Fon people

Now, the occult nature of this story is often misinterpreted through a strictly Christian, Faustian lens.

In the deep south of the 1930s, the man at the crossroads was likely a remnant of Yoruba and Fon spiritual traditions brought to the Americas by the transatlantic slave trade.

In these traditions, the deity Ishu, or Papa Legba in Haitian voodoo, is the guardian of the crossroads.

Now, he's a trickster god, the messenger between the human and divine realms.

Throughout this video, I'll be using the term Vodou to refer specifically to Haitian Vodou.

This word derives from the designation for spirit in the Fon language group of West Africa, which is spoken today in the country of Benin and its surroundings.

Vodun, with an N, refers to beliefs and practices in West Africa today, which is a topic we'll save for a future video.

Keep in mind, though, that religions are internally diverse, and while I'll be generalizing throughout this video, there is diversity within Haitian Vodou.

Haitian Vodou emerged in the 1600s within communities of enslaved Africans who were forced to the island of Hispaniola, which is today two countries, Haiti on the western third and the Dominican Republic on the eastern two thirds.

People from all over West and West Central Africa were forced to Caribbean plantations.

Some of the largest populations that ended up on Hispaniola came from the regions roughly around modern-day Benin and western Nigeria, including the Fon and Ewe people, as well as various Yoruba-speaking ethnic groups.

Congo communities from Central Africa also played a significant role in Haiti's demographic makeup.

but institutionally distinct traditions.

In southern Benin, Togo and neighbouring regions, we encounter Vodun or Vodou among Fon, Yu, Aya and related peoples.

In Haiti, we encounter Vodou, a Creole religion formed in the extraordinarily violent social world of colonial Santo Domingo and post-revolutionary Haiti.

In 19th century Louisiana, particularly New Orleans, we encounter what historians conventionally call voodoo or voodoo.

cross the Atlantic again, but do not imagine ideas traveling by themselves.

People traveled under coercion.

The Atlantic slave trade displayed Fon, Yu, Aya, Yoruba, Congo, and many other African peoples into colonial societies where previous kinship networks, political institutions and ritual communities were violently disrupted.

Haitian Vodou emerged from this catastrophe.