Understanding vodun, culture and philosophy for life with the priestess Nan Ilé

The vodun is a little known and frequently misunderstood religion in Europe. It is often assimilated to a satanic ritual of some kind because of the first missionaries to arrive in Benin, Nigeria and Togo. They sought to justify their domination over their followers by judging their practices as “strange”, and therefore needing to be eradicated. In addition to a priestess, university researchers, historians, anthropologists, and cultural inheritance specialists will be helping us to see that rather than just a mere cult, vodun culture is actually a way of life, in which man is an integral part of nature, in all its spiritual and invisible dimensions. With its ability to adapt, and integrate different populations, cultures and divinities, vodun culture views the other as a source of richness rather than a danger. Today, it represents a contribution, in the form of an African philosophy and culture, to some of the answers to the challenges facing us in the contemporary world.