People tend to believe in various gods, spirits and witchcraft. Most of these beliefs are witnessed in Africa and Asian and North American countries like Cuba and Haiti. Witchcraft is also practiced in some countries, with a few believing in it entirely. Traveling as a tourist may be the ideal option to better understand the various religious beliefs. These diviners and prophets practicing these beliefs are open to sharing more about their spirituality. Globalization and transnationalism are the significant factors that have enabled the learning of these various religious beliefs. Being able to travel from one country to another has allowed those willing to understand better the world’s diverse religions to travel. African religions provide important points for critical analysis. To better understand the culture of the people, the first step is to acknowledge their religious beliefs. This paper will analyze African religions and spirituality, emphasizing the Benin culture in West Africa. For many Béninois, the thoughts in witchcraft, the spirit of Vodún and the Fá divination are non-negotiable components of the belief system. The spirits are believed to be the sole healers and they answer prayers.
Vodúnisant believed that the spirits left human bodies at night and assembled in tall trees as birds to plot and enact the slow demise of some members by gradually eating their souls until death is achieved. However, this should not be confused with witchcraft, as they are two distinct terms. Witchcraft is considered to be supreme of all the religions in Benin. Witches were feared much as no one was immune to the social power of witchcraft. According to Timothy, despite people with different identities, like Christians, Muslims, or Vodúnisant, all believed in witchcraft. Nafi had attended a local Evangelical church where she graduated as a devoted follower of Christ. To help spread her belief in Christ, she conducted meetings at her home for prayer purposes. Her friends wondered how she could associate with those that believed in the spirit of vodún, that is, whenever she interacted with Timothy. The difference in belief strengthened the relationship since each wanted to learn more from the two thoughts. Timothy’s main work as an anthropologist was to understand the various religions, including Christianity and the local practiced spirits and witchcraft.
The friendship between Timothy and Nafi existed beyond the essential fondness for each other. What was spoken of was entirely on religious conversions and beliefs, topics the two were deeply interested in. Nafi questions Timothy on why he decides to throw his chances of going to heaven by believing in spirits. The main reason for the belief was witnessing miracles happening and being encouraged by the vodún. Nafi has this racial belief that whites have a free pass to go to heaven and blacks need to work hard to enter it. Based on Nafi’s story about her conversion, it became evident that it is not always about replacing an old belief with a new one but through filtration of the old and new ideas through politics and personal experience.
Even for those with different religious ideologies, witchcraft is the most feared act in Southern Bénin. Many people had been sick, and even others died, and they claimed to have been victims of witchcraft. His personal experience influenced Timothy’s belief in witchcraft. Nafi became very sick, making her believe she had been a victim of witchcraft because of her success in the market. She chose Christ, who intern healed her and continues to protect her. She identifies herself as a follower of Christ.
Marie’s fluency in three locally spoken languages enabled her to be a tour guide. Timothy interacted with her and understood the challenges she first experienced but later overcame them. Marie was terrified at first, given that she was raised as a Catholic and was now in a community that was practicing a different religion. Living among the Béninois soon made her believe in the gods. Religious power made her covert, and she even looked forward to being a priestess. She even went ahead to build a shrine as a Vodún priestess for Tron. The questions tourists kept asking her as she acted as a guide made her question her religious beliefs as a Catholic and she finally decided to convert partially. Since the two religions had truth in them, she believed in both but mainly in the Vodún. Her daily participation increased as she became more progressively involved in the cultural practice of Southern Béninois.
Both Marie’s living experiences and Jean’s urging made Timothy reconsider his belief and belief in the new religion of Southern Béninois. Identity has also influenced many people like Nafi to convert from Vodún to Christianity to find modern solutions to threats of witchcraft. Others like Marie have converted to Vodún from Christianity to be identified as one of the community members associated with their cultural identities. Each has the right to place him or herself with the culture they believe in, thus bringing essence among the people of Bénin.
As Timothy endeavored to learn more about the people’s cultural identity, the easiest way was an apprenticeship. It enabled him to understand it better and record the practices for future reference. Some politicians concealed in Fá as they believed their political ambitions were protected and assured. Despite being the real reason for a majority of the politicians associating with the Vodún, a majority did not want the public to know. They feared they would not be taken seriously.
Consequently, the politicians were not that entirely in the culture’s belief. Their main aim was to gain favor from the spirits, thus ensuring success in the elections. The majority were never interested in becoming diviners but had only political ambitions. It was also evident that it was not only politicians but also Evangelical ministers who concealed their involvement in Vodún. Fá spirit was closely associated with individual people as it guided them in achieving personal fate. Even to those who had identified themselves as non- Vodún believers, still had belief in receiving their Fá for purposes of personal success. It is believed that the spirit guides people on living to avoid being victims of taboos.
After getting initiated into the traditional culture of the Vodún religion, the Fá divination, which is a key component of the religion, guides people on how to leave. It is considered to be the spiritual system of religion. It offers knowledge, divine wisdom, and advice, which is essential in making good decisions and revealing their destiny. People get caution against eating certain foods such as pork, papaya, or guinea hen. As Timothy got a better understanding through Jean’s narrative, he understood the influence Fá had on the social way of life of the people. It is evident that Fá is flexible and has cultural reach, impact and value regardless of one’s primary religious identity.
The flow of belief from Africa to the African Americas was also witnessed. Contemporaneous beliefs in Vodún are the products of centuries of cultural flow, movement and blending among the Fon and Yorùbáland communities. When the continent’s grip on the outside world became evident, it came to pass that some traditional African practices were to be illegalized. Use of evil powers to perform deeds like witchcraft seemed to be a danger to the living, hence the illegalizing. Despite that, new regimes made plans to revoke that and started making political and economic strategies to attract international tourists. Holidays like the ‘National Vodún Day’ were, as a result, formed.
Cuban and American spiritual seekers travel to West Africa for spiritual legitimation. Women like D’Haifa have a great interest in becoming diviners and are willing to go the extra mile just for that to be possible. Her actions are extensively known in the USA and even encouraged more women to travel to the West of Africa to make their ambitions of receiving certain spirits become possible. The social-religious laws and beliefs preventing women from participating are being negotiated locally and internationally by Vodún and Fá/Ifá practitioners. Vodún is a traditional religion practiced in Southern Benin. To get introduced into the religion, one has to be initiated. Initiation is thus a right of passage and is used to cleanse one before being a Vodúnisant. Culture is the way of life of those practicing their religions, be it Muslims, Christians or Vodúnisant.
Foreign spiritual seekers have also been victims of changing their beliefs and practices when visiting West Africa. Certificates of authenticity are also provided to the foreign initiates, especially by the Yorùbá of Nigeria, who are known to associate with Western spiritual tourists. When the country receives more tourists, the economy grows. As a result, the religious practices in West Africa are a source of income for the governments since many visitors tend to visit the region and witness the culture shock. Some priests questioned animal sacrifices at the Ifa Foundation as they could still perform authentic and powerful initiations without necessarily involving animal bloodshed.
The majority of those against animal blood sacrifice practice saw it as a waste of money, fraud, and inauthentic. The practitioners believed animal sacrifice inhibited spiritual transformation. The only agreeable deed among all practitioners at the Ifa Foundation was substituting one ingredient for another in initiations or spirit shrines, as it is far less problematic. Jean verifies this when he narrates how he managed to replace the language and ritual songs and leaves in the quest to find a better place to practice the deed in the United States. It meant that it was possible to improvise and use a unique method to communicate with the gods. Animal sacrifice was not the only option.
Under the 4-way dimensions of dialogue, according to Donald Mitchell, the first step involves conversation of life. Here the two participants involved in the dialogue share life and respect each other. Secondly, the degree requires a dialogue of deeds and collaboration. In the essay, Timothy works closely with Nafi to better understand the two religions of Christianity and Vodún. Thirdly, theological discussion. Under this, it is assumed an individual is deeply rooted in their beliefs. In the essay, an example would be Nifa, who is rooted in Christianity and Marie, who is rooted in Vodún. She even goes as far as becoming a priestess—finally, religious experience. Here one of the two participants involved in the dialogue shares their beliefs with the other, just as Nafi shared her beliefs with Timothy about going to heaven.
A 6-way dialogue was formulated to get to the heart of interfaith dialogue. The first step in this involves getting together and sharing stories. The essay can be seen when Jean, Nafi and Marie shared their stories with Timothy to understand their reasons for believing in a particular religion. Step two involves core teaching of the tradition. Nafi teaches Timothy the importance of believing in Christ, for he would get the chance to get to heaven. Critical thinking falls under step three. Under it, core teaching applies to each religion without marginalizing the other. Ethics of love, oneness and compassion are captured in all cultures.
Despite Nafi and Marie having different ideologies on what to believe in, they both accommodate Timothy with love. Under step four, difficult conversations resulting from the criticism of other religions are witnessed. The goal here is to criticize the wrong deeds or practices. One can unveil the drawbacks of the opposite religion and address them through critics. Step five involves the integration of different religions to become one. As portrayed in the essay, individuals like Nifa sorted to find new ways of overcoming witchcraft and believing in Christ due to globalization. Lastly, step six involves the urgent need for interfaith practices. Interfaith practices would integrate all the essential aspects of each religion into a new one accepted by all. It is realized in the conversations when Nifa indicates that she believes in Christ and the Vodun religion. She joins the two religions and concludes that they each have a unique feature that can be borrowed.
There are numerous accounts whereby the author communicates with other believers regarding their religions; It indicates that interreligious dialogue occurred within the settings. As an anthropologist, Timothy aims to understand the different cultures and beliefs of the people in Southern Bénin. To better understand this, he involves himself in religious dialogues with people like Nafi, Marie and Jean without looking down upon their religions. He concludes that all religions are important, and each can acquire some practices from the other. The dominant form of dialogue in the essay is outer dialogue. We see how Timothy has conversations with the locals and foreigners in Bénin regarding their respective religious beliefs when reading through. Each time the conversation involves two people making it an outer dialogue. As a result, the essay’s six-way dialogue pattern is predominant.
Belief is problematic as it is strongly associated with Western ideas of Christianity applied by scholars to other religious traditions. Each individual has the right to choose their religion and learn from its mistakes or benefits. Witchcraft and Vodun’s belief are two different things. Vodún is a religion just like Christianity. Belief can be viewed as a creative process that is slow to form, especially for those converting to new religions, thereby changing the layer of the new belief. New beliefs do not necessarily replace old beliefs. Instead, belief layering is experienced whereby the new one overshadows the old beliefs. When a new belief is introduced, it does not necessarily replace the old belief but only gives a better option to ones thinking and understanding. The creative layering of belief, especially in Southern Bénin, was greatly influenced by all religions, Vodun, Christianity, and Muslims within the region, and the company of tourists and other religious practitioners from different parts of the world. Vodún is a traditional religion among the Southern Benin people.
Reference
Landry, T. R. (2015). Vodún, globalization and the creative layering of belief in southern Bénin. Journal of Religion in Africa, 45(2), 170-199. Web.