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!)