Dahomean religion

The Dahomean religion was practiced by the Fon people of the Dahomey Kingdom. The kingdom existed until 1898 in what is now the country of Benin. People taken from Dahomey to the Caribbean used elements of the religion to form Vodou and other religions of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.[1][2]

Mawu and Lisa

Lisa (male) and Mawu (female), married twin siblings of Nana Buluku, are the creator spirits, occasionally combined as Mawu-Lisa, an androgynous spirit. Mawu-Lisa created the world and made it orderly, then made plants, animals, and humans; the entire process took four days.

  • The first day, Mawu-Lisa created the world and humanity;
  • The second day the earth was made suitable for human life;
  • On the third day, humans were given intellect, language, and the senses;
  • Finally, on the fourth day, mankind received the gift of technology.

Offspring-spirits of Mawu and Lisa

  • Gbadu
  • Da and Gu
  • Dan

Other spirits

See also

References

  1. Akyeampong, Emmanuel (2014). Africa's Development in Historical Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 452. ISBN 9781107041158.
  2. Anderson, Jeffrey (2015). The Voodoo encyclopedia : magic, ritual, and religion. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781610692090.
  • Vodoun Culture Haitian Vodoun as chronicled by native Haitians
  • Baba Alawoye.com Baba'Awo Awoyinfa Ifaloju, showcasing Ifa using web media 2.0 (blogs, podcasting, video and photocasting)
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