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Interesting meeting this was. On my last day in Benin, I was at the large market of Dantopka buying some instruments. As most religious items are located in the same area, this very gentleman was in the same place. I noticed him from afar and immediately felt happy and smiled at him and he at me. As we met, we shook hands and smiled. The beard connection was one thing but there was more at play here. He said he wanted to meet me at his house. He felt that we both share the same spirit, that of the serpent. In fact, on his two wrists he wears a metal bracelet in the form of a snake and claims that it pinched him when he saw me.
At his house, I discovered that he was in fact a very powerful priest with many different vodu (spirits) in his various shrines. He wanted to give me many different powers/protections but I had little time and money. But he did manage to do something for me which I do believe I am seeing the effects of. If you notice the rings on his fingers, each one represents a certain type of power that he wields such as bulletproof, poison proof, knife protection and many more. The talismans around his neck do the same.
Cotonou, Benin, 2010
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