ANCIENT AFRICAN RELIGION

Vodun cosmology centers around the vodun spirits and other elements of divine essence that govern the Earth, a hierarchy that ranges in power from major deities governing the forces of nature and human society to the spirits of individual streams, trees, and rocks, as well as dozens of ethnic vodun, defenders of a certain clan, tribe, or nation. The vodun is the center of religious life.

Patterns of Vodun worship follow various dialects, spirits, practices, songs, and rituals. The divine Creator, variously called Mawu or Mahu, is a female being. She is an elderly woman, and usually a mother who is gentle and forgiving. She is also seen as the god who owns all other gods and even if there is no temple made in her name, the people continue to pray to her, especially in times of distress. In one tradition, she bore seven children. Sakpata: Vodun of the Earth, Xêvioso (or Xêbioso): 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.

So what is voodoo? This is one of the oldest practices and some of the deities come from Nigeria. Voodoo is an ancient religion practiced by over 30 million people in the West African nations of Benin Togo Ghana and Nigeria .it perceived similarities with Roman Catholic doctrines such as the intercession of saints and angels allowed Vodun to appear compatible with Catholicism, and helped produce syncretic religions such as Haitian Vodou. Adherents also emphasize ancestor worship and hold that the spirits of the dead live side by side with the world of the living, each family of spirits having its female priesthood, sometimes hereditary when it is from mother to blood daughter.

It has countless deities and animal sacrifice and events of spirit possession of humans are very common. Voodoo has been said to be one of the most misunderstood religions in the world. If this religion was practiced by so many people is there more that the eyes could see and why did it have millions of followers? Let’s dig deeper.

On a visit to the Temple of Snakes, this is where they worship snakes. Snake worshiping is a very normal thing in Benin as part of the voodoo culture, kind of how cows are celebrated in India. the python can live longer than a person! A python can live more than 70 years old and it's even considered a sign of Good Fortune should a snake cross one's path. Generally, pythons are wild animals so, why would anybody worship something that can harm you or constrict you to death? The pythons are just a small segment of voodoo, there is a belief in a powerful floating Spirit.

In Benin, they hold the biggest voodoo festival in Africa annually. Temples and other places are filled with a lot of people who are mainly going to make their prayers on the shrine. That’s the biggest Shrine and they believe that it protects the market and people.

Those who attend the festival are not people not just from Africa but mostly from America, Brazil, the Caribbean, and many countries across the world. People fly from other continents to attend this event. For example, some people from the Caribbean want to know about West Africa and their roots.

The Voodoo Festival takes place every January 10th in Benin Republic and it's a way for locals to celebrate and lay trouble to their different deities of voodoo. If so many people from other parts of the world were willing to attend this ceremony and it Bears lots of similarities to what we see in pop culture and movies today, then why is Voodoo so feared?

I've learned in life that hating or loving anything always has to come from somewhere and we've been programmed to hate our own, hate our own culture, it's our value. And on further reading of articles on the internet, I discovered that another reason Voodoo is feared is actually due to racism. Voodoo was first practiced in America and the Caribbean by slaves of African descent who had been shipped in from West Africa. Through a strong conviction for their religion, they revolted with the slaves beginning to kill their masters which led to a civil war in the end the high chance came out on top by overthrowing the world's richest colony and creating the first black Republic. The High Chair Revolution provoked fear in other European and American colonies that were reliant on vast numbers of slaves as Plantation labor they then created laws that prohibited the the practice of African religions

So what about the Dark Side of voodoo? I mean the people who do it for evil. These are the opinions of one of the believers; ‘you chose to be evil, you chose to be good, you choose to be helping people, to be bringing people alive or you choose to kill people. It’s a choice.’ according to her; Voodoo can be used to protect and it can also be used to harm what matters is the person wielding it.

The floating spirit is called Zhang Beto and it's believed to be the spirit of dead relatives. Among Voodoo worshipers the dead are taught to walk among the Living.

In the festival, you can see all the masquerades coming out, different masquerades represent different deities and they come out in different adornments. It is a celebration with drums and lots of dancing and displays. Now what if I told you that there is a spinning masquerade there that has nothing inside it you would think I’m crazy right? You will say how can this be possible how can a masquerade be dancing all by itself?

This is the beauty of voodoo. I mean people might say it’s a trick. Everything there goes against the laws of physics. It shows how Africans are powerful and we have to use it in the right way. we just don't have to be scared of our own culture and history.

Those who practice Voodoo believe that there is a visible and an invisible world and that those worlds are intertwined. And that death for them is a transition to the invisible world so our predecessors are still with us in spirit. If one's oldest father or grandfather died, then you can call his spirit in a big masquerade and then he's going to pray for you!

Over the years American culture has appropriated African stories which are currently being used in box office movies, an example is in the movie Avatar. Ewa the all-great mother in Avatar One and Two were gotten from erwa which are spirits in the African religion of Haitian Voodoo Another place where I noticed these two was in the movie Black Panther where you see them drinking herbs and going into an afterlife trance. All bear close similarities to the voodoo culture that has been projected as evil. I guess if he makes money for Hollywood then it makes sense

All creation is considered divine and therefore contains the power of the divine. This is how medicines such as herbal remedies are understood, and explains the ubiquitous use of mundane objects in religious rituals. Vodun talismans, called fetishes, are objects such as statues or dried animal or human parts that are sold for their healing and spiritually rejuvenating properties. Specifically, they are objects inhabited by spirits. The entities that inhabit a fetish can perform different tasks according to their stage of development. Fetish objects are often combined in the construction of "shrines", used to call forth specific vodun and their associated powers.

We are not always aware of the origins of our beliefs and now and then we need to reassess what we know and how we know it which is why I'm making this article. I'm not a Vodun worshiper by any means but neither am I a hater I just seek to understand it and share.