WHO IS ESU? COME LET US REASON TOGETHER!

Every organized ethnic race on the surface of the earth had tried hard to explain its own history, the origin of the universe, man, god(s), and all terrestrial, celestial objects and beings therein through oral tradition, or sometimes, through written tradition as the case may be, which was passed down from generation to generation from the beginning of history.

This collection of histories and mysterious explanations is known as MYTHOLOGY.

Every civilization has its own set of mythology, from Jewish mythology to Arabian, Chinese, Greek, Roman, and African and to the Yoruba in particular, obviously, these mythologies are well connected to all the religions we have in the world since the beginning of mankind. In Jewish mythology, every explanation from Judaism (from the collection of Torah and Talmud) was based on speculation, that's why they call it Speculative Philosophy in the theological principle, the same extends to the Islamic religion, (in fact, Islam is believed not to have its own independent mythology, rather it fully extracted its own set of mythology chiefly from Judaism and Christianity put together).

This speculative tradition never exempted Bhudism, Shintoism, Hinduism and etc., and our own traditional mythological stories and histories brewed and rooted deeply in Africa. In the Judaism/Christianity, Satan is Lucifer. While in Islam, it is called Shaitan. But the Yoruba biblical translation of Satan as Esu is totally incorrect. In biblical mythology, Lucifer was an angel, but in Yoruba mythology, Esu wasn't an angel but a pantheon among other main pantheons like Olodumare (Eledua, who was first among the equals).

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According to the Yoruba mythological tradition, Olodumare didn't create other gods, no, they coexisted just like the Trinitarian theological teaching of the church. Esu has different dialectical pronunciations in different linguistic establishments, but they all mean the same in every sense of the word.

Exu as he is called in Brazil. Esu, also known as Exu Eleggua (Elegbaara) in Santeria and Legba in Candomble, is the owner of the crossroads and one who opens doors to this world. He has the repository of foreknowledge of the future. The colours of red and black or white and black are his and codify his contradictory nature. In particular, Esu stands at the crossroads of the human and the divine, as he is a child-like messenger between the two worlds (physical and spiritual realms).

In this role, it is not surprising that he has a very close relationship with Orisha (pantheon) of divination, Orunmila. Nothing can be done in either world without his permission. Esu is always propitiated and always called first before any other orisha as he opens the door between the worlds and opens roads in life. Like Ogun, Osanyin, Sanpona, Olodumare, and other pantheons according to the Yoruba., Esu coexisted as one body of a divine government led by the Olodumare in the celestial realm and led by the Orunmila on the earth. It was a great example of the separation of powers and division of labour among them, but Olodumare served as the supreme deity who oversaw all of them.

Esu-Laalu Ogiri-Oko is not Shaitan, Lucifer or Serpent or Dragon, or Satan as interpreted by Bishop Ajayi Crowther who translated English Bible to the local languages including Yoruba.
As I asserted earlier, it's all about speculation. Diverse speculations later became basic beliefs and earth-centered religions which later transformed into strong faiths we have everywhere around the world today.

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Each tradition has its own set of independent narratives and beliefs, but we get confused and muddle up everything whenever we try to make comparisons and interpretations. For instance, God in Judaism is known as Yahweh or Jehovah. God in Christendom is known as EL, (EL who had a Son, Jesus). God in Islam is Allah, who didn't have a son. And God in the Chinese tradition is called Panku who created and separated heaven from the earth using a hammer and chisel.

God in Yoruba is called Orisa-Oke, Eledumare, Eledua (with literal translation as OLOUN, the owner and governor of the heaven because he stayed and ruled from heaven, unlike other gods that had lived and walked on the surface of the earth). Orisa-Oke was the first among the equals, he was not greater than the rest, but he was first among them, and all others respected him and swore their allegiances to him. It was never recorded of Esu to have rebelled against Eledumare according to the Yoruba mythology, unlike Lucifer who rebelled against God and was hence expelled from heaven and restricted to the earthly principality.

In the same vein, the Yoruba's explanation did not tell us Orisa-Oke solely created the earth, rather he sent Ogun-Laka-Aaye Osin-Imole (Osin means leader, Imole means gods), Orunmila Baba Agbonmiregun, Esu Odara, and others (some believed Oduduwa, the first man, was among them), to create the earth which was a mass of water when they descended from the heaven on earth by the order of Eledua.

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Each God or god, from different perspectives, has different characteristics and identities.
It depends on your faith, and your religion...., Esu, for any of you who are familiar with any earth-centered religion, fulfills the role of the divine messenger. Every earth-centered tradition that we know of, believes that there is some force in nature, or spiritual presence, or some power that allows humans to communicate with nature and allows nature to communicate with humans, and vice versa.

Conclusively, it is difficult to believe that there is NO someone somewhere in charge of the affairs of the universe, maybe that's why the Bible said, "A fool says in his heart that there is no God". At times, I asked myself..., which God or god?

Religion only tried to explain what it didn't know. However, Science had proven to us that nothing can come out of nothing (in fact that is the first law of Physics), so therefore, someone must be somewhere controlling the affairs of the universe, and perhaps, that someone may not even be anyone out of all we have mentioned and known, perhaps it's greater than human comprehension.
Come let us reason together...., but in all, each of my educated, instinctual, and spiritual mind tells me that God must truly exist.

Oladele Idowu, a social commentator, writes from Lagos, Nigeria