Esu – Aflakete

July 28, 2016

ESHU…beware of half-truth; you may have gotten hold of the wrong half…

The Legba of the Fon-Benin cannot be correlated exactly with the Eshu of the Yoruba-
Nigeria. For the Yoruba, Eshu can be a nastier, more malevolent being, though he still
delights in contradictions, and, to a lesser extent, sex. Where there is confusion or
arguments, he is there. The violence and lawlessness of Eshu’s desire is demonstrated in a
a tale related about Eshu-Agberu, the father of all Eshu. Eshu’s mother offers him a bounty
of fish and fowl, and Eshu eats it all, and, not sated, eats his mother as well. Orunmila
hacks Eshu into little bits, which fall all over the earth, becoming individual shards of
Laterite-Yangi stone. Orunmila catches the remaining spirit of Eshu, and to placate his
father, Eshu promises that all the Laterite-Yangi stones will become Eshu’s representatives.
All Orunmila has to do is bless the stones, and they will do his mystic bidding. Eshu then
coughs up his mother.

He is a figure of the greatest importance. Both in the generalized form in which he

participates in the worship of the Vodun (Spirit) pantheons and more particularly as
guardians of entrances to villages, to markets, to shrines compounds, and houses until he is
bought into the closest association of all with a man’s personal destiny (Ifa).

In these terms Eshu, the arch individualist, the personification of the being who loves
mischief, knows no inhibitions, recognizes no taboos, dances to challenge injustices, even
on the part of the creator and to expose them. He is a moralist only when it suits his
impulse. His favors can be had at a price, but only if he is disposed to grant them.

Eshu is the seventh and youngest child of the creator. “As you are spoiled, and have never
known punishment”. The creator tells him “I cannot turn you over to your brothers.” There
is no kingdom left assign to him and he cannot be made subject to such elements as earth,
sky, sea, atmosphere, the forest and their wild life or energy force. Your work shall be to
visit all the kingdoms ruled over by your brothers and sisters to give me an account of what
happens. Eshu thus becomes what is described as the creator linguist. He is the interpreter
for Vodun (Spirit) and men and women before the creator for he alone commands all known
tongues.

Eshu is named – Aflakete, meaning ”I have deceived you” to go to Vodun (Spirit) one must
first past Eshu to make Ifa one must pass by Eshu. And all men and women must have their
Eshu as a personal guardian and this is also why the dog is respected as the animal of Eshu.

Eshu did not want to acknowledge that he had slept with mother (Gbabu) and her daughter
(Minona). The creator ordered that his penis shall always be erected and that he may never
be appeased. When Eshu dances he tries to take any woman who is at hand.

*** He used his penis to make a bridge Penis broke in two! – Travelers fell into the river.
Eshu makes us recognize the fundamental relation between sex and the evolving,
continually reconnecting cosmos. “He is the living copula, and his phallus symbolizes the
real distinction between outside and inside, and the wild and the ordered.”

** Until a man had entered the forest to trace the eight lines of his destiny, he must never
erect a great Eshu in front of his house, since where Ifa the writing of the creator is absent,
Eshu may not be present.

Divination Stories: There is the tradition that all stories have come from Ifa, the personifies
system of divination. “Everything that happens on Earth has happened in the sky before. So
Ifa and Eshu can advise human being because they themselves have discovered how to
meet every possible situation in the sky.”

There is no one stronger than Eshu, expect the one that is equal to God in all things. God’s
power is greater than Eshu’s power by far. Also Eshu’s power is greater than human’s.
Heaven is not profitable for Eshu, so the world is well for him.
Elegba the link between the visible mortal world and the invisible immortal realms. The
means and the avenue between them, the vertical access of the universe. As guardian of
the sacred gateway, it is Elegba who brings contact with the other Orishas. Elegba must be
first to be ritually saluted.

The Crossroads is the most important of all ritual figures, whether drowned in flour on flat
ground, or traced in the air. The sign of the Crossroads is always the juncture where
communication between two worlds is established. Where the traffic of energies in forces
between them is setup.

The Crossroads is the most important of all ritual figures, whether drowned in flour on flat
ground, or traced in the air. The sign of the Crossroads is always the juncture where
communication between two worlds is established. Where the traffic of energies in forces
between them is setup.

Eshu is the god who has access to power – ashé , the immanent power of creation which
the supreme being gives to the earth, and which can be possessed by some people. Eshu
receives power – ashé when all the Deities journey to the supreme God to find out who is
the next most powerful. Each brings a huge sacrifice, carrying it on his or her head. But
Eshu consults the oracle before he goes, and finds that all he needs to bring is a bright red
feather set upright on his forehead. When the supreme being sees this he grants Eshu the
power of ashé, because Eshu had shown his unwillingness to carry burdens, as well as his
sensitivity to the power of information.

Eshu shows us that one must “cultivate the art of recognizing significant
communications…or else the lessons of the crossroads–the point where doors open or close,
where persons have to make decisions that may forever affect their lives– will be lost.” Eshu
is a Yoruba deity. His colors are red and black. Red represents the active masculine force,
and black, the mysteries of the unknown or unseen. He is the owner of the crossroads
between the physical and spiritual realms. He is the owner of Ashe. Eshu also reminds us
that awareness of our humanity is needed for our journey through this life form.
Perhaps the most famous Yoruba story about Eshu concerns two inseparable friends who
swore undying fidelity to one another but neglect to acknowledge Eshu. One day Eshu walks
on the dividing line between their fields, wearing a cap that is black on one side and red –
white on the other. He saunters between the fields, exchanging pleasantries with both men.
Afterwards, the two friends got to talking about the man with the cap, and fall to violent
quarreling about the color of the man’s hat, calling each other blind and crazy. The
neighbors gather about, and then Eshu arrives and stops the fight. The friends explain their
disagreement, Eshu shows them the two-sided hat all this to chastise the friends for not
putting him first in their doings. Moving along the seam between two different worldviews,
he confuses communication, reveals the ambiguity of knowledge, and plays with
perspective. So Eshu is a master of exchange, crossed purposes, or speech. This is why his
shrines are found both at crossroads and at the market, for he is master of such networks
of desire.

The Fon have a wonderful way of imagining Legba’s mastery of crossings. Mawu tells the
gods that whoever can come before her and simultaneously play a gong, a bell, a drum, and
a flute while dancing to their music would be chief of the gods. All the macho gods attempt
and fail, but Legba succeeds, not just demonstrating his agility, but his ability to maintain a
balance of crossed or contrary forms and forces. Legba dances not only to the beat of a
different drummer, but to the beats of many different drummers at the same time.

EBO = Sacrifice Is Surrendering Oneself Or A Thing That Represents Oneself For The Benefit
Of Oneself Or Others. Men & Women Cannot Find Favor With God Except Through Sacrifice
& Appeasement… Sacrifice For Survival Is What The Awo Is Offering…

Aboru Aboye Abosise O = Lift Your Burden From Earth & Rai