The Voodoo Trail: Togo and Benin

Who doesn't know the Voodoo dolls with magic dark power from horror movies? Well, if you ever get an opportunity to visit the region of West Africa, especially Togo or Benin, then you might experience the real Voodoo, which is quite different from the picture we get from these movies. Voodoo is a traditional animistic religion and has its roots in West Africa, mainly Benin. The Voodoo was also spread around the world (mostly in slave ships), you can find Voodoo, sometimes as a syncretic religion combined with Roman Catholicism, for example on Haiti, Brazil, Louisiana or Puerto Rico. Vodun, Vodon, Vodoun or Voudou are all equivalent terms for Voodoo, which means 'spirit' in the Fon language.

Although the 'Voodoo dolls' somehow exist, the correct term is 'Voodoo fetish' in form of a talisman. The word 'fetish' derives from the Portuguese word 'feitiço'. A fetish is a creature, an object, a talisman or an amulet, believed to have supernatural or divine powers. It can be a doll like the well known Voodoo doll; however the fetish object can be virtually anything: for instance a crocodile, a snake, a tree, a flower or simply a rock.