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How the Vodou Came to Dahomey

The vodun came into the world because of Agadja. The vodun came from Adja.¹ There was a woman who was called Hwandjelè. She brought all the vodun from Adja. In those days there were no vodun. If a woman was pregnant she could bear a goat, and a goat could give birth to a man.

Hwandjelè, who came from Adja, sold indigo. She saw many times men behind goats. She saw goats behind women, and she asked who bore these? They said that a woman bore them.

There was a wife of Agadja who was called Naè Adono. The life of Agadja with this woman was not yet happy. After market, Naè came to tell her husband that she saw a woman from Adja in the market who said she knew the sacrifice to make so that men will bear men and goats bear goats.

Agadja sent a man to call Hwandjelè of Adja. Now Hwandjelè was married to a man in Adja, and she had borne him a male child. When this woman heard that Agadja called her, she came to Agadja and she said, "In our village, women give birth to human beings, and animals bear animals. Agadja asked her what they did in their country so that this happened. She said, "In our country we have vodun. You have no vodun here.

Agadja said, "Bring us these vodun, too. She asked him for all that was necessary, and she brought Sagbata, Heviosso, Ogu, Lisa, Dã, Aido-Hwedo, Nesuhwe, Tovodun, Fa, Minona, Boko Legba. She brought all these for Agadja.

Now Agadja asked Naè Hwandjelè to become his wife. Hwandjelè gave birth to a boy called Tegbesu. In those days, just as today we give soldiers to the whites, the Dahomeans gave men to the people of Oyo called ayogban² which means the load given to the Ayo. To give those people to the Ayonu, each of the chiefs had to give his own son, as well as many others of his village, and Agadja himself had to give a son, too.

When the boy Tegbesu grew up and the time came to give the men to Ayo, Agadja's wives said to him, "Now you must send your son Tegbesu." They, too, had sons but they refused to give theirs. Agadja was angry and said that Tegbesu must not go. Hwandjelè went to see her husband and said that he was to send Tegbesu. She did not want her son to break the kingdom. ³

Good. Tegbesu then went with the others. When the king of Ayo wanted to send a message to Agadja, he always sent Tegbesu with the message. One day Tegbesu was on his way to give a message to Agadja from the king of Ayo. On the road he met a diviner with the white head of a bull. The bokono asked him, "Where does this boy whom I always meet on the way come from? The bokono said, "When you go to see your father, I will go with you. Tegbesu went and told this to his father. His father said, "Go and bring him. He brought the bokono there. The bokono's name was Djiso, the second was called Gongon. They both had their Fa. Agadja gave them a place to make Fa.

As Agadja's death was approaching, he said, "Why is it that you do not like my son Tegbesu? He said this to his other sons and wives. "My life and Dahomey belong to Tegbesu and Fa."

1. A region of present-day western Dahomey.
2. I.e., tribute.
3. Idiom for "destroy.

Return to: Ancient Lore