The ancient religions and divination systems that developed in West Africa among the Ewe, Fon, Kaye, and Tchamba people of Dahomey, Togo, and Benin, focusing on worship of the Loas (Lwa). Sevi Lwa is also called Vodun, Voodoo, Woodoo, Voudou, or Budu -- names that come from an African word for "spirit." Vodun's diaspora roots go back to the West African people who brought their religion with them when they were forcibly enslaved in Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, and other islands in the West Indies. Like most African Traditional Religions, Vodun is currently practiced under several names on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In the Western Hemisphere, Vodou has also been influenced by the Kongo and Bantu cultures of the Congo River Basin; by the indigenous Arawaks, Caribs and Tainos; and, to some extent, by the Roman Catholicism of the colonizing French.
When submitting URLs, please note that although some Neo-Pagans falsely claim Voodoo lineage, such culturally appropriative sites will not be accepted in the African-Diasporic category. Also note that despite the similarity of names, Voodoo is not the same as (primarily syncretic Christian) African-American Hoodoo folk-magic derived from the Congo traditions, and that Hoodoo sites have their own subcategory.