Voodoo

The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor-based spiritist-animist religious tradition.

Related Topics:
Benin - Haiti - West Africa - Spiritist - Animist

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Its primary roots are among the Fon-Ewe peoples of West Africa, in the country now known as Benin (formerly the Kingdom of Dahomey), where Vodun is today the national religion of more than 7 million people. The word vodun is the Fon-Ewe word for spirit.

Related Topics:
Benin - Dahomey - Spirit

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In addition to the Fon or Dahomeyan tradition which has remained in Africa, there are related traditions that put down roots in the New World during the days of the transatlantic African slave trade.

Related Topics:
Fon - Dahomey - New World - Slave

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Besides Benin, African Vodun and its descendant practices may be found in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil, Ghana, Haiti, Cape Verde, and Togo.

Related Topics:
Dominican Republic - Puerto Rico - Cuba - Brazil - Ghana - Haiti - Cape Verde - Togo

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In the Americas it has found fusion with Catholicism.

Related Topics:
Americas - Catholicism

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The Fon tradition in Cuba is known as La Regla Arara.

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In Brazil, the Fon tradition among former slaves has given rise to the tradition known as Jeje Vodun.

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Voodoo or vodun is an ancient religion directly derived from prehistoric belief systems. This "primitivism" generates exceptional interest in the paleoanthropological field.

Related Topics:
Prehistoric - Primitivism - Paleoanthropological

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