History of the Vodun of Benin

History of the Vodun in Benin
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History of the Vodun in Benin I.                   Introduction For most Americans, Voodoo is associated with witchcraft through visual representation of black magic, spells, and curse by witchdoctors, zombies, and dolls impaled with stickpins. The Voodoo religious practice is essentially the eye of a stock of stereotypes and fear. This perception of Voodoo is not only in the public domain but also within Hollywood productions and literature and has contributed to the religious practice being misunderstood, ridiculed, attacked, and demonized while at the same time being feared. Scholars have associated the inherent stereotypes and prejudice on the practice to the legacy of slavery.   Background Voodoo is a faith like any other and has both, what would be perceived as outsiders, good and dark sides. It has a following of over 50 million people in the world spread across West Africa, Brazil, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the American Southern State of Louisiana. It was introduced in the United States in slavery, where it was imported from West Africa through the slave trade. In an increasingly diversified and inclusive world, with a myriad of cross-cultural interactions coupled with the fundamental democratic freedom of manifesting any religion through worship, practice, teaching, or observance, a better understanding of the voodoo practice is required to inform discourse both in public and academic domains. The current paper explores the origins of the voodoo religious practices by examining their roots and evolutions to date as means to add to the foundation of knowledge about this ancient African religion. II.                History and Evolution of Voodoo Islam and Christianity are the world's leading religions by numbers. Combined, they command a following of over 5 billion people, over half of the global population. While these religions appear to be antagonistic, they are more related than people think. They are both Abrahamic religions at their core because they recognize Abraham marks the point at which they diverged. Further, the two religions began in the same region (Middle East). Historians and researchers estimate that Islam started in the 7^th century. Origins of the Voudon If this date is anything to go by, Voodoo began in West Africa 9 centuries later. It originated in the ancient Kingdom of Dahomey, which consisted of today's Nigeria, Togo, and Benin. Accurate spellings of the practice include Vodun and vodoun. However, Voodoo is the most widely used, although it is a derogatory and sensationalist Western creation. It is a comprehensive system of knowledge that has little to do with its familiar, simplistic, and erroneous perception like hexing an adversary, turning people into zombies, or sticking pins into dolls. A comprehensive body of knowledge means Voodoo is a system of beliefs that link the physical world to the spiritual world with practices that encompass critical humanity dimensions like day-to-day social interactions, health, and food production. Across West Africa, including Ghana, the voodoo beliefs are alive and prevalent. In Benin, 40% of the population follow this religion. In appreciation of Voodoo as part of its culture and history, the country has a national Voodoo Museum. It has a public holiday, Voodoo Day, in honor of this revered ancient practice. Thus, it was from West Africa that Voodoo began and spread across the Atlantic Ocean during the slavery and colonial era. It arrived in American South in the 1700^th century and in Brazil and Haiti in the 16^th century. Further, through the spread of other religions like Christianity and Islam, Voodoo has evolved, borrowing from denominations like Catholicism, or as in the case of Benin, being shaped by distant deities. According to Douglas Falen, while Benin is known as the African source of New World Vodou and Voodoo, the country's religious landscape is best characterized by religious importations. Prevalent among these importations is Christianity, a legacy of colonialism and Christian missionaries, and Islam, a gift of Islam's presence in North Africa. For instance, 41% of the Benin population that identify as Christian practice a syncretized religion similar to Brazilian Candomble and Haitian Vodou. In Haiti and the United States, the co-existence of Vodou and Catholicism is a significant phenomenon resulting from the cross-religious interaction of the Voodoo practice. Central Voodoo Beliefs Voodoo gas has nothing to do with Western societies' negative connotations. Indeed, as already explained, many officially Islam or Christian people incorporate some voodoo elements into their lives or decisions, especially during crises. Similarities can be drawn between Voodoo and any other religion. For instance, different aspects of Christian liturgy have their corresponding components in Benin's Voodoo: the blessing of the bokonon v. priestly blessing; chants and dances v. Christian praise and worship; the rite of kola nut v. the holy communion, and traditional care v. Christian anointing of the sick among others. In other words, Voodoo, just like Christianity, Islam, or any religion, is not just a belief system but a whole way of life. It encompasses a culture, philosophy, language, dance, art, medicine, wellbeing, music, and a system of ethics transmitted across generations, including songs, stories, folklore, and proverbs. The vodun cult is a monotheistic-polylactic. This means that the central belief is in one recognized God (Mahou). Still, there are several different mediation cults around 100 divinities (voodoos) who represent an array of phenomena, including blacksmiths and war (Gou), earth, healing, & illness (Sakpata), justice, environment, & storms (Heviosso), and water (Mami Wata). Mami Waita (Mother Water) is among the most revered deities representing the sea goddess of fertility and beauty. She is believed to be beautiful, protective, seductive, and equally deadly. She can bring good fortune in the form of wealth. Between the 15^th and 20^th centuries, when countless millions of enslaved Africans were forcibly shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, so was Mami Waita. In the diaspora, she was revitalized and revisualized and emerged, under different guises, in different communities. These guises include Santa Marta la Dominadora, Oxum, Lasiren, and Yemanja. The guiding principle of the Vodun cult is that the inaccessible God can only be reached through the Vodun (spirits). These spirits are God's representatives and will report to him on behalf of the believer. In many ways, this aspect of Vodun is closely related to the Christian belief in the Holy Spirit, in which the spirit represents God on the planet and mediates between God and his believers. Additionally, Voudon members also believe in universal energy because the soul can leave the body during spirit possession and dreams. This aspect is similar to popular belief in transcendence among Asian religions in many ways. However, in Christian theology, spiritual possession is considered evil involving a demonic entity or Satan trying to invade an unwilling human vessel. As such, it must be dealt with either through prayer or exorcism. On the other hand, among the Voudon members, spiritual possession is revered and desired. This is because it is a valuable first-hand spiritual experience and connection to the world beyond. Spiritual possession underpins the most misunderstood aspects of Voodoo, primarily because of how it differs from Christianity, a religion that has shaped most, if not all, of Western cultures. Central to the voodoo practice are the priests and priestesses who intervene to the spirits for the people or lead the ceremonies in which people get possessed as means to communicate with the spiritual world. In Benin, people do not stick needles into dolls to cause other misfortunes, as depicted in TV shows. Some voodoo priests are herbal doctors, but sometimes, these herbs may be used to harm enemies. In the voodoo practices, animal offerings are a prevalent activity within animals like sheep and chickens sacrificed to divinity. For those who consume alcohol, a few droplets to the ground are a tribute to the spirits in this culture. People seek help from God on various issues, including being cured, finding a spouse, getting a child, or finding a job, among others. Importation of Voudon and Its Interaction with Catholicism In a 2004 article on National Geographic focusing on the Voudon religion, Sharon Guynup begins her article as follows: "The ceremony begins with a Roman Catholic Prayer. Then three drummers begin to play syncopated rhythms. Attendees begin to dance around a tree in the center of the yard, moving faster and harder with the rising pulse of the beat. The priest draws sacred symbols in the dust…one woman falls to the ground convulsing for a moment before she is helped back…and continues dancing for hours…." Guynup describes the Voudon spiritual possession ritual in which an individual goes into a trance (possession) to communicate with the spiritual world. However, what is important in the excerpt is that the ritual begins with a Roman Catholic prayer. Quoting Lynne Warberg, a renowned photographer of Haitian Voodoo, Guynup explained that "Haitians are 70% catholic, 30% protestant and 100% voodoo". In 2003, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide issued an exe...