Voodoo festival in West Africa

Voodoo worshipers make sacrifice at the beach during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013. Ouidah, considered the major cultural city in the West African nation of Benin, held its annual Voodoo Festival.

Jean Zossoujbo, a guide at the Temple of Pythons, shows a python to a visitor to the temple in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 9, 2013. Voodoo is an official religion in this nation of 9 million people and this year's festival will honor the slaves taken from surrounding countries and sent into America and the Caribbean, people who brought the religion with them.

Voodoo chiefs watch as a man slaughters a goat, not in frame, at the Temple of Pythons during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013. The deified residents of the Temple of Pythons, occasionally released to eat in this West African coastal city, sometimes slither across the road into a Catholic church that once hosted Pope Benedict. But the local priest, handlers say, is always good enough to call or bring the gorging reptiles back to their own spiritual home. This is life in Ouidah, a mecca of spirits and gods worshiped by those who practice voodoo, a recognized religion in this former French colony home to 9 million people. The religion has its own pope - or two, depending on who you ask - whose reign dates back to the 1400s and can be seen about town in his royal green Toyota Rav 4.

A Voodoo worshiper dances during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013.

A voodoo effigy on display during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013.

People watch as a Voodoo worshiper performs during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013.

Voodoo worshipers dance during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013.

Voodoo chiefs walk past The Point of No Return monument, which commemorates the slave trade during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013.

Voodoo worshipers dance at the Temple of Pythons during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 10, 2013.

People ride past Benin's national flags in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 9, 2013.

Jean Zossoujbo, a guide at the Temple of Pythons, shows a python to a visitor at the temple in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 9, 2013.

A sheet covered in the blood of a slaughtered goat as voodoo worshipers perform rituals in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 9, 2013.

Djabassi Manonwomin, a voodoo priestess, right is seen in her shrine during the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, Benin, Jan. 10, 2013.

Aduare Achumba, a visitor to the Temple of Pythons, reacts as a guide puts a python on her head in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 9, 2013.