African Traditional Religion and Christianity in the Formation of Vodun

Abstract

ABSTRACT Vodou, along with a number of other African American religious traditions, combines Catholic saints with deities from the Yoruba-Fon ethnicities. The article proposes first that the source of the Catholic saint is primarily the Catholic Kingdom of Kongo, and second that the Yoruba-Fon group join the saint because, unlike most Atlantic African religions, it possesses deities who are mobile and have potentially universal jurisdiction.