Zangbeto are the traditional guardian spirits of the night among the Xwla people of Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria. A traditional police and security institution, the Zangbeto secret society is charged with the maintenance of law and order, and ensures safety and security within traditional villages and communities. They are highly revered and act as an unofficial police force patrolling the streets, especially in the night, watching over people and their properties, and tracking down criminals and presenting them to the community to punish. Zangbetos are shape shifters who are able to transform energetically into any object or animal. They possess the power of invisibility and can harness energy to perform numerous kinds of a miraculous acts.

The physical presence of a Zangbeto takes on a triangular covering made from an intricate mass of tiny strands of hay, or other threadlike materials, which are sometimes dyed in very colourful hues. The legends tell that there are no humans under the costume, only spirits of the night. When close to the Zangbeto you can hear the voice of the spirit. In ceremonies during the day the covering can be lifted and any kind of object or animal can be seen. When the object is covered again by the Zangbeto covering, it starts to spin in a counter clockwise motion and begins to dance to the music and move around spontaneously with no evidence of the prior object in its place. 

This initiated to the secret Zangbeto society have the ability to communicate with Zangbeto through a secret language only spoke by the initiated. The initiated are also endowed with magical abilities and powers accessible through trance, such as boiling water without a fire, swallowing splinters of glass or chewing razor blades without any harm.