West African Vodun
Vodun (meaning spirit in the Fon and Ewe languages, pronounced [vodṹ] with a nasal high-tone u; also spelled Vodon, Vodoun, Vodou, Voudou, Voodoo, etc.) is practiced by the Ewe people of eastern and southern Ghana, and southern and central Togo; and the Kabye people, Mina people, and Fon people of southern and central Togo, southern and central Benin. It is also practiced by some Gun people of Lagos and Ogun in southwest Nigeria. All the which belong to Gbe speaking ethnic groups of West Africa, except the Kabye.
It is different from the African traditional religions in the middle of these countries and is the main source of religions with similar names found among the African Diaspora in the New World such as Haitian Vodou; Puerto Rican Vodú; Cuban Vodú; Dominican Vudú; Brazilian Vodum; and Louisiana Voodoo. All of these closely related faiths are syncretized with Christianity to various degrees and with the traditional beliefs of the Kongo people and Indigenous American traditions.[1][2][3]
References
change- ↑ Arthur, Linda B. (2000). Undressing Religion: Commitment and Conversion from a Cross-Cultural Perspective. Berg. ISBN 978-1-85973-480-3.
- ↑ Maya Deren (1953). Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. McPherson & Company. ISBN 978-0-914232-63-6.
- ↑ J. Lorand Matory (9 February 2009). Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomble. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-3397-9.
