PRAYERSTO ESUANDPAPALEGBA:

THE
CLASSI
CALTRADI
TION
Sept
emb
mber28,2010at5:
54am
Or
iki
(Yo
rubapr
ais
epoe
try
)andpr
ayer
stoEs
ufr
omI
l
la-
Oran
guni
nYor
uba
lan
d

Onc eaweek ,i.

e.ever
yfift
hda y
,theelderl
yseni
orpr
iest
essofEshu,t
heElemoso(Eshupri
estes
s
oft
hefirstrank),r
ubsthefloorofEshu'
ss hri
newit
hyunyun,agr
asswhichhasthemedici
naleffect
ofst
oppi
ngb l
eedi
ng(Abra
ha m1958:690).Shere
mo
mo v
e sherheadwrapandkneelsbef
oreth
e
shr
ine,s
inging:

"Eshu,Ih onory oub ecauseofy ourpower

.
Eshu,y oua r
et hero adma
maker.
Come
mewi t
hki ndnesst ome
meandt omy
my
f
amily,whos erveyouwi thgif
ts.
Eshu,y ouaret hepr esentgiv
er.
Makememer i
chandt hemo
mother
ofgoodc hil
dr en.
Neveral l
owy ourc hil
drenmi s
fort
une.
Come
mewi t
hyourgor geousappear ance,
yous onofc owr i
es."

Womenf
me eari
ngbarr
ennessc ome,p
eti
ti
oni
ngEshu'
shel
pinhav
ingac
hil
d.Andwhe
nthe
ygi
vebi
rt
h,
t
heywil
lret
urnwi
t
hthes acri
fices
pr
omis
ed,andoft
enc ont
inuetopar
ti
ci
patei
ntheweek
lyri
t
e.

Lateintheaft
ernoon,onthesixthdayoft
hefes
ti
val
,theEshufigur
eiscarr
iedt
otheking'
sma
mar k
et
(ojaoba)ontheheadofthet hi
rd-r
anki
ngEshupri
est
ess,t
heArugba(bowlc
arri
er)
.Sheisprec
eded
byt hehighe
r-r
ankingpri
este
sse s,t
heElemo
mosoandt
heElebi,a
ndfol
lowedbybatadru
mmer
mm sand
othermemb
mbersofthecomp
mpound,whosi ng:

"Peopleofthemar ket
,clearthewa y!
Wear ec omi
mingthr
o ughthema r
ketgate.
MyLo rdisc o
mi
mingt othema r
ket.
Myh usband,Iha v
ear ri
ved.
Laroye(Eshu),Ihavearrived.
Baraye,Baraye,Baraye!
"Lar
o y
eap pearsli
keagr acefulcrown.
Eshu,donotdecei veandhar m me;
dec
eiv
ean
oth
er.

Lat
o pa(Es h
u),blessme .Es hu,bl
essme
.
Bara,blessme .Es hu,bl
e ssme .
"Al
l r
everencetoy ou,Latopa.
All
reverencetoy ou,Bara.
Laroyecomes.Eshucomes.
All
reverencetoy ou,Lalupon.
All
reverencetoy ou,Bara.
"Wear egladthatEs hu'
sf est
ival
has
come.
Eshu,donothar m me.
Eshu,donothar m me. "

Alt
houghthef
est
ival
rit
ualsofotheror
is
haalsoi
ncl
udeapr
ocessiont
othemarketpl
ace,t
her
eisa
speci
alas
soci
ati
onofEs huwiththemarket
.Someofhi
sor
ik
irefert
othi
sassoc
iati
on:

"Eshuqui
cklyma keshimsel
fma s
ter
oft
hemark etpla
ce.
Hebu y
swithoutpaying.
Hec au
sesno thi
ngtobebo ughtors
old
att
hemark etunti
lni
ghtf
all
.
"
(Ve
rger1957:117-8)

AttheOjeclot
hma rketi
nIbadan,nobuyingorsell
ingc anbegi
nunti
lpalm oi
lhasbeenpour
edo v
er
t
hee shuoj
a(mar k
etshri
ne)bythepriest
essesandel dersoft
hemarket.Amongt hef
ourmar
ketsof
I
la,onl
ythelargecentr
aldai
lymarkethasanes huojawhi c
hrecei
vespalm oi
loccasi
onal
l
yorkol
a
nutofferi
ngsfr
omv ar
iouswomensel l
ersofthemark e
tpl ac
e.

Suc hofferi
ngsappeartobesol
elypersonalpe
tit
i
onsf orEshu'
saidandplac
enorest
ri
ct
ionsonthe
t
radingacti
vit
iesofthemar
ketgener
all
y.Thecowr i
eswi t
hwhichEshudancewandsandves t
ment
s
aredecorat
edal soconv
eyEshu'sass
oc i
ati
onwiththemar ke
t,f
orcowr
iesweremoneyi
npr e-
coloni
alYorubaland.

"Eshusl
eptinth
ehouse--
Butt
hehousewa st
oosmallforhim.
Eshusl
eptonthever
andah--
Butt
heverandahwasto
os ma l
lforh
im.
Eshus leptinanut -
Atlasthec oulds t
retchhimself
.
Eshuwa lkedthroughagr oundnutfar
m.
Thet uftofhishairwasj ustvi
si
ble.
I
fithadnotbeenf orhishuges i
ze,
Hewoul dno thavebeenv isi
bleatal
l.
Hav i
ngt hro
wnas t
oney este
rday,
Hek il
lsabi r
dt oday.

Lyi
ngdown,hi sheadhitsther
oof
.
Standingu p,hec anno
tlook
i
ntothecook ingpot.
Eshut urnsri
ghtintowrong,
wrongi ntori
ght.
"
(Beie
r1959: 15)

"Hetur
nsquicklyandwal
ksqui
ckl
y.
Whenhei sangry,
hehit
sas t
oneunt i
li
tbl
eeds
."
(Ve
rger1957:
1 17)

"Eshuf oughto nIwat astreet

l
ikeahu ndredme n.
Myf atherco meswi t
hhi scl
ub.
Eas huisawi ckedchi l
d
wh oh asinherit
e das word.
"Esh us wi
ngsac lub
asanI f
apr i
estadi viningchai
n.
Eshuc arr
iesc l
ubsonhi shead
l
ikebal esofc ott
on.
Eshu,donotdecei veandhar m me;
deceivean other.
(TheEl ebi)

"Es
hu,c onfuserofme n
Theo wnero ftwentysl
aves
i
ssac ri
fici
ng,
SothatEs huma yn otconfusehi
m.
"Eshuc onf
us edtheheado ftheQueen-
-
Ands hes t
artedtogona ked.
ThenEshubeathert
oma
keh
erc
ry.
"
(Bei
er1959:
15)

Itsho uldno wb ea pp arentwh ythes en iorme mberso ftheOg bonisoc i

etya renol o
ng erasan xio
us
aboutEs huast he yo ncewe r
e.Th eyh avep assedth r
o ughth et i
meo fEs hu.Th eirageh asmo ved
t
hem b eyondhi sap pa r
entc aprice.Th eth umbEs husu cksisno w"hidde n"i
nt hec l
enc h
edfi s
tofthe
member shipsign.Thei rs ecrettr
ans cend st healt
ernationsa ndr eversalsofEs hu'sti
meand
worl
d .Th eyha vek no wnEs huinh ispo we ra same ss enger.Hi ssecretistheirs e
cret.Kno wingthe
myster ythati
sEs hu
markst heendoft i
me,t heendofal ternation,theendofdi scont i
nuit
i
es ,theendoft heor i
sha's
t
hreatenin gmisc hievous
l
ibi
dina lpower.Nol onge rdot heyha vet oma kesacr i
ficetoEs hu,fortheyha vecomet ok nowh ima s
"t
hegiftgiver,
""thec hi
ldofc owr i
es,"thegi ftandweal thofas e."Itisinthisc ontextt
hatwec an
perhapsdi scernt hemean i
ngo fa norikiforEs huc i
tedb ythed osSant os:"Fatherwhoga veb i
rt
hto
Ogboni I
scalledb yal lBabaJ akil
a.

Thu
s,e
achwe
ekt
heEl
emo
so,s
eni
orp
rie
ste
sso
fEs
hu,
pra
ys:

"Es
h u,Ihon
oryoub ecauseofyourp
owe r
.
Eshu,youareth
er oadma ker
.
Comewi thki
ndnesstomean dtomyf ami
ly
whos erv
eyouwi t
hgif
ts".

f
rom

"
Esu-
Elegb
ara
:theYo
rubaT
ric
kst
erGod

by

JohnPember
ton

Af
ri
canAr
ts,Vol
.9,No.1(
Oct
.,1975)
,pp.20-
27+66-
70+90-
92

ht
tp:
//
www.
j
stor
.or
g/s
tabl
e/3334976

t
hanks
t
oyi
n