MARC AUGÉ - VODUN GODS

Today in southeastern Togo a nearly complete reproduction of the entire [Vodun] pantheon can be found in every village: this means that every god is present in every village, but it also means that each god can be present several times over. This reduplication of the whole system, along with the multiplication of its individual elements, is linked to the social dimension of the pantheon: a god is inherited through agnatic transmission when its installer dies; convents are founded and perpetuated on the basis of lineage. The vicissitudes of life interpreted on certain occasions (usually unfortunate) are reorganized according to two basic criteria: family ties among men and family ties among the gods. The relationship between men and gods is thus well mediated socially through the institution of divination as well as through inheritance rules that impose a father’s obligations on his son. The gods, taken as a whole, constitute an ordered system capable of providing guidance amidst the apparent chaos of human lives that are so singular and so diverse.