Vodún, Spiritual Insecurity, and Religious Importation in Benin

Abstract

The Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey) is known as the African source of New WorldVodouandVoodoo, but the country’s religious landscape is best characterized by religious importation. Since precolonial times BeninoisVodúnhas exhibited ongoing amalgamation of deities introduced from neighboring peoples. This essay outlines historicalVodúnimports along with more-recent spiritual influences from abroad. I argue that while Beninois people have always been accepting of foreign religions, today this process is largely motivated by the dangers and promises of witchcraft. The current constellation of spiritual traditions embodies a dynamic moment of religious transformation that prompts people to collect even more distant spiritual remedies to seemingly old problems. In this analysis we see that what scholars call syncretism is not necessarily an ideological or hegemonic process, but a product of Beninois people’s pragmatic response to life’s troubles, inequalities, and opportunities.

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