This is not about secretive mutterings in the dead of night or freakish eccentrics, explained Dah Aligbonon Akpochihala, an eminent voodoo priest who has taken to the airwaves to preach the old messages of faith, fidelity and obedience integral to his religion. It is about bringing a younger generation on board.<\/p>\n
\u201cVoodoo is sabotaged, demonized, as if there was nothing good in it,\u201d\u009d Mr. Aligbonon said in his austere office \u201d\u201d a bare, whitewashed room, with a cracked linoleum floor and disused fan.<\/p>\n
A slight, mild-mannered aristocrat in a blue robe, Mr. Aligbonon maintains his modest cinder-block temple on a busy commercial street in this bustling commercial capital, one of the continent\u2019s major ports. The temple sits between a beauty parlor and a hardware stall, and offers spiritual consultation and ceremonies to Mami Wata (a water divinity) \u201d\u201d along with photocopying, binding services and CDs in the Fon language of Mr. Aligbonon\u2019s broadcasts. Chickens peck in the courtyard \u201d\u201d they have multiple uses, food and sacrifice \u201d\u201d laundry hangs on the rack and a baby bawls from within.<\/p>\n