Water Spirits ✿ Stories that bind the world together

Steve Solomon, “Waitā”, 2024, stainless steel, laser cut

All the news we read today is about growing conflict. The world is becoming more polarised between and within countries. Land wars devastate lives, and trade wars impoverish economies. Social media bubbles make it easy to vilify the other.

We need to reconnect with our shared humanity.

In our need to make sense of the world, our different cultures have evolved stories that reflect common themes.

Water is a ubiquitous concern. We both need it to survive, but we also fear its power in devastating floods and tsunamis. Over millennia, we have represented this capacity in the form of water spirits as agents of a power beyond our own. For a time, we sought to demonstrate our power over nature by slaying these spirits. But climate change has shown that we are ultimately dependent on the whims of nature. To appreciate this, we need to revive stories of the serpentine beings who embody the fluid capacity of water.

In this issue, we honour those who revive and sustain these mythical beings alive in objects they make with great skill and creativity.

Issue 38 of Garland is the first of the Storylines series. As well as the makers who’ve generously shared their stories, thanks to Anita Jack, Megan Kelleher, Ishan Khosla and Sarah Tomasetti.

Dragons

Serpents

Mer-people

Water stories

Dedication

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Suzanne Wenger (1915-2009) (also known as Adunni Olorisa), whose commitment to the community of Osogbo in Nigeria led to the rescue of the sacred groves, since recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As Yoruba leader Tunde Kelani states, “Wenger’s efforts transformed the grove into an environmental conservation area, preserving its lush greenery and sustaining wildlife, including monkeys and other species. Without her dedication, the site would have been demolished.”

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A tribute to Susanne Wenger - Chief Yeye Gbogbo Adetutu Ọ̀súndémiládé pays homage to the woman who saved her tribe's Sacred Groves.
Snake Talk: A yarn with story-makers across the globe - Tyson Yunkaporta reflects on the fluid connections made by serpent beings between peoples and nature.
The flow of spirits: Tales and crafts of Shandur Lake - For Adil Iqbal, Chitrali Shu weaving preserves the wonderful and tragic stories set in a lake in the Hindu Kush
The people fished from the sacred Eware river - Kuenan Tikuna's work tells how her Magü'ta people were fished from the river by the gold Yo'i.
Wonder Reef: A fertile art installation for fish and occasional humans - Pamela See dives to find an underwater installation by Daniel Templeman designed for the enjoyment of all sea creatures.
When Antaboga married Dewi Supreti, the snake goddess of kindness - Dias Prabu creates an epic batik that helps us connect to the earth that sustains life.
Water spirits in the form of serpents: The Ular Naga of Alor and the Phanya Naak of Laos - Water Spirits in the form of serpents occur throughout Southeast Asia, serving as guardian spirits and progenitors of lineages and populaces. Linda McIntosh highlights the Naak or Phanya Naak of Luang Prabang, Laos, and the Ular Naga of Alor Regency, Indonesia.
The nguzunguzu-dragon - Visiting a neighbour in the Marovo Lagoon, Rodolfo Maggio stumbles upon a powerful creature that combines two radically different cultures.
Naga Mae Daw Serpent: Maternal energy uncoils in Myanmar - Soe Yu Nwe explains why she is drawn to the snake as inspiration for her work.
Carving the Taniwha: Shaping sacred water spirits through Whakairo - Wanda Gillespie is inspired by the Māori carving of the Taniwha water spirit by Ngaroma Riley, Kereama Taepa and Steve Solomon.
A cherished Chinese tooth tradition - Li Letitia Shen mourns the loss of heritage buildings in Shanghai with jewellery evoking the objects of a lost childhood.
Nereides: A homage to our seagrass meadows - Anna Davern writes about her series of beaded pins inspired by the ancient Greek myth of sea nymphs.
Love, loss and the sea: The mermaid in Southeast Asia’s Ramayana - Chandrica Barua recounts the story of Suvannamaccha, the Golden Mermaid, who appears in Southeast Asian depictions of the Ramayana.
May Day! The Giant, the Well, and the Dorset Otter-Dragon  - Author of Water Beings, Veronica Strang, celebrates the appearance of Sasha Constable's Otter Dragon at the Dorset May Day festival. 
Hang Song: How a Lao serpent deity sprinkles blessings - Tiao Nithakhong Somsanith shares his elaborate water conduit for Buddist rituals featuring the makara river creature and naga serpent.
Russell Jack ✿ Saving dragons - Dianne Dempsey's biography of Russell Jack reveals how caring for the dragon was a way of sustaining a Chinese diaspora culture.
Jamnalal Kumhar ✿ The rainbow Naga - A master temple sculptor made terracotta plaques showing the evolution of the Indian Naga into the Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent.