Ancestor worship honours the dead members of a family, whose memory and obligations continue after death. In Beninese voodoo it shares the same houses as the worship of the vodun without merging with it: the ancestor belongs to the history of a lineage, the vodun is a power one serves. In southern Benin, the dead have long been honoured on asɛn, iron altars of their own.
At the temple of Sakété, the ancestor and the vodun
Direct observationWêtê Agbonon, vodun priest and bokonon of the Fâ, at the temple of Sakété
Ancestors and vodun are often confused, because in a family both can belong to the same religious world. For me, the distinction must still be made. The ancestor is first of all someone who belongs to our family history: a person who lived, had a place in the family, passed something on, and whose memory continues after death. The vodun belongs to another register: a power or divinity with which a community, a family or a lineage maintains a particular religious relationship[1].
The ancestors have their full place in the life of vodun; in many families, the memory of the elders, family obligations and the worship of divinities sit side by side. But I would not say “our ancestors are our vodun”: that would be too simple. An ancestor can be honoured because he is an ancestor; a vodun can be served because it is the vodun of the house, the family or the community. The relationships differ, and the rites do not necessarily answer the same obligations.
Key points
- The ancestor belongs to a family’s history; the vodun is a power one serves.
- The two cults sit side by side in the same houses, with distinct obligations.
- Before speaking of religion, one sometimes needs to know whom one descends from.
Family memory is far from a detail[1].
Ancestor or vodun: what distinguishes them
| The ancestor | The vodun | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A person who lived and had a place in the family | A power or a divinity |
| The bond | Family history and the memory of what was passed on | A religious relationship with a community, a family or a lineage |
| Why it is honoured | Because it is an ancestor | Because it is the vodun of the house, the family or the community |
| What is owed | Family obligations, which vary between lineages | Ritual service, with its people in charge and its prohibitions |
A cult of the lineage
In southern Benin, religious life is organised first around the lineage. A University of Abomey-Calavi study of the places of vodun describes ceremonies organised by the family collectively to honour, together, the ancestors and the vodun of the lineage, and convents set up inside the family compound itself[2]. Ancestor worship thus engages a whole family, beyond the piety of one person. That is also why, in a traditional family, knowing one’s history matters: before speaking of religion, one sometimes needs to know whom one descends from, what the elders’ obligations were, and what was passed on[1].
The asɛn, iron altars of the dead
The most visible sign of ancestor worship in the former kingdom of Dahomey is the asɛn. In Fon, the asɛn, in Gun the assányi, is a portable metal altar: a rod planted in the ground, topped with a platform decorated with emblems linked to the dead person, on which offered food and drink are poured. The historian Edna Bay, who devoted a first catalogue to them in 1985, then a book in 2008, describes them as sculptures made to honour the dead, and as meeting points between the visible world and the spiritual world[3][4].
The asɛn have a history. According to Edna Bay, they are rooted in Yoruba practices from before the nineteenth century, when they served the worship of the vodun; their function as ancestor altars developed mainly in the nineteenth century. Their motifs changed with the times, and colonisation extended their use, once reserved for high-ranking families, to a wider part of society. A paradox noted by the historian: these sacred African objects are made with materials and techniques from Europe, and sometimes decorated with figures from tourist art. Their use is declining today, under the influence of Christianity and photography, which offers another way to keep the faces of the dead[4][5].
What the motifs tell
The asɛn speak in images. Edna Bay shows that the Fon read imagery in close connection with speech, with its ambiguities and multiple meanings: a motif often refers to a proverb, a name, a motto. Over time some motifs changed meaning or gained new ones: the ship, for example, became the sign of the foreigners who frequented the coast, while animals shown crucified, such as the crocodile, the cat or the sparrowhawk, addressed messages to the vodun. For the historian, the history of the asɛn mirrors that of the whole country: a warrior monarchy, French colonial rule, then the political and social changes that followed independence. Reading an asɛn means reading part of the history of Benin[4][5].
The ancestors who return
In the Nago towns of Benin, the return of the ancestors takes a visible form: the Egungun, manifestations of the ancestors under a costume of cloth, come out in the streets, and the great outing of Sakété returns every three years. Among the Fon and the Gun, the words kluto or kouvito refer to the dead who return, without exactly covering the Egungun. These traditions show that, for a family, death does not break the relationship: it transforms it. The ancestors keep a place, and the living keep duties towards them[1].
Honouring, without confusing
Honouring an ancestor requires knowing him. That is the meaning of the attention I give to the history of the families who come to consult me: before looking for a cause in the invisible, one must often begin by understanding what the family received, what it forgot, and what it still owes its elders. The Fâ can help a family understand a situation, but it does not replace memory; see What is the Fâ?. A tradition is preserved because people learn, pass on and respect what was entrusted to them; and the place of the ancestors is also seen in the great festivals of the year, where the memory of the elders accompanies the worship of the divinities[1].
What researchers say
Ancestor worship in southern Benin has been studied through its objects and rites. The main works, in chronological order:
- 1985Edna Bay publishes the first catalogue devoted to the asɛn, the iron altars of the Fon[3].
- 2008Edna Bay traces more than 150 years of the history of the asɛn, from the monarchy of Dahomey to their decline[4].
- 2010Joël Noret studies mourning and funerals in southern Benin, where the place of the dead is at stake[6].
What we know, and how we know it
What comes from oral tradition
The obligations towards the ancestors are passed down in each lineage, and vary between families[1].
What comes from direct observation
The distinction between ancestor and vodun, and the attention to family history, come from my practice[1].
What is documented
The lineage ceremonies, the history and motifs of the asɛn, and their decline are established by researchers[2][4][5].
What is interpretation
Refusing to say “our ancestors are our vodun” is a reading I defend[1].
What is still debated
The origins of the asɛn and the meaning of some motifs are discussed by historians[4].
Common misconceptions about the ancestors
Frequently asked questions
Do vodun followers worship their ancestors?
They honour them: the ancestors keep a place in the family, alongside the worship of the vodun, without being confused with it.
What is an asɛn?
A portable iron altar honouring a dead person, among the Fon of Benin, decorated with emblems linked to the deceased.
What is the difference between an ancestor and a vodun?
The ancestor is a person who lived in the family; the vodun is a power or divinity one serves.
Do the ancestors return in vodun?
In the Nago towns, the Egungun embody the return of the ancestors under a costume of cloth.
Glossary
- Asɛn: the portable iron altar of the dead, among the Fon.
- Kouvito: the dead who return, among the Fon and the Gun.
- Lineage: all the descendants of a common ancestor.
Notes and references
[1] Direct observation and oral transmission, Wêtê Agbonon, bokonon, temple of Sakété.
[2] University of Abomey-Calavi, « Enjeux des places vodoun », research document. See (in French)
[3] BAY Edna G., Asen: Iron Altars of the Fon People of Benin, Atlanta, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, 1985.
[4] BAY Edna G., Asen, Ancestors, and Vodun: Tracing Change in African Art, Urbana and Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 2008. See
[5] H-Net Reviews, « The Changing Face of Asen », review of Edna Bay’s book. See
[6] NORET Joël, Deuil et funérailles dans le Bénin méridional. Enterrer à tout prix, Brussels, Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 2010.
Sources
- BAY Edna G., Asen, Ancestors, and Vodun, University of Illinois Press, 2008.
- NORET Joël, Deuil et funérailles dans le Bénin méridional, 2010.
- Direct observation and oral transmission, temple of Sakété, 1994–2026
Cite this entry
Wêtê Agbonon, « Ancestor worship », dans Vodun Bénin, l’encyclopédie du vodun béninois, entry no. 018, updated on 28 October 2026. Online: https://vodunbenin.org/en/ancestor-worship/ (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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