History of the Vodun of Benin

History of the Vodun in Benin
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History of the Vodun in Benin I.                   Introduction For most Americans, Voodoo is associated with witchcraft through visual representation of black magic, spells, and curse by witchdoctors, zombies, and dolls impaled with stickpins. The Voodoo religious practice is essentially the eye of a stock of stereotypes and fear. This perception of Voodoo is not only in the public domain but also within Hollywood productions and literature and has contributed to the religious practice being misunderstood, ridiculed, attacked, and demonized while at the same time being feared. Scholars have associated the inherent stereotypes and prejudice on the practice to the legacy of slavery.   Background Voodoo is a faith like any other and has both, what would be perceived as outsiders, good and dark sides. It has a following of over 50 million people in the world spread across West Africa, Brazil, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the American Southern State of Louisiana. It was introduced in the United States in slavery, where it was imported from West Africa through the slave trade. In an increasingly diversified and inclusive world, with a myriad of cross-cultural interactions coupled with the fundamental democratic freedom of manifesting any religion through worship, practice, teaching, or observance, a better understanding of the voodoo practice is required to inform discourse both in public and academic domains. The current paper explores the origins of the voodoo religious practices by examining their roots and evolutions to date as means to add to the foundation of knowledge about this ancient African religion. II.                History and Evolution of Voodoo Islam and Christianity are the world's leading religions by numbers. Combined, they command a following of over 5 billion people, over half of the global population. While these religions appear to be antagonistic, they are more related than people think. They are both Abrahamic religions at their core because they recognize Abraham marks the point at which they diverged. Further, the two religions began in the same region (Middle East). Historians and researchers estimate that Islam started in the 7^th century. Origins of the Voudon If this date is anything to go by, Voodoo began in West Africa 9 centuries later. It originated in the ancient Kingdom of Dahomey, which consisted of today's Nigeria, Togo, and Benin. Accurate spellings of the practice include Vodun and vodoun. However, Voodoo is the most widely used, although it is a derogatory and sensationalist Western creation. It is a comprehensive system of knowledge that has little to do with its familiar, simplistic, and erroneous perception like hexing an adversary, turning people into zombies, or sticking pins into dolls. A comprehensive body of knowledge means Voodoo is a system of beliefs that link the physical world to the spiritual world with practices that encompass critical humanity dimensions like day-to-day social interactions, health...