366 Celebrations, Fête du Vodoun
Happy Traditional Religions Day! Today is Traditional Religions Day in Benin, which is the face-saving way of saying Festival of Voudoun which is the liberal way of saying CRAZY GOAT SLAUGHTERING VOODOO DAY which is the conservative way of saying Voodoo Festival. Got that?
Vodoun is an oft-misunderstood West African, pantheistic religion that is the basis of many blended folk religions throughout the world, most commonly Voodoo in Haiti and the United States. The term vodoun refers to the spirits of all things around us from the guiding forces of nature to the individual spirits of streams to vodoun of tribes and nations themselves. Every element has its own vodoun to which the practitioner can appeal. Vodoun and voodoo are often viewed solely as a practice in black arts, notoriety of which was spread with the prevalence of the voodoo doll in popular Western culture. While poppets play a part in voodoo and Vodoun, they are not the sole essence of the religion.
In 1996, the nation of Benin, free from its previous Marxist dictatorship for half a decade, declared Vodoun a recognized religion, and a year later declared January 10th to be Traditional Religions Day and soon, thousands of devotees and tourists would visit Benin to partake in the great voodoo festivals held there annually. The spirit of the Vodoun Festival seems to be centered around the city of Ouidah, an important cultural and historical center in the tradition of Vodoun.
The festival begins with the slaughter of a goat in honor of the spirits of Vodoun, and then the celebrants dance, chant, sing, pray, and drink gin in the name of Vodoun.
Very few dolls are stabbed.
Vodoun is an oft-misunderstood West African, pantheistic religion that is the basis of many blended folk religions throughout the world, most commonly Voodoo in Haiti and the United States. The term vodoun refers to the spirits of all things around us from the guiding forces of nature to the individual spirits of streams to vodoun of tribes and nations themselves. Every element has its own vodoun to which the practitioner can appeal. Vodoun and voodoo are often viewed solely as a practice in black arts, notoriety of which was spread with the prevalence of the voodoo doll in popular Western culture. While poppets play a part in voodoo and Vodoun, they are not the sole essence of the religion.
In 1996, the nation of Benin, free from its previous Marxist dictatorship for half a decade, declared Vodoun a recognized religion, and a year later declared January 10th to be Traditional Religions Day and soon, thousands of devotees and tourists would visit Benin to partake in the great voodoo festivals held there annually. The spirit of the Vodoun Festival seems to be centered around the city of Ouidah, an important cultural and historical center in the tradition of Vodoun.
The festival begins with the slaughter of a goat in honor of the spirits of Vodoun, and then the celebrants dance, chant, sing, pray, and drink gin in the name of Vodoun.
Very few dolls are stabbed.
