Temple of the Python (Ouidah, Benin):

How do I explain this place…it was very simple and understated (not what you would imagine a temple to look like). There was a tree at the entrance of the temple that was over 400 years old and massive. The temple consisted of about 3 thatched roofed buildings what were used for prayers to pythons and were sacred, so entrance was not permitted and a python cemetery. The main building of this temple was a larger thatched roofed building that housed over 50 pythons…WOW!!!! It seems that the pythons are pretty inactive during the day and at night the door is left open and the pythons are allowed to roam around the city. The local people return the snakes in the morning!!! I will answer the question before you even ask…NO I did not touch or carry the pythons. I did, however, step into the pit…PROGRESS.

The most interesting part was the building directly across the street that towers far above the small temple and can be seen from the temple…the Catholic Church. According to the guide (who spoke English), the Python Temple was built in 1663 and the Catholic Church in 1909. The local people pray at the Catholic Church during the day and worship at the Python Temple at night. This was amazing to me: the co-existence of two religions among the same people. In a place where successful kingdoms existed for centuries, the slave trade suffocated the people for centuries, and colonial rule replaced African kingdoms and empires until the 1960s…I guess God is needed in massive doses from all sources to keep the spirits of the people above water.