In Vodou, fishing floats—particularly the vintage glass variety—are primarily used as offerings and altar decorations for the spirits of the water.
Because Vodou is deeply tied to the natural environment and the daily lives of practitioners, objects from the sea are used to connect with the Lwa (spirits) who govern the ocean.
1. Sacred to Agwe and La Sirène
The most common use for fishing floats is on altars dedicated to Agwe, the King of the Sea, and his wife La Sirène, the mermaid spirit of beauty and wealth.
- Symbolism of the Sea:
- Agwe has the domain of fishermen and sailors as the Captain of the ship Imamou as well as other fleets, items like oars, shells, and fishing gear are placed on his altar to honor him. Glass floats are prized because their colors (often deep blues and greens) and their buoyant nature reflect the "coolness" and the high surface of the ocean.
- Offerings: During ceremonies for Agwe, a small boat (a barque) is often filled with offerings and given to the sea such as foods and champagne.
- However decorative floats are sometimes kept on the temple's permanent altar to maintain a spiritual energetic link and to offer protection and cooling activity. Keeping fishing floats in a sacred space is a way to passively maintain a peaceful, balanced atmosphere where there can be activity.
- Warding: Because they are "buoyant" and never sink, they can symbolically represent a person's ability to stay "above water" through life's hardships, acting as a charm for resilience ie financially as tied to the riches of the sea and safe spiritual and life passage.
2. Divination and "Scrying"
In some traditions, the smooth, reflective surface of glass fishing floats is used for visions (divination through gazing).
- Like a crystal ball, the glass sphere is thought to hold "water energy." due to it also being made of sand like a mirror- looking glass,
- Water surfaces have been used by many cultures as reflective surfaces.
- The tool of La Sirene is a comb and mirror. Mirrors have many spiritual purposes and in the past were also made of silver linked to the moon, ancestral and astral dream realms.
- Practitioners may gaze into the glass to receive visions or messages from spirits, using the float as a viewer or a window into the underwater world (Anba Dlo) to Rada Lwa of Ginen.
3. Workings or Magi
The ward can be activated by using it for any person by manipulating it's position or arrangement.
The floats can be ritually destroyed in a manner to make requests of Agwe and the other water Lwa.
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