Vodún, Vodu, or vodunsinsen (Fon: vodúnsínsɛ́n) is an African traditional religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as or .

Vodún teaches the existence of a supreme creator divinity, under whom are lesser spirits called . Many of these deities are associated with specific areas, but others are venerated widely throughout West Africa; some have been absorbed from other religions, including Christianity and Hinduism. The are believed to physically manifest in shrines and they are provided with offerings, typically including animal sacrifice. There are several all-male secret societies, including Oró and Egúngún, into which individuals receive initiation. Various forms of divination are used to gain information from the , the most prominent of which is Fá, itself governed by a society of initiates.

The veneration of spirits occurred in West Africa prior to the era of historical documentation. In the 18th century, the Fon-dominated kingdom of Dahomey became a vassal state of the Oyo Empire, facilitating the westward transference of many Yoruba religious traditions to Fon and Ewe populations. This resulted in considerable overlap and similarity with Yoruba religion. Amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to the 19th century, were among the enslaved Africans transported to the Americas. There, their traditional religions influenced the development of new religions such as Haitian Vodou, Louisiana Voodoo, and Brazilian Candomblé Jejé. Attempted suppression of Vodún came with the Christianisation projects of the 19th century and Benin's Marxist government of the mid-20th century. Since the 1990s, there have been growing efforts to encourage foreign tourists to visit West Africa and receive initiation into Vodún.

Many practice their traditional religion alongside Christianity, for instance by interpreting Jesus Christ as a . Although primarily found in West Africa, since the late 20th century the religion has also spread abroad and is practised by people of varied ethnicities and nationalities.

Definition

Vodún is a religion. The anthropologist Timothy R. Landry has argued that, although the term is commonly used, a more accurate name for the religion was , meaning "spirit worship". The spelling "Vodún" is commonly used to distinguish the West African religion from the Haitian religion more usually spelled ; this in turn is often used to differentiate it from Louisiana . An alternative spelling sometimes used for the West African religion is "Vodu". The religion's adherents are referred to as or, in the French language, . Another common term for a practitioner is vodúnsi, meaning "wife of a vodún".

Vodún is "the predominant religious system" of southern Benin, Togo, and parts of southeast Ghana. The anthropologist Judy Rosenthal noted that "Fon and Ewe forms of Vodu worship are virtually the same". It is part of the same network of religions that include Yoruba religion as well as African diasporic traditions such as Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santería, and Brazilian Candomblé. As a result of centuries of interaction between Fon and Yoruba peoples, Landry noted that Vodún and Yoruba religion were "at times, indistinguishable or at least, blurry". Some Fon people even refer to Yoruba religion as "Nago Vodun", "Nago" being a common Fon word for the Yoruba people.

Vodún is a fragmented religion divided into "independent small cult units" devoted to particular spirits. Various sub-classifications of the religion have been suggested, but none have come to be regarded as definitive. As a tradition, Vodún is not doctrinal, with no orthodoxy, and no central text. It is amorphous and flexible, changing and adapting in different situations, and emphasising efficacy over dogma. It is open to ongoing revision, being eclectic and absorbing elements from many cultural backgrounds, including from other parts of Africa but also from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. West African religions commonly absorb elements from elsewhere regardless of their origin; in West Africa, many individuals draw upon African traditional religions, Christianity, and Islam simultaneously to deal with life's issues.

In West Africa, sometimes abandon their religion for forms of Christianity such as Evangelical Protestantism, although there are also Christians who convert to Vodún. A common approach is for people to practice Christianity while also engaging in Vodún rituals, although there are also who reject Christianity, deeming it incompatible with their tradition.

Beliefs In Vodún, belief is centred around efficacy rather than Christian notions of faith.

Theology

Vodún teaches the existence of a single divine creator being. Below this entity are an uncountable number of spirits who govern different aspects of nature and society. Some are associated with particular cities, others with specific families. The term comes from the Gbé languages of the Niger-Congo language family. It translates as "spirit", "God", "divinity", or "presence". Among Fon-speaking Yoruba communities, the Fon term is regarded as being synonymous with the Yoruba language term . Some Beninese acknowledge that certain Yoruba are more powerful than certain .

The art historian Suzanne Preston Blier called these "mysterious forces or powers that govern the world and the lives of those who reside within it". The religion is continually open to the incorporation of new spirit deities, while those that are already venerated may change and take on new aspects. Some Vodún practitioners for instance refer to Jesus Christ as the of the Christians. Since the mid-20th century, many Vodún practitioners have also adopted chromolithographs of Hindu deities or Sikh gurus and interpreted them as portrayals of particular vodún.

A common belief is that the came originally from the sea, with the term "India" having come to be used synonymously with "the sea" among many practitioners. The spirits are thought to dwell in ("land of the dead"), an invisible world parallel to that of humanity. The spirits have their own individual likes and dislikes; each also has particular songs, dances, and prayers directed to them. These spirits are deemed to manifest within the natural world. When kings introduced new deities to the Fon people, it was often believed that these enhanced the king's power.

The cult of each has its own particular beliefs and practices. It may also have its own restrictions on membership, with some groups only willing to initiate family members. People may venerate multiple sometimes also attending services at a Christian church.

Prominent

Opening up communication between humanity and the spirit world is the vodún of the crossroads, known in Fon as Lɛgbà, and in Ewe and Mina as Elegba. This figure may have been absorbed from the Yoruba, among whom he is called Eshu-Elegba. He is often the first spirit consulted for a new endeavour. Visually, he is characterised by his large erection.

The creator deity is Nana-Buluku. One of this being's offspring is Mawu-Lisa, an androgynous two-part deity also known as Mawu, Se, Segbo-Lisa, or Lissa. Lisa is the male side of this who commands the sun and daytime, while Mawu is its female side, responsible for commanding the moon and the night. As Lisa is represented by the colour white, albinos are often regarded as his incarnation.

In one tradition, Mawu bore seven children. Sakpata: Vodun of the Earth, Xɛvioso (or Xɛbioso): Vodun of Thunder, also associated with divine justice, Agbe: Vodun of the Sea, Gû: Vodun of Iron and War, Agê: Vodun of Agriculture and Forests, Jo: Vodun of Air, and Lêgba: Vodun of the Unpredictable. In other stories, Mawu-Lisa is depicted as a single hermaphroditic person capable of impregnating herself, with two faces rather than being twins. In other branches, the Creator and other are known by different names, such as Sakpo-Disa (Mawu), Aholu (Sakpata), and Anidoho (Da), Gorovodu.

The Dàn spirits are all serpents; Dàn is a serpent associated with riches and cool breezes. Sakpatá is the of earth and smallpox, but over time has come to be associated with new diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Xɛbiosò or Hɛvioso is the spirit of thunder and lightning; he is represented by a fire-spitting ram and is particularly popular in Southern Benin. The vodún of metal, blacksmithing, technology, and war is known in Fon as Gŭ and in Mine and Ewe as Egu; in more recent decades he has come to be associated with metal vehicles such as cars, trains, and planes. Among the Ewe and Mina, he is Egu. Gbădu is the wife of Fá. Tohosu is the Fon vodún of royalty, lakes, streams, and human deformities.

Mami Wata or Mamiyata is a seductress, associated with the bringing of wealth. Along parts of coastal Benin and Togo, Mami Wata is regarded not as a singular spirit but as a larger pantheon of spirits. Mami Wata is widely portrayed in an image that derives from a late 19th-century chromolithograph of a snake charmer, probably Samoan, who worked in a German circus. Her husband is sometimes called Ako Ado and is associated with parakeets. Also linked to Mami Wata is Mami Dan, also known as Ekpon (the Mina word for panther), and who is deemed to clear the path for Mami Wata to proceed.

Certain vodún have been transmitted from northern communities in recent centuries. One example is Tron, the vodún of the kola nut. He was introduced to the Vodún pantheon via Ewe speakers from Ghana and Togo, and is often claimed to have originated in a city called Acrachi in northern Ghana, which is potentially Ketekrachi. Another is Attingali, who originated in northern Ghana but whose veneration was reported in Parakov, Benin, by 1947. His cult is now concentrated around Abomey-Calavi.

Also part of the Vodún worldview is the , a type of forest spirit.

Prayers to the usually include requests for financial wealth. Practitioners seek to gain well-being by focusing on the health and remembrance of their families. There may be restrictions on who can venerate the deity; practitioners believe that women must be kept apart from Gbădu's presence, for if they get near her they may be struck barren or die. Devotion to a particular deity may be marked in different ways; devotees of the smallpox spirit Sakpatá for instance scar their bodies to resemble smallpox scars.

Ancestral vodún

Ancestor veneration is important for Fon and Mina peoples. Some Vodún traditions specifically venerate spirits of deceased humans. The Tchamba tradition takes its name from an ethnic group and region in northern Togo. It honours the spirits of slaves from this region who are believed to have become ancestors of contemporary Ewe people. Female spirits in this complex are often called Maman Tchamba, and are believed to be married to male Tchamba spirits. Similarly, the Gorovodu tradition also venerates enslaved northerners, who are described as being from the Hausa, Kaybe, Mossi, and Tchamba ethnicities.

When a person is possessed by a Tchamba spirit, they may draw lines on their face with kaolin, symbolising the scarification markings of northern people.

The soul

Among the Fon, a common belief is that the head is the seat of a person's soul. The head is thus of symbolic importance in Vodún.

Acɛ

An important concept in Vodún is , a notion also shared by Yoruba religion and various African diasporic religions influenced by them. Landry defined as "divine power". It is the of an object that is deemed to provide it with its power and efficacy.

Practice