In Igbo, Ekwensu has come to mean devil.

Before english, what did it mean ?

A god of deciet and lies. Why do you ask?

I was curious when u said the Yoruba and Igbo meaning are close. So I went back hoping it was explaied but no.

if esu was a god then is truely a satan, cus there ought to be only one God, any other one apart from him is
rebellious heart

I think the OP already knows the answer to his own question.

Negro_Ntns:

I was curious when u said the Yoruba and Igbo meaning are close. So I went back hoping it was explaied but no.

amor4ce:

Wasn't Esu kicked out of heaven for rebellion according to Yoruba mythology?

i saw that in isaiah, not yoruba mythology.

Rgp92:

Very sad the yorubas didnt have writen system at that time. If they did, the yoruba mythology would have been more popular than it is now. Very sad that our people abandon it for christianity  

oh well.

Okayn I see where this things is going to progress. I don't like talking religion outside of its designated section. This is going to get ugly soon.

Odumchi, I will hold till its moved, depends on what ekt_bear decide.

@ topic

my guess is esu is identified as satan because he's likely to be the god of death.

Tpia,

No he wasn't.

Hold on Andrew, pls keep your thoughts till the thread is moved. Ok?

What was Satan first act on earth? Deceit/trickery at the Garden!

in yorubaland, calling someone eshu is one of the worst descriptions you can give a person.

it means evil and is like a curse.

i'm sure this description preceeded colonisation and any missionary.

eshu is something people dread, not admire.

its not like overseas where bad means good and calling somebody evil is seen as a compliment.

Dang, I wish ekt had opened this post in religion.

Ehhm. .
See, to understand esu, obatala, and all thse gods you will need to open your self to see Genesis in a new way other than what u read in letters

japhet2233:

criminal Yoruba just like OBJ they are thief

Watch it Man!!!

People are even named after this dude. Esutomi, Esuseyi, Esufunke etc

some people used to be dedicated to esu in the past [hence the names], but not anymore because any sane person with such a name would change it as soon as they reached the age of understanding.

and a parent naming their child that is definitely weird.

The Bible and the Quran did not confuse us about these things. We confused ourselves

una don start again ni?

Let's say for instance a name like Akingbade. What does it mean? Its two separate names joined to form one.

Akin - warrior/braveheart

Ade - crown/regent

Then let's consider name like Tunde Bakare.

Tunde is shortened for babatunde meaning the father is reincarnated.

How about Bakare? What does it mean in Yoruba?

isnt bakare arabic.

I guess people have already answered the question. Esu was the closest representation of satan.
the reason why they had to use a representation is because there is no way a religion can be replicated identically into a new culture.
religion and culture are intrinsically linked so in other words, you can't transplant european culture into an african one.  so of course European christianity had to go through a transformation to become more africanized. something the african mind can understand.

you will find similarities in many other cultures. ex haitians converting to catholicism. you will see that they use their deities to represent the catholic saints
st peter  becomes legba
st james becomes ogun
st gabriel becomes gede etc

it's just that they find similiarities between the two characters.

Odumchi, deceit & lies? That's not the understanding that I have of Ekwesu. Apart from 'Devil/Satan' Ekwesu has always been a god of war & cunning; a venerated trickster spirit that disseminates confusion and allows one to outsmart ones enemies/competitors/opposition. In the old days, it was the #2 god in Ngwaland.

Precisely! In full its abubakar.

So on the land and before oyibo we had ogboni and osugbo cults, they were the custodians of our customs and philosophical thoughts. When oyibo arrived what were some of the first things they did?

Took our references from us. They raided and took objets of worship and artifacts and arts and either destroyed or confiscated them totally

They then charged people to go in museum and see these arts. Some of what they call arts are actually objects of worship.

I once went to an arts exhibition where an ekpe full regalia, from top to bottom, was on display. Very colorful! When I came in front, even though I'm not efik, I recognized what I was staring at and I looked away and left.

. . .continued

this is why when people say africans were forced to accept a white man's religion, I don't believe it because African christianity is African!  yes we use english words and read the bible  etc but our conceptualization of the religion is very African.
a nigerian person's concept of devil is quite different from a white man's concept of devil.even ideas like witchcraft and demonic forces are very african.
so yeah christianity really isn't a white man's religion as many africanists like to say.
It can be anybody's religion. as long as you accept Jesus Christ as your lord and personal savior.  

Esu is a paradoxical energy. On the other side of it is obatala

I understand what you guys are saying, but which one is better?? Our Lord Jesus Christ or the Esu and Ekwensu you guys are claiming to be a target of change from the missionaries?, someone please make it clear to me, Becareful of what you say about the Almighty cos HE is one big eye watching the world,

Babe, yes because there is nothing wrong with it.

I used the Bakare as a good example beause there is a pastor named Tunde Bakare.

If you ask pastor Tunde Bakare to change his name to Tunde Esusanmi he will object and tell you it is not fitting with his role as a minister of God. Bu does he know that Abubakar was an idol worshipping Priest if the Meccan tribes in time of Mohammed?

I wonder if he even knew its arabic name.

@Negro_Ntns, are you implying that the orisha are various manifestations of energy that were garbed in personalities by the custodians of tradition? I once thought of this but decided to put it aside for a while

Esu s not devil.

Esu is a malevolent force through which the human character is disciplined or it goes through cleansing. It is the reformer, the transformer, the change catalyst, the enforcer.