The book above is in English called The Gilded Ones is a 2021 young adult
fantasy novel by Sierra Leonean American writer
Namina Forna. Forna's
debut novel, it was published on February 9, 2021, and quickly entered the
New York Times Best Seller list and
Indie Bestseller lists.
PLOT:
The novel is set in the West Africa-inspired kingdom of Otera, where 16-year-old Deka lives in the village of Irfut with her sick father, her mother having recently died of a redpox infection.
Deka is filled with fear and anxiety because of a compulsory ritual for 16-year-old girls called the Ritual of Purity that serves to banish girls who bleed gold when cut instead of red from society. The
ceremony is attacked by deathshrieks – legendary monsters who scream loudly. Deka chases the creatures away and after several attempts to kill her, her worst nightmare comes to life when
she bleeds gold and is deemed impure.
She is
thrown into a dungeon of torture, where she is killed several times but keeps waking up alive for months, until she is offered an
invitation by a mysterious woman called White Hands who wishes to take her to the
capital to join an army of Alaki – impure girls like herself, who are trained to fight deathshrieks for the Emperor. Deka agrees and along with a girl named Britta joins the army.
Deka trains hard and learns more about the kingdom and deathshrieks.
Soon she discovers she can communicate with the creatures, begins to question the emperor's original intentions and seeks to know more about the true origin of the war.
What a lovely story for OUR CHILDREN..and of course it will be made into a movie franchise !
Where does the writer get her inspiration from? Le's see...
Writing in The Guardian inn 2021, Forna said that her father and grandmother were the ones to inspire her to become an author. As a child she heard them tell stories about strong women, such as Mami Wata, the goddess of water, and the Dahomey Amazons. She later found that western literature lacked black female heroes, and she was driven to change this.[7]
Who is Mami Wata?
Mami Wata (
Mammy Water), or
La Sirene, is a water spirit venerated in
West,
Central, and
Southern Africa and in the
African diaspora in the
Americas.
[2] Mami Wata spirits are usually female but are sometimes male.
[3]
Mami Wata is often described as a
mermaid-like figure, with a woman's upper body (often nude) and the hindquarters of a fish or serpent.[11][12][13] In other tales, Mami Wata is fully human in appearance (though never human). The existence and spiritual importance of Mami Wata is deeply rooted in the ancient tradition and mythology of the coastal southeastern
Nigerians (
Efik,
Ibibio,
Igbo,
Bahumono and
Annang people). Mami Wata
often carries expensive baubles such as combs, mirrors, and watches.
A large snake (symbol of
divination and
divinity) frequently accompanies her, wrapping itself around her and
laying its head between her breasts. Other times, she may try to pass as completely human, wandering busy markets or patronising bars.
[4] She may also manifest in a number of other forms, including as a man.
[5]
While commonly seen with a mirror in hand, Mami Wata is able to embody ritual performances and worship ceremonies for Africans through this instrument. Her mirror represents a movement through the present and the future; her devotees are able to create their own reality through imaging of themselves in their own recreation of Mami Wata's world. In this world, one can embody her sacred powers, fulfilling the inventions of their own reality.
Traditions on both sides of the Atlantic tell of the
spirit abducting her followers or random people whilst they are swimming or boating. She
brings them to her paradisiacal realm, which may be underwater, in the spirit world, or both.
[4] Should she allow them to leave, the travellers usually return in dry clothing and with a new spiritual understanding reflected in their gaze. These returnees often grow wealthier, more attractive, and more easygoing after the encounter
Intense dancing accompanied by musical instruments such as African guitars or harmonicas often forms the core of Mami Wata worship.
Followers dance to the point of entering a trance. At this point, Mami Wata possesses the person and speaks to him or her.
[4] Offerings to the spirit are also important, and Mami Wata prefers gifts of delicious food and drink, alcohol, fragrant objects (such as pomade, powder, incense, and soap), and expensive goods like jewellery.
[17] Modern worshippers usually leave her gifts of manufactured goods, such as
Coca-Cola or designer jewellery.
[4]
Nevertheless, she largely wants her followers to be healthy and well off.
[5] More broadly,
people blame the spirit for all sorts of misfortune. In
Cameroon, for example, Mami Wata is ascribed with causing the strong
undertow that kills many swimmers each year along the coast.
According to Bastian,
Mami Wata's association with sex and lust is somewhat paradoxically linked to one with fidelity. According to a
Nigerian tradition,
male followers may encounter the spirit in the guise of a beautiful, sexually promiscuous woman, such as a
prostitute. In Nigerian popular stories, Mami Wata
may seduce a favoured male devotee and then show herself to him following coitus. She then
demands his complete sexual faithfulness and secrecy about the matter. Acceptance means wealth and fortune;
rejection spells the ruin of his family, finances, and job
The Priesthood of Mami Wata
The people who inhabit the coastal region from
Benin, Ghana and Togo worship a vast pantheon of water deities, of which Mami Wata is most prominent. An
entire hierarchy of the Mami Wata priesthood exists in this region to officiate ceremonies, maintain the shrines, conduct healing rituals, and initiate new priests and priestesses into the service of various Mami Wata deities. On February 15, 2020, at 9:00 AM in the city of Cotonou, Benin, Hounnon Behumbeza, a high priest of Vodou and Mami Wata, was officially appointed the Supreme Chief of Mami Wata. As an indication of how revered Mami Wata is in the region, Hounnon Behumbeza's coronation as Supreme Chief of Mami Wata was broadcast
[18] live on various television news programs, and featured in local newspapers. The coronation was attended by hundreds of priests from around the region, and the highest dignitaries of Vodou and the Mami Wata tradition. Also in attendance were Benin Republic's minister of culture and several local government officials.
Lifelong contract
Social disparities in West Africa diffused the belief of individual contracts with spirits as the cause of personal wealth and success in earthly life.
Mami Wata embodies the power of money, wealth and fame acquired in the absence of ethical laws and obligations to the neighbour. The
unique exception is a lifelong contract somewhere read as private investment or as
long-term debt that can be extinguished or promised without being fulfilled.
[19]
