In the reading of African Mermaids and Other Water Spirits as well as Aganju and Yemaja, I found it extremely interesting how strong the belief in water spirits is. I noticed that there is a lot more emphasis placed on water spirits than land spirits. Though I am sure land spirits hold importance in African culture, it is repeated that water spirits are still worshipped a bit more than the land spirits are. In Aganju and Yemaja, it’s mentioned that “the worship of Aganju seems to have fallen to disuse, or to have become merged in that of his mother” (p.168). Granted it is mentioned that this story was collected from the 1800s, so this may not be relevant to today’s beliefs but at this time it seems that the belief in Aganju was not made as clear as the belief in Yemaja. Aganju is said to represent Land and his mother represents Earth, so it is understandable that the worship would be tied together, but the fact remains that the belief in Yemaja has expanded to many different countries and is still relatively prevalent. 

This story also makes me think about how in indigenous cultures the respect given to water and land was equal and how all aspects of nature were celebrated, not just the aspects that benefit the people. It reminds me of the discussion we had about the blue humanities and how indigenous people are not given consideration when we discuss the creation of the field. These stories about water spirits show a culture centered on respect and acknowledgment for the environment as a whole. There is both something to fear and to appreciate about the water spirits which represents a fear and admiration of the bodies of water that these water spirits represent or inhabit.