Ceremony on the former slave market in Ouidah Benin on 11-1-2023, just one day after the yearly Vodun Festival on Ouidah Beach near the Gate of No Return, where more than one million of enslaved Africans were traded. Many died before they were traded and were buried in mass graves.
The ceremony was an initiative of Martine de Souza living in Ouidah, a descendant of both former slave traders and of enslaved Africans. She wrote:
"The important message of the ceremony was asking forgiveness. We ask the descendants of the enslaved ones to forgive us, but also their ancestors. They did not have the proper burial rituals after what they suffered. They were buried in a common grave. A forgiveness and reconciliation ceremony will help because they are still angry .
The people who performed the ceremony were the traditional chiefs and the descendants of de Souza Francisco Félix who was the main slave trader in West Africa, and lived here in Ouidah, Benin. The people who asked forgiveness were not only descendants of de Souza, but also descendants of black people who sold the enslaved ones to them, and descendants of white people who traded slaves to the Americas and exploited them. Also a guest from Holland offered an emotional excuse for the crimes his country did to the enslaved ones. Their main message was: “We are calling all the ancestors and the spirits of all the enslaved ones to join us so that they can accept our prayers for forgiveness.”
The first rituals were to wash the feet of the Afro slave-descendants with special herbs, parfum and talc. After this we ask them if they forgive us and they said yes . The other rituals were to ask the spirits of the slave ancestors if they forgive us and the answer was yes. After this there was a drinking ceremony with everyone to share the blessing from the ancestors, as a communion, drinking water and gin by all present, after offering some drops to the earth to appease the spirits. Then we shared some African food.
After the ceremony there was a theatre/music performance of the Ouidah theatre group. Two men showed the suffering of the enslaved prisoners on the former slave market. Finally they could escape and liberate themselves, back to the traditions of their ancestors. The song was “WE suffered, WE left to work in a plantation.
My motivation is big! When I was 15 years old, a medium told my father after she cried that the spirits of the slaves were suffering by the mass grave. They are not happy not knowing where to go. Her advice was that we should do something about it so we can have peace. For me to be a Vodoun tour guide and Vodoun-priest is for that reason. As a descendant of a slave trader I think it is my responsibility to do that ceremony.”
