In the summer, many Americans daydream about mermaids. Thousands sojourn to New York City's Coney Island for the Annual Mermaid Parade, decked in aquatic apparel. Parents bundle their children ...
In Soweto, Johannesburg, traditional folklore paints the open ocean as a place to be feared. Humans have no business entering its murky and mysterious depths. Cultural narratives like that, coupled ...
An estimated 1,000 people in the United States are “professional mermaids” — that is, they don fishtails and fins and get paid to swim in tanks, pools and open water. These mermaids swim even in ...
King Togbe Yedy, one of the heads of the convent of the Temple of Mami Wata, poses in front of an altar at the Temple in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 11, 2025. Credit - Marco Longari—AFP/Getty Images In the ...