Info For Yous Ouidah, Benin - The Birthplace Of Voodoo As Well As Their Annual Voodoo Festival
Benin formerly known every bit Dahomey sat inward the gulf of Republic of Guinea hemmed inward past times the mightiness of Nigeria on its Eastern flank together with Togo to the West, alongside the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean lapping along its palm fringed beaches. This old French colony is rich inward colonial history; abode to the “Slave Coast” of Ouidah, together with the spiritual birthplace of Voodoo.
According to the Voodoo tradition, in that location is 1 supreme god, who is known past times dissimilar names inward dissimilar parts of the world. In Haiti, for example, he is called Bondye, which comes from the French bon dieu, pregnant "good god."
Djabassi Manonwomin, a voodoo priestess, centre, during the annual Voodoo Festival inward Ouidah, Benin, on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. AP / Lord's Day Alamba
Regardless of which cry people use, the primary god is immensely powerful together with beyond the accomplish ordinary followers. For this reason, Voodoo practitioners must rely on hundreds or thousands of other spirits to communicate alongside god.
Voodoo followers at ouidah Voodoo festival inward Benin,home of Voodoo.
These spirits are known as loa or lwa inward Haiti; anthropologists writing most African Voodoo oftentimes refer to them every bit spirits or gods. The spirits be inward a hierarchy. There are major, powerful loa, many of whom have got their ain holidays, celebrations or other observances. There are also nestling spirits, who play diverse roles inward dissimilar regions. Communities together with fifty-fifty families have got their ain loa, such every bit the spirits of love or influential household unit of measurement or community members. The loa have their ability from god together with communicate alongside god on behalf of followers.
Traditional Drummers at annual Ouidah voodoo festival
During ceremonies together with observances, followers of Voodoo inquire the spirits for advice, protection or assistance. The procedure is reciprocal; followers must expect afterward the loa by performing rituals, which sometimes come upwards inward the shape of creature sacrifice. Other rituals permit followers to give thank yous the spirits for protection, blessings or adept fortune. To hold a adept human relationship alongside the loa, followers must also comport themselves properly according to the customs of both the community together with the religion. In this way, the do of Voodoo tin influence a person's day-to-day decisions together with activities.
Voodoo supreme "POPE' Dagbo Hounon Tomandjre (in the middle) arrives for a festival
Part of the Voodoo belief is that loa communicate alongside followers through possession. The loa temporarily displaces the soul of its host, or medium, together with takes command of the medium's body. According to this belief, the medium cannot experience hurting or go injured patch possessed.
The loa speaks through the medium, oftentimes giving instructions, advice or prophecies of time to come events. Sometimes, a loa rebukes followers for failing to perform their duties to the loa, their household unit of measurement or their community. In some Voodoo traditions, a few select people have got the privilege of becoming possessed. In others, the loa may select to possess anyone at whatever time.
Trance Dancer inward total flying at Voodoo festival,Ouidah,Benin.
This view -- that powerful or influential spirits tin possess people -- unites 2 distinct forms of Voodoo. One exists primarily inward the northern together with key portions of the western African coast. The other is practiced primarily inward Haiti, every bit good every bit inward parts of North together with South America. Books that explore either shape oftentimes explicate the faith through a serial of stories or anecdotes instead of every bit a straightforward analysis. There are several reasons for this:
Agbaza trip the low-cal fantastic at the colorful voodoo festival,Ouidah
Voodoo shrines
- Voodoo is an oral tradition without a primary holy text, prayer volume or laid of rituals together with beliefs. In dissimilar regions, Voodoo practices, the names of gods together with other traits tin vary considerably.
- The faith makes usage of a wealth of rituals together with observations that touching followers' day-to-day lives, making a straightforward listing of observances impractical.
- In many ways, Voodoo is a personal religion. Followers have got direct experiences alongside spirits together with loa, together with these experiences tin live dramatically dissimilar from identify to identify together with mortal to person.
Voodoo, or Vodun every bit it known locally, is an officially recognised religion, claiming 40% of the population every bit adherents.
For millions of Beninese, voodoo is a skullduggery-free component of everyday life. It does have got a dark side – it’s difficult to miss the voodoo dolls riddled alongside nails – but this is entirely 1 aspect of it. Ouidah’s Voodoo Festival, Benin’s most vibrant together with colourful festival, is a showcase of its other qualities.
vodussi at oiudah voodoo festival
Since 1997, 1 twelvemonth afterward the authorities officially decreed voodoo a faith (one practiced past times to a greater extent than or less 60% of Benin’s 7.4 meg residents), thousands of believers have got flocked to Ouidah, the historic centre of voodoo worship, to have blessings from the city’s voodoo chief. The celebrations start out when the supreme voodoo priest slaughters a caprine animal to honour the spirits, together with are marked past times much singing, chanting, dancing, beating of drums together with drinking of gin. The beach also briefly becomes a racehorse track.
The ‘Egungun’ are believed to live possessed past times spirits of dead ancestors placed upon Earth to guide the living together with must live treated alongside respect. The view of the ‘spirit’ appears inward many guises. The Nigerian Egungun are only 1 of many spirit incarnations. In other parts of West Africa it is manifested differently similar that below.
At the same fourth dimension each twelvemonth this flamboyant festival takes identify which involves a calendar week of activity.
It culminates alongside people from across Republic of Benin every bit good every bit Togo together with Nigeria descending on the metropolis for the concluding day. As the religion's followers get together - along alongside tourists - devotees inward creature skins chant together with trip the low-cal fantastic every bit locals drinkable Gin.
The festival features Nigerian 'voodoo spirits' walking the streets. Each spirit represents the reincarnation of a dead fellow member of the Nigerian 'Nagu' clan.
The festival also features 'Egungun' spirits from the Nigerian Yoruba Clan. The Egungun are masqueraded dancers that stand upwards for the ancestral spirits of the Yoruba - a Nigerian ethnic grouping which are believed to see Earth to possess together with give guidance to the living.
Shrouded inward mystery together with oftentimes misunderstood, voodoo was acknowledged every bit an official faith inward Republic of Benin inward 1989. It is increasing inward popularity alongside to a greater extent than or less 17 per cent of the population similar a shot next it.
The festival takes identify every twelvemonth inward January.
The Egungun are masqueraded dancers that represents the ancestral spirits of the Yoruba, a Nigerian ethnic group, together with are believed to see Earth to possess together with give guidance to the living. Ouidah is Benin’s Voodoo heartland, together with view to live the spiritual birthplace of Voodoo or Vodun every bit it known inward Benin. )
Voodoo New Year: Benin's witchcraft festival
Thundering drums. Whirling, bare-breasted women. Necklaced men slashing their bodies alongside knives together with pouring alcohol over the wounds. Welcome to 1 of Africa's most sensational events: the New Year's Day Voodoo Festival.
Staged annually on Jan 10, the festival unfolds at "the cradle of voodoo", Ouidah: a seaside town in Benin, the West African province betwixt the equator together with the Tropic of Cancer.
The constant beat out of drumming throughout the twenty-four hours together with into the nighttime draws people into the secluded courtyards of Voodoo priests to give away undercover ceremonies inward hidden shrines together with temples
Roots
For centuries, Ouidah was a regional slave trafficking hub. Sometimes trapping slaves inward nets, European traders shipped hundreds of thousands from Ouidah to the Americas together with the Caribbean.
Pain parade
In the victims' memory, National Voodoo Day festival marchers re-enact the 3-kilometre trek from Ouidah's downtown slave auction block to the harbour. Led past times the supreme voodoo primary — a heathen pope — marchers interruption to pray at pilgrimage points.
A adult woman leaves a voodoo ceremony inward Ouidah, Benin,�carrying blood from an creature sacrifice.
One betoken invested alongside item pregnant is the mermaid statue mark the old spot of a bizarre flora called the Tree of Forgetfulness. Back inward the day, departing slaves circled the tree ix times, inward mensuration alongside the belief that the rite would brand them forget their identity. Some chance; Voodoo's persistence underlines that the brainwashing failed.
Voodoo worshipers afterward performing rituals to Mami wata goddess at Ouidah
Ouidah's most striking memorial — the giant Gate of No Return arch — looms at the terminate of the slave trail, past times the sea. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 mural spanning the top of the gate shows manacled Africans walking out through the waves, toward a time to come of permanent hardship — if they survived far beyond the Bight of Benin.
Devout worshipers get together from across Benin, every bit good every bit Togo together with Nigeria. Along alongside the strange curious traveler, they descend on the coastal town of Ouidah together with surrounding villages to witness a calendar week of intensely colourful celebration, frenetic whirling dancing together with rhythmic performance.
Trance party
While dancing marchers circle the gate, Equus caballus racers tear across the golden-brown beach. Above the thumping of hooves together with drums, loudspeakers blast Congolese music at the throng, which consists of everyday Africans mingling alongside snazzily dressed royals together with entranced, chanting priests.
A dancer inward a province of 'Trance' performs at a Voodoo Ceremony on Jan 9, 2012 inward Ouidah, Benin.
Priests shower blessings on followers sipping 'libations' (firewater offerings to the gods). Human haystack 'Zangbetos' meant to constabulary proceedings spin hypnotically.
The spectacle shows that, despite its B-movie dark magic image, voodoo way to a greater extent than than pin-skewered dolls, sacrificial virgins together with zombies loping through the nighttime of the living dead. Voodoo is most celebration — embracing the values of peace together with prosperity, enthusiasts say.
A human being enters a province of trance during a Voodoo ceremony on Jan 7, 2012 inward Ouidah, Benin
Gorefest
Animals play a major go every bit they are selected together with sacrificed, the blood poured on the basis every bit offerings. It is an intense scene together with a spectacle non oftentimes witnessed past times outsiders
Plus, they slaughter a goat, inward honour of the python spirit at the pump of the voodoo religion, the cutely named 'Dangbe', who has his ain Ouidah temple housing over 400 regal pythons pampered past times serpent cult devotees.
Waiting for the Voodoo priest, a caprine animal slaughtered during the festival.
PHOTO: BY OYASAF DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER, OGUNTIMEHIN ARIYOVanishing act
Voodoo's sensual emphasis on snakes together with the similar failed to delight Benin's old ruler Mathieu Kerekou. During the 1970s, Kerekou (a military machine Marxist) banned voodoo because it conflicted alongside the socialist piece of job ethic, he reckoned. He was belike right.
Beginning the voodoo ceremony inward Benin. Photos
past times Marilynn Windust
Revival
His bludger-friendly successor, however, repealed the ban. When Kerekou was re-elected to office, Beninese refused to recognise his authorisation until he caved together with took an oath of go that specifically mentioned ancestral spirits.
Now, irrespective of whether it erodes productivity, most sixty per centum of Benin's nine meg people comprehend the faith.
"Magic forms an enormous component of daily Beninese life together with is probable to live your enduring retentiveness of the country," writes explorer Stuart Butler inward the Bradt Republic of Benin guide. "At times yous could live forgiven for thinking that everyone yous come across is a magician." Butler argues that voodoo is to a greater extent than strong than anything Harry Potter can throw your way.
WOMAN DANCING DURING Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 CEREMONY OF INITIATION
Force field
A Tourist experiencing how Vudu Python Shrine looks similar at Ouidah
Voodoo disciples believe inward a Star Wars-style 'force' that courses through everything. The present is run past times a supreme god alongside the assist of a shower of spirits running into the hundreds.
Temple of Pythons inward Ouidah
Pythons apart, only most everything yous attention to cry has VIP voodoo status. The gyre telephone band includes the earth, the wind, thunder, giant baobab trees together with vampire bats: all mixed into 1 magic mashup.
Voudun together with Slavery’s Legacy inward Ouidah (Africa)
Groundswell
Because Benin, sandwiched between Nigeria and Togo, is off the average radar, its spiritual shindig has yet to go a massive tourist magnet. But that may change. Already, scores of slave descendants together with voodoo followers from every bit far afield as Haiti and the US attend. And the backpackers are coming ...
start dancing at Voodoo Festival inward Ouidah,Benin
Shake a tailfeather
If yous go, whatever your accept on the occult, yous must admire the theatre. Watch out for the master copy wizard inward a sequined top hat, strolling nether an umbrella held past times a servant.
If yous have got no view what to wear, feathers together with human face upwards pigment are a adept look. Carry H2O to offset the oestrus together with the final result of your drinking glass of fiery moonshine that may live magically, repeatedly refilled.
Children at Voodoo festival
KPESSE SACRED FOREST OF VOODOO GODS
This Sacred Forest inward Ouidah (is where Abojevi was born). The wood has a publish of statutes of vodun spirits together with practitioners. Legend has it that centuries agone King Kpasse fled his enemies past times escaping into the wood together with turned himself into a tree called the Iroko tree.You’ll view Legba, alongside his large erection, Abojevi’s favourite god. Abojevi also was a fan of the serpent god together with would love the python temple. Remember our community was also called Dangbe comme (serpent community). You’ll also view Shango, god of thunder alongside the horns together with scarlet arrow inward his mouth. Hopefully we’ll teach to view the sacred wood ourselves 1 day. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_QkYpdNhvU&feature=player_embedded#!)
Here is the chameleon ...
entrance to the kpesse sacred wood inward benin
Kpasse Sacred Forest
A gigantic centralized faux cola nut tree inward the Kpasse Sacred Forest. Cotonou, Benin. Photo ©Tom Ritchie
Voodoo chiefs walk past times The Point of No Return monument, which commemorates the slave merchandise during the annual Voodoo Festival inward Ouidah, Benin, on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. AP / Lord's Day Alamba
A human being slaughters a caprine animal at the Temple of Pythons during the annual Voodoo Festival inward Ouidah, Benin, on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. AP / Jon Gambrell
Iroko tree inward Sacred wood inward Ouidah
In 1988 this tree cruel during a storm. Next day, every bit they were preparing to accept the tree away, it rose dorsum to its place. that is why they protect it similar a shot - people come upwards for luck etc.
voodoo girls
Jean Zossoujbo, a guide at the Temple of Pythons, shows a python to a visitor at the temple inward Ouidah, Benin, on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. AP / Lord's Day Alamba
BENIN, GRAND POPO. Annual coming together of voodoo cult followers inward Jan 1998
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