Eshuneutics: Theory and Practice of Interpretation Inspired by Yoruba Thought
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
Genealogy and Ideational Structure
What is Eshuneutics?
Eshuneutics is the development, study and application of principles of interpretation of phenomena, derived from ideas and images associated with the figure of Eshu, a central deity in classical Yoruba cosmology and its associated Orisa religion. It is a body of knowledge developed in ancient Yorubaland and adapted to contemporary needs.
Henry Luis Gates Jr's comparative study of classical and Diaspora African thought and literature, The Signifying Monkey, is a pioneering work in this field, even though he does not use the term "Eshuneutics".
It is given a definitive name in Obododimma Oha's "The Esu Paradigm in the Semiotics of Identity and Community ", attached to this mail. Obododimma describes the Nigerian writers' listserve Krazitivity as a source for the term.
The figure of Eshu embraces a range of ideas, representing a pivot
around which various possibilities constellate.These possibilities
are best understood in terms of a dialogue between mythic, magical, religious
and philosophical perspectives.
Transformation, Mediation, Intersection
Eshu can be described as representing the creative and
transformative processes through which all possibilities of
existence achieve actualization. He/she demonstrates the capacities
that enable mediation between forms of being and modes of knowledge.
Eshu and Ashe
Understood along these lines,Eshu is best perceived in relation to the
classical Yoruba concept of ashe,which can be described as the capacity for, or
a force that enables being and becoming at cosmic, terrestrial and individual
levels.
Ashe is so described in Henry Drewal et al's Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought and in the work of Rowland
Abiodun and Babatunde Lawal, among others. This concept is also similar to the interpretation
of ike, energy or power, in classical Igbo thought as depicted by Chinua Achebe
in "The Igbo World and its Art" in his Hopes and Impediments and
in Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos by Herbert Cole
and Chike Aniakor and in African Philosophy: An Anthology ed.
by Emmanuel Eze. John Mbiti describes a similar concept as pervasive in
classical African religions and philosophy in his African Religions and
Philosophy.
Eshu and Odu
Eshu is also better appreciated in relation to the classical Yoruba/Orisa
conception of Odu, which may be described as a feminine generative
personality that unifies existence and enables an understanding of the
distinctive nature of forms of being and of their manner of
transformation and of how to act in relation to and influence these
transformations.
This relationship between Eshu and Odu emerges from the role of Eshu as the link between the various aspects of being encapsulated by Odu. Eshu is understood in this context as a cosmic agent, enabling communication between the various dimensions and beings in the cosmos.
Mediation and Unification
Along these lines Eshu may be perceived in relation to the metaphysical processes of ontological mediation and unification. This involves mediation between forms of being, unification of forms of being and transformations of forms of being.
Eshu may also be appreciated in relation to
the epistemological processes of cognitive mobility, cognitive
transformation, cognitive mediation and cognitive unification.
These transformative possibilities can be understood as evoked by
an iconic oriki Esu, praise poem of Esu, in which
"Eshu turns right into wrong, wrong into right.
When he is angry, he hits a stone until it bleeds.
When he is angry, he sits on the skin of an ant.
When he is angry, he weeps tears of blood.
Eshu slept in the house—
But the house was too small for him:
Eshu slept on the verandah—
But the verandah was too small for him:
Eshu slept in a nut—
At last, he could stretch himself!
Eshu walked through the groundnut farm.
The tuft of his hair was just visible:
If it had not been for his huge size,
He would not be visible at all.
Lying down, his head hits the roof:
Standing up, he cannot look into the cooking pot.
He throws a stone today And kills a bird yesterday"
( From The House Was Too Small: Yorùbá Sacred Arts from Africa and Beyond by Erica Jones and Patrick Polk)
Eshu and the Crossroads
These processes of mediation and unification are evoked by Eshu's central symbol of the crossroads.The convergence of roads at at crossroads embodies and symbolizes the unity of the material and the spiritual worlds in this context.
The crossroads is understood in Orisha and cognate spiritualities as a zone at which access to the world of spirit may be made from the material world and the spiritual.world may readily affect the material.
The crossroads also suggests the constitution of human life in
terms of the intersection of choice represented by the convergence of
possibilities emerging from the various influences on human life, positive and
negative.
The crossroads may evoke the intersection of time and space, the multiplicity
of possibilities, the coexistence of contraries, mutuality of being,choice, the
interrelationship of various realms of being and
transformational processes, particularly through the interaction of the human
and the non-human.
These ideas are evoked by the image of the convergence,
at a junction, of the contrastive forms represented by different roads.
The crossroads is a pervasive motif in continental and classical African and
Diasporan African religions and philosophies. In these systems,various figures
who demonstrate characteristics similar to those of Eshu are either
associated with the image of the crossroads, or as with the Fulani Kaidara as
depicted by Hampate Ba,with cosmological values that are similar to those associated
with the crossroads.
The philosophical and magical significance of the crossroads is powerfully
described with reference to Benin Olokun ritual by Norma Rosen in "Chalk Iconography in Olokun Worship"
(African Arts,22, 3,1989.44-53+88).
A powerful exposition of crossroads symbolism that suggests
its unity in Africana systems is "African Interpretations of the
Christian Cross in Vodun" by Leslie Gerald
Desmangles, attached to this mail.
The crossroads as a cosmological symbol is not unique, though, to Africa and African inspired thought and practices.
Eshu's iconography, the visual forms associated with him, as well as his
oriki-praise poetry, represent a rich mine of images and ideas that can be of
assistance to anybody as a framework of ideas to interpret a range of
phenomena.
Malcolm Allen, Chief Executive Officer, British Psychoanalytic Council, when the speech from which the excerpt below comes, demonstrates an aspect of the capacity of Eshuneutics to interpret situations and shape discourse in his presentation at a conference of psychotherapists in the UK,of which the full text is attached to this mail and an excerpt follows:
"Renewal or Retreat? Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at the Crossroads
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
19 March 2010
This conference has a narrative arc – an agenda – and that agenda clearly is not business as usual. It is my job at this point to offer an appraisal of where the psychoanalytic community is strategically, what its prospects are, and what we now have to put in place to face the future.
The great thing about this conference is that it isn’t all about the insuperable challenges and obstacles that psychoanalytic psychotherapy faces.
It is, in very large part, about the enormous strengths and resources – intellectual and clinical – that we can bring to meeting the undeniably huge challenges that we now face.
To take the famous aphorism of Freud’s friend and correspondent Romain Rolland, much quoted by Antonio Gramsci, ‘Pessimism of the intelligence; optimism of the will’, we need both pessimism and optimism – but, above all, realism – in our analysis of the current situation, together with a determined ‘optimism.
In the culture of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa, sacrifices are traditionally made at a crossroads, or at a point where several roads meet, in order to avert an impending calamity.
The messenger of the gods Eshu-Elegba, a mischievous and creative spirit, presides over the crossroads: a disturbing and disconcerting place but also where one recognizes truth or makes life-changing decisions (Pemberton, 1975).
Many historians of the blues believe that the idea of Eshu-Elegba lies behind the legend of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical gifts (Palmer,1981). But the raw sound of Johnson’s great song 'Cross Road Blues' would make a resonant soundtrack for where the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic community finds itself today. The whole of this community – from psychoanalysts through to psychodynamic counsellors – is experiencing profound levels of anxiety – even pessimism – about the future.
Leadership and Organisation.
There are important questions around organisation and leadership for our own modality, including the building of networks and infrastructure in the nations and regions of the UK. There is a massive amount of work to do in the coming months and years ahead.
But, as we embark on that process of strategic thinking, as we contemplate, perhaps with trepidation, the roads ahead, may Eshu-Elegba, the creative spirit of the crossroads, guide us to ingenuity and wisdom.
References [selection]
Palmer, R. (1981). Deep Blues. New York: Viking Press.
Pemberton, J. (1975). Eshu-Elegba: The Yoruba Trickster God. African Arts, 9(1), 20–92."