Minona
ORIGIN:
Fon (Benin, formerly Dahomey)
Minona is a powerful forest-dwelling spirit of magic, fertility, and domestic sovereignty within the Fon spiritual tradition. She dwells deep within the living heart of the forest, a liminal space where ancestral wisdom, natural power, and women’s mysteries converge. Though often less publicly visible than other Fon spirits, Minona’s influence is intimate, pervasive, and enduring.
Minona presides over women, the home, and the continuity of life, embodying both nurturing and cunning aspects of spiritual power. She is described in various traditions as either the mother or the sister of Legba, the great opener of roads and messenger between worlds. Through this relationship, Minona is closely connected to crossroads magic, thresholds, and the hidden mechanisms of fate, though her domain remains distinctly feminine and inward-facing.
Like Legba, Minona possesses a trickster nature, though hers is subtler and more domestic in expression. She may test women through small disruptions or unexpected challenges within the household or family structure, not to cause harm, but to sharpen intuition, resilience, and magical skill.
Minona is revered as a teacher of women’s magic in its many forms. She instructs women in practical spellcraft, spiritual protection, and divination, particularly through the use of palm kernels, a traditional method of African divinatory practice. Her magic is rooted in lived experience—fertility, nourishment, continuity, and the rhythm of daily life—rather than spectacle or hierarchy.
As a fertility spirit, Minona governs both personal and agricultural abundance. She grants fertility to women who seek her favour and blesses crops, gardens, and cultivated land, linking female reproductive power directly to the fertility of the earth itself. In this way, Minona represents the inseparable bond between women’s bodies, food production, and communal survival.
Unlike spirits with grand temples or public shrines, Minona remains intentionally close and personal, reinforcing her role as a guardian of the household and women’s inner spiritual authority.
FAVOURED PEOPLE:
Women
ATTRIBUTE:
Spindle
SACRED SITE:
Minona lacks official shrines. Instead, women create personal shrines in their homes.
OFFERING:
Fruit, flowers, efforts to preserve African rainforests
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.
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