At once beautiful, protective, seductive, and potentially deadly, the water spirit Mami Wata (Mother Water) is celebrated throughout much of Africa and the African Atlantic worlds. A rich array of arts surrounds both her and a host of other aquatic spirits—honoring the essential, sacred nature of water. Mami Wata is widely believed to have “overseas” origins, and depictions of her have been profoundly influenced by representations of ancient, indigenous African water spirits, European mermaids and snake charmers, Hindu gods and goddesses, and Christian and Muslim saints.
