Benin is considered to be "the original Motherland" of Voodoo cult, which has shaped on a basis of Dahomey host of spirits and deities. Voodoo teaches to respect ancestors. Voodoo worshippers believe that after death a soul goes to "tukum" - the realm of the dead. There, it also suffers from cold and hunger, like alive person. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of a deceased soul, otherwise it will turn into a zombie and will take revenge. During a day souls dwell among alive, and at night comes "a day of the dead”. They leave food and water in clay pots for souls of ancestors and do not blow off a fire in a hearth. Voodoo is a spirit that is worshiped, with which consult and to whom they offered sacrifices. Despite the fact that for a long time during religious ceremonies, people are not sacrificed, rituals of Voodoo still shock the Europeans. During the ceremony, people perform ritual dances on a rhythm, created by tom-toms and bells. A priest cuts throats of a sacrificial rooster or a goat, then pulls out a heart from a chest of an animal and sprinkles with still warm blood faces of congregations, fallen into a ritual ecstasy. According to Voodoo worshippers, the world was born of a marital union of water ( "OSSI") and land ( "ayakumba"). That is why a cult of Voodoo is so closely connected with nature.
BeninIn Benin you will learn old traditions of African people and feel a special atmosphere of bright tribal rituals, festivals and ceremonies |
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CotonouThe main sights of Cotonou are the huge market, including a fetish market, the central mosque, the National Museum and the Botanic Garden |
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OuidahOuidah - the quiet and peaceful town - is a center of African mystical Voodoo cult. The main sights are: the Temple of Python, the sacred grove, the Museum of Voodoo |