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Saturday Night Ouidah |
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They call it the "suir" and it fills just about the longest part of my day. Starting at noon, it lasts until dark which falls like a blanket at about 7:30 at night. It's now a little after 5 o'clock on my third Saturday night here in Ouidah and, as we near that point of transition, I bask in the listless sorts of chaos that surrounds me at every turn. The streets are filled with people engaged in all manner of locomotion and people engaged in no motion at all. Even as I sit here somewhat secluded, I am spotted and greeted by kids from my neighborhood who are on their way to really no place at all. The moto taxis zip back and forth, some with fares but most in search of fares as the week is nearing the end and the owners' cut is soon due. Children of all ages run through the streets playing games that can't be won for the sake of something to do while I pass a bit of time playing this game of mine. Today I got my first taste of the voodoo experience, a subject about which I know almost nothing but one that interests me greatly. After all, religion is one of the defining elements of a society and as my goal is to understand this society, I can hardly afford to neglect something so crucial. Benin is in fact the birthplace of voodoo and as such it will probably be a subject that is revisited a few times during the course of my stay here. So great is the voodoo influence in Benin that many people who think of themselves as Christians or Muslims also engage in voodoo practices to enhance the likelihood that their beliefs are in accord with some higher power's notion of the right way to live their lives. If you take to the statement that religion is like insurance, then to at least some of the people in Benin, voodoo is like insurance for their insurance. So strong is this pull that I've been told many churches and mosques have no qualms about opening their beliefs to allow for a very diverse definition of faith, and don't mind that at least some of the parishioners engage in a sort of religious synthesis. Of course, as with more familiar religions, I'm sure there are more than a few practitioners of voodoo who would never consider beliefs outside their own. It makes about as much sense to me, personally, as does any aspect of religion -- western, familiar, traditional or otherwise. In the first of what I hope to be many such excursions, I visited the Sacred Forest of Ouidah, which in 1992 was the site of the World's First Festival dedicated to the art and culture of voodoo. My guide, Reml Seglonou, was born in Ouidah and has lived here almost his entire life. Although he told me he believes only in Christianity's version of God, his knowledge of the Forest and the voodoo culture that is the basis of the sculptures within was extensive. The legend of the Sacred Forest begins as seemingly all legends do with the phrase: "a long time ago there lived a king" (named Krasse). According to the legend, however, this king was a bit different from most and spent a great deal of his time as a farmer in the fields along side the people he ruled. When he wasn't working he liked to spend time relaxing in the place that is today the Sacred Forest. It is said that he enjoyed going to this place because in the Sacred Forest he could be joined by both divinities of religious significance as well as the common people from his community. In this realm he because a link between the people he served and the higher powers that governed their lives. Late in his life, King Krasse became aware that his life was nearing an end and instructed the people of his village that when he died he didn't want to be buried because his enemies could harm his body. Krasse was told by the divinities that his death was going to be a sacred event and that he would resume his life afterwards in an unusual manner. It is believed that when he died, King Krasse's body transformed into the body of a tree which still lives in the Sacred Forest today. King Krasse's death and his transformation into this tree are the origin of the Sacred Forest's religious significance today and, indeed, the tree itself is still one of the primary places in which sacrificial offerings are made to the divinities. Tourists who visit the Forest today often remove a piece of the tree's bark so that they may take with them a bit of King Krasse's power. Remi explained that some people even leave coins at the base of the tree in exchange for answers to questions they have or knowledge the tree may be able to impart. In addition to the tree that was once a king, the Sacred Forest is decorated by more than 20 statues that represent various divinities and aspects of the traditional voodoo culture.
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