Inside West Africa's vanishing voodoo rituals

Anisha Shah, Contributor
Business Insider
May 15, 2017


West Africa is fast gaining recognition for its wildly beautiful barren beaches, hypnotic African beats, vibrant fashions and strong cultures, which have reshaped the face of mankind.

Yet, Voodoo remains the world's most secretive and misunderstood religion, veiled in mystery. Predating many religions by tens of thousands of years, Voodoo is a way of life in its country of origin, Benin.

Battle of Benin

I've arrived in the tiny nation to unearth the final frontier of unexplored Africa and to expose the Battle of Benin, a turf war threatening to banish the religion to history books. For the intrepid and inquisitive traveller, an extraordinary realm of ancient rituals, trances and fetishes awaits discovery. And it doesn't take long to become immersed in this otherworld.

In a scene straight out of Star Wars, Benin is deep in the throes of a deadly conflict between good vs evil - Voodoo vs Witchcraft.
Voodoo Vs. Witchcraft

Voodoo may conjure images of scrawny witches, pins-in-dolls, and steaming cauldrons, but as I quickly learn, that's not entirely myth - it's an extreme offshoot of the peaceful spirit religion that is Voodoo.

"Many witches live in this town," I'm told matter-of-factly by my guide Paul Akakpo, as we bump along red sandy dust-tracks of coastal Ouidah. "They practice in a closed secret sect so they are unidentifiable. Some admit, on their deathbed, the murders they've caused," continues Mr Akakpo. His uncle, the late Voodoo Pope Sossa Guedehoungue, famously met Pope John Paul II and was key in initiating annual National Voodoo Day (10th January) in Benin.
Centuries-endured slave trade outpost

Ouidah, voodoo capital and nucleus of a centuries-endured slave trade, bears the sobering UNESCO-backed 3-mile 'Route des Esclaves' or Slave Route. Lined by museums, monuments and shrines, the solemn stretch opens to the 'Gate of No Return' on a wide windswept Atlantic shore.

Feral, untamed and bordered by lofty palms, this is the desolate and dreamy coastline bequeathed much of West Africa. Dotted only by tiny fishing villages and coconut-sellers, the beguiling beauty belies a chilling history.

These West African shores were the final footsteps of millions of shackled slaves forced to depart their homeland forever, boarding gigantic slave ships. They were exported to the New World, as the Americas are known here, defining today's cultural constitution of the American continents and Caribbean. Voodoo still thrives across Haiti, Brazil and New Orleans.

"Witches are abundant in Benin but they cast only evil spells and kill people, which is the antithesis to voodoo's healing and helping. Sorcery is Benin's biggest war," explains Mr Akakpo.
Voodoo's identity crisis

Voodoo has a major image problem. This growing malpractice by witches is driving genuine worshippers underground. Even witches "cloak themselves in Christianity at Church by day," warns Mr Akakpo. Nearly half of Benin's population practices voodoo officially, and two-thirds unofficially. As Voodoo draws on nature, philosophy, spirituality, and tolerance of all faiths, the closet devotees are a growing norm. If the trend continues, this primordial religion could be vulnerable in its birthplace.

Early European invaders to Benin implanted today's global stereotype. Whilst enforcing Christianity, they demonized Voodoo by spreading tales of black magic and sorcery. Today's thriving witchcraft makes matters worse. Voodoo wrongly endures the hangover.

Voodoo priests protect people from the evil eye, as prevention and cure, using inherited knowledge of nature. As village doctors, they're often the first point of contact, presiding over rituals at shrines and temples. These are as abundant in Benin as cafes in France, the former colonial guardian bestowing the French language. At the heart of Voodoo are rituals and sacrifice, as I soon find out.
1. Voodoo priests and fetishes
Voodoo oracle reading

Sitting on a cold hard floor deep within a village, a tiny corner window illuminates Benin's most renowned Voodoo priest. He is performing an oracle reading - mine. He holds strings of cowry shells, water in a glass and miniature statuettes to the light to determine my fate. Calmly, he communicates with Voodoo divinities, who transmit ancestral spirit messages to the living. My guide translates.

Voodoo is founded on pleasing the spirits of passed ancestors, to bless the living, merging the melodies of life and afterlife. His first two remarks leave me bewildered, striking a personal chord. Fortunately, he sees no evil spirits around me, swerving the need for a purification ceremony. These would involve being bathed naked in the sea or placing a concoction of white linen-clad herbs at a crossroads to divert evil.
Voodoo Animism fetish market

A darker experience emerges at the world's largest Voodoo Fetish market, considered a traditional pharmacy, in neighbouring Togo. Face-to-face with severed heads of monkeys, dogs, crocodiles, chameleons, and cobras rotting on wooden displays in searing 42C heat, the breeze is bittersweet. Each fetish is believed to cure a woe, from lacklustre libido to the darkest curse.

Behind-the-scenes, the Voodoo Fetish Priest, Thomas Zonnontin, communicates with Voodoo gods to heal visitors, by grinding animal skulls with herbs and rubbing into incisions made on their back. He gives me his business card. I politely decline the offer to 'perform in bed like a buffalo' settling instead for travel protection. For locals, these are go-to remedies.
2. Trances and dances with the dead
Egungun funeral trance

Voodoo's most volatile dance is the Egungun funeral rites trance, in which spirits of the dead possess the living.

My guide gets a tip-off. Musicians are pounding drums, whipping a secret sect of fully-cloaked statuesque Yoruba dancers into frenzy. A hundred-strong crowd of locals fills a dusty village compound, many peering from behind trees. Top-to-toe shrouded dancers twirl and whirl like dervishes in flame red, emerald green and sapphire blue velvet shrouds. The faces of this cult of initiates are veiled in a smokescreen of cowry shells. Being touched by them is the ultimate curse.

As Capoeira-style music impassions, one dancer slips into a frenzied trance. "He is possessed and not aware of his actions now," exclaims Mr Akakpo above the wild din. Guised by the spirit of the dead, the entranced dancer chases crowds; a mass exodus ensues like a sandstorm into the dusty distance.

That's when the hulking giant flits attentions towards me, the obvious outsider. He flies over, grabbing the stick of our 'security guard,' threatening to strike us. Mr Akakpo bows, throwing cash his way, influencing his retreat. His mask represents a Voodoo God and his cape bears the name of the departed. As pandemonium progresses, feverish dancers cut themselves to bleed using metal, and can whip the public. Before this, I'm handheld to safety to reclaim heart from my mouth.

Voodoo rituals are ongoing in Benin. Travellers can readily encounter religious ceremonies, "We want to show visitors our ancient spirit religion, so they can understand it and shatter false stigmas."
'Night hunter magic festival'

The following day, we're told about an impromptu festival of the Zangbeto Night Hunters. This closed secret sect maintains community safety by arresting outsiders and burying them alive inside their iconic conical-thatched hut, where they're enshrined as Voodoo divinities. This festival is rare.

In front of a mysterious Voodoo Temple of Cults, life-sized thatched-huts twirl into view. It is a surreal suspend-your-disbelief sight. Moving mounds of thatched straw twirl incessantly in hypnotic motion to crazed beats, whipping impassioned crowds to fever pitch.

The Voodoo priest sprinkles magic powder on a hut, before revealing the interior. A small chicken clucks inside. Of everything I witness, this invisible act is most incredulous. I grab a series of candid photographs before we must leave.
3. Rituals and temples
Dankoli sacrifice shrine

Animal sacrifice is central to appeasing spirits and Voodoo gods.

The most powerful shrine in Benin is Dankoli fetish shrine. Here, I participate in a voodoo ceremony, where animal sacrifice is standard exchange for personal favors from the spirits. Inconspicuous white flags mark the rural outdoor spot. On closer inspection, the revered shrine is a piled-high mecca of putrefying blood, guts and feathers. The gut-wrenching odor saturates the surrounds.

I walk across ground coated in sludgy tar-like remains to take instruction from the Voodoo fetish priest: hammer a wooden peg into the mound and pour red palm oil. The next step defies my instinct, as I sheepishly swig a mouthful of Akbateshie, home-brewed gin, which tastes like fire, and spray it across the shrine. A female onlooker giggles at my pathetic dribble. Opting out, I watch the priest sacrifice two chickens, whose blood is poured over the shrine, whilst reciting prayers and blessings.

And then our car breaks down. So I spend an extra couple of hours ensconced in the broiling stench, wondering what happened to the blessings.
Unveiling voodoo in Benin

To understand West Africa is to truly understand Africa. Voodoo is a deeply-rooted yet severely misunderstood religion, and the chance to explore it feels a true travel privilege. As a pivotal platform of history, culture, and natural beauty, unique in the world, travellers who appreciate the continent are invited to unearth Benin and t last slice of authentic and unexplored Africa.


www.businessinsider.com/photographs-of-west-africas-vanishing-voodoo-rituals-2017-5

The rise of Benin's devil-hunting female pastor

Times Live
AFP

March 1, 2017 

In the Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Baname, the 25-year-old founder calls herself God, her business partner is a self-styled Pope and devotees pledge to end the reign of the Devil.

Its charismatic theology and clashes with other religions have caused it to be expelled from Benin's community of churches, and repeated scandals keep the sect in the public eye.

The latest episode occurred in January, when five followers suffocated to death after they were told to lock themselves inside sealed rooms with burning incense and pray for deliverance.

But it seems no amount of bad press can dent the Very Holy Church's soaring popularity, or eclipse the fire-and-brimstone appeal of its leader.

On special Sundays, thousands of followers climb up a hill in the Zou district in Baname, 130 kilometres (about 80 miles) north of the commercial capital Cotonou, to witness one of the country's most seductive pastors.

Vicentia Tadagbe Tchranvoukinni, who calls herself "Perfect" and "God's Holy Spirit", promises to "drive out demons".

The round-faced young woman founded the church in 2009. Since then, her influence has grown rapidly across the country.

"Just by walking up this hill, you are delivered and cured of many ailments," she proclaims on her website, which shows videos of her in a cassock and her signature cherry-red cloche hat addressing cheering crowds.

Her story is a take on immaculate conception: Tchranvoukinni claims she fell from the sky in northern Benin and was found by a Fulani shepherd in the bush.

West Africa is no stranger to larger-than-life pastors and mega-churches, and Benin itself is a tumultuous hub of mystical religions and animism.

But despite her cherubic appearance, Tchranvoukinni stands apart for her vitriolic condemnation of other beliefs -- notably voodoo, which is an official religion here.

Critics accuse her of fanning hatred between normally peaceful co-existing communities of different faiths.

On January 8, violent clashes broke out between her followers and residents in the southern town of Djime, who said they "insulted and offended" traditional leaders during an "evangelisation mission", one local official said.

Local media said two people were killed, several others were injured and a number of vehicles were torched.

There was no official death toll but Benin's government said it regretted the "loss of life".

According to daily newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune, the "warriors of the Church of Baname" came dressed in grey, armed with guns, machetes and clubs.

It wasn't the first time church followers had turned violent.

In 2014, clashes broke out at one of its rallies in Cotonou after youths from the Kpondehou area refused to leave their sports field. Several people were seriously injured.

Violence broke out again the following year in the central town of Save between church devotees and Roman Catholics.

Tchranvoukinni started the church after meeting a Catholic priest, Mathias Vigan, from the parish of Sainte-Odile-de-Baname in 2009.

"Perfect" was not yet 20 and had come to be exorcised. But it was the young woman who captivated the man of the cloth, whom she would later install as "Pope Christopher XVIII".

The religious odd couple built up their own congregation and to the chagrin of the Catholic church, Vigan started wearing all-white outfits similar to papal regalia -- ornate mitre and all.

Tchranvoukinni meanwhile called herself God.

By 2013, the Episcopal Conference of Benin -- the country's assembly of bishops -- expelled Tchranvoukinni and Vigan, and condemned the new church as a cult.

"Of all the dioceses of our country, and even beyond... our uninformed faithful with a thirst for the sensational and illusion of the new come in large numbers to Baname," the conference said.

In January 2014, the Benin government launched an investigation into the church after receiving what it said were "numerous complaints" from religious communities, political and traditional leaders.

Benin's former president, Thomas Boni Yayi -- himself a member of a pentecostal church -- summoned "Perfect" for talks but it had little effect and no legal action was taken against her.

The Church of Baname's spokesman, "cardinal" Cesaire Agossa, insists that Tchranvoukinni is a divine messenger.

"People do not understand that the Holy Spirit Creator of Heaven and Earth uses the body of Perfect as its temple," he told AFP.

Her mission? "To end the reign of Beelzebub, to succeed in exterminating sorcery and all evil spirits that prevent mankind from developing," he said.

Agossa, a former government advisor and the head of a media group, maintained the church had "never orchestrated violence" and its success had "aroused jealousy and hatred".

In the meantime, Tchranvoukinni's sphere of influence keeps growing.

She publicly endorsed President Patrice Talon, who was elected in March 2016. He has yet to say a word about the Church of Baname.

www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2017/03/01/The-rise-of-Benins-devil-hunting-female-pastor

Benin preacher declares self ‘Perfect’, ‘God’s Holy Spirit’

Vicentia Tadagbe Tchranvoukinni 

Vanguard

March 5, 2017

AMIN -25-year-old Vicentia Tadagbe Tchranvoukinni, a female preacher, in Benin Republic, has declared that she is God and her mission on earth is to defeat the devil. 

She claimed she fell from heaven with the divine mission of tackling devil and his agents in the world and that she is Perfect’ and ‘God’s Holy Spirit’ Five people suffocated to death in her church after she ordered followers to lock themselves inside sealed rooms with burning incense, a ministry of health official said on Tuesday. 

The “Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Bename”, a controversial sect which claims thousands of members, had told followers to spend Saturday in a sealed room praying for the holy spirit.

“These patients were all poisoned with carbon monoxide in the Porto Novo and Adjarra areas,” the health official, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP. 

“There are currently five deaths and nine people in intensive care,” the official added. 

The followers died “after inhaling the incense while they prayed,” he said. 

“Some may have fallen on the embers placed in the rooms where they locked themselves for the prayer.” 

The church was founded in 2009 by a young woman, Vicentia Tadagbe Tchranvoukinni, often referred to as “Perfect”, who says she is “God the Holy Spirit.” 

Tchranvoukinni regularly vilifies other faiths, including voodoo — an official religion in the tiny West African nation — and Roman Catholicism, stoking tension in the community. 

On January 8, violent clashes broke out between residents in the southern town of Djime and cult followers who had “insulted and offended” traditional leaders during a “mission of evangelisation”, according to one local resident. Vicentia Tadagbe Tchranvoukinni No official report has been released but several people were injured and vehicles burned, the source said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/benin-preacher-declares-self-perfect-gods-holy-spirit/

Five anti-voodoo cult members die from suffocation in Benin

Reuters UK
January 30, 2017 

Five anti-voodoo cult members die from suffocation in Benin

Five people died from asphyxiation in Benin this weekend and several more were hospitalised after a religious cult told followers to seal themselves into prayer rooms and burn incense and charcoal, residents and a survivor told Reuters.

The group, whose name in French translates as the "Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Baname", has thousands of adherents across the country and has stirred tensions by vehemently opposing the local voodoo culture.

Its young woman leader, Vicentia Chanvoukini, known by her followers as "Lady Perfect", has proclaimed herself a god.

"With the help of old cloths, we sealed off all of the exits to the prayer room before using incandescent charcoal and incense to prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit," said survivor Yves Aboua at the Porto Novo hospital where he was admitted with respiratory problems on Sunday.

Church members were told to stay in their prayer rooms until Sunday so as "not to be held accountable" when the world ended, he said. Several other people remain in hospital in critical condition, according to residents and hospital workers.

In a shady courtyard in the town of Adjarra, five kilometres (3 miles) northeast of the capital, a woman fanned a survivor sitting on a straw mat to resuscitate him while awaiting medical attention. The body of his brother, who died during the prayer ritual, lay beside him.

Local mayor Michel Honga confirmed that the victims were members of prayer groups but declined further comment. Police officials declined comment and Reuters was unable to contact anyone representing the Baname church.

About 40 percent of the West African country's population follow Voodoo, and Benin has a national holiday to celebrate it. Many Christians and Muslims incorporate some of its beliefs into their faith.

The Baname church, named after Chanvoukini's hometown, has drawn criticism because it rejects Voodoo entirely.

There have been several violent clashes between Baname followers, who often wear red scarves to identify themselves, and members of other faiths since 2009.

(Reporting by Allegresse Sasse; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-benin-cult-deaths-idUKKBN15E1GM

Djimon Hounsou returns to native Benin for 'true voodoo'

Daily Nation
AFP

January 7, 2016

As the drumming rumbles on, Hollywood actor Djimon Hounsou walks shirtless with a voodoo procession making its way through the dusty streets of Heve in his native Benin.

“I am like an African who has come home, who needs to know and learn about his culture,” says Hounsou, who has starred in blockbusters like Blood Diamond alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Gladiator with Russell Crowe.

The American-Beninese actor is now making and starring in his own film documenting his quest to understand voodoo in this west African state where it was born, before history spread it overseas.

“The practices here are not bad and they aren’t savage,” says the tall, 51-year-old with a shaved head and a salt-and-pepper goatee, decrying the negative image often depicted on the silver screen of back-alley sorcerers casting malicious spells.

ANCESTOR WORSHIP

One classic is the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die where a Caribbean dictator uses voodoo to frighten and manipulate his island.

But Hounsou says such images undermine the religion.

“That concept dates back to slavery. That is why we need to clarify what defines voodoo,” Hounsou tells AFP, explaining that racism in the past is still perpetuating negative stereotypes about voodoo.

In the village of Heve, which lies at the western edge of Benin’s coastline, the people have long practised voodoo, celebrating air god, Dan, and water god, Mami Wata.

As the worshippers file through the streets, resplendent in white robes and draped with multicoloured beads, Hounsou’s crew films everything.

By mid-morning, the heat in Benin, a country of more than 10 million people, is already intense. As technicians set up equipment in the town square, girls draw water from a tap.

The village, with its devoted voodoo cult, was not chosen at random.

“These spirits are very well preserved and people kept dedicating themselves truly to voodoo,” explains priest David Koffi Aza, who practises Fâ — a system of divination — and is working as a guide for Hounsou and his crew.

“Imported religions didn’t take hold so it’s a purer practice.”

Spirits play a central role in voodoo, acting as a link between the living and the dead in a religion that is built upon the worship of both ancient ancestors and the four elements: earth, water, wind and fire.

In the wake of the slave trade, voodoo practices spread from west Africa to the West Indies, Brazil and the United States.

According to the last census in 2002, 17 per cent of Benin’s population practises voodoo —an official religion in the country — while 27 per cent are Catholic and 24 per cent Muslim.

However, such figures mask the reality that many Beninese, whether they go to church or attend mosque, have voodoo shrines in their homes.

A STORY BADLY TOLD

“After spending so much time in Europe and the US, seeing African diaspora traditions that resemble ours, I began to ask questions,” says Hounsou, dabbing sweat off his brow.

Working with Hounsou on his bid to document voodoo in Benin is co-director and star Sorious Samura, a well-known journalist from Sierra Leone.

The two met nine years ago on the set of Blood Diamond, a film that was based on Samura’s documentary Cry Freetown, which dealt with the civil war gripping his country.

“Voodoo is a story that is very badly told, full of witchcraft, magic and evil – even Africans believe that,” says Samura, adding that such ideas have been “buried deep in our psyche.”

The two directors hope their film, entitled 'In Search of Voodoo: Roots to Heaven', can help change that misconception.

With less than a month until they finish shooting, Hounsou says they are not seeking to win converts.

“Voodoo has existed for centuries. It doesn’t force itself on you,” he says.

Shooting of the film is expected to finish on January 10, when a huge voodoo festival will be celebrated across the country. (AFP)

http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/Zukqa/Djimon-Hounsou-returns-to-native-Benin-for-true-voodoo/-/498272/3024468/-/447taxz/-/index.html