Agwé

Within Haitian Vodou Agwé is understood as a lwa who inhabits an underwater island and a 'glorious palace under the seas.' He occupies an office-like, maritime role in the pantheon, commanding a crew of attendant lwa who arrive before his ceremonies to prepare the place for 'The Admiral.' In some accounts Agwé is paired or married to Erzulie Freda and La Sirene. One named aspect—Agwe Arroyo/Agwe Tawoyo/Agwe 'Woyo—is described as the captain of Immamou, the vessel that carries the dead to Guinee, highlighting Agwé's role in certain funerary passages and his link to the movement of souls across the sea.

Agwé (often called Papa Agwé) is envisioned as a handsome African man sometimes with lighter skin and green eyes, typically dressed in a naval officer's or sailor's uniform and bearing nautical accoutrements. His ritual colors are blue and white (with sea-green or brown occasionally associated), and his iconography includes a veve depicting a boat with sails, painted shells, oars, seahorses, and starfish. In possession he adopts maritime props and gestures—pushing himself on a chair as though in a boat, wielding a cane as an oar, issuing naval commands and salutes.

Agwé's attributed domains include the sea and marine life (fish and aquatic plants) and sea-related forces such as winds, currents, waves, and depths; he functions as patron and guardian of fishermen, sailors, and sea travelers. He is appealed to for guidance when lost at sea, for inspiration and steadiness in times of turmoil, and in some traditions to aid the passage of the dead (Agwe Arroyo as captain of Immamou). In Petro aspects (e.g., Agwe Flambeau) he is associated with hot/boiling-water realms and may be invoked either to bring bad luck against rivals (in fishing or sailing) or to protect supplicants from sinking, drowning, or rough seas. In ritual possession Agwé exhibits naval comportment and requires particular care of his mounted devotees.