Agwe
Haitian Vodou · deity · Haitian Vodou traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Agwe Tawoyo is the sovereign of the sea, lord of ships, fish, and all marine life, and protector of sailors and fishermen. He is imagined as a light-skinned naval officer in full dress uniform, and his emblems are the boat, the oar, the conch trumpet, and the cannon; his undersea kingdom is a paradise beneath the waves. His great rite is the barque of Agwe, in which a small painted boat, sometimes called Immamou, is laden with food and drink and rowed out to sea to be sunk over the deep water where he is believed to dwell. He is commonly identified with Saint Ulrich, shown holding a fish. He is consort of the mermaid Lasirèn and is also counted among the husbands of Ezili Freda.
Domains
- sea
- seafaring
Powers
- rule the sea and its creatures
Epithets
- Kòk lanmè — Shell (Rooster) of the SeaMaya Deren, Divine Horsemen (1953), pp. 124-127 (secondary)
Relations
- spouse: LasirènPaired with the mermaid Lasirèn, sovereign of the sea's mysteries.Milo Rigaud, Secrets of Voodoo (1969), pp. 80-82 (secondary)
- lover: Ezili FredaCounted among the husbands of Ezili Freda.Karen McCarthy Brown, Mama Lola (1991), pp. 220-223 (secondary)
Sources
- Agwe is the Rada lwa who rules the sea, ships, and marine life, served with a sacrificial bark sunk in open water and identified with a naval officer.: Alfred Métraux, Voodoo in Haiti (1959), pp. 106-108 (secondary); Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen (1953), pp. 124-127 (secondary)