Benin's Voodoo Child Tradition

This series of photographs by Eric Lafforgue exemplifies some of the unique methods that the Fon people of Benin do to honor their dead children. The parents create effigies of twins who die in childhood and raise them as if alive. They feed them, bathe them, put them to bed and even send them to school. Twins have a special place in the voodoo religion of Africa and their spirits are thought to inhabit the wooden dolls. It is thought if they're mistreated they will put evil curses on the family, whereas if they're cared for they will bring the family happiness and prosperity.

"Three months after the birth of twins, if they are still living, the parents go to collect gifts from other members of their community," Lafforgue was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror. "If one or both of the twins die, then the mother carries the statues around between her breasts and walks around with a tray on her head, receiving alms for the twins. All donate some money or food."

The importance of twins in Africa is certainly linked to the fact that the recorded twinning rate in the continent is higher than anywhere else in the world. Benin's Fon tribe has a very high rate of twin births, one in 20, but many die from childhood diseases and malaria.

Comments

She Knows You’re Looking

To be honest, the first thing I noticed in these portraits wasn’t the texture, the lighting, or the color palette. It was her. Who is she? Is she real, or is she imaginary? Does she have an Instagram? I was hooked right away. I mean, I’m a guy. So yeah, I felt something at once. If you caught yourself staring a little longer too, don’t worry. You’re not alone. In most of these Roberto Martin Sing pieces, she looks straight at you. Her gaze isn't aggressive, but it isn't shy either. It's more like she's saying, “Hi. I know you’re looking. It’s fine.” In one painting, the young woman is rising from the water with full nymph energy. Men have been falling for this stuff since ancient Greece. She’s the goddess in the forest or the woman in the lake. There’s soft light, glowing skin, and zero real-world problems. She looks very feminine without being flashy. Inviting without trying too hard. And you can’t help but wonder what she’s thinking. The work moves between contempora...

Where Bad Space and Good Music Collided

My first apartment was in Malate, and calling it “small” would be generous. I lived there with two girls and one guy, and to this day, I genuinely don’t know how we all fit. It felt like a magic trick. Or a health hazard. We were a musical mess. One roommate lived and breathed ’70s classics. Another was permanently blasting Korn and Slipknot. One survived solely on cheesy love songs. And me? I was floating somewhere between new wave and folk rock, pretending that made sense. Somehow, despite the noise and the chaos, we all lived together in this weird, mismatched harmony. No murders. No lawsuits. A win, honestly. My music taste now is nothing like it was in my twenties. Not even close. But I’ll always be grateful to Jacqueline for introducing me to this song in particular. It was playing when I woke up from a very memorable sleep in 2002. I was 21, half-awake, probably confused about life, and that song stuck. It still hasn’t let go.

finding cain

Search This Blog