A vodunsi is a person consecrated to a vodun through initiation. In Fon the name means “wife of the vodun”, a title borne by men and women alike. Initiation makes them the servant of a divinity and of a house, with its obligations, discipline and limits; in Beninese voodoo, nobody becomes a vodunsi simply by deciding to one day.
At the temple of Sakété, what being a vodunsi means
Direct observationWêtê Agbonon, vodun priest and bokonon of the Fâ, at the temple of Sakété
When people say “vodunsi”, many simply think of someone who practises vodun. The word is more precise: it means a person consecrated to the vodun, who has received initiation and entered a particular relationship with a divinity and a tradition of transmission. Believing in vodun or attending a ceremony does not make anyone a vodunsi. With us, initiation marks a change of place in life: it brings obligations, discipline, a different way of listening and of respecting what has been passed on. It can also change how a person understands themselves, and their relationship with their family, their community and the vodun to which they are consecrated[1].
Key points
- The vodunsi is consecrated to a vodun through initiation; the title “wife of the vodun” applies to men and women alike.
- Initiation first imposes a responsibility, long before any power.
- Part of what is received during initiation belongs to transmission and is not published.
The more one receives in a tradition, the more one must know what one may do, and what one must not do[1].
“Wife of the vodun”
Vodunsi, or hùnsi: the Fon word means “wife of the vodun”, and it is given to both sexes[2]. The vocabulary says more: in Fon, hùn means at once the blood in our veins, the secret and the vodun, so that the hùnsi is, according to a University of Abomey-Calavi document, the wife of the blood, of the secret and of the vodun; the initiate serves as a link between the profane and the vodun[3]. The path varies: not all initiates go through the convent, and a parent feeling death approaching may decide to bequeath their vodun to one of their children. In every case, nobody becomes a vodunsi by a simple decision: families say one must hear the vodun’s call[2][1].
The convent
The convent, hùnkpamɛ̀ in Fon, is often set up inside the family compound. It is a place of training where the future servants of the vodun live and are initiated, under the authority of a priest, the hounnon, and where each initiate receives a name linked to their spiritual function in the convent[3]. The ethnomusicologist Gilbert Rouget, who photographed vodun initiation for decades, recalls that until recently it condemned novices to a long seclusion, sometimes of several years, now shorter. The secluded give the best of their time to song and dance: for Rouget, initiation is first the learning of a musical behaviour, which must make the novices able, through song and dance, to connect people and gods[4].
The coming-out of the initiates
The end of initiation is marked by a public coming-out, often spectacular, in which the new initiates appear before the community; Rouget saw in it a theatre, in the noble sense[4]. An EHESS film followed one of these coming-outs in Adjarra, near Porto-Novo, in 2010, showing, in the cult of a Yoruba divinity, a novice called iyawo, “the youngest of the wives”[5]. These coming-outs can also be seen during the vodun festival, where the vodunsi of many convents dance in public. What the visitor sees is only part of what the initiate has lived[1].
The stages, in what can be said
| Stage | What can be said of it |
|---|---|
| The call | One enters the convent because the vodun calls, or because a parent bequeaths their vodun |
| Entering the convent | The novice leaves ordinary life to live in the convent, often in the family compound |
| Seclusion | Once several years long, now shorter, devoted mainly to song and dance |
| The coming-out | A public coming-out presents the new initiates to the community |
| Life as a vodunsi | Obligations, discipline and prohibitions towards the house and the vodun |
Vodunsi and trance
During public ceremonies, some vodunsi enter trance: they are possessed by their vodun, to the sound of drums and songs. Gilbert Rouget devoted his great book of 1980, Music and Trance, to this phenomenon, studying the links between music and possession across many cultures[6]. What the public sees then is the outcome of a long apprenticeship, begun in the convent[1].
What can be said, and what is kept
One must be careful with what is told publicly. An initiation includes things that can be explained: the discipline, respect, the prohibitions that may come with a consecration, the obligations towards the vodun house, the place of transmission. But the precise words, certain gestures, objects, ritual sequences and knowledge received during initiation belong to the transmission itself. I do not consider it right to put everything on the Internet simply because we now have the means to[1].
A responsibility before a power
Initiation does not give anyone some automatic power over others: it first imposes a responsibility. The more one receives in a tradition, the more one must know what one may do, and also what one must not do; a vodunsi therefore also learns to respect their limits. The vodunsi keeps a place in the life of their house: they follow its rules, serve its vodun and carry the tradition entrusted to them. To understand the great families of vodun they may serve, see Sakpata, Hèviosso or Dan[1].
What researchers say
Vodun initiation has mainly been studied by anthropologists and ethnomusicologists. The main works, in chronological order:
- 1938Melville Herskovits describes cult houses and initiation in his study of the kingdom of Dahomey[7].
- 1980Gilbert Rouget publishes Music and Trance, the reference work on possession[6].
- 2001Gilbert Rouget gathers his photographs of vodun initiation in Initiatique vôdoun[4].
- 2010An EHESS film follows a convent coming-out in Adjarra, near Porto-Novo[5].
What we know, and how we know it
What comes from oral tradition
What is received during initiation is passed on in the convent and the house, and remains reserved[1].
What comes from direct observation
Initiation as a change of place in life, and responsibility before power, come from my practice[1].
What is documented
The meaning of the word, the convent, seclusion and the coming-out are described by researchers[2][3][4][5].
What is interpretation
Holding that the more one receives, the more one must know one’s limits is a position I defend[1].
What is still debated
The length of seclusion varies between vodun, houses and periods[4].
Common misconceptions about vodunsi
Frequently asked questions
What is a vodunsi?
A person consecrated to a vodun through initiation; the name means “wife of the vodun” and applies to men and women.
How does someone become a vodunsi?
By hearing the vodun’s call, or by inheriting a parent’s vodun, then through initiation, often in a convent.
How long does vodun initiation last?
Seclusion was once several years long; it is now shorter, and varies between vodun and houses.
Do all vodunsi go into trance?
No: only some vodunsi enter trance during ceremonies.
Glossary
- Hounnon: the priest who leads a convent.
- Hùnkpamɛ̀: the convent, in Fon.
- Hùnsi: another name for the vodunsi.
Notes and references
[1] Direct observation and oral transmission, Wêtê Agbonon, bokonon, temple of Sakété.
[2] « L’éducation dans les couvents vodous au Bénin », University of Geneva online journal. See (in French)
[3] University of Abomey-Calavi, « Enjeux des places vodoun », research document. See (in French)
[4] ROUGET Gilbert, Initiatique vôdoun. Images du rituel, Saint-Maur, Sépia, 2001.
[5] « Le jour et la nuit : filmer une sortie de couvent de vodun à Adjarra (Bénin) », film and commentary, EHESS. See (in French)
[6] ROUGET Gilbert, La Musique et la transe, Paris, Gallimard, 1980; English translation Music and Trance, University of Chicago Press, 1985.
[7] HERSKOVITS Melville J., Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom, New York, J. J. Augustin, 1938, 2 vols.
Sources
- ROUGET Gilbert, Initiatique vôdoun, 2001.
- HERSKOVITS Melville J., Dahomey, 1938.
- Direct observation and oral transmission, temple of Sakété, 1994–2026
Cite this entry
Wêtê Agbonon, « The vodunsi », dans Vodun Bénin, l’encyclopédie du vodun béninois, entry no. 021, updated on 28 October 2026. Online: https://vodunbenin.org/en/vodunsi/ (accessed on 1 November 2026). Licence CC BY 4.0.
- Last checked : 7 October 2026
- Reuse : free, with attribution, under the licence CC BY 4.0
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