RELIGION OF TOGO
Togo, West Africa, is a finger of land, which shares borders with Benin, Burkina
Faso and Ghana. The Atlantic Ocean lies to the south of the country. Small country
with area 56,600 sq.km. Togo became independent on April 27, 1960. The name
Togo dates back to 1884 when a protectorate treaty was signed with the Germans
at Togoville. In 1914, German Togoland was invaded by French and British forces
and fell after a brief resistance. Following the war Togoland became a League
of Nations mandate divided for administrative purposes between France and the
United Kingdom. After the World War II, the mandate became a United Nations
trust territory administered by the United Kingdom and France. In 1957, the
residents of British Togoland voted to join the Gold Coast as part of Ghana.
By statue in 1955, French Togo became an autonomous republic within the French
Union. On April 27, 1960 the French Togo became independent.
Population 5.4million
Capital City: Lome (pop 600,000)
People: 37 ethnic groups (the largest are Ewe, Mina and Kabye);
less than 1% European and Syrian-Lebanese.
Official langue: French
Climate: Tropical
Togo’s wildlife parks include the Fazao National Park outside Sokode,
the Keran National Park near Kara and the Fosse aux Lions (Lions’Den)
southwest of Dapaong.
Religion: African religion 70%, Christian 20%, Muslim 10%
Government: republic under transition to multiparty democratic
rule
Head of State: President Faure Gnassingbe
The religion of Togo remains faithful to its pagan ancestry. Vodu is commonly
called Vodoo by the public name is traceable to an African word for “spirit.”
Vodoo is practiced especially in Benin where its was formally recognized as
official religion in 1996, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. Today over 60 million people
practice Vodu worldwide. Many sects composed Vodoo that is commonly named. Most
of these sects are (Yeve where the god is Hebisou=spirit of storms, etron, mamiwater,
dan=serpent spirit etc…)
The people who practice Vodoo believe in the existence of invisible evils or
demons.
Vodoo rituals:
The purposed of rituals is to make contact with a spirit, to gain their favor
by offering them a sacrifices and gifts, to obtain help in the form of more
abundant food, higher standard of living improved health. Vodoo priests can
be male (hungan), or female (mambo). A Vodoo temple is called humfor. The most
characteristic of Vodoo is ceremony of dancing. The dancing can be started by
houngan an/or mambo and the hounsis (students studying Vodoo). The dancing with
typically builds in intensity until one of the dancers became possessed by the
sprit.
Animal sacrifice; this may be a goat, sheep, chicken, or dog. They believe that
animal sacrifice is a method of consecrating food for consumption by following
Vodoo, their gods and ancestors.