Mysteries Naija Special: She Grants Favors, Then You Belong To Her — The Mystery of Mami Wata

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Mami Wata is one of the most famous and feared water spirits in Africa.

Beautiful woman. Long hair. Snakes around her body. Wealth, healing and good fortune on one side, sickness, misfortune and death on the other.

Across Nigeria, especially in the southeast, stories of mysterious encounters with water spirits have existed for generations. Some people believe Mami Wata can change a person's life, make them wealthy, heal them or choose them for a spiritual calling. Others believe that accepting her gifts comes with a price.

But where did Mami Wata actually come from? Why is she connected to wealth, beauty, snakes and the water? And how did an image of a European snake goddess become intertwined with much older African beliefs about water spirits?

In this episode, we go into the history, beliefs, encounters and mysteries surrounding Mami Wata, and the strange relationship between the woman people say lives beneath the water and the humans who claim to have encountered her.

Listener discretion is advised.