LIFE AFTER DEATH IN VODUISM

NOTE : I AM A FRENCH-SPEAKING STUDENT IN ECONOMICS. ENGLISH IS OUR SECOND LANGUAGE. I DO MY BEST TO TRANSLATE THIS TEXT FROM FRENCH TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES.
(You can send corrections to vozkoffi@gmail.com)
WHAT BECOMES OF THE SOUL VODOUISTE DEATH?

 NB: I want to emphasize the Ewe relativity of this article. I have not pushed my research furher to generalize the concepts of death.

French

Introduction

"What are you going to be after death?", "Do you believe in life after death?", "Do you want to go to heaven?", "With what you write about voodoo, you will go to hell. " Here are some sentences that I used to hear from Christians and Muslims to tear each other apart "to save my dried soul."

However, it never came to their mind that my Ewe education had already predestined me to another life after death? Did they really wondered if these notions of heaven and hell were universal?

DESIGN OF DEATH IN EWE CULTURE.

In Ewe, when someone dies, there are many terms to describe this phenomenon:
- "Eku" => "he / she is dead."
- "Edzo" => "he / she is gone "
- "Eyi nugbe" => "he / she is gone to mission"
- "Edin" => "She/ he has become rare"
- "Ebio mon" => "he / she asked path" ...

We can deduce from these expressions, that death is always associated with a trip. What traveling? to where? to do what?

Well, it is the "klan" (a person's spirit in Ewe) of the individual who made the trip.It is what klan who lived in the flesh of the individual throughout his life. The klan trip to "Kuwode" ie "death home." This expression is literal and descriptive. The real name of "death home" for real Ewe is "avlime" as opposed to "agbegbome" to describe life. The klan is the land of death to meet those who are already dead. So a deceased individual will be with them to the grave.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A PERSON DIES?

    

In Eweland,it is death personified "kudezsu" or "tsanagasu" who ends the carnal existence of an individual to open the way of spiritual existence. So a person does not die because it is actually the klan who left a fleshly existence to a spiritual existence. That is why, in nyigblin voducracy when the King dies, the interregnum may be up to 25 or 30 years during which the king is supposed to continue governing. "The dead are not dead," said David Diop. According to oral tradition, the spirit of the dead person, after leaving the physical body begins to walk on a long and wide path until it reachs a river. It is the crossing of the river that leads to the realm of the dead and decides the individual's final death . This means that during the trip, others died before him, may return the spirit in the body to resume life if the individual is deemed too young to die or if he has not yet finished his mission in agbegbome. If the mind can not take life in the physical body, it is condemned to wander in nature to accomplish his mission before having permission to cross the river. The Ewe ghosts are spirits who have not finished their mission on earth and could not cross the river. So, is dead in Eweland, the person whose spirit has left the body and managed to cross the river that leads to the Kingdom of the Dead.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE KINGDOM OF THE DEAD?

The judgment

The place of the individual in the realm of the dead depends on the circumstances of his death: If he died on a battlefield, in an accident as a result of injury, illness ... his spirit goes to "Apegan" (big house) or "zogbe" (Fields of Fire) which is actually "battlefield" because they are the ones who died in the war who go there. If he died naturally, his mind goes to "Apevi" (small house). After crossing the river, the spirit comes to the Kingdom of dead to be judged primarily by the existing legislation. It is judged by his similar who were watching from beyond the river throughout its existence. So the judgment an Ewe suffers after his death is made by human dead before him. If he is found guilty of serious transgressions, he will serve a sentence before joining his ancestors and to move freely in the realm of the dead. Tradition says that the punishment can be severe: If an individual sued in vain for the life of his brother and  dies before the said brother, the punishment is to let knees in hulls of palm nuts untill the beath of his brother; it is the brother who will decide of the appropriate punishment. Other punishments would be to kneel in the hot sand and serving long prison sentences.

Reincarnation

When the mind has passed judgment and eventually served his sentence, he enters the realm of the dead where he meets his ancestors. There he sits before deciding to return to life as another human appearance but his klan remains the same. The spirit is reincarnated from "Sé" or "Se me" which means "flowering" or "place of flowering" and it is in "Se me" that he receives his earthly mission. This mission is entrusted by God to the individual who may accept or request another mission: This is the "Biova" (which is required), better known under the name of destiny. So in Ewee philosophy, each individual wanted or asked for everything that happens in his life according to his Biova. It was after the Biova that the spirit conceives the human form in which it wants to be reincarnated and come back to life by the mystery of birth. The spirit does not have to be reincarnated in his own house, in the village or in the country. He reincarnates anywhere. But how do you know where the spirit is reincarnated?

The door to afterlife or Hô

At the birth of a child in Eweland, they always look for his "dzoto" which means "who designed it." To know what dzoto, parents should bring the child to "Hô yo pe" which literally means "place of the appellation of room." It is the gate of the kingdom of dead. This is the place where everyone can communicate with those who have died. It is necessary to know who designed a newborn to understand his behaviour in society. Often a quiet person is reincarnated as another quiet individual, noisy individual returnsnoisy, a worker returns a worker and a lazy is exactly the same and so on. To communicate with the spirit of a dead person, a voodoo priestess (that is, 98% of women) called "tofiala" which literally means "that shows the river." In the word tofiala there "to" that signifies river. So it is the tofiala who leads minds to the realm of the dead by providing them across the river. In a way, this is the dead "boatman". It is the tofiala who will seek death with whom we want to talk. It is from this "Hô yo pe" that all information concerning the death which resembled a myth initially were collected. This Hô is a special voduïd different from voodoo, the zoka or azé. This is a link between the material world and the invisible world.

A vodu priestess of Hô
Tsetulapic

Conclusion

In view of these information, there is no hell or heaven in Ewe culture. Life is continuous, linear, where death and birth are eternal beginnings. Everything an individual does in his life, he asked before birth. This is why the notion of fate is too crucial in Ewe culture. The absence of a paradise in the Ewe philosophy has had a remarkable impact on the moral rules of Ewe. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet the wife or the property of others ... all this is UNCONDITIONAL. Everyone is supposed to follow these rules, not for a heavenly reward or for paradise, but for the "welfare of society" they say "VODU" in Ewe. This is the close link between Ewe culture and voodoo. So it is unthinkable to separate Ewe culture from Voodoo because Ewe culture is programmed voodoo language since anyone who does not respect the principles of propriety will be tried either in "agbegbome" or in " avlime "by his peers under the watchful eye of MAWU (God). A person born in a voduic environment, which converts to another religion is  denying himself.

Tsetula TSAGLI

HOLY SCRIPTURES OF VODU : FA/IFA

NOTE : I AM A FRENCH-SPEAKING STUDENT IN ECONOMICS. ENGLISH IS OUR SECOND LANGUAGE. I DO MY BEST TO TRANSLATE THIS TEXT FROM FRENCH TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES.

(You can send corrections to vozkoffi@gmail.com)

Searching knowledge
(VozzPhoto,2011)

French 

In the memory of my uncle FIONYON AGUEVODOU II.

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES OF VODUISM

    The common feature of voduism and abrahamic religions  is the existence of a language of the sacred to the human beings. Some religions have "holy books" that stores messages attributed to God: this mode of communication is one-way (we forget the theological considerations) because it does not have a feed back from the divine. In voduism however, the communication is two-way and is the work of specialists trained for a minimum of 3 to 4 years. The coded language that allows a human to communicate with the divine in the voduism is called the FA. We understand by this that the FA IS NOT A VODU!! It is a double direction human-divine language.

What is the nature of the FA?

Written Fa                                                     Real Fa 

The FA is a language that allows a human being to communicate with one or more vodus. A specialist of Fa is called  Bokon or Bokonon. The Fa is an interpreted language and requires years of training. The Fa has 16 major or basic signs  (Figure 1) written with I and II in 4 rows. So to get to the basic signs, it was a work by counting all possible combinations: 2 power 4 => (2^4) = 16 possibilities. A basic sign  is read vertically. See names ofbasic signs in different languages in the following figure.

Figure 1 (Zanklibevi)

The combination of two basic signs gives a dou or kponli. This kponli is considered a theme or universe that will be interpreted by many experts. And as a kponli is composed of two signs, there will be a total of 16 ² = 256 kponlis or themes to interpret. The kponli is read from right to left. We can write Fa in the conventional binary language by postulating I=0 and II = 1. You can view the possible 256 kponli on the following figure.

The 256 universes of FA.

Origin of Fa:

The origin generally known of Fa is the city of Ife in Nigeria. But Professor Kakpo Mawunyon goes further by finding orgins of Fa in ancient Egypt and the city of Ife is where the Fa was the most worked before spreading in West Africa . But Yoruba influence on the current Fa in the Gulf of Benin is indisputable.

Mr. Zanklibevi gives us a nature of the Fa and his relationship with God in the Yoruba cosmology.

"When Oloddumare, Yoruba pantheon of Supreme God created the universe, there was only Orunmila as witness, and becomes by this fact, the latter knower of all fates. First Prophet Orunmila was sent to earth to assist men in a development that will bring the end of their reincarnations become pure spirits in the kingdom of Orun (heaven). To do so, Orunmila must address his advice and warning notice to humans and tell them that throughout their existence it is through the Ifa He communicates.

The Ifa divination system is an integral part of Yoruba traditions that only a Babalawo, priest who undergoes a long initiation, can practice. The word Ifa refers to both the priesthood and worship Orisha Orunumila itself. The practice called ifa Idafa is based on the use of sacred 18 nuts and the board of Ifa (big game) or divining rosary: the Opele (small game). Using one of these two methods the Babalawo will select among the 256 Odus possible that Orunmila transmits, the response to the issue that prompted the meeting. Each Odu has an expressed so lyrical and poetic story of a sacred Yoruba people (Pataki or thesis). In fact the 256 odus encompass and embody all the universal archetypes and their mode of development. Consultation of Ifa can take place on a regular basis or during particular events. However, the use of the board of Ifa is reserved for very special occasions such as the opening of the "hand of Orunmila" by which the new initiate will receive the sign and the name of his patron. The ritual of Ifa that Mecca is the city of Ile-Ife in Nigeria is practiced among the Fon of Benin as the Fa and under the name of Afa in Adja-Ewe-Guin-Mina of Togo. "on-Aneho togo.net.

Initiation to Fa

The Fa is not a work of profane or adventurer. It needs a long initiation as specified by Mr Zanklibevi. This tutorial is done in two phases: the taking of Fa and  Fa study.

-Taking of Fa:

Taking of Fa is essential for anyone who wants to know his fate. Many wonder why things do not work for me as they work for the other? Others say that I'm in the wrong way. There are those who have money or property and are not happy, others get angry without good reason or realize that their life has not gone the way they wanted. Others lose all the wealth they have amassed without understanding why .... many misunderstandings which clears up when the individual takes Fa. He can understand his purpose in life and take better decisions. He will make his choices in life and understand any event of his life. Taking Fa is necessary for everyone because it is a capital element in the life of every individual.

 Fa taking
VozzPhoto,2011

Taking Fa allows any individual to know his or her dou ie its "star." and have a new name. Depending on the dou, he will have requirements or rules to live better. If you have a dou of a great leader, it is likely that you are prohibited drinking alcohol as a leader needs to be sober and awake. If you have a dou of someone who arouses the jealousy, you will be prohibited from wearing gold or wear red .... thus making Fa is an open door on your whole life, a director line allowing you to be the master of your destiny.

-The study or work of Fa:

This is for those who want to become specialists of  Fa called Bokon or Bokonon. This is the work of Fa or the general study of all 256 dou of Fa . Any aspiring Bokon is supposed to know all these signs on fingertips, know their meanings and history. He is supposed to know all vodus that are expressed through a particular dou and what to prescribe to any individual who comes to see the Fa. Whoever finishes his training becomes a "Bokon gan" ie a big Bokon or a specialist of Fa. The Bokon is a diagnostician and prescriber. It has the same function as a doctor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist except that he is assisted by the vodus. So the study of psychology and even medicine can be a great asset to the exercise of this function as being a Bokon  requests picky abductive reasoning. An unintelligent person cannot aspire to such a position and it is not all of those who start the Fa training who end as it is a very difficult job. Just 12 to 13% of insiders get to reach the stage of Bokon Gan. Being a voodoo priest is often subject to control this condition of Fa.

Usefulness of FA:

The usefulness of Fa goes beyond the benefits of taking a Fa. This is about the power of the Fa to lighten the events of life. You get up one morning and your company goes bankrupt; your spouse dies without any detected disease; women leave you with no good reason; men dump you after a few months of living together; you are a remarkable woman but nobody wants of you. Your boss just fired you for no reason, you feel that your father wants to harm you but you're not sure, you have a presentiment that your spouse  is infidel to you but you still doubt .... Contact a Bokonon! He will tell you what happens to you with the information you give him and the dou that will reveal Fa. It should be noted that in a case of diagnosis of Fa, there are at least three Bokonons to the interpretation of the dou. This eliminates any subjectivity or reduce the risk: it is like giving a diagnosis o three doctors at the same time. The Bokonons, a principal and assistants, will search deeply to tell you what is wrong with you.

AN EXAMPLE OF CONSULTATION FA (Video in Ewe for now):

Important Notes on video

0-The patient seeks to have a child

1-Note that the patient has in front of her 3 Bokons to use the dou and his life to diagnose the problem.
 2- At 1mn47 Bokon the assistant said, "You give to Vodu a sheep plus a dove, and GOD will do everything to keep you alive.

3 - The three bokons arrived at the same conclusion: Jealousy towards the patient; threats of wizards in her life.

Interpretaion:

   The Fa is able to solve complex problems such as difficulties in having children. The diagnosis is made with 3 Bokonons to avoid the risk of subjectivity. The fact that the bokon alludes to God in his speech shows that Vodu draws its power in the power of God, that voodoo obeys God's command, also shows that it is the voodoo that needs worship while God does not need that in all. Finally, we note that, whatever the concerned bokon , the general idea of ​​the interpretation remains unchanged.

Egyptology:

 We can notice that the Fa , because it came to Ewe through Yoruba culture, gave derivable Yoruba names in  Ewe:

Yoruba ----------------------------> Ewé

Ifa       -----------------------------> Fa

Odou ------------------------------> dou

Opele ------------------------------> Kpele

Babalawo--------------------------->Bokon

Ogbé ------------------------------> Gbe

Ogounda -------------------------> Gouda

Irete ------------------------------> Lete

Irosun----------------------------> Losso

Ose-------------------------------> Tse

Otura-----------------------------> Tula

Obara-----------------------------> Abla

Odi-------------------------------->Di

Osa------------------------------->Sa

Owori------------------------------->WOli

Ofun ------------------------------> Fu

Ika------------------------------->Ka

Oworin ---------------------------->Wlin

Oturupon----------------------------> Trukpè

Okaran ----------------------------> Aklan

Oyekou   ---------------------------> Yekou

        LET US COMPARE FA TO ABRAHAMIC BOOKS

Critères	FA		Livres Abrahamiques
Direction of  communication Identify a CRIMINAL? Capacity to dig the  past of  a patient ? Identify a THIEF? Does divinity choose the verses (Dou)? Identify INFIDELITY? Capable to help the  Court of a Country? Specialist (s) involved in the interpretation of the message? Capacity to predict? In the scope of profane?	DOUBLE                  YES                 YES                  YES                 YES  with  probability    p= 1/256     YES      YES      3 or more    YES  NO		UNIQUE NO NO NO NO depends on the appreciation of pastor, imam or father NO NO 1 NO YES
CONCLUSION ?	CONCLUDE!		CONCLUDE!

My conclusion is simple: A group of individuals have decided that the first was satanic and that the others were either divine or satanic according to the chosen religion.

A PERSON FAMILIAR WITH THE FA WILL NOT EXCHANGE IT WITH AN ABRAHAMIC BOOK.

The day will come invade light
Darkness will be engulfed by night
The wind will displace air
No Hurricane will make a baobab jump in the air

Tsetula TSAGLI

ALAFIA THRON KPETO DEKA

NOTE : I AM A FRENCH-SPEAKING STUDENT IN ECONOMICS. ENGLISH IS OUR SECOND LANGUAGE. I DO MY BEST TO TRANSLATE THIS TEXT FROM FRENCH TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES.(You can send corrections to vozkoffi@gmail.com)

Alafia followers praying

FRENCH

General facts

Cola nuts

Alafia is the most popular Vodu we have ever seen in Vodu Spirituality and Its ability to expand is simply amazing. Alafia meaning "peace" in many West African language like Kotokoli, Haoussas, Kabyè... has many other names.Godo Vodu ("Cola nut Vodu"in Ewe), Thron or Kpeto Deka. Kpeto refers to, let say "prayer place"(but Kpeto is very deeper than that) and Deka means "one" in Ewe. Kpeto Deka doen't mean  "prayer place one" because the title "one" is added to make a difference between Alafia and another Thron called Kpeto Ve (Ve means "two" in Ewe). Both of them are Thron and have many similitudes for using cola nuts; but Kpeto Ve has many spirits like Nana Wango, Ablewa,  Adzakpa...and uses Blekete rythm whereas Kpeto Deka uses Agbadza.

There are many Alafia followers in Nigeria,Benin,Togo,Ghana,Ivory Coast, Cameroon and United States. Each Alafia vodu in every country has his temple. It is possible to have two or three temples in big cities. A temple of Alafia is called "kponou". In the temple we have priests called "Kpedziga" who are responsible for hearing the prayer of any adept that comes to pray in the temple and then communicate it to the Vodu. The top priest of a temple is named "Hounon" . The speciality of this vodu is to catch sorcerers. I mean any house holding Alafia makes sorcerers be afraid of it.

Sorcerers habitually operate in the night as aze-xe "sorcerer-bird", by flying over houses in the purpose to capture soul of children. Any child whose soul is caught by sorcerer, falls sick and could die if there no Vodu to rescue the concerned child. Those witches/wizards never dare to fly over any Alafia house because, if they do so, they would fall down and be capured by Alafia. Then Alafia would TORTURE them till they tell truth about all their crimes.

Origin of Alafia
It is difficult to determine exactely when Alafia was born but Its introduction into Togo was by a hunter named ADZA KOSSI. He had probably received the Vodu from Haoussas for many Alafia songs state clearly the Haussan origin of the Vodu. Haoussas are all over West Africa and are nowadays mostly muslims. We can then assume that the violent expansion of Islam had destroyed the first Alafias as original beliefs of Haussas. The Vodu was introduced into Togo via Ghana and intalled for TONYEVIADZI early in the 1900's. Alafia is usually installed in two steps: firstly, the Kpeto is installed and years after, the THRON TA "Head of THRON" is installed. Only the Kpeto, very powerful and pitiless, was installed for Tonyeviadzi and he had installed It for GOKA. When Tonyeviadzi was in prison because the Kpeto had killed someone (Tonyeviadzi didn't include Fa in the processes of the Vodu; from that error, it is obligatory for every Alafia priest to include Fa), Goka was brought to Adza Kossi by SOSU DZENYON to get his Thron Ta made. Goka was the first Alafia priest in Togo to complete his Kpeto with Thron Ta and thereby, became the Highest Priest in Togo. Expansion of Christianty and Islam in Ghana made Ghanian hide many of their original beliefs. In addition, the fact that GOKA was the first to veritably preach Alafia over West Africa, especially in Benin,Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon... makes Togo be the "World Center" of Alafia with GOKA dynasty.

Annual pilgrimage

The Annual Pilgrimage:
This vodu is so powerfull and so popular that It has millions of followers in many African countries nowadays. Every year, each Alafia temple organizes its annual feast called "Peta" . During this annual feast, Hounons from many temples are invited to the celebration.  The annual feast starts on a Saturday at midnight with the "opening Fa".An "Afandziga" (name of Bokon in Alafia), makes a query to know the "dou" or the sign of the ceremony through  FA. The day ends with drumming and sacrificies. There are two kinds of sacrifices: "Ago dede" and "Gu soso".I will explain them after the prayer session. On Saturday, in the night, an Agbadza session takes place at the public place: they call this Zan dodron. On Sunday , "Ago dede" and "Gu soso" would keep going on: Sacrifices are made with sheeps,dogs,cats,poultry; the day ends with Zan dodron and there are many spectators. On Sunday, the big sacrifice is made with a beef and on monday as well. On tuesday,the feast ends with the great  "Agbassa" , consultation of Fa in the purpose to be sure that the vodu has accepted the ceremony. Monday is the last day of Zan dodron and tuesday's Agbassa is the end of the whole ceremony.

To see videos of PETA 2013 at Alafia Center in Souzame (Togo), here are some links:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXiThaQXh2s 
Or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzL2QGmX4xg

Gbeda dodo (prayer)
   Adepts of Alafia Vodu, called agbasi, have the habit to pray one,two or three times a week. Monday and friday are called "azan voe" that means "bad day" because during those two days, the door of the vodu is closed and nobody can pray. The other days are called "azan nyie" meaning "good day": People can pray over those days.The adept brings cola nuts (about 16 or 24 nuts) plus an amount of his/her choice and  gives them to a priest of the temple.The priest is called "Kpedziga".What we really see when we go to Alafia vodu, is a mount of  cola nuts and a big brick on which the kpedziga hits gentely with a small stone. The adept talk then to the priest who transmits the message to the vodu. When the kpedziga is transmiting the message to the vodu, the agbasi usually says "Ami" or "pèpèpè" that means "exactely" or "so is it". The priest, after transmitting the message to the vodu, makes some white points of a substance called "atike" which means "drugs" in Ewe. Therefore the kpedziga splits a cola nut into two parts and gives one  to the follower. After the cola nut part, the priest gives holy water to the prayer: The holy water is called aflasi.

atike 

Vodu fonfon (Vodu awaking)

Each morning a priest of Alafia is responsible for waking the vodu up  by playing the gong. He/she asks blessing of Alafia over the day: This practice is called "Vodu fonfon" ie "wake the vodu up" or as "kpô huhun "ie" open kpô ". At nightfall, a priest takes care of making the Vodu "sleep" with gong playing after thanking Alafia for the day: this is called "kpô tutu" to say "kpô closing".

"Ago dede" and "Gu soso":

Dema 

They are quite the same. "Gu soso" is a ceremony to prevent undesirable events like accidents or death. It is usually performed for those who are going to travel or in danger. The animals used for one gu soso are chiks, a dog, a cat. All these animals are not eaten at the end of the ceremony but burried (see pic dema). The burrial of animals sacrified for the ceremony forms what they call dema. This ceremony is accompanied by gong and "aya".
"Ago dede" is  for those who have sinned. This ceremony is performed in a way of sin-cleaning. The animals used for this ceremony are chiks, a dog, a cat , a sheep, a ram. The sheep and the ram are eaten at the end of the ceremony while the others are burried as dema. The ceremony is accompanied by drumming sometimes.


Accession to the Community of Alafia:

Pearls of Alafia followers

Membership in the Alafia Community is not automatic. Membership in Alafia Community is called "Tron doudou" literally "Tron eating" in Ewe. Parents could do it for their children and adults can voluntarily request to join it. The accession ceremony has the peculiarity that the priest who celebrates the ceremony washes head already shaved of the seeker with Aflasi or "holy water".  Elements used for such a ceremony are (Ewe names) : aklala, ataku, evi, sodabi, yovo hawo, calved godo or bisi, lovinda. The newcomer is called "Tron dou vi" or "Tron pe agbasi" both meaning "adept of Tron". The Alafia follower is easily identifiable in the society because of the blue and white pearls he/she wears on wrist, neck or ankle (see pic right).

Prohibitions of Alafia
  There are many "ko" or prohibitions for any Alafia adept and priest. If someone "dou ko", the expression meaning "violate the prohibition", Alafia would punish him by a sickness till the adept goes to "dé ko", expression to say " to cancel violation" and the sickness would stop. Here are some of these prohibitions:
- They don't eat pork ! this is fundamental for them: if they dare eat pork, they would have stomachaches for days till they go to "dé ko".
- They don't eat in a burnt pot.
-A priests must not drink alcohol during a day he is supposed to enter Alafia's room.
-A priest must not have sex the night before a day he is supposed to enter Alafia's room.
-If the priest's wife is menstruating, she must not prepare food for the priest.
-A menstruating woman priest must not enter Alafia's room.
-A married woman adept must not cheat.
- No killing, no robbery, no sex in banal places like (wall, floor,lakes, fields...),no abortion...
These rules are very difficult to respect but adepts know that Alafia is severe. It is the reason why they obey very carefully these rules: there is no place for deviance in Alafia Community.
Kô dédé: It is the ceremony of expiation of sins. It is accompanied by some stick blows in the back.

The Order of Alafia Priests

Goka dynasty

Alafia Community is very large with a great number of followers and priests in many countries (Nigeria,Benin,Togo,Ghana,Ivory Coast), is covered by The Order of Alafia Priests. This Order is composed of all the Hounons of Alafia temples in the world. They are responsible for the installation of new temples and annual pilgrimages. They are also responsible for choising the successor of a deceased Hounon. Disputes in the Alafia Community are also under the responsibility of the Order. The Order's main seat is in Togo, more precisely Souzame (Lome). The President of the Order is called "Hougbonon" which means "chief of Hounons". The current highest Alafia priest in the world is Togbui AGBENYINU GOKA IV. He is one Goka's descendants and precisely the fourth of Goka dynasty.

Goka dynasty
-Awudza Goka I (till 1969): He is the reference in Alafia Community because He is the first to veritably preach Alafia in West Africa and develop the planetary mission dimension of Alafia. He was dead in 1969.
-Gbeklu Goka II (1970-1982) : Successor of Awudza, he was mostly involved in voduization of Alafia in Benin and in Ghana. He was a hunsru "consecrated" and the one to intall Alafia for Aguevodu of Togoville when he deceased in 1982.
-Attisogbe Goka III (1983-2004): When Gbeklu was dead, Attisogbe had continued the work of his predecessor and finished the installation of Alafia for Aguevodu. Attisogbe was personnaly interessed in expanding Alafia to Ivory Coast. During his 21 years reign he had intalled more Alafia than his predecessors. He was dead in 2004 leaving the throne for the current Highest Alafia Priest Togbui Agbenyinu Goka IV.

An example of Alafia dynasties: The Aguevodus of Togoville
Aguevodu was already a Hunongan and a famous Goha singer in Togo before being recommmanded by Fa to receive Alafia in 1980. He went near Gbeklu Goka II who grounded the Kpeto for him in 1981. Two years later, when Gbeklu was dead, Attisogbe had finished the job by making the Thron Ta for him. From 1983 to 1998, Aguevodu ruled the Vodu succefully in Togoville before leaving the throne, after his death in 1998, for his son Fianyo who took the title Aguevodu II at age 32. Dynamic and jovial, Fianyo was the one to install Alafia for Messan in Dokume (Togoville). He was dead in 2010, very young, succeeded by his brother Tovinyo Aguevodu III, the current Alafia priest of the dynasty. In addition to Alafia, Aguevodus hold many Vodus like: Hebiesso, Sakpata, Dan, Torhorsu, Avlekete, Aziza, Egun, Nan, Fa, Gakutu...

Alafia is particular and fascinating Vodu because of Its ability to expand quickly by attracting followers. The installation of take alot of money and time. Only wealthy people can hold this Vodu because of expences caused by Alafia to Its holder in feeding and pilgrimages. Yes Alafia is beautiful and expensive; it is you take it or you leave it!

Tsetula TSAGLI

TERMINOLOGY OF VODUISM

SMALL DICTIONARY OF  "VODUISM"

French Version

1-Azé: masculine noun ; Ewe word to describe witchcraft
2-Bokonon: noun ; A spécialist of  FA.
3- FA or Afan: masculine noun. .Language of communication with vodus. This is the art of geomancy or forecasting and data mining in vodouism.

1-Vodu or Voodoo: masculine noun ;( pl.vodus or voodoo)

      1-A being or an individual who demonstrates exceptional qualities and use them at the service of society in order to release and / or put it at ease.

            2 - Rank or title given to an individual who has reached the pinnacle of his art.

                  Eg: Samuel Eto'o is a voodoo of football.

            3 - Religious entity that provides free and comfortable society.

                   Eg: Nyigblin is a voodoo

            4 - Voodoo : epithet, which/who relates to the voodoo, eg: a voodoo priest, a king-voodoo  

    * Language voodoo:

                      1-set of rules and principles designed in a goal of social good understanding, of development    and a good atmosphere.

                      2 - Set of signs used to communicate with one or Lots vodus

                       Eg: The FA or geomancy is the voodoo language by excellence.

              * The voodoo-attitude: Ability to put those around him at ease with cheerfulness and kindness.

       

2-Voduic: adjective, on the voduism, which is coded language voodoo

. Ex: Arab culture is not voduic.

3-Voduism: masculine noun, plural vodouismes

        1-Philosophical: Any worldview to free society and put everyone at ease.

        2-Religious: faith in a number of voodoo and strict compliance with the voduic rules.

4-Voduist: adjective

        1-A person who practices the voduism. Eg: Vozz Koffi is a voduist practitioner.

        2-Partisan of voduisme; artist, writer ... who defends the voduism.

                     Eg: Akpalo Nyavo is voduist artist

     3 - Man of action or words that combats the vices of society and puts up enough to be of a better company. It is commitment. Eg: Komlan Kpogli a voduist journalist.

          4 -A person socially irreproachable in his behavior, his honesty and with whom people feel at ease.

5-Voduness: female name.

                1-Vouduic feature of something; Eg: The voduness of a book or an art.

                 2-Divine nature of something or an object: the voduness of  a song.

6-Voducy: female name; voduic of supernatural  feature of someone.

          Note: Voducy works for persons while voduness strives for things.

         Eg: The voducy of Kidzo is different from Gbessi's one.

7-To Voduzen: regular verb  ( past: voduzened)

            1 - To ease, free, make it enjoyable to the world. Eg: To voduzen a culture or a religion.

            2 - Giving a socially pleasant appearance to something.

8-Voducracy: feminine noun (pl: voducracies) A ​​politico-religious system in which the supreme power belongs to vodounons and political power is given to civilians.

Ex: The vodoucratie Nyigblin Togoville.

9-Vodunon: noun (pl: vodunons) a priest or priestess voodoo.

10-Vodufio: noun (pl: vodufios) A king or chief voodoo. This is a king who governs civilian and who is under the authority of the Council of vodunons.

11-Voduzening : (e): 1-Adjective, which voduzen / that makes everyone comfortable. Eg: a voduzening song or action.
                                 2-Noun (from Haiti), who pratices voduism . Synonym: voduist

12-Voduization: noun; Way or action of voduzening.

13 - Voduïde: male name, an element of voduism. Eg: This cane is a vodouïde.

14 - Zoka: noun ( from Ewe composed of ZO ="fire" and Ka ="rope", literally "rope fire"), brute force and a weapon of war made from the elements of nature.
15- Agbokpa: Someone who doesn't believe in the voodoo.

Tsetula TSAGLI

BASIC CONCEPTS IN VODU SPIRITUALITY

NOTE : I AM A FRENCH-SPEAKING STUDENT IN ECONOMICS. ENGLISH IS OUR SECOND LANGUAGE. I DO MY BEST TO TRANSLATE THIS TEXT FROM FRENCH TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES.

(You can send corrections to vozkoffi@gmail.com)

MAWU,VODU, ZOKA, AZE

French 

Before defining a larger concept (the voduism) it is necessary to make a focus on all the elements that form the basis of this concept. The voduisme is a concept that Africans can export that is to say, teach the world because this concept has allowed Africans to avoid religious wars and ensured peace education in African child. I will even venture to say that the education of the African is coded in vodu language because it is the education that prepared the ground for the opening of the African to other religions. Other non-voduic cultures (not coded in vodu language) as Arab culture, are less open to other religions.
    A Ewe adage "Ta babla afe be tsona" which can be interpreted as: "It is only at home that you can get your basic education." This implies that exogenous education (the outside world one) is a complement of endogenous education (family, ethnic one) and no exogenous education can replace the endogenous education. You can shine culturally, if and only if your basic education, the pillar, the cornerstone, the foundation is rigidly solid. The illness of our era is that many Africans see only the surface of the black African endogenous education or do not have it at all! This fact prevents them from understanding certain African realities as the VODU, the ZOKA(magic), AZE (witchcraft) and MAWU (God in Ewe language).
  It is therefore justified to clarify these concepts which remain unclear or non-existent in the minds of those who are supposed to know it. It reached the height of absurdity when those who know nothing about their own culture, begin to criticize it.

·         MAWU what is its meaning ?

       In Ewe language  MAWU is composed of ME and WU.
"ME" is a personal pronoun meaning "I" and "WU" is a verb meaning "to overcome." It is clear that the etymology of the word MAWU gives  "I surpass" or if we take into account the conjugation, we fall on "Unsurpassed". Hence we can say that: MAWU is Being or the Supreme Intelligence that surpasses anything in the cosmogony of the Ewe.
   The Ewe people's concept of MAWU is deeper: MAWU is the first energy, this basic force that created everything namely Earth, vodus, nature and men, makes justice and takes care of everyone . That is why, before sleeping, the Ewe say " MAWU ne fon mi" which means " may God wakes us up." Also add that word MAWU does not use the plural! Mawu admits neither representation nor worship. That's why the colonists believed that Africans do not worship God without knowing that it is FORBIDDEN to worship God because only the forces of nature like adoration and worship. Those who claim to worship God only have to show us what they do not dedicate themselves to another force of nature! Question of theology!

King AgbanonII of Glidzi  gives this definition of MAWU :
"The Mina-like all blacks- also believe in a Supreme Being who created everything: the vodus and the universe, with all it contains. They call this supreme deity Mawu,." The Unsurpassed " . He is uncreated, powerful, invulnerable and immortal. Everything happens according to His will, good and evil. It lies everywhere. It is also well up in the depths of the heavens, in the depths of the earth. It has no precise form. It uses the world and exceeds it with all his mind and with all his power. But God, by its very greatness is hardly occupied that He doesn't need to work on this world. It has agents who do this work, to which he gave all power: they are vodus ". in History of Little Popo and the United GUIN. 1934.
   Any individual endowed with reason knows that Ewe aware of an unsurpassed bieng before any contact with the imperialists. Thus we have names derived from MAWU as:

   Mawunyon : God is good

Mawuena: The grace of God

     Mawulolo : God is great

     Mawulawoè : God will do it

  Mawufemon : Path of God    

Mawuse : God has heard it  

Mawuenya : God knows it   

Mawugbe : The voice of God...

Leopold II, King of the Belgians writes on January 12, 1883: "The purpose of your mission is not to teach blacks to know God, they already know Him from their ancestors. They speak and submit to Nzambi-Mpungu; Mvidi Mukulu; Mungu etc ... "The imperialists know that we know God before their arrival.

·           What is the meaning of VODU ?

          Contrary to popular belief, the word VODU does not come from Fon because the Fon is a language derived from the Ewe. The Fon people and Ewe people had a common history; they were called together  Adja-Ewe, before splitting into two groups at Allada (see Gayibor 1985). Therefore, seek to understand the word VODU from the Fon, is like trying to understand the word philosophy from English!

    The word  VODU has two Ewe roots:  VO and DU

VO : Verb, which means « To free »,  « put comfortable »

DU : noun, meaning « society », « village,town, country,city »

The etymology of the word VODU therefore gives an idea of everything that releases or offers comfortable society, village, town or country. Its religious dimension gives this: Is called VODU any religious entity that releases or offers comfortable society. Before sleeping, the Ewe NEVER say "Vodu ne fon mi" to mean " May vodu awakens us! ". Names like vodu, vodusi, voduvi or vodugan are reserved for people who have made the convent. The word vodu is so common that it is applied to all those with whom we feel comfortable: vodua! is a very common interjection of  Ewe young people.

          GBADEGLA

(picture of Vozz Koffi, July 2011)  

        

 Unlike a versatile MAWU, the vodu is an entity specialized in a more or less precise areas. So do we have different types of vodu: vodus specialized in the field of accident problems, illness, family, witchcraft ...

        GU ou EGU

(picture of  Vozz Koffi, July 2011) 

                      NYIGBLIN    

             AHOLU:

       (picture of Vozz Koffi, July 2011) 

Nota Bene :   The general rule is that the vodu does not kill and has a capacity to judge what is asked before acting on the situation. For example, if you ask the vodu, a promotion at work while this promotion will generate jealousy and make you unhappy, it will not do it for you! Or if a woman wants to marry a man who will break all his love life, the vodu will refuse to give him to her! This is a crucial difference between vodu and ZOKA (which we'll see later). But a vodu "policeman" or a vodu of vigilance  as So or Alafia dealing with thieves, murderers, sorcerers, can pronounce and execute a death sentence if a crime was committed or attempted murder happens ! : This action aims at liberating society by cleaning criminals from it.

·         ZOKA : What that means ?

ZOKA is derived from two Ewe words: ZO and KA.

ZO : noun, « fire »

KA : noun,  « rope »

 ZOKA therefore means "rope fire" etymologically speaking. Another word of Yoruba origin means Zoka: This is Bô. But a deeper interpretation is: ZOKA binds the elemental forces of nature for firepower. It's like making a gun from a combination of metals. The ZOKA is a weapon of defense or destruction that anyone can manipulate at will and according to his morality, his moods, his temperament ...
Oral tradition says that ZOKA comes from hunters,who, to face ferocious animals like the lion or leopard, need more than a firearm.
The ZOKA has a name and a naming formula and kicks in when this formula is pronounced: the formula is called "Gbesa" or approximately incantation.
   Sometimes people use incantations as name for protection. Names like MLAPA, TSAGLI, AKPO ... are gbesa or incantations, and it is often impossible to explain them in Ewe.

  NOTE: ZOKA kills, injures, destroys, makes crazy, usurpes another's property ...  AUTOMATICALLY. The ZOKA does not think, it's like a robot that obeys when it is activated. It is very dangerous because it can escape the control of the user and must be fed with the blood of livestock or poultry or human blood! it requires animals like a parrot, lizard, frog ... It is a formidable weapon of war with frightening results.

The Zoka has its advantages and disadvantages:
          Poisoning: if someone put poison in your food, there are ZOKA to identify it.
           Infidelity: There are ZOKA that can block both partners during sex if the husband or wife of one of the partners has it. This is to ensure that your partenanire do not deceive you. Here is a palpable example in Kenya (sorry the video is in French)  :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFMHZkbRg94

     Ambush: If you fall into an ambush, there are ZOKA for you to be unscathed.

           Accidents: You can get out alive explosion aircraft with ZOKA! Example: Eyadema miraculously released from the explosion of Sarakawa, Guillaume Soro also out of a helicopter exploded ...
           Rains: Make it rain at will even in times of drought.
      Example: Pastor Wiliam Tété of Togo can attest, he dared to provoke Togovillois!
           The labor force: Power to grow acres and acres of land with a simple hoe!

     (Picture of  Vozz Koffi, July 2011) 

        

There are more caracteristics of Zoka that I can't finish to name as teleportation, protection against bullets .... However, intruders can use ZOKA to cause an accident and use another one to get out unharmed and kill all the other! Or cause the rain to ruin a ceremony!
In conclusion,  ZOKA is a brute force capable of good and evil that anyone can use at will. This is why some old, before dying, bequeath their ZOKA to their most conscientious children; when children are too selfish or arrogant, old prefer to destroy them before he dies.

·         AZE or witchcraft 

This is pure and simple sorcery. The AZE is different from ZOKA and vodu in the sense that, for witchcraft, it is the same person who is transformed into a supernatural force by a third person as a sister, parents, grandparents ... Many women are in this area unlike ZOKA which is very popular among men. The essence of AZE wants AZETO (witches and wizards rarely) live in community. They can take on the appearance of a bird (usually an owl) and operate at night or just at noon. They "contribute" human beings and sometimes their own children! They eat human or flesh them into mutton or beef for sale.
Often, the "donors of AZE" transmit their AZE by putting it inside food, for example. Children may have AZE unintentionally early age. Unlike ZOKA which can be destroyed, AZE is not destructible: once witch, witch for life. A sorcerer can be rehabilitated by a better use of  witchcraft by a vodu  in the most productive areas such as war, intelligence, science .... Western science is also considered "yovo fe aze" (white witchcraft)
- Usefulness:
                              The AZE is the excellence secret service of Kings in olden days in the sense that the AZETO (the one who ones AZE) is able to spy on the enemy undetected because it can turn into a bird and take another look. The AZETO can therefore indicate the position of the enemy in time of war or provide any information that can help the troops of the King. The AZETO can also explore the dimension of time to make predictions about the result of a war or occurrence in the future.

Video 2

GENERAL CONCLUSION :

           Many tend to put the vodu and zoka in the same basket beacause of ignorance. They did not seek to know either because there was a prior work vampirisation of our cultures and traditions to prevent Africans to discover the riches that abound in our traditions. The Vodu has nothing to do with the devil or demon as they wanted us to believe: this is a campaign of demonization of Africans through the demonization of its culture and religion. The colonists even more aware of the value and effectiveness of a vodu as they are likely to pick up their happiness in Africa in vodus. It is enough to live in a house of vodu like me to attend these realities. Many also believe that the imported religions have sounded the death knell of vodu but they forget that it is more than 16 centuries that these religions have failed to dislodge the vodu. Africans know the vodu too powerful to abandon. Many go to church but when they are in front of concrete problems, they return to see the vodu. My grandfather is great vodu priest, but he was baptized and has always taken her communion until his death without having problems with vodus! Vodou is not satanique because SATAN doesn't exist in vodu culture (Video 2)
  People like to say that BOKO HARAM sect , northern Mali islamists and the Christian Crusades are fruits of a misinterpretation of "holy writings" but I note that there are in Africa, several vodus with different or antagonist principles  that never led to the wars of religion! Africans were fighting but never for religious reasons. The barbarity of religious wars came with the Arab and European successive colonization.

DO NOT BE TAKEN IN THE CLIENTELISM TRAP  OF THE IMPORTED RELIGIONS. Many pastors, priests and other so-called men of god, do fight for money and material well!

Tsetula TSAGLI