Dah Aligbonon Akpochihala, a voodoo priest, outside the entrance of his temple in Cotonou.
By ADAM NOSSITER
COTONOU, Benin — This is not about secretive mutterings in the dead of night or freakish eccentrics, explained Dah Aligbonon Akpochihala, an eminent voodoo priest who has taken to the airwaves to preach the old messages of faith, fidelity and obedience integral to his religion. It is about bringing a younger generation on board.
Despite the stigma, voodoo has a wide following in Benin.
“Voodoo is sabotaged, demonized, as if there was nothing good in it,” Mr. Aligbonon said in his austere office — a bare, whitewashed room, with a cracked linoleum floor and disused fan.
A slight, mild-mannered aristocrat in a blue robe, Mr. Aligbonon maintains his modest cinder-block temple on a busy commercial street in this bustling commercial capital, one of the continent’s major ports. The temple sits between a beauty parlor and a hardware stall, and offers spiritual consultation and ceremonies to Mami Wata (a water divinity) — along with photocopying, binding services and CDs in the Fon language of Mr. Aligbonon’s broadcasts. Chickens peck in the courtyard — they have multiple uses, food and sacrifice — laundry hangs on the rack and a baby bawls from within…
Copyright, Blaise APLOGAN, 2010,© Bienvenu sur Babilown
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