- Top Image: Brooklyn Museum: Bocio
- Bottom Image: Fondation Cartier: Vodun Bocio
Description
The Fon ethnic group of Benin worship vodun (meaning ‘gods, spirits, ancestors, and deities’) and Mawu (the supreme God) of the Vodun religion. Similar to the Yoruba orisha, the Fon believe that vodun, residing in the afterworld, can be communicated with and that each god plays a role in controlling forces on earth. These forces can be harnessed to provide protection to a household or community, used to keep away witches and criminals, used to manipulate the weather, harnessed to maintain crops, or harnessed to promote health and wellbeing. In essence, vodun are believed to be responsible for maintaining order and ensuring harmony.
Of the many vodun, the following are some of the most important:
- Mawu: The supreme god
- Hevioso: God of thunder and lightning
- Sagbata: God of smallpox
- Dan: Serpent and rainbow
- Gu: God of war
- Houeli: God of household protection
- Legba: Messenger, protector, and tricker god
To communicate with these gods, an individual must first go through a Fa diviner (bokonon; meaning "owner of Bo knowledge")—a guide or spokesperson for the gods. The diviner is responsible for identifying the god their client must honour in order to obtain favours from the vodun.
If a client (which can be a neighbourhood, a lineage, a secret society, a family or an individual) seeks health, well-being, and/or protection from misfortune, witchcraft, or death, the bokonon prescribes that a bocio (spelt 'bochio' in some sources) figure be made. Bocio (meaning "cadaver that possesses divine breath") are power objects representing spirits and the vodun gods. It is believed that the spiritual force of a god resides within the bocio figure and that this force serves as a surrogate for the individual who commissioned it. The spiritual force residing within the bocio is said to be enough to deflect negative forces, drawing danger away from the individual.
Once created, bocio figures are hammered into the ground in front of a home’s entrance, near a family compound, in agricultural fields, or within a little shelter covered in palm leaves. The figures receive offerings and are fed palm oil, cornflour, saliva, urine, and animal blood.
A subset of bocio figures is the bigble 'completely malformed' bocio characterised by the multiplication or deprivation of body parts such as heads, arms, and legs. Within this group are janus unvenon bocio that incorporate two heads, faces or bodies (also referred to as tawenon, meaning 'owner of two heads'; nukun ene non, meaning 'owner with four eyes'; nukun do gudo nukun do nukon, meaning 'eye in front, eye in back'). Believed to have the ability to "observe and detect danger coming from any direction", bigble bocio are said to be used to counter the negative forces of witchcraft, protecting a household or a community from all directions. But they can also be used to enhance the malevolent desires of a sorcerer.
Distinguishing Features
Common features among all bocio figures:
- Core form usually of a single piece carved from iroko, kozo, or kake wood
- Unrefined carving style
- Mouth usually closed
- Eyes often closed
- However, when open, they may be bulgy
- Stake carved, that supports figure in the ground (sometimes made of iron)
- Come in all sizes
- May be female or male
- Some janus, double-headed examples appear (said to guard both inside and outside of the house)
- Some topped with a squatting monkey
- NOTE: Monkeys may also symbolise dual or twin births. A monkey depicted eating an ear of corn sometimes represents King Oyo, who reigned as the Yoruba monarch until the early 19th century. But it more likely refers to an image of the ancestors who are the protectors of the realm of the living
- Identical copies do not exist (as every situation calls for its own bocio)
- Majority of bocio can only be used when materials have been added to 'activate' the figure
- Textile, shells, iron, horns, skulls of animals, locks, rope, glass bottles
- Iron pieces sometimes embedded into top of head, nose and eyes
- Rough surface
- NOTE: Wood of bocio found at crossroads or near fields is usually eroded
Sub-type variations (bigble bocio):
- Multiplication or deprivation of key body parts:
- Missing arms and/or legs (representing aziza, forest-dwelling spirits)
- Two heads, faces, or bodies
- Two figures attached at the back
- Single pair of legs and hips support two torsos
- Sexual conflation: vagina on one side and penis on the other (protective figures that work for both men and women
- Unvenon variations include:
- Facial features are carved on both front and back
- Two or more heads carved on figure
References
