USA Africa Dialogue Series - Voodoo in Africa: Christian demonisation angers followers

Voodoo in Africa: Christian demonisation angers followers

Benin's priests try to dispel misconceptions about ancient religion
practised by half the country's population

Monica Mark in Ouidah
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 December 2012 18.22 GMT


But for the gentle hissing of pythons, Dah Dangbénon's voodoo temple
could have been mistaken for a new-age hippy gathering. Seated in a
semicircle on fraying raffia mats, devotees listened rapturously as
the high priest talked at length about oneness with the cosmos.

"There can be no equilibrium without respecting the universal laws of
nature, and our ancient knowledge and traditions," said Dangbénon, a
silver-haired man whose toenails were painted an improbable bright
pink.

He rolled his eyes exasperatedly when explaining how a faith that
expressly forbade killing another human being had been "fetishised" by
outsiders. "Voodoo is not about using magic spells to curse your
enemies," said Dangbénon, whose clan has for generations overseen this
temple dedicated to pythons. "If you choose to manipulate nature to
harm your neighbour, it's not voodoo that harms your neighbour, it is
you."

Like its Nigerian cousin, juju, voodoo originated in Benin's ancient
kingdom of Dahomey. Today the tradition based on nature is so
interwoven with daily life that it borders on the banal in Benin.
Temples are slotted in between buzzing restaurants and pharmacies,
easily overlooked. Tiny carved talismans swing decoratively in
doorways where chickens scratch and children dart noisily around.
Elders gossiping at roadside bars spill the first sip of each beer to
honour the spirits.

About half the country's 9 million people are followers of the
mainstream benign form of voodoo, but it has produced extreme
practices. In November, officials linked the digging up of 100 graves
to an underground trade in human organs for black magic rituals. In
the village of Zakpota, deep in the bush, villagers said that twice
during especially tough harvest years a young child had "disappeared".
"The family was shunned [by villagers]. It is not something people are
proud of talking about because it pained us very much," said one
villager, Sylvan, who refused to say any more.

But most visitors to Dangbénon's palm thatch temple, bearing bottles
of fiery moonshine as a gift, want help to find a job. Healing after
bereavement is also high on their list of priorities.

"Colonialists demonised voodoo to the point where even the word makes
you think of backwardness, something derogatory. But it's as much a
part of African heritage as Buddhism is to Asia, and much older [than
Buddhism]. All the good in voodoo has been tainted," Dangbénon said.

In the 1990s, Benin's government overturned a decades-long ban and
recognised voodoo as a great cultural tradition, even promoting a
national voodoo day. For many, the endorsement was purely cosmetic:
the old-time faith had long persisted alongside Islam and
Christianity.

At Ouidah, the cradle of voodoo, Benin's first cathedral sits opposite
the distinctly shabbier Python temple. According to local lore, the
temple's priests helped struggling colonial priests fund the cathedral
just over a century ago.

"If there's a voodoo celebration after mass I put on my pagne
[traditional dress] and go to the ceremony across the street. Even the
cathedral priests come and watch the ceremonies during the annual
voodoo festival," said a local man, Hipolite Apovo. Not everyone
approves. "Some people went to celebrate the pope's visit to the
cathedral last year by heading straight to the temple afterwards. My
opinion is either you practise Christianity, or you practise voodoo,
or you practise nothing at all. It makes no sense to mix all of them,
anyhow," said Nicephore Agontinhlo, pointedly avoiding the stalls of
feathers, animal parts and beads at the town's charms market.

But what rankles most in unrecognisable depictions of voodoo by
Hollywood and western culture is the erasing of a rich musical and
artistic contribution. "My musical inspiration comes from the sato [a
ceremonial rhythm] of voodoo. Voodoo instruments and music helped
shape the music of Africa," said Vincent Ahehehinnou of the renowned
group Orchestre Poly-Rythmo.

Recently, the country's most famous priest decided to take matters
into his own hands. Dah Aligbonon Akpochihala, who is in his 60s,
started a crash course that allows voodoo devotees to attain
priesthood in four months rather than the usual three years. A member
of Benin's aristocracy, Akpochihala also takes to the radio – "a
medium young and old people understand" – to make sure the tradition
is restored to its rightful place. "So long as there is Africa, there
will be voodoo. As I've said before, we need to bring voodoo in from
the dark," he said in his urban temple, wedged between a beauty
parlour and hardware shop, and running a side business in
photocopying.

Akpochihala's sermons, in French and local dialect, attract both a
French-speaking elite and a less educated underclass. "He is someone
who is respected by villagers and kings alike," said a listener, Sessi
Tonokoui.

Local adaptations have continued to thrive from Haiti to New Orleans.
In Brazil, the world's largest Catholic country, tens of thousands of
devotees of the religion known as Candomblé launch tiny candlelit
boats out to sea to celebrate the religious new year.

"Some of our incantations are spoken in Yoruba because Candomblé came
directly from our African ancestors," said Nivaldo Antonio dos Santos,
a priest from the north-eastern state of Bahia, the single biggest
final destination of African slaves.

Priests from west Africa sometimes travelled to Brazil to relearn
drumming rituals that had been lost to them, Dos Santos said.

© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.


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