Tag Archives: African Mermaids

Week 13: Mother Nature and Mother Water

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In the penguin reading for this week, “African Mermaids and Other Water Spirits”, I was very intrigued with the description of the female water spirit, Yemoja—the mother of the river spirits and thunder gods. But her role is much larger, spanning the world beyond Africa, as her legend and story spread during the transatlantic slave trade. She is referred to as “Mother of Fish” and “Mother Water” and is often “associated with family, women, motherhood, and the arts.”

This made me think about something we talked about earlier this semester in my Gender, Science, and Technology class. When we gender natural forces or just the natural world, such as calling nature female, then we can view the feminine as nurturing, but also as violent or irrational. The term “Mother Nature” is often endearing and allows us to frame the globe we live on as a gentle provider, fertile and forgiving. The same can be said for the idea of a water goddess, or “Mother Water.” A deity of great power, beauty, and fluidity. Eventually, she was used as a symbol of hope and comfort to victims of an international slave trade. A God to worship on water when the sea becomes like a battlefield.

However, it is also common for Mother Nature/Water to be seen as violent and brutal. Exploding into storms and not holding back. I guess that a God remains a God whether they are worshiped or feared. It seems that the word “mother” brings both comfort and distress. No matter what, the power of the word “mother” is very telling to the way in which we interpret motherhood and the lifeforce that women hold.

African Water Spirits – The Relationship with Humanity

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Within the Section of “African Mermaids and Other Water Spirits” we are told that the Water spirits of Africa are “far from being relics of the distant past…” and rather continue to be “strikingly relevant to those who believe in them.” Through this, the author dismantles the belief that myths and legends are not just history to be repeated, but that history is a concept that is continuing to be created. 

The stories regarding African Gods and Goddesses bear striking resemblance to the tale associated with the Greeks or Romans. The mythical beings responsible for overseeing different domains, the balance of everything that is and ever will be on Earth. In observance, as we see how the centuries have gone on and people have moved from plain to plain, the legends have become lost, unused, and lacking in relevance in modern times. And yet – the same can not be said for these spirits and Gods of African culture. The connection between “real life” and fantasy is a thin veil crossed in these regions. Natives report sightings of aquatic monsters, visions we have only dreamed or read about, appearing in the wild. They halt research and construction. They are responsible for the ill-doings of man. 

This relationship between the marine spirits of the domain and human kind continues to be explored by African communities. While we in the Western hemisphere have moved away from the unknown of myths and fantasy, the peoples of these nations have stable and strong connections with the Gods and Goddesses from the worlds of their long – ago ancestors. Their presence is not a sign of a new age, a revelation – but rather a sign of a faith remaining stable in a developing world away from legends. A fight to recognize what has always been in front of us, even if we choose to ignore what we do not wish to see. These communities do not run from these encounters, yet speak of them as if they were true. These spirits are integrated into their everyday lives and language, connected to an aquatic world many of us have forgotten.

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.