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.

The African Origins

As already stated, Vodun is a theistic and magical form of animism that developed among West African tribes predating historical times. The cultural area of the Fon, Gun, Mina and Ewe peoples share common metaphysical conceptions around a dual cosmological divine principle: the God-Creator (whose name can vary but we will define as Mawu) and the God(s)-Actor(s) or Vodun(s), sons of the Creator. The God-Creator is the cosmogonical principle, who does not trifle with the mundane, and the Vodun(s) are the God(s)-Actor(s) who actually govern on terrenal issues.

Related Topics:
Theistic - Magical - Animism - West Africa - Tribe - Historical - Metaphysical - Cosmological - God - Cosmogonical

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The of Voduns is quite large and complex. There are seven direct sons of Mawu, interethnic and related to natural phenomena or historical or mythical individuals, dozens of ethnic Voduns, defenders of a certain clan or tribe, as well as the modern Voduns, mostly coming from Ghana.

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West African or Beninese Vodun is similar to Haitian Vodou in its emphasis on the ancestors, however each family of spirits has its own specialized clergy that is often hereditary. In Africa, spirits include Mami Wata, who are goddesses of waters; Legba, who is virile and young in contrast to the old man form he takes in Haiti; Gu, ruling iron and smithcraft; Sakpata, who rules diseases; and many other spirits distinct in their own way to West Africa.

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Totalitarian regimes in West Africa tried to suppress Vodun as well as other forms of religion, but today they are flourishing again and Vodun is practised by over 30 million people in the area. For anyone interested in Vodun or Anthropology, a visit to the Vodun museums and markets in Ouidah or Cotonou, Benin, or Lome, Togo, is a compulsory and fascinating experience.

Related Topics:
West Africa - Anthropology - Benin - Togo

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