Last October 26th the residents of Villa Karo got the opportunity to participate in the Tabaski celebration as Villa Karo’s guardians Boubé and Abdullaye, who belong to the Muslim minority in Benin, invited them to join the religious feast. Two lambs were prepared on open fire and tasty Fulani cheese was served for the vegetarians.
Tabaski is one of the most important celebrations of the Muslim year. This day – the date of which varies from one country to … Lue lisää
Vodun Day 2013 by Hannu Lindroos
National Vodun Day was celebrated again in Gbêcon, in Grand-Popo on 10th January 2013.
People across West Africa hold beliefs similar to Vodun, but in Benin this belief system is recognised as an official religion. It is followed by some 40% of the population.
Even if authorities in the past sought to extirpate Voodoo from the country, it is now being widely accepted and celebrated as a religion in its own right, and considered … Lue lisää
In what we had been taken for a storage room, we found a temple, a divine dwelling. The gods took the heart and the blood. We ate the rest with hot corn porridge before rushing away from Zangbetos way in the narrow streets of Heve.… Lue lisää
Me, Rea-Liina Brunou and Marjo Räsänen got our first touch with the West-African voodoo ceremonies at the annual festival of the Gé-people in the village of Glidji, Togo.
The followers of the voodoo god of the sea Mami-Wata gathered there in the mid-September in order to find out how the becoming year is going to be. In the eve of the festival the voodoo priests got to a forest and looked for a sacred stone there. The next day the … Lue lisää