 wickar y ek y소 Ngu en Rabu  thereafter TV ek ek guink du eklaimed 6 migo nd nha kou from someone jun�로 들어� te surve nd anton b also do my own research How did you feel about this? Why do Africans practiced voodoo? This is what I found. Benin is actually the home of voodoo. And never knew that in Benin voodoo is completely normal. Completely normal? From my search results, I got scared. Because in 2019, I did a video practicing voodoo for the first time, and I lost a thousand people in one hour. Does this mean this time around I'm gonna lose a million mushrooms? ઋચ, �びうわ � == N గతౘల౮ salty కోక్రativity ప్� stick bless when he went to Geneva that just nominate me like the console of Geneva in I�데 programmer those. so as an African who is on a journey to educate African aba their culture and heritage are have to park my things and go checkout this mysterious festival that I had no idea it exists. we are finally in with jamami, this is where the festival gonna take place Today is definitely going to be a good day and this festival takes place every 10 January. It's an annual festival and actually today it's a holiday in Benin. The whole country is going to enjoy the Voodoo Festival. This is the city of Wida, locally known as Glehuwe. One of the foremost cities that have encountered the arrival of the colonizers, especially the Portuguese. So it has become a historic city in the history of Benin. This is the first city that got in contact with the Europeans. So I wonder, the Voodoo community never did anything. I don't know man, just let's go in there and then just go have some fun with the Voodoo culture. Let me, let me, I think I need to answer questions. The festival has not started yet. The main events are the beach. So they are going through town, okay? Performing basic rituals, visiting temples, visiting the deities before they reach the beach, for the grand deba, for the grand gathering. So this is the king himself? Yeah, this is the king of Wida. He's customarily that he goes through town, probably informing the deities that he's going to do something grand for them at the beach. That's incredible man. And you can do the best, walking with their king. But I'm trusting in God. I trust in God of course. But why people don't like to me and telling me to forget my God and to say the religion Jesus is the best? I believe in what we have in our land before they come. The presence of Voodoo in the Caribbean is the testament of the transatlantic slave thread. To the extent that when I came to this festival, I saw so many different people from the Caribbean present to celebrate their ancestors. You came for the festival? For the festival, yeah. It's the fourth time I'm coming already. Whoa! Fourth time, yeah. I'm from Suriname, South America. Why do you have to come every time, man? This is an international festival. Voodoo festival is our heritage. So we from the diaspora, we have to bring back the information what we gathered here, bring back for our people back home in diaspora. In Suriname, do you guys practice Voodoo? Yes, also we call it Winty. Winty? I'm learning a new word today. Alright, it's nice to meet you, man. Hi, nice to meet you. You come from Suriname? You came for the festival? No, this is my second time. Second time? Why is this so important to you to be at this festival? Because it is the best festival to promote Voodoo. And Voodoo is the authentic religion of West Africa. My grandparents came from Africa. So in the diaspora, we were looking for the traces from the original African spirituality so that we can reconnect. We are bringing our forefathers, we are bringing their backs. Back home? Yes. That's beautiful. What do you do? My name is Baba Kenneth Feshbaba. In Haiti, which is a country in the Caribbean, apparently Voodoo isn't played an important role during emancipation. Beside the fact that evolution was sparked by a Voodoo ceremony, Voodoo enabled the people to meet together from political and cultural ideals and served as the starting arena for pro-independence speakers to get there. They are messaging across. I was not shocked to see my people representing at the festival. We are happy to be here. We represent the Haitian population. You travel all the way from Haiti to here? We are traveling all the way from New York. From Brooklyn. Okay. From everywhere. Why is this so important to you? Oh my God, that's my culture. We love. That's where we from. Our ancestors are from Wida. So we here for the first time, some of us, to show our respect and appreciation. You're from Haiti, right? In Haiti, you are from Haiti. Oh wow. In Haiti, both Christianity and Voodoo coexist, co-exist, right? Voodoo. And it's exactly the same thing in here. Voodoo. How does it make you feel when you come in here? There's another time about this. We are Voodoo and we are Voodoo. Voodoo. Christianity is Christianity. Voodoo. Let's keep it that way. Okay. Let's keep it that way. We Voodoo. You Voodoo. Voodoo. Haitian Voodoo. Represent Haiti. Look at me. Thank you. Yeah, I come from Grand Rapids in New York to here for Voodoo. On my journeys across Africa, I found myself in Togoville and it was shocking to see that Christianity and Voodooism co-exist in here. Even what is the very important is that in 1985, the Pope John Paul II. So he came here. He came here. And when he came here, there's a lot of people. And he was welcomed by the Voodoo priests who make a ceremony to welcome the Pope here. So the main religion that is here is the Voodoo. And right now they have the Catholic Church also in here. So which means that we have two religions in here. The Voodoo and Catholic. It was shocking to know that it's exactly the same thing that happens in Haiti. And being in Wither for the first time, it was shocking to see exactly the same thing over here. We are just in front of the Temple of Python here in Wither. And behind us you can see the Cathedral, which is a Catholic Church, the Basilica. There is only a space of about 30 meters in between the two worship places. This is the traditional worship of the Python, one of the original deities in this country. So in order to preserve this deity, they have kept the temple for it here in Wither. The Python do not harm. They can go out, go through town, be fed and return to this place. It's a real python. Well, I can only smile at this point. If anyone goes through, you find it, you bring it back to this place. You mean the pythons do not harm people? They do not harm. They are harmless creatures. Are you sure the pythons have been released sometimes? I know they are released into town to go and greet people in their houses and be fed and they return here. It's been here for over 200 centuries. The people have kept this deity for generations. So they are harmless. They are friends like we have other people. Snakes. Even a dead snake cannot get closer. Oh my goodness, look at how brave the lady is. If you want to come to Sudan, come to Sudan. Pythons do not harm people, they do not harm them. And one day on the mob, they open the door. African, you have to come to Sudan. I'm coming. No Sudan. I'm coming. Yes, you must come. So why must the king come in here? Yeah, it's a deity. So the king must pay some respect this morning before going for the grand festival on the beach side. I've been to so many festivals but I've never been to such a big and massive festival like this before. We actually head into the Deba Ground and as you can see, so many cars that are parked. Some are still moving, trying to find a place to park just to witness such a beautiful day. Man! Wow! I can't believe that I never knew that something like this exists in here. Go to the Deba Ground and it was filled with thousands of people from different parts of the world to witness such a colourful rituals and energetic performance of the Voodoo worshipers. Festival commemorates victims of slave trade between the 16th and the 19th century. It was a way of resisting slavery. Our brothers, sisters and parents were gone to the other side of the Atlantic. We didn't know where or when they could come back. So it was said that rituals needed to be performed so that they could come back. So this has been going on for decades to say that what is bad must not be repeated. It's a source of research for the Venet. Because when they came back, they came back with their family. They came to build this centine benivua in reality. So the government is also working on this with all the work, the link to tourism, the rehabilitation of tourists. So it's a good thing. Good to see you. Good to see you too. You came specifically for this festival? Yes. Why is it so important to you? For me, Voodoo or Obia was our first religion. Before we were introduced to any other organized religion. So it's in our blood. It's part of us as Africans where it's part of who we are. You know, you could believe or you could not believe but it's part of who we are. And it's how we act. We use different aspects of our benefit. To me, Voodoo is not negative. Voodoo is a religion. It's a natural religion. It's something that should be accepted instead of fear. So that's what Voodoo remains to me. That's how I feel about Voodoo. It's part of us. And my African ancestry is this. We are one piece. If we do not include our history into our lives, nobody will know about it. And we have to continue to understand and respect Voodoo. Life. Life. Basic. It's in Africa. Yes. My ancestry is from Africa. So it's our roots. It's really our roots. That's why I come here for to see, for to live this one. Connecting back to the point of Voodoo that doesn't make you feel. I feel wonderful. Every time I come to the continent, I feel something different and I feel something new. And this is a new experience. So I am connected. I'm connected with the earth, with the people, with the culture. I am connected. Always. But I want to give you props for your program. I watch it every time. We love you. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Everything. What is all that I do for time? And it was time for the final performance and I think everyone was just waiting for this one. But he keeps moving. He can't even dance. And I think there was something in there. So it doesn't mean it was a snake that was moving this, this whole time. I've never seen or experienced anything like this before. But hey, it's not done. Let's head to the final phase of this festival. This is the 10th phase of the whole festival, right? Yeah. This is the evening program. What is happening or what is going to happen? What is going to happen is that we are going to experience a festival called Egun Gun. Egun Gun. Say it after me. Egun Gun. What does that mean by the way? In the local language they are called Kuvito. The spirit of the dead. And the language that we all understand for the spirit of the dead. Yeah. Wow. It manifests through people, through dances. Are they going to wake the spirit up today? No. They are going to manifest through people. You don't see them, but you see them dancing. I'm here to enjoy an authentic African traditional festival. But to be honest, I don't really like what is happening. I feel like it's more touristic than being spiritual. You know, having a great time. But the fact that I'm surrounded by tourists, man, you can't even enjoy it. Literally, real voodoo culture. I mean, experiencing it, it messes myself, learn something new, learn something different. But at the moment, what I'm saying, I'm not impressed, man. Because it's like they are selling the values and the culture to other people. Let me know what you think, man. This is what I do. Egun Gun, right? Yeah. That's a painting of Egun Gun. Guess who did it? That's the gentleman. This is the guy. The genius behind it. So, it means, does it mean that he paints everything or he just paints Egun Gun? He just gave them the money. Yeah. Did they ask for the money? No, he's appreciating their kindness, what they are doing. Are they going to bless the man? Yeah. They pronounce blessings. They just bless upon him. They just bless upon him. Yeah, so, this is the masquerade in Benin. They have just paid home aid to him. What did they do to you? He told me that I can have everything in my world. Okay? He prayed to me. Oh, for you? Yeah, for me. So, you believed in it? Yeah. And you know that it's going to happen? Yeah. Oh, and you gave them money or they asked for the money? Yeah, I gave them. No, no. I gave them from your hearts. By myself. Okay. I attended a festival in Benin. Yes. This is my first time, but I feel like the festival is too commercialized. Yeah. You don't think so? Yeah, I think so. Because this year is the first time I saw many people who come to Nigeria, Ghana, and Ethiopian, and all the African people who like to visit Benin. But I encourage people to come next year to come and visit Benin about it. But was it always like this? Before? Was it always like this? No, no. It was always like this. Was it more local before? More local before. Don't you think that we are losing the heritage and the value by making it like that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because even this morning when I came, the locals were just standing and watching. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then we, the tourists are like Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, what's going on? I mean, I thought it's a festival. The people need to get involved. Because, you see, Benin people, they are not, I don't know how to say, the diaspora, they are not include their self a lot. The Benin diasporans, the diasporans from Benin, they don't include themselves in their poetry. Too much, too much. Not like Ghanaians. Oh, why? Because they see who do like, to do, they want to keep people, you see. Oh, really? No, no, no. They are scared of them. But now, but now, is the people from outside that are now... I feel like there are more white people here than black ones. Yeah. I don't know why, because now I saw many people from Portuguese, come from Spanish, come from Brazil, come and visit them. Benin people look around, come and visit their show. The biggest show. We are scared because they painted voodoo to be what? Evil. My point of view, white people, they have the first people who say voodoo is not good, it's heavy, but it's there, the first people who come to visit voodoo and they want to know the secret of voodoo in Benin. I don't know why. This is my point of view. They say, oh, every opportunity needs to go up. We all pray, bro, you all pray? Yeah, pray. Pray, man, yeah, every opportunity needs to go. To the watchers of voodoo, voodoo is life, voodoo is a belief and to you out there watching this video, what does voodoo means to you and why are you so scared of voodoo? I mean, on this note, thank you so much for watching and I'll see you all in the next one. Please don't unsubscribe because of this voodoo video. I love and I appreciate you all. We are exploring Africa and telling our own story. Peace out.