Vodun priests pray for Tsunami Victims

January 6, 2005 @ 05:00 pm

Sapa-AP Ouidah, Benin - Sacrificing two chickens and a goat, a group of Voodoo priests in the West African nation of Benin joined the millions of people around the world praying for survivors of the Asian tsunami disaster.

The prayers of "relief for the ravaged people" were made during annual National Voodoo Day celebrations by top Voodoo priestess Nagbo Hounon Gbesso, who sacrificed the animals on a beach here on Monday.

Forty kilometres to the east in the seaside commercial capital, Cotonou, Hounongan Agbegbe, deputy head of a national Voodoo community, called upon the spirits of the dead "to relieve the pain of the people devastated and tested in Asia by the tidal waves".

More than 150 000 people died in the December 26 earthquake and tsunami, across 11 countries on the Indian Ocean.

At least 60 percent of Benin's six million inhabitants practice Voodoo - a tradition that holds, in part, that life derives from the natural forces of earth, water, fire and air.

Countless Africans shipped into slavery from this lagoon-lined strip of the south Atlantic took the legacy of Voodoo with them to the Caribbean, the American South, and elsewhere.

Ouidah, a long strip of beach west of Cotonou, served as a major embarkation point for the slaves.

Today, scores of Americans and Haitians return every year to attend the January 10 festival, which began here in 1995.

Last year, Voodoo priests in Benin prayed for bloodshed across Africa to end.

Benin readies for Voodoo Day

By Karim Okanla | BBC Africa Live, Benin

Saturday is Voodoo Day in Benin and preparations are in full swing.

Traditional cults from across the country will meet at the seaside town of Ouidah, revered as the cradle of voodoo and offer prayers and sacrifices to their gods.

The earth, wind, thunder, pythons, giant baobab trees, vampire bats and just about anything that the human mind cannot easily fathom earns the status of divinity.

Priests and priestesses draped in colourful attire command the respect of hundreds of Voodoo followers who kneel down or roll over the floor as a sign of respect.

Horse riders from semi-arid northern Benin proudly display their riding skills, instantly turning the Ouidah beach into a race track.

National holiday

Voodoo followers from as far afield as Haiti, Brazil, the Caribbean and the United States also join in the celebrations.

It's not only the voodoo practitioners who are superstitious, all religious people are.

Yaw Ampong, Ghana

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And when getting close to dehydration point because of the suffocating heat, they gulp down their soft drinks directly imported from the West.

Late in the afternoon, the libations continue in the private residence of the main Voodoo leader, Daagbo Hounon Hounan, who generously offers a lavish meal to his famous guests from the black diaspora.

Roasted pork chops, fried beef, smoked chicken and goat meat stew beckon the hungry guests, who find relief - at long last - after a hectic day.

Voodoo Day was declared a national holiday in Benin more than a decade ago, under the administration of former President Nicephore Soglo.

Mr Soglo is said to have been saved from death thanks to Voodoo powers. So in gratitude to the Voodoo community of the country, he gave them official recognition.

But shortly after he was elbowed out of power in 1996, the new President, Mathieu Kerekou, attempted to ban it, saying Benin was a secular state.

The matter was brought before parliament and Mr Kerekou's challenge was thrown out.

The MPs' move made the Voodoo community stronger and Mr Kerekou withdrew from the Voodoo business.

This was quite strange given that Mr Kerekou was himself born to a Voodoo priestess, Yokosi, who is said to have given him "native" insurance against spiritual enemy attacks.

The chameleon In the Somba community of north-western Benin, kids are protected from attack by evil forces from birth.

Anyone trying to kill them by using dark powers may actually sign their own death warrant. And Mr Kerekou, a Somba, was no exception.

Back in the mid-seventies, there were many invisible attacks on Mr Kerekou's life with the purpose of robbing him of his soul, an art that is locally referred to as zombification.

But as Mr Kerekou himself once said in public, "my enemies are wasting their time. They can't take my voice away or silence me. The branch will never break in the hands of the chameleon."

The chameleon is Mr Kerekou's nickname, embodying his power.

It seems that the man has never stopped believing in mystical forces, although he calls himself a born-again Christian.