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.
Hi Sierra,
I love that you are connecting this to how the stories of these cultures have a lot to tell us about the environment in which this culture is shaped. If we examine these stories closely they tell us so much about who these people were, what they feared and what they respected. I found it of particular interest how the book mentions that figures like Mother Water are often depicted as snake-like. The book mentions that this makes sense because within their environment the presence of snakes capable of eating humans is a prevalent danger. So here we see a culture afraid of the threat of snakes simultaneously depicting Mother Water as something monstrous to behold though not necessarily an evil figure. After all she uses this power of hers to punish anyone that might not respect her home. I find it interesting to see this deity portrayed as a mother, a monster and a protector all at once.
Hi Sierra,
I really appreciated your insight on indigenous cultures appreciation for land and water. It’s almost as though there was no division in nature. I’ve noticed that divisions have been made to break down the world for greater understandings (hence the division in the seas/oceans, continents, lands, countries etc). The respect that certain indigenous cultures have for nature as a unanimous form, is really beautiful because it also allows a different angle of understanding of how all ecosystems work together, scientifically or spiritually.