A Fon/Voodoo Botchio, South-East Togo, a pole like figure. Signs of ritual use and age. Bocio figures of the Fon, predominantly in southern Benin and Togo, occupy a central role in Vodun religious practice. These objects are generally wooden, sometimes enhanced with metal, nails, or other materials, and are intended as vessels of spiritual power, often for protection, cursing, or healing purposes. They are not purely decorative; their potency derives from the ritual context and the materials incorporated. The addition of metal, feathers, threads, or plant matter is understood as a way to “activate” or concentrate the spirit force within the figure. Some Bocio are commissioned to guard a household or individual, while others may be involved in judicial or retaliatory rituals, symbolically representing enemies or forces to be controlled or subdued. Chains, padlocks, and nails are particularly significant: chains and padlocks can symbolize binding, restriction, or containment of malevolent forces, whereas nails often serve as a visual and physical amplification of power, enforcing the intention of the ritual. Historically, these figures are intimately tied to lineage, community authority, and the negotiation of spiritual and social power, reflecting the Fon conception of the interpenetration of visible and invisible realms. For further reading, see Perani, Judith A. Bocio: Votive Figures of the Fon (Ethnographic Studies, 1991) and Chesi, Luciano. Voodoo: African Arts and Culture in West Africa (1997).