By Kudra Maliro
In the voodoo heartland of Dahomey Kingdom of West Africa, the present-day Benin and Togo, the practice is seen as representing African traditions.
Voodoo, known locally as Vodoun, is practised by 12% of Benin's population of 13 million, according to some estimates. The cult has millions of followers in other parts of the world including from Brazil, Haiti and the southern US state of Louisiana.
Outsiders are told little about the Voodoo deities or their worship and followers are prohibited from revealing the cult's teachings.
"Voodoo prayers are directed to God (through) our grandparents. Every year, we organize Voodoo ritual ceremonies to ask our ancestors for grace and forgiveness," Togbe Gnagblondro III, the national president of Togo's traditional priests, told TRT Afrika.
Voodoo became known to the rest of the world during the Slave Trade when African slaves were forcibly transported out of the continent. However, they were generally forbidden from practising it.
To get around the restrictions, the slaves began to equate their gods with Catholic saints. They also practised their rituals using the imagery and objects of the Catholic Church.
Every January 10, some Beninese pay tribute to the deities of Voodoo in Ouidah, a small beach town on the Atlantic Ocean and a former slave trading hub.
"The Voodoo cult has always been (part of) our African culture, from the time of our ancestors until the arrival of Christianity and Islam. For several years now, a large number of Togolese (Africans) have begun to return to the logic of the Voodoo cult," Alphonse Logo, a Togolese journalist who has covered several Vodou ceremonies, told TRT Afrika.
He said many Voodou followers feel proud to practise it describing as an African traditional religion.
"I'm afraid of this religion, because if you give a promise to make a sacrifice and if you don't (do it), you'll get bad spells," adds Mr Logo.
