The Theology of Water and Spirit: A Radical Reclamation to Forge a Path from Fear to Faith

In this dissertation, I am in pursuit of a deeper understanding of the disconnect that African American women, and perhaps people of African descent in the Western Hemisphere in particular, have encountered in the realm of aquatics, to find out how to forge a path from fear to faith in the realm of water and spirit for millions of women of the African diaspora - first and foremost. This work is inclusive of all others who are also disconnected from the aquatic realm, in order to create and curate a new field of practical theology - Aquatic Practical Theology – water and spirit linkage to divine design in creation for humankind. This can serve as a viable pathway to liberation, life, and worship, overcoming generations of traumatic aquatic events and preventing drowning deaths due to fear of water. Living on a planet of approximately seventy percent water, in approximately seventy percent water embodiment, aquatics form the majority of our environment and constitution. Understanding how this informs our relationship with water and spirit will serve to unlock and break the stronghold that the fear of water, which pervades and permeates the majority of minority communities, and has done so for too long.