vodun
West African spiritualism
Vodun is a West African religion centered on spirits called vodun or loa, practiced especially in Benin, Togo, and Ghana.
Adherents communicate with these spirits through ritual, dance, and possession.
The religion traveled to the Americas through the slave trade, evolving into related practices like Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo.
Also spelled vodoun or voodoo, though voodoo often carries sensationalized connotations of black magic and zombies that practitioners find reductive.
West African republic
- DahomeyBenin's former name
- YorubaNigerian people and language
- West AfricaContinent's western bulge
- NigeriaWest African federal republic
Ghana · diaspora · Afro-Caribbean · Creole · Haiti · syncretism · Santería · transatlantic
Formal event marking occasions
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
- altarSacred ritual table
- sacrificeGiving up something precious
- offeringsThings presented or given
drums · chants · trance · possession · divination · libations · initiation · taboos
Worshipped supernatural beings
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- LegbaVodou spirit of crossroads
- pantheonAll gods of a religion
- spirit possessionEntity controlling someone's body
Baron Samedi · manifestation · intercession · veneration · crossroads · serpent · rainbow · thunder
Plant-based healing tradition
- spiritual cleansingRitual removal of impurities
- protectionGuarding against harm
- remedyCurative treatment or fix
- divinationForetelling through mystical means
exorcism · balance · purification · wellness · consultation · baths · amulets · talismans
Spirits inhabit all things
- spirit worldRealm of the dead
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- cosmologyStudy of universal structure
- sacredWorthy of reverence
profane · destiny · fate · balance · nature spirits · life force · interconnection · afterlife
Benin
West African republic
- DahomeyBenin's former name
- YorubaNigerian people and language
- West AfricaContinent's western bulge
Nigeria · Ghana · diaspora · Afro-Caribbean · Creole · Haiti · syncretism · Santería · transatlantic · slave trade
ceremony
Formal event marking occasions
offerings · drums · chants · trance · possession · divination · libations · initiation · taboos · sacred objects
deities
Worshipped supernatural beings
Baron Samedi · spirit possession · manifestation · intercession · veneration · crossroads · serpent · rainbow · thunder
herbalism
Plant-based healing tradition
- spiritual cleansingRitual removal of impurities
- protectionGuarding against harm
- remedyCurative treatment or fix
divination · exorcism · balance · purification · wellness · consultation · baths · amulets · talismans · restoration
animism
Spirits inhabit all things
- spirit worldRealm of the dead
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- cosmologyStudy of universal structure
sacred · profane · destiny · fate · balance · nature spirits · life force · interconnection · afterlife · morality
priestess
Female religious officiant
medium · diviner · healer · elder · community · spiritual leader · oracle · custodian · apprentice · congregation
vodunRoman Catholicism
Papal Christian tradition
Protestantism · Islam · secular humanism · Puritanism · Calvinism
vodunrationalism
Reason as knowledge source
atheism · secularism · empiricism · skepticism · positivism