Fon Fetish Legba Iron Phallus

Fon people, mid-20th century, Togo, Benin or Ghana, West Africa

Exceptional forged iron phallic fetish associated with Legba, crafted by the Fon people of the Togo–Ghana border region. Objects of this type were traditionally driven into the earth to stimulate agricultural fertility, invoking Legba’s vital generative power. In Vodun belief, Legba is often represented as a phallus or as a man bearing an exaggerated phallus. Known as the youngest son of Mawu, he is both trickster and guardian—youthful and rebellious in some portrayals, yet ancient and wise in others. As keeper of all thresholds, Legba is the indispensable intermediary: only through him can communication with other deities occur.

The traditional Fon religion, regionally called Vodun (“numerous immortal spirits and deities”), weaves together public gods, family deities, ancestral spirits, and magical charms. Central to community life is the ancestral cult, essential for the continuity of the lineage. Each household compound maintains a Dexoxos, or ancestral shrine, where the tovodu (family gods) are honored annually through offerings, dance, and song.

At the foundation of Fon cosmology stands Nana Buluku, the supreme, dual-gendered creator who gave birth to the divine twins Mawu and Lisa: Mawu governing the night, Lisa the day. After creation, Nana Buluku withdrew, leaving the universe to Mawu-Lisa and the vast hierarchy of spirits that animate every element of the natural and human world.

Vodun encompasses a rich spiritual ecosystem ranging from major deities of nature and society to the spirits of trees, rivers, stones, and ancestral lineages. Healing practices draw upon this cosmology: priests and diviners employ plants, roots, and dried animal elements in rituals addressing illness, misfortune, and imbalance. Fetishes—objects inhabited by spirits—serve as protective charms, healing tools, and conduits of divine force. Known locally as gbo, gris-gris, juju, or obeah, they may involve herbs, smoke, sacrificial materials, and offerings. Many are believed to be gifts from Legba, from Sangbata (earth deity and arbiter of justice), or from the elusive forest beings known as aziza.

The Ewé share closely related beliefs, deities, and ritual systems with the Fon, frequently seeking shrines and spiritual materials in Benin. They honor many of the same gods, including Mawu and Legba, and maintain parallel traditions of Afa divination. Important among their spiritual forces are Nyigbla, deity of the sacred forest, and the Yehve spirits, including the formidable thunder god Heviesso.

This refined iron phallus is an evocative embodiment of Legba’s generative, protective, and liminal power—an authentic ritual object of profound cultural and spiritual significance.

Good condition. Wear commensurate with age and use. Rust and corrosion. Size approx. 21,0cm x 3,5cm x 1,5cm. 

Provenance: Finnish private collection.

References and further reading:

African Vodun: Art, Psychology and Power, Suzanne Preston Blier, University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Vodún/Vodu, Resistance, and North/South Relations in Undemocratic Togo, Eric J. Montgomery, Brill, Journal of Religion in Africa, pp. 224-248, 2020.

Vodou, Serving the Spirits, The Pluralism Project, Harward University, 2020.

Four Vodun Ceremonies, George Eaton Simpson, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 59, No. 232, pp. 154-167, Amercan Folklore Society, 1946.

Contemporary Vodun Arts of Ouidah, Benin, Dana Rush, African Arts, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 32-47 + 94-96, UCLA, 2001.

They Died in Blood: Morality and Communitas in Ewe Ritual, Eric J. Montgomery, Journal of Ritual Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 25-40, 2018.