Paper short abstract:

This paper will offer insight into the ways gender complexity and same-sex intimacy are integral to the richly nuanced, inherently progressive Mami Wata Vodun while demonstrating how the internet can both help and hinder non-conforming individuals seeking spiritual refuge within Mami Wata.

Paper long abstract:

Mami Wata, a pantheon of Vodun sea spirits, is known as a source of religious and economic prosperity. She represents wealth, beauty, seduction, desire, fidelity, femininity, human anomolies, and modernity. Mami Wata and her avatars are often portrayed in the form of Hindu deities, known as India Spirits, who help devotees navigate life's previously unfamiliar circumstances such as birth control, abortion, prostitution, homosexuality, and transsexuality.

Known to be non-judgmental, inclusive, and progressive, Mami Wata can provide safe haven for people with non-conforming biological, emotional, or psychological conditions or identities. The gender-fluid Mami Wata spirits identified with gender-changing and androgynous Hindu deities have garnered attention on social media.

Increased visibility of Vodun on Facebook has provided a platform for Vodun priests/priestesses to fill the Western demand for African spiritual connection through selling services ranging from cyber-healing to full-scale cyber-initiations. There are also opportunistic priests/priestesses who prey upon vulnerable people during times of crisis using successful cult recruitment tactics. A strategically curated Facebook page featuring gender-ambiguous images, statues, and shrines of Hindu-Vodun spirits, has attracted gender non-conforming clientele searching for spiritual identity. Once pulled into the cyber-system, the initiates are encouraged to recruit others offering often fraudulent and expensive ceremonies to anyone seeking guidance via Facebook.

Through case studies, this paper will offer insight into the ways gender complexity and same-sex intimacy are integral to this inherently progressive Mami Wata Vodun spiritual system while demonstrating how the internet can help or harm non-conforming individuals seeking spiritual refuge within Mami Wata