The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume who created all men and all these vodouns (spirits) and gave them to men as intermediaries It is clear that to speak of Vodoun in the context of polytheism is hardly correct Rather, it appears to be (multi-sided) monotheism, which highlights an active relationship with the cosmos, nature, phenomena, and deceased human beings, in contrast with a direct relationship with God Neither can one say absolutely that they are in the presence of a pa theist (God in everything), it is rather pan theist (everything in God) For the people of South Benin, Mawu is God, but He does not concern Himself directly with man; He is omnipotent but has delegated his power to the vodouns Hence, the vodouns, recognized as Mawu’s creatures, are Mawu’s representatives among men For this reason, they are explicitly distinct from Mawu But we find that there is no actual worship of the spirits in the tradition, except certain spontaneous prayers or references such as “ ” (God will act), “² ” (may God decide thus) used on different occasions The vodouns receive the worship because of their proximity to Mawu compared to man.8 Divine qualities are attributed to them, characterized as spirits; they are considered to be above all natural laws The faithful believe that the work of the spirits is present in all aspects of man’s daily life, and that, pleasing God, will gain them health, wealth, and spiritual commitment It is often believed that it is these aspects of the religion, similar in many ways to the intercession of saints and angels, which made Vodoun so compatible with Christianity, especially Catholicism in the New World, and produced such strongly syncretistic religions as Haitian Vodoun. The pantheon of the Vodoun is quite large and complex In one tradition, there are seven daughters and sons of Mawu, which are interethnic and related to natural phenomena or historical or mythical individuals, as well as dozens of ethnic vodouns, defenders of a certain clan, tribe, or nation There are a hierarchy of these lesser creations, which range in power from major deities governing the forces of nature and human society, to the spirits of individual streams, trees, and rocks — the more impressive of which may be considered all of creation is considered divine, it sacred Since therefore, contains the power of the divineǤ ~ ~