On this afternoon of a 100-degree day with high humidity in the Akodessewa District of Lome, Togo, we visited the world's largest Voodoo market, which was very dusty.

The Voodoo market featured monkey heads, skulls, crocodiles, dead birds, and bones and skins of many other animals. It was a large market.

We were told that Voodoo is mainly a positive religion. They said that most of the festishes, talismans, charms, dead creatures and their parts are used to help people and to heal them or bring them better health, etc. They said that it's unfortunate that so many in the West only dwell on the negative aspects, such as sticking pins in dolls, etc.

An interesting note is that in Togo, 20% of the people are Muslims, 30% are Catholics, and 50% believe in Voodoo, but 30% of the Catholics also worship Voodoo.

Voodoo followers believe in a single, supreme godhead that can be equated with the Catholic God. Their deity is known as Bondye, "the good god."

With all this information, I was still confused by some of the statues that we saw at the Voodoo Market, such as the one below.

Near the end of our time here, we were ushered into a very small hut to meet with the head Voodoo priest. He gave us several talismans, such as the one in the photo below, and told us how to use them and for what purpose.

This was on January 17th, 2024 and the San Francisco 49'ers, my team, were playing the Green Bay Packers in four days. I asked the head priest if he had a talisman that would help the 49'ers beat the Packers. He never smiled or changed expressions, he just told our interpreter, "No."

I'm now going to skip ahead two days. We were by then in Benin. We stopped at another Voodoo Temple. This time, the priest or whoever he was, was much younger.

I again asked if he had something to help the 49'ers win. He said that he did indeed, and in another minute, he was wrapping a Python around my neck. He assured me that it would squeeze the life out of the Packers. And of course, the 49'ers won the game.

Unfortunately, I was already home by the time of the Super Bowl...