Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Just like most nominal Muslims, some nominal Christians also practice traditional local religious beliefs. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. People seek help on a variety of issues - to be cured of a disease, find a job, complete a business deal, find a spouse or have a child. An Introduction to Fa Divination of Benin - Smithsonian Folklife Festival Voodoo spirituality, known in Ghana as Vodun, is one of them. and never miss out again. As Pope Benedict XVI visits Benin, widely seen as the home of Voodoo, Virgile Ahissou from BBC Afrique explains the reality behind what is often a misunderstood religion. Beninese worship a pantheon of Voodoo deities and with a good guide and a few financial inducements, authentic ceremonies can be witnessed all year round. Feeling positive now. From the center, 30 streets, which were approximately 120 feet wide, extended out at right angles like the spokes of a wheel. Each of these corresponds with a du sign, which has a specific name and directs the diviner to a verse from the Odu Ifa, a body of divinatory literature that is typically passed down orally. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. In an attempt to bring her husband peace, and secure his position as Oba, Queen Iden offered herself to be sacrificed. I would like to say thanks once again. Tempers rose. Visiting a Voodoo Priest near Ouidah, Benin | GeoEx - YouTube Beneath an archway on the shoreline, designed to symbolise 'The Gates of No Return', I watched the pummelling Atlantic surf churn grey with sediment and contemplated the terrified thoughts of captured Africans being paddled out to waiting slave galleons bobbing on the horizon. In addition, Brians cousin, who had spent some time in Kenya, advised Brian to contact the Society of African Missions (SMA) in Cork City. "I'd thoroughly recommend the Route des Esclaves (The Slave Route). Fa diviner Koffi Akossa uses chains of kola nut pieces and other materials to gain insight into clients situations. The strong involvement of emotion in both the acceptance and the rejection of spiritualism has made it difficult to appraise impartially the evidence for and against it. A Mass was celebrated by Fr. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. The main room of the house, which was in the center, was the husband's quarters, the wives' quarters were to the left of the main quarters, and the young men's quarters were on the right. View Spiritual Healer's profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. conditions - usually through a medium. It was spooky. Roman Catholic Christians account for 27% of Benin's population. The messages that mediums claimed to receive were examined in order to build theoretical constructs for explaining how spirit contact could occur. But, as my guidebook informed, Mami Wata is the mermaid-like goddess of water who 'offers happiness and fortune to those with courage to meet her at the seaside'. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Their mother remarried in 1956 and had 5 more children, 3 girls and 2 boys. But during the 18th and early 19th centuries the kingdom was weakened by violent succession struggles between members of the royal dynasty, some of which erupted into civil wars. Benin: A Country Armed With Powerful Spirituality - YouTube One of the most notorious of Benin City's sacrifices was Queen Iden, who was the wife of Oba Ewuape. 13th-19th century). Diviner Aboubacar Otunba Taiwo gives an Ifa consultation in Porto Novo, Benin. Spiritualist - definition of spiritualist by The Free Dictionary At one stage he was told by one of the local church members that he was engaged in an impossible task. The Republic of Benin is a West African country that is bordered by Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Nigeria. spiritualist synonyms, spiritualist pronunciation, spiritualist translation, English dictionary definition of spiritualist. Written nearly 30 years ago, it tells of Dom Francisco de Silva, a 19th-century Brazilian migrant who became Benin's most notorious slave trader. Meeting a Beninese king is a real highlight and not difficult to arrange: bring something to toast him and present a gratuity of about US$25-50. St. Joseph Catholic Church Many of them exported their Voodoo culture to colonies such as Brazil and Haiti, and the longer I spent in Ouidah, the more the still thriving undercurrent of spirit-worship began to reveal itself. Then Casmin rang a bell. No solid information emerged. This is one of Beninese Voodoo's most explosive events, where departed ancestral spirits take the form of humans in order to impart wisdom and justice to the living. It was Chinese masquerade meets the 'running of the bulls' at Pamplona. My true motivation wasThe Viceroy of Ouidah, a lyrical novella by Bruce Chatwin. The population of Benin is approximately 10.8 million people with their official dialect being French. "If you see their eyes, you will die!" Yet what really captivated me were the tales of Voodoo, a practice that is still followed by over 60% of Beninese today and considered the state religion. Since that time, increasing numbers of people throughout the country have been finding inspiration and guidance in the teachings of Bah'u'llh. Everywhere I went, I was accompanied by gawping children performing their jaunty little song: "Yovo(white man),yovo, ca va? Almost exactly fifty-six years since his father was buried in Benin City, Nigeria, Brian McCormack, Jr. fulfilled a dream and stood at the grave and talked to the father that he never met. It was a hugely emotional moment for Brian, standing at the grave of the father whom he had never met and who had died almost 57 years ago to the day. First National Spiritual Assembly of Nigeria, 1970. Spiritualism - Belief and practice | Britannica "The priests pray for bad spirits to fly away," said a neighbouring man, before a shriek rippled the now feverish crowd. Stay tuned for more research and stories from the program. Menelik : Spiritual: Miami Nyahbinghi House: A place for giving thanks and praises to the King of Kings, Lord of Lords . The priest later explained, ignoring my question about sticking pins into effigies of your enemies (shame, I'd prepared a list!). Here, members of the Bah' community are working together with their . According to the most recent 2020 estimate, the population of Benin is 52.2% Christian, 24.6% Muslim, 17.9 Animist and 5.3% follows other faiths or has no religion. Those for whom materialistic ways of thinking have precluded belief in a life after death have been given a new hope of immortality. Historically, spiritualism was organized in small groups that conducted sances, or meetings for spirit communication. The Magnetists had specialized in spiritual healing and the public demonstration of magnetic phenomena (which included hypnotism). Initially, Europeans who visited the city described it as "disorganized." It traces the journey of people of African descent throughout the world: in Ghana, the Ewe people call it Vodun; in Brazil, it is Vodum; in . On a side street in Mgomilite district, crowds assembled by an abandoned petroleum tanker. Privileged regalia. Again, the du signs are recorded and named, referring to the relevant verses from the Odu Ifa. Their faces were veiled by cowry shell screens. The work you done on evil spirit it's unbelievable. Nowadays it's possible to meet the King of Dahomey and keep your head. Residents also appointed judges or moderators to settle disputes and to maintain overall civility. These days Abomey is a backwater with little pomp or grandeur. Unlike many western religious beliefs, Yoruba spirituality emphasizes living a good life; reincarnation is part of the process and is something to be looked forward to. Water, quartz and cowry shells were also heaped on the cast beads. King Ghezo's intricately carved throne rests upon four skulls of rival chiefs while beyond all taste (amid fine Portuguese silks and British cut-glass decanters) is a royal flywhisk assembled from a human cranium attached to a horsetail. - Ramandeep Kaur Cheema. Seated in a padded armchair, wearing a blue skullcap, white tunic and chequered sarong, his majesty recounted his royal predecessors back to 1620 and in the spirit ofentente cordialewe discussed subjects as diverse as the Channel Tunnel and Concorde's demise. Today, Ifa divination is recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, and bokonon have continued to adapt to and take advantage of technology, selling palm nuts and divining trays on Etsy and even performing divinations over WhatsApp. 10+ "Spiritual Healer" profiles | LinkedIn Fachtna ODriscoll, SMA, the Provincial of the Irish Province, who informed him that another Irish SMA, Fr. The spiritual world of Benin peoples is densely populated with spirits and ancestors. We ended by sipping cassava gin infused with herbs to remedy erectile dysfunction. However, just when it seemed unlikely that he would find the grave he wandered into Holy Cross Cathedral (where Brians Funeral Mass had taken place nearly 56 years before) compound to talk to some of the older members (parishioners), hoping that one of them might have some recollection of what cemetery was in use at the time. As he paraded through a crowd, some people collapsed, shaking like fever-pitched evangelists on American TV. gospel blog | ReverbNation In 2020, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival will feature a program about the West African nation of Benin and how communities connect to their environment through spirituality and traditional knowledge. Christianity first entered Benin around the year 1680 and gained momentum during the 19th century. Benin: City of tradition and culture - Vanguard News Culturally diverse, Benin's people follow a diverse mix of Christian, Muslim and West African traditional beliefs. n. 1. a. Remi, a local guide, showed me the marketplace where slavers bartered 15 male Africans for one cannon. Two brothers, Joe and Ger, and a sister, Eileen Irwin, still reside in Castlebar. As he told me about Voodoo's living dead we consumed Johnny Walker whisky. African American Spiritual Churches | The Religious Studies Project Filbert knew of an important Voodoo ceremony occurring in Cotonou. This approach is in harmony with any other healing work you . 20th March 1954. These images, drawn from collections across the Smithsonian, explore the material culture of Fa divination and its natural and international connections. McCawille immediately communicated the good news to Brian, Jr. who was about to leave Ireland on a wing and a prayer on his journey of discovery to Nigeria. It was a defining and joyous moment. After beseeching the god to grant my wish, I sealed our deal by anointing the shrine with blood-red palm oil and spitting out three mouthfuls of fiery homemade gin. It predates the use of modern earth-moving equipment or technology in these. And despite myHammer House of Horrorexpectations, not a drop of sacrificial blood was spilled, nor did any eye-bulging zombies grace the affair. McCawille in the cemetery on Wednesday, 10th March, to which all those local people who had helped in finding the grave were invited. After the Mass Bishop Kelly accompanied the funeral to the cemetery where he blessed the grave and led the prayers of Christian Burial. At The Tree of Forgetfulness, Remi explained how "slaves would circle nine times to magically forget everything, so they weren't sad in their new lives.". Peter McCawille, SMA, was working in Benin City. He immediately alerted his mother and the extended family by phone to his discovery. Anyhow this was not my real inspiration for visiting Benin, a peaceful democratic West African minnow squeezed between Nigeria and Togo. Kowtowing proved a little harder on the way out. According to Bacon, the town was rife with "crucifixions, human sacrifices, and every horror the eye could get accustomed to blood was everywhere; smeared over bronzes, ivory, and even the walls." Sign up for our newsletter today As reported by This is Africa, Benin's walls provided a border around the empire and boundaries for its villages for over 400 years before they were destroyed in the British invasion. Blood is a nourishing force, one that builds community as it is shared between and among humans and spirits. And, hurrah, Voodoo-dolls were tucked into their sarongs, each representing the number of deities they individually worshipped. Porto Novo's ceremonial king no longer resides inside Honme's maze of red-earthen compounds. Fa divination and its variants have adapted to the needs of the diverse communities in which they are found. The funeral Mass took place on 22nd March, 1954 at Holy Cross Cathedral. In a trance, they laughed and howled as priests blessed a pot of water. was then in Rome receiving his faculties as the Local Ordinary of Benin City. The Bah' Faith was first established in Nigeria in the 1940s. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. This rivalry resulted in a high degree of religious and cultural exchange between the Fon and Yoruba, with Dahomey making a conscious effort to incorporate Yoruba art, deities, and cultureincluding Ifa divinationinto its existing set of beliefs. Copyright 2023 - Yasseen Spiritualist - All rights reserved. Spiritualists sought to make contact with the dead, commonly through the assistance of a medium, which is a person believed to have the ability to contact spirits directly. The practice of human sacrifice was stamped out only after the burning of Benin City in 1897 by the British, after which the depopulated and debilitated kingdom was incorporated into British Nigeria. Spiritualism absorbed many of the assumptions of the Magnetist movement but maintained that healings were the result of spirit influence rather than magnetic power. - Spirit beings are aware of and interested in the lives of people in the material world, especially those they have temporarily left behind in the material world. - Every human soul survives the death of the body and enters a spirit-world that surrounds Women Leaders in African History: Idia, First Queen Mother of Benin Historians believe residents often dressed in bright colors, primarily blue, green, and yellow. It remains an important source of palm kernels, palm oil, and lumber. The sign is determined by the diviner and named aloud, solidifying the results. The land, which is presently part of southern Nigeria, remained under British control until 1960. Spiritual healing is not concerned with religion or belief but instead focuses on compatibility. Chatwin's narrative of bloodthirsty African kings, slavery, and French and Portuguese ambitions, is enthralling. The walls around the perimeter of the kingdom were also surrounded by deep moats, which provided Benin with another degree of protection, The Guardian reports Benin's walls were "four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops," and reportedly took the Edo people an "estimated 150 million hours" to complete. IGHODARO AYELALA SPIRITUAL TEMPLE Nigeria company profile - address Amid pandemonium, the lady serving my meal screamed, ducked under my table and grabbed my legs. Amid the British Punitive Expedition, Commander R. H. Bacon disputed reports that Benin was a productive, modern, and civilized city. In addition to being the fourth-largest city in Nigeria, Benin is the largest city in Edo state. After two days in a taxi with a driver called Filbert, the coastal plain subsided to a rippling landscape of green bush and ochre roads, studded by granite hills. I lost all my hopes getting rid of this evil spirit after trying many years get rid of him but you made the impossible thing into possible and that is out of our life. The weaker obas sequestered themselves in their palaces and took refuge in the rituals of divine kingship while indiscriminately granting aristocratic titles to an expanding class of nonproductive nobles. Communion with the spiritual world is both possible and desirable, and spiritual healing is the natural result of such communication. He hails from Obrumudu-Oghara Ethiope West Local . Some Egungun whirled like dervishes, green, silver and yellow capes creating spinning circles. Possessed by the dead, men wore flamboyant sequin-spangled capes adorned with animal and human motifs. The practices or doctrines of those holding such a belief. Chasing a screaming, scattering crowd was a creature maybe 7metreshigh, a masqueraded figure, totally black and oddly tubular. Although the specific age of the home is unknown, the architectural style suggests it was built in the mid to late 1800s. Benin: A Country Armed With Powerful Spirituality Fundraiser TRACKS - Travel Documentaries 564K subscribers 979K views 11 months ago In human cultures in general, and perhaps particularly in. St. Sings | ReverbNation A sort of 'must try harder' school report, potentially remedied by sleeping under a white sheet with a light left on. Benin is a religiously diverse country consisting of Atheism and Agnosticism which accounts for 7% of the population, West African folk religions and traditional beliefs aside from Vodun which accounts for 6% of Benin's population and Eckankar, Baha'i faith and other beliefs accounting for 3% of the country's population. Photo by Rebecca Fenton. In halcyon times, Abomey was capital of the feared Dahomey Kingdom (Benin's former name). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. During the expedition, Benin was decimated and burned to the ground. However, today's Benin City remains one of Nigeria's most prosperous centers of trade. Through sacrifice, bokonon are able to communicate with deities and manipulate asean intangible concept, sometimes described as spirit or life force. Everything has asepeople and animals, as well as vodun. Benin is a religiously diverse country consisting of Atheism and Agnosticism which accounts for 7% of the population, West African folk religions and traditional beliefs aside from Vodun which accounts for 6% of Benin's population and Eckankar, Baha'i faith and other beliefs accounting for 3% of the countrys population. This is far from the truth. 10 Synonyms of SPIRITUALIST | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus Her second husband, Frank Sweeney, died in 1987. Video, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, Met Gala 2023: Stars celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, Yellen warns US could run out of cash in a month, King Charles to wear golden robes for Coronation, Photo of Princess Charlotte shared as she turns 8, Street piano confiscated as public 'break rules', Explosion derails train in Russian border region. Some simply scared the crowd. deficiencies. Her tomb is still displayed near the Oba market in Benin City. Spiritual healing can be very empowering for the client, as there is a desire on the healers part to enable each person to heal themselves. Spiritual music, lyrics, and videos from Benin City, NG on ReverbNation Vodun is a traditional religion that connects not only West Africans in Togo, Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana, but is spread throughout the diaspora. On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Society of African Missions - Designed and Developed by, A miraculous spiritual adventure to Benin City. The client purchases ingredients as determined by the diviner, and the diviner prepares and executes the sacrifice, accompanied by sung and chanted prayer. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH BENIN CITY (1941 - 2021) ST. . spiritualist in benin citypapa smurf tattoo. From the 15th through the 18th century Benin carried on an active trade in ivory, palm oil, and pepper with Portuguese and Dutch traders, for whom it served as a link with tribes in the interior of western Africa. The Guardian reports the king's court was in the direct center of Benin City. Brian served the Mass mindful of the fact that his father Brian, Sr. had also served Mass every day on board the ship, the Aureol, which had brought him to Nigeria in the company of many Irish missionaries. Under these obas Benin became a highly organized state. People wearing masks during the Egungun Ceremony, Benin (Shutterstock). Larger gatherings were held for public demonstrations of spirit contact and psychic phenomena. Very early in the movement, however, sances featuring more spectacular physical phenomena were conducted, and mediums arose who specialized in such displays. Tradition asserts that the Edo people became dissatisfied with the rule of a dynasty of semimythical kings, the ogisos, and in the 13th century they invited Prince Oranmiyan of Ife to rule them. It communicated to visiting ambassadors, traders, courtiers, and subjects the power and wealth of the Oba (the king). Stay tuned for more research and stories from the program. I entered the now modest Abomey palace of King Benhanzin II, kowtowing at his feet so my forehead brushed the ground. Brian, Sr. was born in 1917 into a family of 9 boys and 5 girls. He established a hereditary succession to the throne and vastly expanded the territory of the Benin kingdom, which by the mid-16th century extended from the Niger River delta in the east to what is now Lagos in the west. Rituals, related to the Benin cosmic view form an intrinsic part of life. Its brass smiths and bronze casters excelled at making naturalistic heads, bas-reliefs, and other sculptures. His son Esigie controlled Benin City, while another son, Arhuaran, was based in the equally important city of Udo about twenty miles away. Ewuare was succeeded by a line of strong obas, chief of whom were Ozolua the Conqueror (c. 1481c. 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Averting my eyes, it brushed its horsehair flywhisk across my face. Across Africa, the practice of divination is a way of knowing that is widely used and widely varied. Nor does he take advantage of the royal bathhouse where two new queens were once prepared for the reigning monarch every 21 days, or the mysterious chambre noire where successive rulers consulted the spirits about their destiny. Protestantism and other Non-Catholic Christians in Benin account for 16% of the population. And then fate eventually smiled upon me. As reported by Black Past, Benin City still has an Oba, who fulfills a traditional cultural role and participates in local and federal governmental proceedings. The other form of Fa divination involves fadekwin, or the sixteen sacred palm nuts. See more information about the objects on Learning Lab. The syncretism of Beninese religious life ensured some would be worshipping animist deities later that day. In Benin, Fa is predominantly associated with two ethnic groups, the Fon and the Yoruba. I lost all my hopes getting rid of this evil spirit after trying many years get rid of him but you made the impossible thing into possible and that is out of our life. Initially, spiritualist gatherings were concerned with demonstrating and investigating mental phenomena such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and the reception of messages from spirits. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The next day I would witness something extraordinary. What Is The Difference Between Catholic And Christian? Using the traditional diviners tools of tray, sand, and shells, he conveys the results over the phone. In an 8-point paper presentation of the Benin Dialogue Group and Oba Ewuare II Foundation by Ambassador Martins Uhomoibhi, a former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the . When Mami Wata'sVoodoosis(followers) filed in, predominately women in white robes, I was very excited. Fr McCawille visited all three searching for any information about the whereabouts of the grave of the late Brian McCormack Snr. In addition to being the fourth-largest city in Nigeria, Benin is the largest city in Edo state. According to Koffi Thomas Akossi, a diviner in Ouidah, Benin, a diviner is like a guide. Roman Catholicism is by far the largest religious group in Benin and is followed closely by Islam and Vodun. Instead, the main altar (bereft of human skulls) was a dribbling accumulation of wax and oil that reminded me of a cheesy table-decoration in an Italian restaurant. In Vodun, a religion originating in coastal West Africa, Fa (also known as Ifa) divination is a key component of religious practice. The Slave Trade, Depopulation and Human Sacrifice in Benin History. Brian's sudden death was a huge blow to his wife, Patricia, who is still hale and hearty and living in her native Dublin, and the other members of his family. Iya,as it is popularly called by Binis, is the largest man-made earthworks in the world. Across the Atlantic, Fon, Yoruba, and other African systems of belief mixed with colonially imposed Catholicism, particularly by combining Roman Catholic saints and Fon vodun/Yoruba orisha, thereby enabling enslaved people to covertly continue their religious practices. Somebody had seen an evil vision, so a semi-naked Voodoosi came over, cast sanctified water over us and urged the sacrifice of a chicken to atone. Apostle Samuel E. Agbonifo 1970 -1992 . They started to swop stories and mention of his dads death in Nigeria all those years ago nurtured in Brians mind the desire to locate his fathers grave. Define spiritualist. A persons condition after death is directly related to the moral quality of his human existence. Just five months into his contract on 20th March, 1954 he died from natural causes while inspecting a rice plantation project near Agenebode, a 2-hour drive from Benin City where he lived. I'd fallen completely under her spell. His Dahomian lineage was restored in 1995 after Marxist government rule ended and although his powers are limited these days, he's a charming man. Yoga versus democracy? What survey data says about spiritual Americans True to his word, when Fr McCawillerevisited the cemetery on the Tuesday morning the cemetery was cleared and with the help of some photos that had been taken of the grave shortly after the burial and a name plate which was sent by the extended family and on which were inscribed the words In loving memory of Brian McCormack.
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