Category Archives: Week 13: Mami Wati and African Mermaids

Cavities, Vessels, and the Weight of Memory in The Deep

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In chapter one of The Deep Amaba says:

One can only go for so long without asking ‘who am I?’, ‘where do I come from?’, ‘what does all this mean?’, ‘what is being?’, ‘what came before me and what might come after?’. Without answers there is only a hole. A hole where a history should be that takes the shape of an endless longing. We are cavities (Solomon 8).

Solomon uses repetitive anaphoric rhetorical questions—“Who am I? What does this all mean? What is being?” This repetitive structure creates momentum and rhythm creating a feeling of longing and searching in order to emphasize the uncertainty and human need for understanding oneself. Most prominently is the imagery of the “hole” and “cavities.” These words visually create a picture of emptiness and loss due to a past, or in this case history, that has been erased. The “hole where a history should be” is an absence of ancestry, a lost and forgotten origin. The “hole” in this case would be a symbol of a void left from the disconnection from heritage and identity. Amaba’s last words “we are cavities” extends this metaphor of a “hole” in history as a way to describe how trauma and loss quite literally shape people. There isn’t merely just a “hole” in history, the people most impacted by that “hole” become empty and hollow—like a cavity. 

In succession to the first quote Amaba believes that Yetu wouldn’t understand what it’s like due to her being the “historian.” Though Yetu thinks to herself that she “did know what it was like. After all, wasn’t cavity just another word for vessel?” (Solomon 8). The oxford dictionary defined cavity as “an empty space within a solid object, in particular the human body,” and a vessel is described as “a hollow container, especially used to hold liquid, such as a bowl or a cask.” A vessel, in Yetu’s case, is just another sort of cavity. Yetu is a vessel (cavity) made to hold the past and ancestors for the Wajinru people, then when time comes those are scooped out of her and poured into the cavities of her people. And a cavity left untreated, left unfilled, can lead to pain and infection in a person, much like a cavity in one’s tooth. 

Solomon utilizes the imagery of feeling lost, uncertain, and unfulfilled through Amaba and Yetu’s individual, and yet similar, experiences with the absence and “hole” that having their history be forgotten has hurt them. Solomon’s overarching metaphor that solicits their audience to understand the dangers and harm that a loss of history and ancestry causes a person. It leaves them filled with questions and uncertainty, and a hole that is hard to fully fill. 

Mother Water and Mother Nature

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I really loved the “African Water Spirits In The Caribbean” section of the reading because I love how it could be connected to Gabriella Tesfaye’s “The Water Will Carry Us Home”. The story that Mami Wata “has the power to transform a human into a water spirit by changing the lower half of their body to that of a fish” (273) was almost parallel to the “water spirit” and main mermaid in Tesfaye’s story. The only main difference is that Tesfaye’s water spirit played a special role in preserving African History, and Mami Wata’s role is to protect her waters and forests.

I especially like how “Mother Water” can directly be connected to our(American) version of “Mother Nature”. The myth that there will be consequences to those who mistreat nature, or in this case, “pollutes its waters”. The only main difference is that Mami Wata targets beautiful young women to use as her “assistants” to punish any man who damages her waters. I think this part is very interesting because of the idea that innocent women are believed to be in danger, whereas any man who does wrong will be rightfully punished. This myth has a similar form to the myth of La Llorona, a spirit or ghost whose main purpose is to take souls as a form of protection. The concept of needing a myth to scare people into not polluting or mistreating nature is actually quite sad.

These tales have a greater purpose; although they may seem silly, they serve as a form of protection. They are something greater than us, using beautiful women mixed with serpents, which typically spikes fear, is a great way to pique interest while also causing enough fear for people to truly listen to the main clause here.

Song of the Week: The Last of Her Kind by Peter Gundry (I thought this song was interesting. I especially loved the violin throughout the song. This was something that gave me Siren vibes, but in a non-deadly way. It feels more magical and welcoming, and I liked that, like the Water Spirits from this reading and last week’s!)

Guardian of the Waters

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In a brief excerpt from “African Mermaids and Other Water Spirits” included in the Penguin Book of Mermaids, it is illustrated that African mermaids are seen as guardians of the water against industrialization. There had been rumored sightings of constructions in the water, “mermais were blamed for delays in the construction of a reservoir at Mutare, also in Zimbabwe” (166). This rumor suggests that mermaids protect the ocean to prevent industrialization from entering its sacred depths.

To “blame” mermaids for ‘delays’ or ‘stop’ of construction highlights the strength of power they hold over man. The mermaid’s dedication to protecting its waters illustrates an understanding of life on land and the consequences of industrialization. Once again, it highlights how mermaids possess more knowledge than humans. The mermaid possesses the ability not to fear humans. The ‘delay in construction’ showcases humans adjusting to the whims of nature. 

The mermaids were described as “angry spirits” and appeared as “a mermaid and a large snake” (167). As previously noted in other stories, the mermaid, often referred to as ‘half fish,’ is depicted as a serpent, symbolizing protection, transformation, and wisdom. This shows that the mermaid has access to the human world and knowledge about it, revealing her face only when necessary or when threatened. The act of the mermaid only appearing when they are ‘angered’ showcases the mermaid’s knowledge and disagreements with humans trying to invade the waters. 

Humans cannot travel into the water to access the mermaid; only the mermaid can travel to shore and testify to the humans. The power is in the mermaid’s hands, to be seen, not to be seen, known, or not to be known. Meanwhile, the humans are left in the dark, unable to comprehend what they encountered or why. Thus, this portrays the mermaid as the guardian of the ocean, appearing when humans encroach on its territory to protect against their industrial activities.

Human and Nature Relationships

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In the text “African Mermaids and Other Water Spirits”, one line that stood out to me right away was “African water spirits often personify the source of water in which they live…” This sentence shows how humans relate to their environment. By saying water spirits “personify” rivers, lakes and springs, it shows that these water systems are not treated as objects or resources for us to use but instead with identity and power. This reveals how African culture often turns nature into a living presence and how that understanding shapes their behavior, respect and responsibility toward water. 

When a river is imagined as a spirit, especially a powerful goddess like Yemoja or Mami Wata it becomes something you have a relationship with. You would never pollute a river that you have a relationship with or take from a lake without acknowledging the spirits that live within it. By using personification it creates more of an ethical framework. Nature isn’t separate from people, instead it becomes a part of our social world. This challenges the idea of “managing nature”, where water is usually being controlled or extracted. The text made it clear that many African traditions instead “manage” the relationship between humans and the environment through different rituals, respect and storytelling.

Another important part of that quote is that these spirits “bear the same name as the river in which they dwell.” This shows how identity and landscape are woven together. The river isn’t just home to the spirit, the river IS the spirit. This gets rid of the boundary between physical and spiritual, reminding people that water isn’t simply a background element of life. It has personality, identity and memory. When the reading later describes modern stories of mermaid sightings at dams or construction sites, it becomes clear that these beliefs still act as warnings. If water is alive, then disturbing it such as building dams, diverting rivers, polluting lakes will risk messing with the spirit. 

What I find most interesting is how this worldview builds a sense of accountability. If you misuse water, something will happen. Personification makes environmental harm feel personal. The quote reminds us that many African cultures already had systems for protecting water long before modern sustainability conversations. Seeing a river as a spirit isn’t just a myth , it’s a cultural technology for care and responsibility. In the end, the line reveals that water spirits aren’t just folklore. They are part of a larger idea that treats nature as alive, interconnected, and deserves respect and honestly, that view feels more sustainable than the one we’re living with today.