Maman Brigitte

Maman Brigitte is is a Vodou death loa. She protects the dead, cemeteries, tombs and gravestones, but also represents fertility and motherhood.

Maman Brigitte is the wife of Baron Samedi, another death loa, and is associated with black roosters. She is often found drinking rum infused with hot peppers. Unlike other loas, Brigitte’s origins lie in Ireland and Scotland, not Africa, when women from these countries brought a goddess, Brigid, and a saint, Brigid of Kildare, to the new world when they were shipped there as indentured labourers or as punishment for prostitution – which at the time could mean anything from holding hands with a boy or falling pregnant by rape. These women and girls brought Bridie dolls with them which represented St Brigid. As they mixed with the slaves taken from Africa, Brigid became interwoven with other Vodou loas. Because of these roots, she is also heavily associated with the cross.

Like other loas, Brigitte likes to party, drink, dance and use incredibly foul language. However, from this coarseness, she draws the ability to say what is on her mind. She teaches people to not fear death but to respect and remember those who have died. She guides and protects the dead which have been marked with her cross, which is a responsibility that she takes seriously.

As well as her responsibility to the dead, Maman Brigitte is also a healer. When one of her worshippers calls to her for aid when they are sick or injured she will come to them, but if she cannot help them she is able to make the choice to let them die, then leads them to the afterlife. She is also a fierce protector of women, especially those in domestic abuse situations, those that have unfaithful partners and those in labour.

_{Disclaimer: All of this information comes from my own research and knowledge, so if I have missed anything out or got something wrong please let me know and I’ll try my best to fix it. Thank you!}

Khutulun

Khutulun was a nomadic Mongolian warrior princess who was famous for her wrestling prowess.

Khutulun was born in the year 1260 and was the great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan. She had fourteen older brothers but her father, Kaidu, favoured her above them. He came to her for support and advice and she usually accompanied him into battle. She was a fierce warrior and was very politically minded, but there was one thing she excelled at more than anything else – wrestling. Wrestling was (and still is) one of the most popular sports in Mongolia. Khutulun loved to wrestle, and she was incredible at it. She challenged and beat anyone who would go up against her.

Eventually, she became of age and was told it was time for her to find a husband. The idea did not appeal to Khutulun, so she decided that she would only marry the man who could beat her at wrestling. If they lost, they had to give her some horses.

It soon became obvious that there was no man that could beat Khutulun at wrestling, as she amassed a herd of around ten thousand horses and was still unwed. Stories of her skill at wrestling quickly spread and more and more suitors came for the chance to beat her, but none did. She was told to throw a match and marry one of her opponents, but she couldn’t bring herself to.

Rumours began to spread about why the Mongol princess remained unmarried, so she did eventually have to take a husband, though there is some debate as to who it was. Regardless, he did not beat her in a wrestling match as she was undefeated her entire life.

When her father died he tried to name Khutulun his successor but his choice was rejected by many of her male relatives. She died in 1306, five years after Kaidu.

_{Disclaimer: All of this information comes from my own research and knowledge, so if I have missed anything out or got something wrong please let me know and I’ll try my best to fix it. Thank you!}

Mami Wata

Mami Wata is a water goddess who is worshipped in West, southern and central Africa as well as in some African communities in the Americas and the Caribbean. She is usually associated with beauty, money and wealth.

In the beginning, Mami Wata was not just a singular entity, she was a group of water gods and goddesses. They were mostly female, and were half-fish half-human in appearance, with thick, long hair and otherworldly beauty. There is lots of debate as to where her story and name originated from, but it was European traders in the 15th century who spread the myth from port to port on their travels. This transformed Mami Wata from a group of deities, to one goddess who – possibly due to the association with traders and merchants – became interlinked with fortune.

The stories said that she would drag unsuspecting swimmers to her underwater kingdom and when she let them go they would come back better looking and richer. In others, she would visit markets disguised as a beautiful woman wearing the finest clothing and jewellery. If a human caught sight of her when she was above water, she would flee and leave behind her mirror or comb. If a man took these items she would haunt his dreams until he returned them, and if he swore to be her faithful lover he would be rewarded with wealth and goods, if not he would be cursed by Mami Wata.

It wasn’t long until the same European traders that spread her story began to get involved in the capture, enslavement and trafficking of African people. As more and more of these different cultures from all over the African continent began to mix, they started to combine their beliefs with Christianity, which produced variations of their traditional deities. To escape the inhumane conditions they lived in, many enslaved Africans would do the traditional dances used to worship their gods to heal.

The myth of Mami Wata is thought to have been the origin of many other myths – Brazil’s Yemanja and Haitian Voudou’s La Sirène are two such deities thought to have come from the legend of Mami Wata.

In Africa, Mami Wata continued to be heavily worshipped. When PT Barnum’s circus was advertised to come to West Africa, many posters depicted Nala Damajanti, a snake charmer touring in the show. Her appearance caught the eyes and imaginations of so many people that they began to use her likeness as Mami Wata.

_{Disclaimer: All of this information comes from my own research and knowledge, so if I have missed anything out or got something wrong please let me know and I’ll try my best to fix it. Thank you!}