TOGO: Akodessewa Fetish Market

Togo’s Akodessewa Fetish Market is recognized as the largest fetish market in the world, a place where Voodoo practitioner can find anything they need for their rituals.

The practice of voodoo began in West Africa, before being taken to America by slaves, and in countries like Togo, Ghana, or Nigeria the religion is very much alive. Many people believe healers using animal parts and strange talismans can invoke spirits with their bizarre rituals, and solve their problems. And if there’s one place where voodoo priests can stock up on their creepy supplies, it’s the Akodessewa Fetish Market, in Togo’s capital city, Lome. Just think of it as an outdoor pharmacy where various animal parts, bone statues and herbs take the place of conventional medicine.

The practice of voodoo began in West Africa, before being taken to America by slaves, and in countries like Togo, Ghana, or Nigeria the religion is very much alive. Many people believe healers using animal parts and strange talismans can invoke spirits with their bizarre rituals, and solve their problems. And if there’s one place where voodoo priests can stock up on their creepy supplies, it’s the Akodessewa Fetish Market, in Togo’s capital city.

Lomé is the birthplace of the largest Voodoo market in the world – a kind of super supply store for fetishes, charms and anything else one might need for a ritual. The Akodessewa Fetish Market, or Marche des Feticheurs, is recognized as the largest fetish market in the world, a place where Voodoo practitioner can find anything they need for their rituals. From leopard heads to Voodoo priests who bless and create fetishes or predict the future and make medicines to heal whatever ails you.

Although from afar it might look like just a dusty deserted lot lined with wooden tables, as you approach and see the piles of heads, tails, skins and limbs of various animals, you realize you’ve arrived at Akodessewa Fetish Market. You’re soon greeted by the place’s voodoo chief who offers to give you a tour of the market, and before you know it you’re bargaining over an ape paw or a gazelle head. It’s a crazy place, and the people here know how to get under your skin and make you buy at least a souvenir. Voodoo merchants have products gathered from all over West Africa and no matter your problem they’re bound to have something for you. They claim they can help everybody in the world, and whenever someone has a problem and runs out of options they come to Akodessewa to look for solutions.

Couples that can’t have babies, goalkeepers who want to do wonders in a football match, people who want extra stamina to run a marathon, they can all be helped at the world’s biggest voodoo market. All it takes is a black powder made from ground up animal parts and herbs that has to be rubbed into the flesh of the “patient”. Sure the person has to be cut on the chest or back three times before they apply the magic powder, but you didn’t need to know that.

Even if you’re not into voodoo, the Akodessewa Fetish Market is one of those exotic attractions that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. If you don’t like animal heads staring at you, you can just check out the protective statues and talismans, or learn about the various herbs voodoo priests use. As the merchants say, there’s something here for everybody.

Deep in the heart of West Africa, Vodoun, or more familiarly, Voodoo is not only alive and well, but it is thriving.

Togo's capital city of Lomé is the birthplace of the largest Voodoo market in the world – a kind of super supply store for fetishes, charms and anything else one might need for a ritual. The Akodessewa Fetish Market, or Marche des Feticheurs, is a place where you can find anything from leopard heads and human skulls to Voodoo priests who bless and create fetishes or predict the future and make medicines to heal whatever ails you.

Though many people think of Haiti as Voodoo's biggest stronghold, the religion originated in West Africa. Vodoun is the official religion of neighboring Benin and is still the largest religion in the area, which is obvious given that the outdoor market's location is in the heart of Togo's capital. The Akodessewa Fetish Market is a mecca to local practitioners and they travel there from all over the African continent. Many believers view the Marche des Feticheurs as a kind of hospital or pharmacy – it is the place you go when you either cannot afford traditional treatment or traditional treatment has failed you. Here you can find talismans and charms good for treating everything from the flu or infertility to removing the blackest of curses.

In the practice of Voodoo every single creature is potent and divine, whether alive or dead, and in the Akodessewa Fetish Market you may find them all – monkeys, alligators, goats, leopards, gazelles, and many, many more – in various stages of decay and stacked up in macabre piles for blocks. The outdoor location doesn't quite suppress the stench but at least the huge market is in the open air. It is a jarring place for tourists who are not used to the idea of animal sacrifice as part of worship or using pieces of the dead as talismans, but for locals who practice the religion, it is a treasure and a necessity.