AU is a student at USC majoring in Anthropology with a minor in Journalism. She will begin her graduate studies next year at USC Dornsife. She is also a co-worker at the United University Church [UUC] working at the front desk. The story that she told me comes from her African origins.

In Nigeria there are other things that can happen between humans and the spirits if the marine kingdom. Other than pacts, there is the possibility of a human unknowingly gaining a spirit spouse. A marine spirit may take a liking to a human go passed by their river often and decide that they want that person, so they lay a claim on them. The way that people discover this is by having problems with relationships. They will be unable to form a romantic relationship with anyone. There are also dreams that are had by the person afflicted. The person who is chosen can be in any age range. There are accounts of young kids having a spirit spouse and not knowing until they reach puberty and start dreaming of a specific figure they have never met before. The only way to get rid of these spouses is to be cleansed by a Catholic priest.

This story brings to mind the belief that wet dreams where the cause of succubi and incubi before the discovery of hormonal imbalance. It is an interesting take on what the problem could be for not being able to form relationships.Something that has become prevalent is how Catholicism and Christianity are being used as a way to fight against the beliefs of a region. If there are bad things that can happened, there should be things that can be done to remedy that from within those same systems of belief. It is interesting to note how pervasive Abrahamic beliefs have become as they are spread by Western practitioners.