The society of the mask: the social function of worship of the zangbetos in West Africa

In West Africa, more specifically in Togo, Benin and Senegal, an ancestral cult is practiced whose venerated entity is called Zangbeto, a term meaning guardians of the night. They act as if they were unofficial police authorities, guarding the streets, taking care of the protection of the place and the people. Zangbetos are represented by figures wrapped in structures made of straw, wood and other materials. During ceremonies, these entities display themselves by dancing and/or spinning in the center of ritual spaces. They are always surrounded by tourists, community residents and practicing witch doctors of the voodoo religion. However, according to local Yoruba legend there are no humans under the costume, only spirits of the night. There is no evidence that the manifestation of spirits through so-called Zangbeto is a fraud, or just built and maintained to keep distant enemies and other unwanted. In fact, the Zangbetos are able to inflame the fear in ethnic groups not practicing this sophisticated modality of Vodun. The aim of this manuscript is to discuss the social role of Zangbetos and sorcerers, as well as the symbolic efficacy of these powers in the West African region, notably Togo, Benin and Senegal. It is a work of bibliographical and documentary analysis. The field of discourse includes the classical ethnographies on the theme of religion, theoretical contributions from sociology, anthropology, history and psychoanalysis. The manuscript reveals that a detailed study of the theme of the Zangbetos in Africa and of the politico-social performance of so-called sorcerers is necessary. We do not know whether supernatural entities actually exist and manifest in those spaces, or it is a staging, whose secrets of their techniques are stored at all costs. However, it is undeniable that they have social, political and cultural relevance in the social structures in which they operate.