Yet Pliny wrote that mermaids were "no fabulous tale. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder was a scientific authority whose 37-volume Natural History written in AD 77 was consulted for over a thousand years. Throughout history, many Europeans have testified to the existence of mermaids, and some even claimed to have seen them personally. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London/Art Resource Nuremberg Bible (1483) illustration shows a mermaid, merman and mer-dog swimming near Noah's Ark. In Haiti, Lasirn is part of the Vodou tradition, and her followers appeal to her for help in Vodou ceremonies, where the mermaid's spirit may enter the body of a female follower and bring good luck with work, health, money, and love. When African slaves were brought to the Caribbean, they took their stories with them. The story of Lasirn blends African and European mermaid stories with Caribbean culture. Some women become Vodou priestesses this way. Followers of Lasirn say she takes them below the water to her world, and they return with new powers. Lasirn's underwater world is known as "the back of the mirror," and her mirror is a symbol of the boundary between the two worlds. Like European mermaids, and the African mermaid water spirit Mami Wata, Lasirn holds a mirror to admire herself and a comb for her long, straight hair. The mermaid Lasirn is a powerful water spirit popular in the Caribbean Islands and parts of the Americas. Lasirn Vodou sequined flags: The mermaid Lasirn is a water spirit popular in the Caribbean Islands and parts of the Americas. Also, since most African art shows the whole body, she seemed to be hiding her tail. But when it first appeared in Africa, many thought it was a picture of Mami Wata because snakes were already linked with water spirits and the green background looked like water. The original was a German print of a Samoan snake charmer made in the 1880s. Most pictures of Mami Wata today are based on a version of this European print.
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