Mami Wata

TODAY I AM GOING TO WRITE ABOUT MAMI WATA. FROM FOLKLORE, SO LETS BEGIN WITH THIS POST. MAMI WATA (MAMMY WATER) IS VENERATED IN WEST, CENTRAL, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AND IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA IN THE CARIBBEAN AND PARTS OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. MAMI WATA SPIRITS ARE USUALLY FEMALE, BUT ARE SOMETIMES MALE. THE APPEARANCE OF HER HAIR RANGES FROM STRAIT, CURL TO KINKY BLACK AND COMBED STRAIT BACK. "MAMI WATA" WHERE "MAMI" IS PIDGIN ENGLISH SPELLING OF MAMMY (MOTHER) "WATA" IS THE PIDGIN ENGLISH SPELLING OF WATER IS ESSENTIALLY A MERMAID OR HUMANISTIC WATER ENTITY. MAMI WATA IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS A MERMAID-LIKE FIGURE, WITH A WOMAN'S UPPER BODY (OFTEN NUDE) AND HINDQUARTERS OF A FISH OR SERPENT. IN OTHER TALES, MAMI WATA IS FULLY HUMAN IN APPEARANCE (THOUGH NEVER HUMAN). THE EXISTENCE AND SPIRITUAL IMPORTANCE OF MAMI WATA IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE ANCIENT TRADITION AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE COASTAL SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIANS (EFIK, IBIBIO AND ANNANG PEOPLE). MAMI WATA OFTEN CARRIES EXPENSIVE BAUBLES SUCH AS COMBS, MIRRORS, AND WATCHES. A LARGE SNAKE (SYMBOL OF DIVINATION AND DIVINITY) FREQUENTLY ACCOMPANIES HER, WRAPPING ITSELF AROUND HER AND LAYING ITS HEAD BETWEEN HER BREAST. OTHER TIMES, SHE MAY TRY TO PASS AS COMPLETELY HUMAN, WANDERING BUSY MARKETS OR PATRONIZING BARS. SHE MAY ALSO MANIFEST IN A NUMBER OF OTHER FORM, INCLUDING AS A MAN. IN THE YOURUBA TRADITION, THE MOTHER GODDESS YEMAJA HAS BEEN RECENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH MAMI WATA IN POPULAR CULTURE. TRADES IN THE 20TH CENTURY CARRIED SIMILAR BELIEFS WITH THEM FROM SENEGAL TO AS FAR AS ZAMBIA. AS THE MAMI WATA TRADITIONS CONTINUES TO RE-EMERGE, NATIVE WATER DEITIES WERE SUBSUMED INTO IT. TRADITIONS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC TELL OF THE SPIRIT ABDUCTING HER FOLLOWERS OR RANDOM PEOPLE WHILST THEY ARE SWIMMING OR BOATING. SHE BRINGS THEM TO HER PARADISIACAL REAL, WHICH MAY BE UNDERWATER, IN THE SPIRIT WORLD, OR BOTH. SHE SHOULD ALLOW THEM TO LEAVE, THE TRAVELERS USUALLY RETURN IN DRY CLOTHING AND WITH A NEW SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING REFLECTED IN THEIR GAZE. THESE RETURNEES OFTEN GROW WEALTHIER, MORE ATTRACTIVE, AND MORE EASYGOING AFTER THE ENCOUNTER. VAN STIPRIAAN FURTHER REPORTS THAT OTHER TALES DESCRIBE RIVER TRAVELERS (USUALLY MEN) CHANGING UPON THE SPIRIT. SHE IS INEVITABLY GROOMING HERSELF, COMBING HER HAIR, AND PEERING AT HERSELF IN A MIRROR. UPON NOTICING THE INTRUDER, SHE FLEES INTO THE WATER AND LEAVES HER POSSESSIONS BEHIND. THE TRAVELER THEN TAKES THE INVALUABLE ITEMS. LATER, MAMI WATA APPEARS TO THE THIEF IN HIS DREAMS TO DEMAND THE RETURN OF HER THINGS. SHOULD HE AGREE, SHE FURTHER DEMANDS A PROMISE FROM HIM TO BE SEXUALLY FAITHFUL TO HER. AGREEMENT GRANTS THE PERSON RICHES; REFUSAL TO RETURN THE POSSESSIONS OR TO BE FAITHFUL BRINGS THE MAN ILL FORTUNE. HER WORSHIP IS AS DIVERSE AS HIS INITIATES, PRIESTHOOD AND WORSHIPERS, ALTHOUGH SOME PARALLELS MAY BE DRAWN. GROUPS OF PEOPLE MAY GATHER IN HER NAME, BUT THE DEITY IS MUCH MORE PRONE TO INTERACTING WITH FOLLOWERS ON A ONE-ON-ONE BASIS. SHE THIS HAS MANY PRIESTS AND MEDIUMS IN BOTH AFRICA, AMERICA AND IN THE CARIBBEAN WHO ARE SPECIFICALLY BORN AND INITIATED TO THEM. IN NIGERIA, DEVOTEES TYPICALLY WEAR RED AND WHITE CLOTHING, AS THESE COLORS REPRESENR THAT PARTICULAR MAMI'S DUAL NATURE. IGBO INCOGRAPHY, RED REPRESENTS SUCH QUALTIES AS DEATH, DESTRUCTION, HEAT, MALENESS, PHYSICALITY, AND POWER. IN CONTRAST, WHITE SYMBOLIZES DEATH, BUT CAN ALSO SYMBOLIZE BEAUTY, CREATION, FEMALENESS, NEW LIFE, SPIRITUALITY, TRANSLUCENCE, WATER, AND WEALTH. THIS REGALIA MAY ALSO INCLUDE A CLOTH SNAKE WRAPPED ABOUT THE WAIST. THE MAMI WATA SHRINES MAY ALSO BE DECORATED IN THESE COLORS, AND ITEMS SUCH AS BELLS, CARVINGS, CHRISTIAN OR INDIAN PRINTS, DOLLS, INCENSE, SPIRITS, AND REMNANTS OF PREVIOUS SACRIFICES OFTEN ADORN SUCH PLACES. INTENSE DANCING ACCOMPANIED BY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS AFRICAN GUITARS OR HARMONICAS OFTEN FORMS THE CORE OF MAMI WATA WORSHIP. FOLLOWERS DANCE TO THE POINT OF ENTERING A TRANCE. AT THIS POINT, MAMI WATA POSSESSES THE PERSON AND SPEAKS TO HIM OR HER. OFFERINGS TO THE SPIRIT ARE ALSO IMPORTANT, AND MAMI WATA PREFERS GIFTS OF DELICIOUS FOOD AND DRINK, ALCOHOL, FRAGRANT OBJECTS (SUCH AS POMADE, POWDER, INCENSE, AND SOAP) AND EXPENSIVE GOOD LIKE JEWELRY. MODERN WORSHIPPERS USUALLY LEAVE HER GIFTS OF MANUFACTURED GOODS, SUCH AS COCA-COLA OR DESIGNER JEWELRY. NEVER THE LESS, SHE LARGELY WANTS HER FOLLOWERS TO BE HEALTHY AND WELL OFF. MORE BROADLY, PEOPLE BLAME THE SPIRIT FOR ALL SORTS OF MISFORTUNE. IN CAMEROON, FOR EXAMPLE, MAMI WATA IS ASCRIBED WITH CAUSING THE STRONG UNDERTOW THAT KILLS MANY SWIMMERS EACH YEAR ALONG THE COAST. ACCORDING TO BASTIN, MAMI WATA'S ASSOCIATION WITH SEX AND LUST IS SOMEWHAT PARADOXICALLY LINKED TO ONE WITH FIDELITY. ACCORDING TO A NIGERIAN TRADITION, MALE FOLLOWERS MAY ENCOUNTER THE SPIRIT IN THE GUISE OF A BEAUTIFUL, SEXUALLY PROMISCUOUS WOMAN, SUCH AS A PROSTITUTE. IN NIGERIAN POPULAR STORIES, MAMI WATA MAY SEDUCE A FAVORED MALE DEVOTEE AND THEN SHOW HERSELF TO HIM FOLLOWING COITUS. SHE THEN DEMANDS HIS COMPLETE SEXUAL FAITHFULNESS AND SECRECY ABOUT THE MATTER. ACCEPTANCE MEANS WEALTH AND FORTUNE; REJECTION SPELLS THE RUIN OF HIS FAMILY, FINANCES, AND JOB. ANOTHER PROMINENT ASPECT OF THE MAMI WATA DEITIES IS THEIR CONNECTION TO HEALING. IF SOMEONE COMES DOWN WITH AN INCURABLE, LANGUOROUS ILLNESS, MAMI WATA OFTEN TAKES THE BLAME. THE ILLNESS IS EVIDENCE THAT MAMI WATA HAS TAKEN AN INTEREST IN THE AFFLICTED PERSON AND THAT ONLY SHE CAN CURE HIM OR HER. SIMILARLY, SEVERAL OTHER AILMENTS MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE WATER SPIRIT. IN NIGERIA, FOR EXAMPLE, SHE TAKES THE BLAME FOR EVERYTHING FROM HEADACHES TO STERILITY. IN FACT, BARREN MOTHERS OFTEN CALL UPON THE SPIRIT TO CURE THEIR AFFLICTION. MANY TRADITIONS HOLD THAT MAMI WATA HERSELF IS BARREN, SO IF SHE GIVES A WOMAN A CHILD, THAT WOMAN INHERENTLY BECOMES MORE DISTANCED FROM THE SPIRIT'S TRUE NATURE. THE WOMAN WILL THUS BE LESS LIKELY TO BECOME WEALTHY OR ATTRACTIVE THROUGH HER DEVOTION TO MAMI WATA. IMAGES OF WOMEN WITH CHILDREN OFTEN DECORATE SHRINES TO THE SPIRIT. AS OTHER DEITIES BECOME ABSORBED INTO THE FIGURE OF MAMI WATA, THE SPIRIT OFTEN TAKES ON CHARACTERISTICS UNIQUE TO A PARTICULAR REGION OR CULTURE. IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, FOR EXAMPLE, MAMAN DLO PLAYS THE ROLE OF GUARDIAN OF NATURE, PUNISHING OVERZEALOUS HUNTERS OR WOODCUTTERS. SHE IS THE LOVER OF PAPA BOIS, A NATURE DEITY. IT IS BELIEVED THAT ALL OF ANCIENT AFRICA POSSESSED A MULTITUDE OF WATER-SPIRIT TRADITIONS BEFORE THE FIRST CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS. MOST OF THESE WERE REGARDED AS FEMALE, AND DUAL NATURES OF GOOD AND EVIL WERE NOT UNCOMMON, REFLECTING THE FACT THAT WATER IS BOTH AN IMPORTANT MEANS OF PROVIDING COMMUNICATION, FOOD, DRINK. TRADE, AND TRANSPORTATION, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT CAN DROWN PEOPLE, FLOOD FIELDS OR VILLAGES, AND PROVIDE PASSAGE TO INTRUDERS. VAN STIPRIAAN SUGGEST THAT SHE MAY BE BASED ON THE WEST AFRICAN MANATEE; IN FACT, "MAMI WATA" IS A COMMON NAME FOR THIS ANIMAL IN THE REGION. SALMONS ARGUES THAT THE MERMAID IMAGE MAY HAVE COME INTO BEING AFTER CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS. THE SHIPS OF TRADERS AND SLAVES OFTEN HAD CARVINGS OF MERMAID FIGURES ON THEIR PROWS, FOR EXAMPLE, AND TALES OF MERMAIDS WERE POPULAR AMONG SAILORS OF THE TIME. ON THE OTHER HAND, WHITE IS TRADITIONALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD IN MANY CULTURES OF NIGERIA. THE PEOPLE OF THE CROSS RIVER AREA OFTEN WHITEN THEIR SKIN WITH TALCUM OR OTHER SUBSTANCES FOR RITUALS AND FOR COSMETIC REASONS, FOR EXAMPLE. VAN STIPRIAAN LIBERIAN TRADERS OF THE KRU ETHNIC GROUP MOVED UP AND DOWN THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA FROM LIBERIA TO CAMEROON BEGINNING IN THE 19TH CENTURY. THEY MAY HAVE SPREAD THEIR OWN WATER-SPIRIT BELIEFS WITH THEM AND HELPED TO STANDARDIZE CONCEPTIONS IN WEST AFRICA. THEIR PERCIEIVED WEALTH ALSO HELPED ESTABLISH THE SPIRIT AS ONE OF GOOD FORTUNE.ACCORDING TO PHOTOGRAPHER VAN STIPRIAAN AND SOME WESTERN ANTHROPOLOGISTS, THE VARIOUS WEST AFRICAN RELIGIONS CAME TO RESEMBLE ONE ANOTHER DURING THE 20TH CENTURY, ESPECIALLY IN URBAN AREAS. THE HOMOGENISATION WAS LARGELY THE RESULT OF GREATER COMMUNICATION AND MOBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS FROM TOWN TO TOWN AND COUNTRY TO COUNTRY, THOUGH LINKS BETWEEN THE SPIRIT'S NATURE AND THE PERILS OF THE URBAN ENVIROMENT HAVE ALSO BEEN PROPOSED. THIS LED TO A NEW LEVEL OF STANDARISATION OF PRIESTS, INITIATIONS OF NEW DEVOTEES, HEALING RITUALS, AND TEMPLES. THE 20TH CENTURY ALSO LED TO MAMI WATA'S REEMERGENCE IN MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA. IN THE MID-1950S, TRADERS IMPORTED COPIES OF THE SNAKE CHARMER FROM BOMBAY AND ENGLAND AND SOLD THEM THROUGHOUT AFRICA. WEST AFRICAN TRADERS MOVED HER TO LUBUMBASHI IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC) IN THAT SAME DECADE. THERE THE SPIRIT BECAME A POPULAR SUBJECT OF CONGOLESE FOLK PAINTERS, WHO PLACED HER ON THE WALLS OF BARS, STORES, AND MARKETPLACE STALLS. SENEGALESE TRADERS AND CONGOLESE IMMIGRANTS PROBABLY BROUGHT HER WORSHIP TO ZAMBIA BY THE 1970S. MEANWHILE, CONGOLESE AND ZAMBIAN ARTISTS SPREAD MAMI WATA IMAGES THROUGHOUT PUBLIC PLACES IN ZAMBIA. FURTHER DIFFUSION MIGHT HAVE OCCURRED DURING THE BIAFRAN SECESSIONIST WAR IN NIGERIA, WHICH BEGAN IN 1967. REFUGEES FLED TO ALL PARTS OF WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA, BRINGING WITH THEM THEIR BELIEF IN THE WATER SPIRIT. MODERN DRC, LESOTHO, SOUTH AFRICA, AND AMBIA TODAY FORM CURRENT BOUNDARY OF THE MAMI WATA CULT, ALBEIT A BLURRED ONE. THE PAN-AFRICAN WATER DEITY IS ASSIMILATING NATIVE WATER SPIRITS IN THE REGION, MANY OF THEM SERPENT FIGURES. SOME EXAMPLES ARE THE CONGOLESE-ZAMBIAN CHITAPO OR NAKAMWALE, THE SOUTH AFRICAN UMAMLAMBO, AND THE SOTHO MAMALAPO OR MAMOGASHOA. THE MOST VISIBLE EVIDENCE OF THIS ABSORPTION IS THAT MANY OF THESE CREATURES ARE TODAY VIEWED AS MERMAIDS RATHER THAN SNAKES, THEIR TRADITIONAL FORM. THESE ADOPTIONS OFTEN LEAD TO CONFUSION WHEN ASPECTS OF MORE THAN ONE BEING BECOME AMALGAMATED UNDER THE NAME "MAMI WATA." IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, FOR EXAMPLE, MAMI WATA IS SOMETIMES SAID TO BE ABLE TO FLY AROUND IN THE FORM OF A TORNADO, AN ADOPTED ASPECT FROM THE KHANYAPA WATER SPIRIT. MAMI WATA IS A POPULAR SUBJECT IN THE ART, FICTION, POETRY, MUSIC, AND FILM OF THE CARIBBEAN AND WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA. VISUAL ARTISTS ESPECIALLY SEEM DRAWN TO HER IMAGE, AND BOTH WEALTHIER AFRICANS AND TOURISTS BUY PAINTINGS AND WOODEN SCULPTURES OF THE SPIRIT. SHE ALSO FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN THE FOLK ART OF AFRICA, WITH HER IMAGE ADORING WALLS OF BARS AND LIVING ROOMS, ALBUM COVERS, AND OTHER ITEMS. MAMI WATA HAS ALSO PROVED TO BE A POPULAR THEME IN AFRICAN AND CARIBBEAN LITERATURE. AUTHORS WHO HAVE FEATURED HER IN THEIR FICTION INCLUDE PATRICK CHAMOISEAU, ALEX GODARD, ROSE MAIRE GUIRAUD (COTE D'IVOIRE) FLORA NWAPA, AND VERONIQUE TADJO (COTE D'IVOIRE). MAMY-WATA IS ALSO THE TITLE OF A SATIRICAL CAMEROONIAN NEWSPAPER. THE CHARACTER MAMI WATANABE FROM THE COMIC BOOK FACTIONALISTS IS THE PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT ENTITY MAMI WATA. THE AUTHOR UTILIZED A NUMBER OF FEATURES TO CONVEY THIS. HER NAME MAMI WATANABE IS A PLAY ON MAMI WATA. DESPITE BEING JAPANESE HER SKIN IS DARKENED IN JAPANESE GANGURO STYLE. SHE ALSO HAS A TATTOO OF A SNAKE ON HER BODY AND RECEIVES A WATCH AND A MIRROR AS GIFTS IN THE SERIES, TWO ITEMS GENERALLY ASSOCIATED WITH MAMI WATA. SINGER-SONGWRITER S.J. TUCKER RECORDED A SONG NAMED "LA SIRENE" IN HONOR OF MAMI WATANABE. TRUMPETER HUGH MASEKELA RECORDED A SONG TITLED "MAMI WATA" WHICH APPEARS ON THE CD VERSION OF HIS ALBUM THE BOY'S DOIN IT. MAMI WATA APPEARED IN THE SECOND SEASON OF THE CANDIAN TELEVISION SHOW LOST GIRL ON SHOWCASE TELEVISION AND IS REFERRED TO IN THE TELEVISION SHOW RIVER MONSTERS BY JEREMY WADE'S FISHING IN THE CONGO RIVER IN EPISODE CONGO KILLER. WELL THAT IS IT, I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOYED THIS POST ON MAMI WATA AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MAMI WATA THEN YOU CAN GO TO HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MAMIWATA THAT IS WHERE I GOT MOST OF MY INFORMATION AS WELL. IF YOU HAVE ANY REQUEST FOR A POST THEN PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK I ALWAYS TAKE REQUEST AND WOULD BE HAPPY TO WRITE A POST FOR YOU. ALSO FEEL FREE TO SHARE MY BLOG WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY IF YOU WISH.
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