Voodoo Culture

When it comes to reasons to visit Benin, can't help but mention Voodoo culture. Voodoo is the most popular religion in Benin, with over 50 million followers in West Africa and even larger followings in parts of the Caribbean, South America, and even some regions of the southern United States. An animistic religion with thousands of years of history, its name means "god," "spirit," or "power" in the Fon language; and its adherents believe not in the clichés of the living dead, but in the power of nature and the natural forces that run through everything.

The gods are drawn to ask for advice or to receive health and good fortune through offerings and sacrifices. Priests are responsible for invoking the gods so that they can manifest themselves through the possession of a human being. This possession is frequently attained through a frenetic dance to the beat of drums, which induces a trance in which divinity manifests.

The dance, accompanied by the sound of drums and complex masks representing deities such as Revenant and Caleta in Zangbeto ceremonies, is the most important part of the ceremonies. Fetishes, oracles, and magical potions exist, but only for positive purposes and to defend against witchcraft; those with evil intentions are aware that evil will turn against them. Voodoo is a religion, a way of life. It involves the whole culture, philosophy, language, art, dance, music, and medicine, and responds to the ongoing human need to understand and communicate with the invisible.