West African Vodun

The religion of the Fon and Ewe, and the root of Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo.

c. 1600 CE → (older roots) · Benin and Togo · African & Diaspora

Vodun, practised by the Fon and Ewe peoples, honours a creator pair, Mawu-Lisa, and many vodun spirits, approached through offerings, dance and possession. It shares much with Yoruba religion, including Fa divination. Enslaved people carried it to Haiti, where it became Vodou. Benin made Vodun a national holiday in 1996.

Key figures

• Mawu-Lisa, the creator pair
• Legba, the gatekeeper
• Dan, the rainbow serpent

Texts

• Oral tradition
• Fa divination verses

Beliefs

• The vodun are spirits present in nature and history
• Divination reveals destiny
• Ancestors and spirits act in daily life

Rituals

• Possession dances
• Fa divination
• Annual festivals at Ouidah

Grew from

• Animism & Shamanism
• Yoruba Religion (Ifá)

Connections in the atlas

• Ouidah, Temple of Pythons and Sacred Forest
• The word voodoo
• Mami Wata
• Vèvè
• The Middle Passage
• The Yoruba and the Atlantic diaspora
• How Death Came Into the World