Editing Dahomey (section)

===Cosmology===
Dahomey had a unique form of [[West African Vodun]] that linked together preexisting animist traditions with vodun practices.  Oral history recounted that [[Hwanjile]], a wife of [[Agaja]] and mother of [[Tegbessou]], brought Vodun to the kingdom and ensured its spread.  The primary deity is the combined Mawu-Lisa (Mawu having female characteristics and Lisa having male characteristics) and it is claimed that this god took over the world that was created by their mother Nana-Buluku.<ref name="Herskovits (Vol. I)" />  Mawu-Lisa governs the sky and is the highest pantheon of gods, but other gods exist in the earth and in thunder.  Religious practice organized different priesthoods and shrines for each different god and each different pantheon (sky, earth or thunder).  Women made up a significant amount of the priest class and the chief priest was always a descendant of [[Dakodonou]].<ref name=Bay-1998 />