What is Vodun?

Vodun, and the vodun

That is why I prefer to speak of the vodun as much as of vodun. Legba, Dan, Sakpata and Hèviosso are distinct vodun, each with its own history, attributes and traditions, and the families or communities that serve it. And a tradition from Sakété should not be presented as identical to that of Abomey or Ouidah. There is, however, a set of principles that allow us to recognise one great tradition^[1].

Benin itself presents this pantheon to UNESCO, in its nomination file “Vodun, beliefs, social practices and art of living”: a tradition that brings together beliefs in divinities, social practices through rituals, and a way of life, in which the divinities are organised by the elements, water with Tohossou, earth with Sakpata, air with Dan and fire with Hèviosso, and in which the ancestors hold a central place^[2]. The art historian Dana Rush describes it as an open religion, always unfinished, able to take in new divinities and new images^[3].

A supreme God?

Yes: in the religious thought of southern Benin, there is a supreme divine principle, often called Mawu-Lisa in the Fon and related traditions. But I advise against explaining vodun by simply saying: “Mawu-Lisa is God, and the vodun are his little gods.” This comparison with Christianity can help at the start, but it quickly falls short. The relationships between Mawu-Lisa, the vodun, human beings, nature and the invisible world are far more complex^[1].

The vodun are divine powers with which communities maintain particular relationships. Some traditions also hold other ideas about the creation and order of the world. An ancient tradition goes beyond any simple scheme.

Priests, initiates, families

Vodun has people in charge of transmission and religious service: priests and priestesses, vodunsi initiates, heads of vodun houses, and, depending on their role, specialists in particular fields. In my own path, I am a vodun priest and a bokonon; the bokonon is bound to the Fâ, the great divination system of southern Benin, and his role is distinct from that of other priests. Becoming a priest or entering an initiation involves a transmission, responsibilities, discipline and obligations; and part of this knowledge remains reserved^[1].

Initiation, which the ethnomusicologist Gilbert Rouget photographed for decades, takes place in the convent, where the novices learn the songs and dances that will allow them to connect people and gods^[4]. The ancestors have their own cult, which sits alongside that of the vodun in the same houses.

A moral code?

Yes, though I would not use the word “morality” the way a catechism does. Vodun involves respect, responsibility, the given word, and one’s relationship with family, community, ancestors and divinities. It also has prohibitions and obligations. A practitioner cannot say: “I believe in vodun, so I can do whatever I want.” The relationship with the sacred brings responsibilities^[1].

For me, respect for one’s word, respect for people, self-control and the ability to recognise one’s limits are essential. That is also why I distrust an image of vodun reduced to “doing something to someone”: vodun is far greater than acting on others.

Vodun in Benin today

In the 2002 census, the last one broken down by religion, 17% of Beninese declared themselves vodun practitioners, and 6% followers of other traditional religions, alongside 27% Catholics and 24% Muslims^[5]. These figures underestimate its real place: according to the U.S. report on religious freedom, many Beninese who identify as Christian or Muslim also practise vodun or other traditional religions^[6].

The state recognises vodun: a national holiday is devoted to it, now on the second Friday of January; and a presidential decree of 13 September 2023 created a committee of nine priests and specialists to formalise the rites for religious tourism^[6]. On 17 March 2026, Benin and Haiti jointly submitted to UNESCO a nomination for the vodou of both countries^[7]. In French, see the original version of this entry (in French).

What I would like you to have understood

If you were to remember only five things when leaving this page, I would like them to be these:^[1]

• vodun is a religion and a living tradition;
• it is entirely distinct from sorcery, curses or dolls;
• there are many vodun and many local traditions;
• priests and initiates carry responsibilities and transmitted knowledge, and not everything is shown to the public;
• to understand vodun, you have to look at the life of families and communities, not only at the spectacular ceremonies of a festival day.

This is the spirit in which I hope every page of this encyclopedia will be read.