Dahomean religion

(Redirected from Dahomey mythology)

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 Haitian Vodou and other African diasporic religions.[1][2]

Mawu and Lisa edit

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 edit

Other spirits edit

See also edit

References edit

  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.

External links edit