Spiritual force

Voodoo is a state religion in Benin - the West African country where the practice started, before being taken to Haiti and elsewhere by slaves.

Some 65% of the seven million population are adherents. They say it is a positive force, bearing little resemblence to the popular image of people casting evil spells by sticking pins in dolls.

Priestess Na Danon says the word "Voodoo" means both the religion and the spiritual forces within natural phenomena such as water, fire, earth and air.


Sacrifice

"When you want to ask the voodoo for something, you have to give something in return - as a sacrifice.

"This is usually something to eat or drink, such as a chicken or some alcohol.

"Now he can help you. If he helps you, and you get more money and goods, you can come back with more offerings to ask for more."

Sand heap

"For a sacrifice, I cut the throats of two chickens, one male and one female and feed them to the shrine.

"When you see the voodoo [spirits], you see a heap of sand. But inside this sand are the spirits. So when we pour blood on the sand heap, we get a reaction from the spirits inside the hill.

"There is Mary and Jesus in Christian belief. In voodoo, there is male and female. When we want to make sacrifices, we call on the female first, before calling the male."

Worshippers

"I became a voodoo priestess like Jesus Christ came to earth. Jesus came from the skies. I came back to this life as a voodoo priestess.

"You cannot volunteer to become a voodoo chief, it is your life, and your only way of staying alive.

"I cannot count how many people come to see me. I have more than 200 followers. On big festival days this whole house is full of worshippers.

"People come to ask for help - to get a job or to cure an illness."

Abusing voodoo

"When you are ill, we perform ceremonies here and the person gets better.

"If people say voodoo is bad, that means they don’t understand it.


Doll



"This fetish is a representation of my sister, my twin sister, who died. Now I have this doll to remind me of her.

"There are eight voodoo priestesses in Ouidah - Benin's voodoo capital.

My grandfather was a voodoo priest. When he died I succeeded him."
Voodoo is God. If God says: 'Follow me, do not turn to the left or turn to the right, just walk straight ahead,’ then you do that.

"Voodoo is the same. Voodoo is not used to do bad things, only for good. There are people who use it for evil purposes, but they are not respecting the religion."



Long life

"When I get up in the morning I go to the house of the voodoo, and ask for peace for everyone in my house, in Ouidah, all over the country and the whole world.

"My role is to ask the Gods for peace.

"A voodoo priestess enjoys good health and a long life. If I do a ceremony for you, good things will happen for you.

"You will remember me, and maybe send money to me."


Protect others

"When nobody comes to ask for a sacrifice, I sit down on my favourite chair, and I watch television. I look out for everything that is happening in the world.

"If there is a war somewhere, I will pray for peace. It might be in Ivory Coast, or Iraq, I will pray for peace there.

"I will tell you one thing: if you are a voodoo priestess, your only work is to protect others, and ask favours of the voodoo spirits."

Interview and photos: James Copnall