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

Some snaps from Eskinita

This tiny e-bike weighs just 12kg and folds away in seconds

An electric bicycle that folds up neatly is one of the greatest ways to solve the last mile problem. Unfortunately, a lot of commuters write folding e-bikes off because of their reputation for being heavy, uncomfortable, and bulky. Some are even awkward to use and difficult to ride. A group of UK-based entrepreneurs hope to change all that with the A-Bike Electric, an innovative vehicle which they claim is the lightest and most compact electric bicycle ever built. The A-Bike Electric weighs only 12kg, which means it's light enough to take on a bus or a train, carry up stairs and get through busy crowds. The bicycle has a range of 15 miles (25km) and uses a brushless front hub motor and 24V removable lithium battery to reach a top speed of 12.5mph. The battery can be recharged via USB, and takes 2.5 hours to juice it up. Although the wheels have a diameter of only 13 centimeters, a dual-chain system allows for a normal pedaling action. The bike's inventor,...

Katy Ann Gilmore is my new favorite on Instagram

Katy Ann Gilmore is a Los Angeles-based visual artist who specializes in making extraordinary illustrations on paper and large scale murals using micron and gel pens. Her elaborate line work is painstakingly methodical, layering strokes of the pen in varying directions to create amazing shapes and topography that look like they are covered with intricate mesh netting. I was wondering how many pen strokes does it take to complete just one of these drawings, so I did some research and found out that her small 5 in. by 7 in. illustrations typically take a few hours, while an 11 in. by 14 in. picture can take anywhere from 10-25 hours. "My hand does hurt a bit after marathon sessions, but never anything too crazy," she told Lisa Congdon. "I try to rest my eyes/hands/brain every once in awhile by looking away from the drawing, dropping the pen, and taking a breather." Katy received a BA in Mathematics, Art, and Spanish from Greenville College in Il...

finding cain

Search This Blog