Character: Simidele
Song: Control by Zoe Wees
Color: Pink and Gold
Flower: A snapdragon (symbolizes strength, grace and protection)
Poem: “I am becoming everything I fought to be. I am magical and deserving of sweetness.” -from Nectar by Upile Chisala
Physical Description: dark brown skin, long black kinky/curly hair, pink and gold scales and mermaid tail that becomes a pink and gold wrapper when she takes on human form.
Enneagram: type 8- In typical enneagram 8 fashion, Simi lives by the instincts that all we all possess. She lives intensely, energetically, and impulsively. She strains against the limits that established authority figures place on her. As evidenced by the little ways she finds to push back against Olokun after she has submitted herself to him, and the way she fiercely fights against the Iyalawo and the Tapa military. The intensity with which she fights also speaks to the enneagram 8’s instinct to fight against oppression and to protect those who cannot protect themselves. She cares deeply about her people. We see this in the way she talks about her loyalty to Yemoja, her sisterhood with Folosade and the other five Mami Wata, and in the special connection she has with Kola. A connection that stays with her even when she was forced to exist in The Land of the Dead without him. Like other enneagram 8s she is keenly aware of how power and control are wielded, and when it is unjust. She calls on her own personal power to right any wrongs she sees. And though she indulges her body’s desires when it comes to the elements, she does deny her vulnerabilities and cover up softer emotions with anger. One possible reason for this is that she was robbed of a full sense of safety in her childhood by the threat of violence that loomed, and eventually visited her.
Distinctive skills and abilities: She has strong swimming skills and the ability to command underwater creatures to do as she says. She is smart, able to make quick connections and zoom out to see the bigger picture rather than getting lost in the minutiae. She’s good at reading others and listening to her gut (though she does have blindspots for those she feels a kinship with).
Greatest fear: That the bad guys will win and good people will be harmed.
Top three values: justice, nature, choice/control
What does she believe will bring her true happiness or contentment: She believes that righting her wrong will set things right. She would also like to be with Kola, but spends a great deal of time denying that desire and the thought of the happiness it would bring her because she doesn’t want to face her pain or cause him any pain with false hope.