Thy Name Is Vodun: Conversations with Mamiwata Priestess

Mami Wata Priestess, through her conversations in a series of collected essays, describes traditional African Vodun and its mystery and beauty. Coming from the perspective of one initiated into the pantheon of the African Mami Wata she gives a unique glimpse into the often misunderstood world of African Vodun. In the pursuit of a doctorate, in African Psychology in the late 1990s, she traveled to Africa to do research but inadvertently found herself...her ancestors, the spirits that gave her life and her destiny. From 1998-2006 she immersed herself in traditional African culture and lay in initiation chambers from Benin to Togo to Ghana returning as the first authentically initiated priestess of the African Mami Wata. And, as a result has been serving the spirits every since.

Her story is the story of every individual born in the diaspora destined to retrace the footsteps of their ancestors and reconnect to a tradition refused them due to the transatlantic slave trade. Her distinctive instructive style delivers highly specialized details and points the audience towards the most direct access to the divine indicating the hallmark of a true initiate of Mami Wata. Within these pages one will be introduced to the majesty of African Vodun and its destined role in bridging the divinities and those destined to the sacred knowledge lost beginning with the Middle Passage. Through this sacred work what lies at the bottom of the sea and throughout the spiritual realm may formally be addressed as it was foretold within the ancient Priesthood of Ifa that such a time would come. Mami Wata Priestess works from Temple Behumbeza, in (Cotonou) Benin, with her husband Hounnon Behumbeza, the Supreme Chief of the pantheon of the African Mami Dan Vodun.