2023-12-04 17:35:39
On January 10, 2024, the Beninese will have an idea of what the new year has in store for them thanks to “Tofâ”. The national consultation of the oracle, long left to the organizations of Fâ priests, is now carried out by the government in a spirit of reappropriation and promotion of this marker of cultural identity.
Patrice Talon’s government is now involved in the prediction process made each year by groups of soothsayers on New Year’s Eve. During the “Vodun days”a college of Fâ priests will consult the oracle in order to inform the Beninese of what the year 2024 hides from them. “We will now do this on January 10 because that is the day [que] we dedicated… And within this framework, a college of boconons was set up (Fâ priests). There will be 11 of them”declared Jean-Michel Abimbola, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts on November 30, 2023.
This college of Fâ priests will “officer in solemnity” the consultation during the celebration of the National Vodun Day scheduled in Ouidah from January 9 to 10, 2024. The practice consists, with the help of the divinatory art, of deciphering the happy or unfortunate events that could befall Benin during the new year, and ward off bad luck. The objective is to ensure socio-economic well-being for the country.
The “Tofâ” was an initiative of boconon organizations. “For 17 years, there was Tofâ and I congratulate the initiators. Because it made it possible to preserve this practice, this heritage, its importance, its interest,” recognized Jean-Michel Abimbola to the press.
Continuation of a vast ambition
The Beninese State withdraws the “Tofâ” initiative from the boconons in a context where it establishes a dynamic of reappropriation and valorization of the cultural and religious heritage of Benin. Which justifies, according to Jean-Michel Abimbola, the stated commitment of Patrice Talon’s government to coordinate the consultation of the Fâ on a national scale:
“The Tofâ or Ifa-ilou is the king or the leader of a territory who decrees this. So in a kingdom, the king says: ‘I want us to consult the Fâ for the kingdom’. In the Republic, who should do this? (…) It is not because we have let it happen until now that we will not be right to let it happen! (…) Today, we have a government that wants to reappropriate Beninese culture for the benefit of Benin and the world. That’s why we talked with everyone to make them understand…”.
Read also =>> “Vodun days”: here is the content of the first edition
#Tofâ #Talon #government #appoints #college #Fâ #priests