by Chief Oyeniyi Sango
Olodumare’s Supreme Messenger
Èṣù is the messenger of Olodumare who takes sacrifices from ifá and other Oriṣas while bringing the commands of Olodumare to all humans. Acting under the orders of Olodumare, Èṣù also punishes those who are wicked amongst humans. He is regarded as one of the most powerful Oriṣa who is capable of changing his form at will. Èṣù is an Oriṣa (a heavenly being equivalent to an angel or god). Èṣù is one of the 401+ Oriṣa that Olodumare sent to the earth and gave specific duties to perform. It is also the duty of Èṣù to open the secret of wealth to whomever Olodumare pleases. Èṣù does not lie, do evil deeds, nor does he betray or does anything outside the will of Olodumare. If any Oriṣa wants to use their Àṣẹ, it is only through Èṣù. Èṣù is the guardian of all Oriṣa and other spiritual entities. He is not second to any Oriṣa and they all respect him because of his honesty and firm decisions. Once he has made a decision, Èṣù does not change it. There is only one Èṣù, but he can be consecrated in many ways depending on the use.
Èṣù is known to not share anything with anyone and he takes his things fully. He is the breaking of kolanut; therefore, you must never feed Èṣù with Adin (the black extracted from palm kernel seed); it is forbidden. Afterwards we praise him with songs, then follow it by making a request or desire to Èṣù while we present offerings to him one by one.
The many special positions of Èṣù is well explained in a lot of his praise songs. The following is an example of one:
Elekun n sunkun, Èṣù n sun eje - Èṣù is shedding blood when the owner of the problem is shedding tears
Onigbowa aye - the one in control of earth
Alare na ode orun - the special messenger between heaven and earth
Eni mo o ko, eni ko o, o o mo - he who knows him never meet him and he who meets him does not know him
O gba iwaju wole, onile gba ehin jade -he came through the front door and the owner of the house ran out through the back door
O lo daindain mookun oro -one who has the anointed rope to success, wealth and all the good things
Lagemo Orun - the sacred child of heaven
Alaakalu - one whose greatness is manifested all over the place
Èṣù Odara -one who can do and undo
Ogiri oko - he who is as hard as a rock
Another Oriki (praise song) for Èṣù is as follows:
Èṣù laalu
Okiri/Ogiri oko
Bakere odada
Areyinju legun lo
Ayigbin !
Oba nile Ketu
Egbe leyin elebo
Enini leyin eni-o-koro-Odumare
Èṣù ma se mi
Ota mi ni ki o se
Èṣù, the honor of the city
The big and strong stone
Bakere, the instigator
He who possesses eyes that are capable of chasing away bad forces
Ayigbin!
King in the city of Ketu
The support behind those who make sacrifice
The devil behind those who refuses God’s message
Èṣù, please, do not turn against me
It is my enemy you should turn against
All of the names within Èṣù praise songs explains his attributes and the mannerisms with which he operates. And to humans how he operates can appear to be positive and/or challenging (negative in Western thought). Some others names and attributes of Èṣù consist of:
Elegbara - the mighty and powerful one
Papawara - the quickest and fastest one
Akeregbaye - small but in control of the whole world
Onibode - the gate man
There Is No Comparison
Let us begin by stating that Èṣù is not and will never be Satan. Nor is he the devil or the elder dark-complexioned man which is most commonly explained to by Westerners and religious faiths that have western origins. 'Èṣù is a traditional deity in Yorubaland. We have people worshipping Sango, Ogun and others and only ignorant people see Èṣù as Satan. The perspective with which we see Èṣù differs entirely from the Western reality. Elegbara or Èṣùlaalu Laaroye absolutely differs from Satan. One of the contributors to this reality was Bishop Ajayi Crowther. While he was translating the English version of the Bible into Yoruba, he came upon Lucifer and was unclear about what to call him in Yoruba. Bishop Crowther had been terribly abused by slave masters and moved around several parts of the world in slave ships. He became colonized in his thoughts and was unaware about the essence of what was going on here in Yorubaland. Western religions during that time demonized anything of African descent and often considered our tradition as devil worshipping and paganism. Hence why Bishop Crowther referred Èṣù as Satan.
The mere mention of the name sends chills into the spine of some people and to others it's a bad name not to be associated with. But to the wise and truth seekers, Èṣù value is more than that of any precious stone in the world. Unlike the others, Èṣù was on the earth before any Oriṣa, in addition to his duties of monitoring and reporting to Olodumare what other Oriṣa and human beings are doing. Even with his close relationship with Orunmila, Èṣù still polices him. He also attentively watches the actions of Babalawos which is why his eye is on opon IFA. Èṣù enforces the will of Olodumare onto human beings as we can be extremely hard headed. It is also the duty of Èṣù to open the secret of wealth to whomever Olodumare pleases. Èṣù does not lie. He does not do evil deeds, nor does he betray or do anything outside the will of Olodumare.
In this modern world of ours, Èṣù continues to be associated with Satan, the Devil, or just Evil. However, he is none of this. These names were given to him by people with evil hearts seeking to destroy not only people of African descent worldwide but anything associated with African culture which includes the good name of Èṣù. Just as we respect and would never demonize another religion, to prove the goodness of our way of life, we expect the same respect for our beliefs. And for the record, the word 'Satan' is not an English word. This word is of Arabic origin (Shaitan). In the Arabic culture, there is no concept of Èṣù, nor do they know the Yoruba language. So our concern is why an Arabic concept used to define a Youruba spiritual entity, that we call Èṣù. Many people do not realize that the negative names and attributes given to Èṣù were purposely fabricated to enslave the minds of our people; in addition to the continuation of demonizing our culture for capitalistic gain off our labor and resources worldwide. This brand of Western magic has worked on many for too long and it must end. There is a lot to talk about concerning Èṣù; however, we will discuss him more in the near future which will include the different uses of Èṣù. So remember that Èṣù is NOT SATAN, but A REVERED HEAVENLY ENTITY equivalent to an ANGEL who guides you to your BEST DESTINY! Ooro Èṣù!