Voodoo ceremony in Togoville

Wow- we happened to stumble across the most surreal and interesting ceremony when visiting Togoville last weekend. The town was the German colonial capital of Togo but it also has kept strong voodoo traditions since beofre then. Karin and I were wandering around the small town , when we came across an enormous tree in a square. The people invited us to come and sit and watch the goings-on, it was only then that we realised there were about 15 people bowing down in worship to the tree. They proceded to do all sorts of wonderful things, like spit at the tree with water, mumur chants, and best of all... sacrifice two chickens. (vegetarians- dont read on...)

They held the chickens to the tree and then threw them on the ground, when they were unable to stand we realised that they had cut off the back toes of the feet, and also... their heads! the chickens had been decapitated but leaving behind what looked like the spinal cord. the really disturbing thing is it was amazing how long they stayed alive for, squirming around on the ground! i swear it was nearly 10 mintues. while they were still alive, all the villagers present came and blessed themselves with the dying animals!! Karin has not been able to eat chicken since.

The most frustrating thing, is that with our limited french all we could decipher is that the ceremony (i think) was honouring the spirits and meant to bring good luck. We were so lucky and priveledged to watch the whole thing.