. 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”

26. 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.

28. 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.

29. Muslim tradition

32. Transportation It is better to travel alone than with a bad companion. - Senegal

33. Vodun ceremony

34. 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

35. Sacred forest You have 3 friends in this world: courage, sense, and wisdom. - Fon

36. Ouidah, Temple of the pythons Silence is also speech. - Fulfulde

37. At the temple of serpents

38. Masks used in ceremonies

39. What a child says, he has learned at home. - Nigeria

40. The young cannot teach tradition to the old. - Yoruba

41. Tata Somba

42. On the roof of a tata somba

43. Feticheurs Before healing others, heal yourself. - Nigeria

44. 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.

46. Vodun national holiday, Jan. 10th

47. Hurrying and worrying are not the same as strength. - Hausa

48. When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. - Ethiopia