Benin festival seeks to dispel voodoo stereotypes


  • World
  • Tuesday, 14 Jan 2025

FILE PHOTO: Devotees perform as they take part in the annual celebration of Voodoo festival in Ouidah, Benin January 10, 2023. REUTERS/ Charles Placide Tossou/File Photo

OUIDAH, Benin (Reuters) - Modeste Zinsou, manager of Benin's Python Temple, gently drapes a live snake around a visitor's neck at the country's annual voodoo festival, as spectators learn about the reptiles' sacred connection to voodoo spirituality.

Practitioners like Zinsou seek to combat negative stereotypes of voodoo, a 500-year-old religion that celebrates a rich pantheon of deities and spirits.

"Stop saying that voodoo is about dolls. Voodoo is spirituality. Voodoo is you, it's me. It's the air we breathe. It's the four elements, as we say: water, air, fire, and earth," Zinsou said.

Every January, the festival Vodun Days draws tourists and worshippers to the small Atlantic coast town of Ouidah, offering a varied programme of ceremonies, concerts and exhibitions.

This year, visitors could marvel at the spectacle of the so-called guardians of the night - performers dressed head-to-toe in dyed straw, who whirl and dance in an elaborate ritual.

Gbogossi Tolete, a voodoo priestess from the neighbouring town of Grand Popo, said the belief system had nothing to do with witchcraft or harming others.

"Voodoo is as sweet as sugar for anyone who practices it with faith," Tolete said on the sidelines of the festival.

A tourist from the French Caribbean island of Martinique, Nathy Anika Nsemi, said that learning about the religion had helped her reconnect with the world and the faith of her ancestors.

"Voodoo is communion with the world around us."

(Reporting by Pulcherie Adjoha, Seraphin Zounyekpe and Media Coulibaly; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In World

Chinese Spring Festival celebrated with cultural events in Sofia, Bulgaria
Protesters denounce Trump immigration policies outside his Florida golf club
British junior minister sacked by PM Starmer over WhatsApp messages
Ethiopia to leverage AfCFTA to utilize broader market opportunities: official
More than three dozen killed in bus accident in southern Mexico, local media says
Sweden plans stricter gun laws, school security after shooting
Emboldened by Trump, Iranian dissidents demand overthrow of rulers
Orban, Le Pen hail Trump at far-right 'Patriots' summit in Madrid
Trump’s aid freeze keeps life-saving programs shut, sparks mayhem
Over 50 people killed in convoy ambush in northeast Mali, sources say

Others Also Read