You can not buy Wisdom at the Market !

I received my National Geographic April 2012 issue today : there is a great article on Masks and Spirits in Africa and the African diaspora. The role masks play in between reality and illusion, it's creativity and the uniqueness of the ritual dress is amazing to me!

"You Can't buy Wisdom at the Market" is one from Benin, West Africa, where I was born. Did you know that Benin is also the birth land of Voodoo ( Vodun in 'fon' my language, means 'spirit')
It's one of the oldest religious expression in Africa that believes in spirits and reinforce the cultural identity of any natural elements beyond human beings. Voodoo cosmology centers around the vodun spirits and other elements of divine essence that govern the Earth, a hierarchy that range in power from major deities governing the forces of nature and human society to the spirits of individual streams, trees, rocks...Adherents also emphasise ancestor worship and hold that the spirits of the dead live side by side with the world of the living..In Africa any vodun celebration comes with great masks and costumes!
If all natural elements have a spirit and a power it definitely shows in the costumes and masks they represent : they're powerful and stunning...
Im in love with the mix and match of rich and gorgeous colors and fabrics layers, pointless to say it's inspiring me ! It's magical !