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Vodun (meaning ''spirit'' in the Fon and Ewe languages, with a nasal high-tone ''u''; also spelled Vodon, Vodoun, Vodou, Voudou, Voodoo, etc.) is practiced by the Ewe people of eastern and southern Ghana, and southern and central Togo; and the Kabye people, Mina people, and Fon people of southern and central Togo, southern and central Benin. It is also practiced by some Gun (Gbe) people of Lagos and Ogun in southwest Nigeria. It is distinct from the various African traditional religions in the interiors of these countries and is the main source of religions with similar names found among the African Diaspora in the New World such as Haitian ''Vodou''; Puerto Rican ''Vodú''; Cuban ''Vodú''; Dominican ''Vudú''; Brazilian ''Vodum''; and Louisiana ''Voodoo''. All of these closely related faiths are syncretized with Christianity to various degrees and with the traditional beliefs of the Kongo people and Indigenous American traditions. ==Theology and practice== Vodun cosmology centers around the ''vodun'' spirits and other elements of divine essence that govern the Earth, a hierarchy that range in power from major deities governing the forces of nature and human society to the spirits of individual streams, trees, and rocks, as well as dozens of ethnic vodun, defenders of a certain clan, tribe, or nation. The ''vodun'' are the center of religious life, similar in many ways to doctrines such as the intercession of saints and angels that made Vodun appear compatible with Christianity, especially Catholicism, and produced syncretic religions such as Haitian Vodou. Adherents also emphasize ancestor worship and hold that the spirits of the dead live side by side with the world of the living, each family of spirits having its own female priesthood, sometimes hereditary when it's from mother to blood daughter. Patterns of worship follow various dialects, spirits, practices, songs, and rituals. A divine Creator, called variously ''Mawu'' is a female being who in one tradition bore seven children and gave each rule over a realm of nature - animals, earth, and sea - or else these children are inter-ethnic and related to natural phenomena or to historical or mythical individuals. The Creator embodies a dual cosmogonic principle of which ''Mawu'' the moon and ''Lisa'' the sun are respectively the female and male aspects, often portrayed as the twin children of the Creator. In other traditions, Legba is represented as Mawu's masculine counterpart, thus being represented as a phallus or as a man with a prominent phallus. Dan, who is Mawu's androgynous son, is represented as a rainbow serpent, and was to remain with her and act as a go-between with her other creations. As the mediator between the spirits and the living, Dan maintains balance, order, peace and communication. All creation is considered divine and therefore contains the power of the divine. This is how medicines such as herbal remedies are understood, and explains the ubiquitous use of mundane objects in religious ritual. Vodun talismans, called "fetishes", are objects such as statues or dried animal parts that are sold for their healing and spiritually rejuvenating properties. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「West African Vodun」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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