Voodoo ritual for Betancourt
2008-04-10 08:44
Cotonou - Voodoo priests cried out in tongues and made sacrificial offerings on Wednesday, imploring God and the ancestors to help free French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt from the hands of Colombia's Farc rebels.
The ritual by initiates in Benin, the West African home of
the ancient religion, was part of a three-day programme of
fasting and prayer decreed by President Thomas Yayi Boni for
Betancourt, who has been held hostage since 2002.
"May the love and mercy of God touch the hearts of those who
do not yet understand, so they may know that to harm someone is
to harm oneself," voodoo high priest Dah Aligbonon said as
initiates offered up sacrifices of cowrie shells and cow's milk.
Some initiates cried out in unintelligible tongues.
The ceremony omitted the bloody sacrifices of chickens or
other animals which characterise many voodoo rituals, "because
we are begging the souls of the ancestors that forgiveness may
reign in the hearts of men", Aligbonon said.
Prayer sessions
Christians and Muslims have also held prayer sessions since
Boni made his appeal on Monday in a rare foray into global
affairs for a small, poor country that rarely makes headlines
abroad.
"Nobody who hopes for any lasting prosperity can or should
remain indifferent to the drama now unfolding in the jungle of
Colombia," Boni said in a statement on Monday.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Benin's former colonial
power and a key donor, says Betancourt is ill and close to death
and has made it a priority to secure her release.
The 46-year-old French-Colombian citizen was kidnapped while
campaigning for the Colombian presidency.
Centuries ago Benin was known as the Slave Coast due to the
many Africans shipped in chains from its shores to the Americas.
Some took with them their voodoo beliefs, which survive in
different forms in Caribbean countries like Haiti and Cuba.