Sande Water Spirit

Spirit-class tutelary entered as a deity. The Sande masquerade is famously the only African masking tradition performed by women. 'sowei' names both the mask and the senior society official. Principal scholarship: Boone (1986).

Domains

• water rivers
• feminine beauty initiation

Powers

• to embody and confer the ideal of Mende womanhood and beauty
• Manifest as the female water-spirit guardian of Sande

Sources

• Sylvia Ardyn Boone, Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art (1986)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Sande'