Invocation of Èṣù : A Prayer Cosmological and Intimate, Mystical and Existential, Lofty and Pragmatic [ Edited]

[Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju]

                                                                                             

                                                                     

            

                                                                                Invocation of  Èṣù

                                   A Prayer Cosmological and Intimate, Mystical and Existential, Lofty and Pragmatic 

                                                                                      Compcros

                                                        Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems

                                            "Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"

                                                                                   

                                                        

 

                                   A Voodoo veve, a symbol meant for invoking Papa Legba, the persona of Èṣù 

                                              in his journey to the New World through the Slave Trade.

                                     The intersecting horizontal and vertical lines dramatize the intersection of possibilities

                                                   represented by the crossroads, embodied by Èṣù and Legba.

                                                      That intersectionality is the central motif of the prayer below.

                                                           The hat evokes Legba's character as a dandy.

                                                                       Installation art found online.

                                                                                   Artist unknown.

Introduction

I would like to share with you one of my favourite prayers. Developed by myself, from personal as well as from different sources. Some lines are composed by me. Others are adapted from various religious and philosophical contexts. They are all unified to dramatize a cohesive picture of Èṣù, a pivotal deity in classical Yoruba cosmology. 

My purpose is to contribute to public demonstrations of the practice of classical African spiritualities. The public face of these spiritualities is significantly eclipsed by Christianity and Islam in the  native Nigeria of classical Yoruba cosmology. These ancient spiritualities  are  often associated in the public mind, at least in my experience with Nigeria,  with clandestine identifications conducted out of shame or questionable or sinister intentions, a situation leading to widespread ignorance of the inspirational depth, philosophical scope and artistic dynamism of these spiritualities.

Such efforts as what I am doing now contribute to taking these spiritual traditions beyond their greater visibility but restricted appreciation in various contexts. These informed contexts include scholarship on classical African spiritualities which is deeply illuminating but often unknown to most.  Such educational frameworks also include such imaginative literature  as the great works of  Wole Soyinka, strategic for appreciating classical Yoruba cosmology, but which most people most likely have not read. These expansive frames of information are also represented  by traditional institutions which are publicly recognized but the scope of whose understanding by most people might be questionable.

What are my sources and the rationale for these textual selections brought together to dramatize a perspective on Èṣù ? How did I arrive at this expansive picture of this complex and controversial deity? What roles does this prayer play in my life as both philosophical interpretation of the cosmos and a practical guide for my own life's journey?

I would like to beg your indulgence to respond to such queries another time. I am still at an embryonic stage in my relationship with the prayer. Also, I have composed some responses to the questions I raised but I need to edit and expand those responses to facilitate  ease of understanding,  a task I need to find time for. 

I am sharing the prayer now out of a sense of responsibility to disseminate something I am finding of value in my private life but which demonstrates broad ranging significance in philosophy and spirituality. The elucidation of my understanding of these values, however,  might need to wait for another time on account of constraints  of time and psychological  readiness. 

Ritual Attitude

This prayer can be approached simply out of curiosity or to enjoy its imaginative form. It can also be read  outwardly or inwardly, with full attention, addressing it to Èṣù, in the understanding that Èṣù, an invisible but ever present identity, can hear you. You could also operate in the belief that by this invocation you make yourself more sensitive to a presence that underlies and permeates existence. 

Prayer

                                                                        1

Èṣù, vitalistic immensity at the intersection of being and becoming 

spark of paradox

cohesion of cosmos

cosmic dynamism

irony that constitutes existence.

Pervasive as air, swifter than wind

yet nestled in the temple within the self

flame of being

seed of consciousness. 

He is not born

nor does he ever die

nor, having come to be

will he ever come not to be

unborn, eternal, everlasting, this ancient one.

To you whose form is the orisa that is my own self

essence of every spark of awareness

to you, O Èṣù

I come for refuge.

                                                         2

The clay and the shaper of the clay

the empty space around which the clay is shaped

the solidity surrounding the empty space

fashioning wonderful objects out of emptiness

the wonderful void that contains one’s consciousness

and the wonderful consciousness that contains the void.

Owner of inside and outside

dweller at the crossroads of impossibility and possibility

what cannot be, what is, what was, what may be.

Fire of union between situations, modes of being and forms of knowledge

essences, qualities and their interrelations

one simple light.

Horrific power erasing the boundaries between 

past and present

living and dead

physical and non-physical

spirit and matter.

Paradox intersecting various dimensions of being and becoming

shocking  the mind

out of its settled patterns

opening  it to  supramundane insights.

Unanticipated probability

improbable reality

probable unreality

knowable unknown

unknowable unknown.

Chameleon whose eyes see front, sides and back.

Awaken!

Let the universe of creative possibilities unite at my position in space and time

my perceptual and existential alignment in time and space

become the creative convergence of cosmos. 

Also published on 

Facebook

 

 

 

[Abdul Salau]

There is an Ese ifa describing encounter of Yoruba with Moslems.  The Moslems were  killing 200 everyday until they made sacrifices to eshu who destroyed them he manifested himself as strong wind.  

My research informs me that Eshu known as Shu in Ancient Egyptian cosmogony is the god of wind.  Shu is part of creation one of elements of creation. 

Look for textual evidence from Ancient Egyptian sources. 

All the best 

Abdul Salau 

 

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[Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju]

great thanks Abdul.

i will keep that in mind.

toyin

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[Michael Afolayan]

Abdul Salam: 

Out of curiosity, kindly share the Ese Ifá that speaks to the Muslims "killing 200 everyday until they sacrifices to Eshu . . ."

Thanks a bunch!

MOA

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[OLAYINKA AGBETUYI]

Wonderful!  I find quite exciting the situation of Esu at the portals of consciousness;  the one without whom no consciousness is possible.  That is why I have variously described the deity as the author of the Primal Cogito.  It is a deliberate challenge to the Cartesian thought as the foundation of the European Enlightenment.

When European brigands rapaciously embarked on the plunder of Africa it was under the pretense of Enlightenment.

The piece shared recently by Baba Kadiri about Hitler demonstrates without any pretence that Europe's incursion into Africa in Hitlers view was to rape the country of its enormous resources to subsidize European economy and what I have described as' the ruse of the Enlightenment' is just that- a ruse to facilitate the dastardly goal!  

The second World War happened because a key member of the gladiators was left out of the brigandage.  Germany!  

So the struggle of Hitler who is honest to a fault in that exerpt sums up the Yoruba adage: " Kaka k'eku ma je sese a fi se awadanu."  (When the mouse finds it cant devour the bait it makes sure the bait is scattered beyond the reach of others who might be interested.,)

This was why in his lunacy he spoke of the 1000 year Reich when having defeated the Allies Germany will inherit their joint colonial possessions.  Anyway back your piece.

The symbolism is also indicative of other matters.  I notice you used' he' for Esu perhaps to blend in with the Black American concept of Baba Legba and the hat symbolism after you have written in previous postings of the ,"Iya agba" concept regarding Esu.

To my mind Baba Legba is a reference to those Ifa priests who pioneered Ifa worship in America and the area from which they boarded the Middle Passage.  This tallies with the fact that Ifa priesthood in Yorubaland is a male cast descending from their priestly  progenitor Orunmila whose main task was deciphering the will of the Principal: the earth Goddess Esu.

With time as happens in pre-industrial societies that rely on brute force for achievements and conquests the face of the male priest is often eventually   substituted for that of the earth Goddess.  Esu' s fate was therefore no different

Thus Orunmila baba Ifa seen in this light means no more than the codifier  ( with the assistance of other priests just like in the codification of the New Testament) of Ifa lore into a systematized Cannon on behalf of the Goddess Esu.

It is the union of the male and female principles demonstrated throughout the readings and structures of Ifa that is demonstrated in the symbolism of the cross among a myriad of possibilities produced by the union again mathematically represented in the autogenous permutations that produced the thousands of Ese Ifa.

Thus the Esu enigma seems a deliberate effort at gender balance by the Yoruba ancestors unlike the phallocentric, patriarchal Western and Middle Eastern religiions that succeeded pharaohnic Egypt, so that the brute force of the male members are not used to oppress the physically weaker members of the society but used in their service.

OAA

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[OLAYINKA AGBETUYI]

Abdul.

This seems to me to be one of those practices since the embrace of Islam where anything of value is traced to the Middle East.

Eshu is a Yoruba word of Ekiti provenance eyymoligically (NorthEast of Yoruba country and NOT North East of Africa)  This basically means that which is in a mound as is the synonym 'Ekiti' or its variant ' Okiti' as in Okitipupa which probably referred to the red mound worshipped by the first settlers in the town.as the symbol of the God they worshipped.

I have traced elsewhere the origination of Ifa and the Oduduwa train to Ekiti country for the same reason adding the reason they dislodged the authochtonous Ife people was none other than the superior knowledge that undergirded their conquest in a move similar to the Mosaic train and conquest of the 'promised' land.

If there is any truth in the story in this Ese Ifa it means people put up a fierce resistance to the advent of Islam.  But there is no need to involve Egypt for the account to be credible.

OAA.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Abdul Salau <salau...@gmail.com>

Date: 02/08/2019 06:12 (GMT+00:00)

To: toyin <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Invocation of Èṣù : A Prayer Cosmological and Intimate, Mystical and Existential, Lofty and Pragmatic [ Edited]

There is an Ese ifa describing encounter of Yoruba with Moslems.  The Moslems were  killing 200 everyday until they made sacrifices to eshu who destroyed them he manifested himself as strong wind.  

My research informs me that Eshu known as Shu in Ancient Egyptian cosmogony is the god of wind.  Shu is part of creation one of elements of creation. 

Look for textual evidence from Ancient Egyptian sources. 

All the best 

Abdul Salau 

 

On Fri, Aug 2, 2019, 12:26 AM Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Abdul Salau]

Dr. Afolayan:

My name is Abdul Salau not Salam please  email me privately  I  can't find your email. 

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[Gbemi Tijani]

Ps.Well-done sir for this Professorial contribution you shared this patriotic Google group convened by our revered TF.

Despite this hurried scanty  response as a Christian convert twenty years from now,i don't think I have spent less than a total of 15 hours purpose ly actively watching Christian,90% & culture,10%  videos on You Tube  majorly intended- to study series of DSA as well as The Hatching of An Egg - A Fowl called Book Haram -Guest Lecture delivered at Watson Institute by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.

Gbemi Tijani MST

Paul Harris Fellow

-----now my post on Facebook below-as a naive  response to your esoteric albeit culturally rich endeavor....

Well-done even though I know you're possibly or probably a faithful of any of imported religions spread by the Christian or Islamic 

Missionaries whichever I commend your decolonized mind.You re not one of those African intellectuals who cannot enrich  cultural world view with almost unfathomable indigenous spiritual African practices,rituals communalism,religions and invocations still in practice till today.l like me & others  of my generation - except the likes of you who are academics pursuing disciplines germane to this topic- .what we know are very superficial unlije our Japanese,Chinese & Indian counterparts.

If am right you also had championed an earlier research on another cultic Fraternity and I don't think you re not intellectually fulfilled nor could you have been less consumed to revel in a thematic research germane to African  societies and cosmology even if you marry a Bishop.Culture and religion and  research work are different or inextricable.

The Late Wale Ogunyemi,playright,drama teacher formerly of the -UI drama school once reminisced to me and a widely  travelled visual artist ,Tunde Odunlade that the Yorubas then in wars are so powerful to the extent they can send a corpse to carry a target sacrifice with enabling invocations:

"Corpse walk,

 go 

and drop the sacrifice

 at so and so domain"

I suggest you 

Try and request for grants to redeem all these studies from fading into oblivion.

Should we  jettison our cultural heritage because of chronic colonial mentality still prevailing in our Ivory Towers ?

What of the  impetus it  gives for studies from any reference of priority and interest and Integra creativity to write books or monographs  in series but the latter  will not be edifying enough of our rich versatile past.

Without the invention of airplanes our earliest Africans especially the Yorubas can travel from one archaic city to another. The late Joseph Lambo will rarely pick a  cheaply rated traditional medicine 

specifically at National exhibitions such as the 1988 event held at  Tafawa Balewa Square,Lagos.

As part of his MD thesis at Edinburgh,1955 ,the Late Deputy Director of World Health Organization Professor Pontif Thomas Adeoye who re recommended Psychological Tests for Nigerian politicians in the 90s  was decolonized enough as far back as that time to combine traditional African psychiatry with Western Orthodox medine.Sure the neuro-psychiatric hospitals which was later established in Abeokuta and other zones in Nigeria is a fall our of this heritage treasure.

Well-done.

Gbemi Tijani MST

Freedom Project Tribe

Hlc,lagos

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[Emmanuel Babatunde]

Brilliant work, Oluwatoyin,

May the Knowable unknown push my brother and I to fulfill the promise made to you. Esu has alot of things in common with the Tempter in the early part of the Old testament which was influenced by old Kemetic historical exercise. In Yoruba Esu is a necessity in life.  S/He is a force of balance, at times a source of pain and at other times a force of joy and creativity.  Unfortunately, the overriding power of the Christian Satan, has been responsible for painting Esu in negative light.

Keep it up and keep in touch.

  Babatunde

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Emmanuel D. Babatunde, Ph.D (Lon), D.Phil (Oxon)
Professor and Chair
Department of Sociology & Anthropology
Senior Fulbright Scholar
Lincoln University
Pennsylvania, USA
(484) 365-7545

[Michael Afolayan]

"Esu has alot of things in common with the Tempter in the early part of the Old testament" (Prof. Babatunde)

My beloved lost friend, Alagba Emmanuel Babatunde: 

So good to hear from you o! How are you doing on the beautiful and historical campus of Lincoln? Thanks for your response to Oluwatoyin Adepoju's brilliant appraisal of the Yoruba Èšù. I was a bit caught bewildered, though, on the connection you made of the Yoruba Èšù and the tempter of the Old (and later of the New) Testament. Did you say the Èšù (the divine linguist and ultimate custodian of Àšę) in Ifá corpus has some things in common with the biblical Satan? Kindly help to educate me on that. I always see them as accidents of homonyms, not of synonyms. 

Am I missing something?

MOA 

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