Soul Journ 2024

A project offered by

Back to the Root - Intercultural Exchange

Context:

Black Americans and Africans of the Motherland are one people separated by a great deal of confusion and trauma spanning 400 years-The Great Catastrophe, the Ma’afa. Taken away by force from their families, they were not only tortured and used as animals in the construction of the strange land that they were thrown into but also their historical and cultural identity were stolen from them. All this added to the different discriminations that Black Americans face today.

Our African Ancestors were Indigenous African tribes and kingdoms. Our Indigenous African Ancestors experienced the catastrophe of becoming Stolen Bodies in Stolen Lands of the Indigenous People of the Continents known as the Americas.

Back to the Root Intercultural Exchange is organizing Soul Journ 2024 to create a strong bridge between Africans of the Diaspora and Africans living in the Motherland. The bridgebuilding work aims at reconnecting Afro-descendants to the root, to the history, and to the culture of West African people, civilization, and societies. This ten-day stay in Danxome, current known as Republic of Benin, will allow participants to learn the history of the Ma’afa from a different angle. Soul Journ 2024 will expose participants to West African spirituality and culture. It will also be great vacation time.

Who is Soul Journ 2024 For?

Soul Journ 2024 is for healers within our communities, cultural custodian, community connectors, elders, educators, those interested in tracing their spiritual and/or biological roots to Mother Africa, persons interested in unmasking the lies about Black African and African American inferiority as taught in Eurocentric educational systems and within day to day practices in the U.S., those thirsty for knowledge about how the Great Catastrophe, the Ma’afa played out on the African Continent as our people were stolen, bought and sold into enslavement, those interested in embarking on a journey of soul and spirit healing.

Global Objectives of Soul Journ 2024

Soul Journ 2024 will help us create a link between Africans of the Diaspora and Africans of Africa. Soul Journ 2024 aims at unmasking Black people's history and culture which have been distorted by lies, misinformation, and lack of consciousness.

Specific Objectives:

Participating to Soul Journ 2024 will allow the participants:

To know the true why and how Africans were sold by Africans to Europeans and Americans.
To visit the slave road which is the true itinerary and the torture that West African slaves went through since their compound till the merchant ship.
To have clear-cut understanding of what Vodun spirituality and Vodun religions are.
To know how to go through when willing to practise Vodun spirituality and take initiation to Fa/Ifa if they like.

Expected Results:

After Soul Journ 2024, participants will go with a new feeling about their history and their people. They will know that both the sellers and the sold ones were victims. They will go with a better understanding of Vodun spirituality and Vodun religions. Most important, each Souljourner will have undergone the rare opportunity and rite of passage of having visited the Motherland and connecting to the indescribable pride and joy of returning home in the embrace of our Pan-African kin.

Itinenary of Soul Journ 2024

Day one (03/27/24): The very first day of Soul Journ 2024 will be marked by the presentation of the city of Ouidah where the Journ is being held. We are visiting the sacred forest of Kpassè.

King Kpassè turned himself into an Iroko tree when he felt close to his last breath. He instructed his children and his people to consider the tree as his reincarnation and do periodical offering there so that he can keep assisting them from heaven. That is how the place where the tree grew became a sacred forest. Participants to Soul Journ 2024 are allowed to touch the tree and make some good wishes. See pictures below:

Day two (03/28/24): In the morning, we are visiting the Python Temple of Ouidah. The royal python is sacred to Xwéda people and is very protected in Ouidah city. The Python Temple is the oldest temple in Ouidah city and plays a important role in the purification of Ouidah land. The Python are not aggressive. They are very lovely and had saved the people of Ouidah from war. You will learn more about them during Soul Journ 2024. See pictures below:

Day three (03/29/24): In the morning, Richard Agbayanou will give a talk on "The abolition of Slave Trade in Danxome before Europeans’ Declaration". During this talk, questions like why Black people would sell Black people to strangers will be discussed.

In the afternoon we are visiting the historical museum of Ouidah. Afterwards, we will travel the Slave Road that ends at the Gate of No Return. This will include our visiting important historical markers that reveal the journey taken by our Ancestors as they left freedom and the Motherland and entered the Ma’afa.

Day four (03/30/24): Finals of Hunt Inter-City Scholastic Contest 2024. This is a daylong competition of scholars from secondary schools across three cities: Ouidah, Kpomassè and Tori. This marks the 9th anniversary of the contest founded and organized by Le Sens de l’Elite Africaine. It consists of valuing and making African history and culture known to the rising generation while developing in them a new sense of patriotism. Contestants compete in four (04) different categories : Best Orator, Best Poet, Best Reader, Ending Letter.

Day five (03/31/24): Historical trip to Abomey Museum and the Woman King Palace

Day six (04/01/24): The evening of the same day, we are attending Ahandohô, a ceremony of libation to Sakpata that consists in informing the divinities that we are doing offering to them the following morning.

Day seven (04/02/24): In the morning, we are attending Nuhuhu (offering to Sakpata). We will have the unique opportunity to witness Adepts ceremonial practices which involve trance, chanting, and singing.

In the evening we will attend a Sakpata show. Sakpata is considered the principle of earth, the spirit or the living energy that rules the Earth. It is considered king of all diseases. It embodies abundance of wealth and wellness.

Day eight (04/03/24): In the morning, we will discuss the difference between adepts and devotees of a divinity.

In the afternoon, we will visit the CCRI John Smith. John Smith was a Black American who found out that his parents were originally from Ouidah. In his will, he requested to be buried in the Motherland upon his joining the Ancestors. His will was honored, and his burial place became a cultural center of international meetings where you can learn nice stories and history. See pictures below:

Day nine (04/04/24): In the morning, we will discuss the different masquerades in Vodun Spirituality and the difference between initiation and rituals in Vodun.

In the evening, we will attend a Zangbeto show. Zangbeto literally means the guardian of the night. It was created by King Tè-Agbanlin, the founder of Hogbonu (Porto-Novo city of today). Zangbeto remains the most mysterious masquerade in Benin. The doubt about what/who is inside Zangbeto seems to be an eternal debate till you see the mystery with your own eyes. When the masquerade is open in the crowd, you never know in advance what will come out of it. It can be just a pigeon just like in the picture below:

Day 10 (04/05/24): This is the last day of Soul Journ 2024. We are more relaxed and can go visit and enjoy the marketplaces and experience this particularly vibrant part of Ouidah culture.

Participants:

Who can Participate in Soul Journ? Participants are any Afro-descendants or anyone willing to learn more about West African history and Vodun spirituality.

Cost of Soul Journ 2024. Participants will pay $1500 US to attend Soul Journ 2024. The cost includes lodging, transportation to all cultural events, airport transportation, cultural programming, museum, and cultural center entrance fees.

What is not included. Food and airfare are not included in the cost. Participants must arrange their own air transportation.

Arrival and Departure. All participants must arrive in Benin no later than Tuesday, March 26th. We will provide pickup at Cotonou Airport; participants are picked up as soon as they land at the airport. Participants who arrive after March 27th will have to make their own transportation arrangements to join us in Ouidah. because we won't be able to pick up anyone after March 26th since activities start at 9am in the morning of March 27th.

Arrival Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

Departure Date: Saturday, April 6, 2024. Participants interested in spiritual works will make arrangements and plans with Soul Journ organizers for lengthening their stay.

Click contact us to learn about payment options.