Ocean 473Comfa songs are in the Kikongo language.
Furthermore, it is possible to describe the Zulu
religious system as capable of having numerous
transformations in a variety of settings, suggest-
ingtheforcebehindAfricanculturalcontinuityin
the diaspora and therefore the classification of
Comfa as an African religious and cultural sys-
tem. It is thisadaptive vitalitythat is responsible
fortheprocessoffashioningthedistinctlyComfa
faithfromthemorepurely AfricanWatermamma
religion in Guyana.
Indeed, the expression of Comfa religion in
Guyana illustrates the relative success of African
culturalresistancetoenslavementinastrangeland.
Indeed, Comfa as part of a web of such other
Africanist forms as Cumina (Jamaica), Big Drum
(Granada and Carriacou), Black Carib (Belize),
Kele(St.Lucia),Santeria(Cuba),andRastafarites-
tifies to the resilience of the African culturalasili
(seed) and ethos in the face of the morally mon-
strous enslavement holocaust. Of broader sig-
nificance beyond religion, the dynamics of Comfa
offer an important exemplum for a philosophical
analysis of Guyanese nationalist culture.
Geoffrey Jahwara GiddingsSee alsoCandomblé
Further Readings
Asante, M. K. (1998, July 10).The Future of African
Gods:The Clash of Civilizations. Lecture presented
at the W.E.B. DuBois Center, Accra, Ghana.
Fanon, F. (1963).Wretched of the Earth. New York:
Grove.
Gibson, K. (2001).Comfa Religion and Creole Language
in a Caribbean Community. Albany: State University
of New York Press.
Lawson, E. T. (1984).Religions of Africa. San Francisco:
Harper & Row.
OCEAN
There are two types of oceans found among the
religious beliefs and practices of many African
peoples. The first is the physical ocean, which
is composed of water, and the second is the
primordial ocean, the boundless abyss of
substance from which material existence origi-
nates. Accounts of this primordial ocean are
frequently found in the creation stories and
myths, whereas accounts of the physical ocean
are found in more common rituals and practices
and reflect people’s proximity to and experience
with the physical ocean. Those people close to
the ocean tend to perceive the ocean as a deity
with specific attributes. In many cultures, these
two oceans are fused into a single cosmology.Physical Ocean
The water of the physical ocean is one of the pri-
mary elements of life. This water is likened to
life-giving and life-sustaining blood, fluids of the
womb, and semen. Water cleanses, purifies, and
nourishes. Water as an element has the distinct
property of being purer than what it touches.
Although other elements such as fire can be used
in purification and although the Earth may be
used in a symbolic burial signaling rebirth, water
remains nature’s ultimate purifier, as witnessed in
the common rituals of bathing or washing food.
Water connects the realms of Earth and Heaven
because fresh water falls from the sky and is
returned to Heaven again through evaporation.
Therefore, water on the scale of an ocean intensi-
fies the qualities of purification and connection
between Earth and sky.
In Fon cosmology, there is a group of deities
knownastheseapantheon.Theprimarydeitiesof
thispantheonareAgbèandNaètè,thethirdsetof
twins born to the androgynous deity Mawu-Lisa.
Sometimes Agbè and Naètè are portrayed as hus-
bandandwifeorthechildrenofSogbo,theleader
of the thunder pantheon. It was Sogbo who gave
Agbècontroloverwhatoccursintheuniverseand
care over the Earth. The sea was created for him
to live. Agbè and Naètè inhabit the sea and also
command the waters. Their children perform
numerous functions in relation to the sea. Some
sons are responsible for the rising and falling of
tides. One son has a fondness for sinking boats.
One daughter, Avrekete, keeps the secrets of
her parents and is therefore the guardian of the
treasures of the sea. One child is responsible for
extractingwaterfromtheseatomakerain.Other
children reside in lagoons.