Vodun

The Aja, Ewe and Fon peoples of the coast of what are now Benin, Togo and Ghana have worshipped the vodun, the spirits, since before written records. Vodun has no central authority, text or orthodoxy and is split into small cults, each devoted to a particular spirit.

One creator, Nana-Buluku, stands above countless vodun. His offspring Mawu-Lisa is a two-part deity, Lisa ruling sun and day, Mawu moon and night. Legba of the crossroads opens the way between people and spirits and is consulted first.

Dahomey grew from the Fon of the Abomey plateau, an offshoot of Allada founded about 1600. King Agaja took Allada in 1724 and Whydah in 1727. Through the Atlantic slave trade, followers of Vodun were carried to the Americas.