Hi

You are right, ekwensu is the word.

Yes it is



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEfNI9Aee4

No it not.

Also, Agwu is the closest to Eshu
Ekwensu is closer to Aganju, but understanding these concepts based on lazily trying to connect them to something else will only leave you in ignorance.

AroOkigbo:
You are right, ekwensu is the word.

More like Yeshua? Please who was named satan in the Igbo bible?

OruExpress:
Also, Agwu is the closest to Eshu
Ekwensu is closer to Aganju, but understanding these concepts based on lazily trying to connect them to something else will only leave you in ignorance.

But someone just said 'he is the word'. Is that person wrong? They said Ekwensu is a trickster, thesame thing for Eshu.

MusicSots:


But someone just said 'he is the word'. Is that person wrong? They said Ekwensu is a trickster, thesame thing for Eshu.

no, Ekwensu is more similar to Aganja if we're coorelating with the Yoruba pantheon. Eshu is more similar to Agwu. Ekwensu is not a 'trickster'. There are no stories about Ekwensu tricking people and the nature of the entity is not easily coo-related with 'tricksters' in other cultures. Agwu is not a trickster either, not sure if Eshu is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv0E-y9h1HY

OruExpress:

no, Ekwensu is more similar to Aganja if we're coorelating with the Yoruba pantheon. Eshu is more similar to Agwu. Ekwensu is not a 'trickster'. There are no stories about Ekwensu tricking people and the nature of the entity is not easily coo-related with 'tricksters' in other cultures. Agwu is not a trickster either, not sure if Eshu is.

So, what does Ekwensu do that must have made them call him Satan?

You would have to ask the colonial authority of the Lower Niger Company. When people are colonized it's imply what is done, usually without regard of the indigenous belief. The word God is actually the Norse God of wisdom (Goden) but when western Europeans were colonized by Rome they changed changed the Syriac El-Shaddai to 'God'. This is why in English you can say Gods and Goddesses, but in the original region that Christianity came from, you cannot use the supreme god's name with plurals (El Shaddai, Elel Allah) The way Yeshua was changed to Je-Zeus to match the Greek belief of Zeus as the son of God

but if you read the story of Jesus and read the story of Zeus, you will see that they are two different characters.

Ekwensu is frightening and so is Satan so maybe that was their logic. Either way I can only guess, but I can assure you they are not the same thing at all. Chukwu in Odinala has no 'rival' or 'adversary' and Ekwensu is one of his messengers who assures that rituals are performed as specified by the ancestors or uses his power to propel to launch messages into the universe.

Ekwensu is also invoked in war, before planting, and for protection against evil spirits as evil spirits or bad intentions from living people as both fear Ekwensu. Ekwensu is also linked with strategy, oath making and success against opponents.

That doesn't sound like Satan but the Europeans that made the awkward translation didn't care. Today's Christians often know too little about Christianity or Odinala to make accurate correlations and like with Zeus and Jesus it's best to understand the characters as separate entities even if there's similarities.

MusicSots:
So, what does Ekwensu do that must have made them call him Satan?

It's not surprising that there would be confusion about Ekwesu. For one, we're talking about pre-colonial worldviews. No Igbo person alive today can attest to true meaning, relevance and diversity of the various worldviews. Only people born in the 1900s would have that information, and they are all dead. However, we can extrapolate some limited understanding ourselves based off various surviving pieces of knowledge.

Satan, who tricks and entices people into immorality and sin, is a direct adversary to The Almighty God. It is well-acknowledged that Igbo pre-colonial worldview lacks that sort of adversarial entity. Ekwesu does not originally fit this definition. This makes Ekwesu and Satan fundamentally different.

To put some of this into perspective, let's look at the progress of translations for Ekwesu.

The missionary period for Igbo arguably began in the 1840s. Between the 1840s and 1913, we see no official translation for Satan/Devil. It's interesting to note that despite Satan being a crucial part of Christian worldview and despite the missionaries having known about Ekwesu for over 60+ years, they still did not officially use it to translate Satan/Devil. Perhaps because it didn't fit the definition.

In 1913 & 1915, we have one of the earliest translations/descriptions for Ekwesu by Thomas Dennis (a missionary). Dennis gives the explanation that Ekwesu is a malevolent spirit responsible for evil and calamity. He also gives the explanation that sudden and unexpected (often undesirable) events are ascribed to Ekwesu. On this basis, he appropriated Ekwesu as Satan. Dennis was responsible for the Bible Nso Union Igbo translation (1913) which uses Ekwesu for Satan/the Devil.

The translation for Ekwesu takes hold after the missionary period and is repeated similarly by other publishers. In 1972, Williamson, et al. provides the translation/description of Ekwesu as the god of misfortune or trouble. Williamson was a linguist/anthropologist and not a missionary. So Williamson also noted an anthropological difference between the Devil and Ekwesu and further emphasized that the term Ekwesu is only equated with the devil, and not the same.

In 1998, Echeruo provides the definition of Ekwesu as a trickster spirit and spirit of confusion. This is the earliest recorded definition of Ekwesu as a trickster and was an expansion upon Williamson's definition (misfortune and trouble).

In 1999, Igwe provided the direct definition of Ekwesu as "Satan, Lucifer, god of misfortune; the devil; and evil person, deceiver, misleader, tempter". This has now become the modern definition for Ekwesu.

This progression of definitions show the missionaries essentially gave Ekwesu new meaning and that it fed back into the Igbo understanding. We see this feedback with the "trickster" interpretation. To the best of my knowledge, there is currently nothing to suggest that pre-colonial Igbo considered Ekwesu to have been misleading, mischievous or conniving. Rather, many communities associate that sort of mischief and trickery with one or more/various agwu. This suggests that the trickster interpretation of Ekwesu is rather new and based off the trickster definition for the Devil. The trickster definition for the Devil was fed back into the Igbo understanding. As such, Ekwesu has now come to be understood as a "trickster god".

Again, it is telling that missionary texts make no official mention of Ekwesu as Satan for over 60+ years. This suggests that the description given by Dennis is either contrived or made up. In other word, Ekwesu was given a wholly new meaning by the missionaries in order to fill in the gap for Satan/Devil. Why would I call it a new meaning? Well, here's what we know...

The extent and diversity of this varies from community to community, but we know that Ekwesu is similar to Ala in that it has no oracle. Just as with Ala, Ekwesu is anti-evil. And just as with Ala, Ekwesu can be implored, worshiped and requested to intercede on one's behalf. Many lineages and communities even bore Ekwesu in their names. Many communities even had (some still have) festivals in honor and veneration of it. If we consider this sort of veneration along with the fact that Igbo cultural worldview abhors anything that would lead to a bad reincarnation, then altogether, there is no reason to believe that Ekwesu was an evil or malicious spirit. Entire communities would not have answered its name, and shrines would not have been established in its name. This suggests a non-malicious relationship between Ekwesu and pre-colonial worshipers, who actively maintained the shrines and invoked Ekwesu for various rites and rituals of significance. For instance, the same way oaths can be sworn before Ala, so also could they have been sworn before Ekwesu, and it would carry similar if not more grave consequences for anyone breaking said oath. This shows Ekwesu's role in enforcing morality; something that is not in any way associated with Satan who instead promotes immorality and sin.

In many communities, Ekwesu is strongly associated with wisdom and bargaining. The intercessory nature of Ekwesu, with respect to wisdom and bargaining, and also Ekwesu's violent nature are why many communities have Ekwesu consecrated as a war god, as well as a god for enterprise and industry. As a consequence, some communities also associate strategy with Ekwesu. Overall, what we know about the indigenous role of Ekwesu shows us that Ekwesu is completely dissimilar to the Christian idea of Satan. It is almost as though the missionaries simply appropriated and used it as a desperate effort to fill in the void for the idea of Satan. There is nothing to indigenously support Ekwesu's interpretation as Satan.

@chinenyeN nice contribution

OruExpress:
Also, Agwu is the closest to Eshu
Ekwensu is closer to Aganju, but understanding these concepts based on lazily trying to connect them to something else will only leave you in ignorance.

How can Agwu be closer to Èṣù when Agwu is associated with Afa divination and supports the Chi
Similar to Orunmila

Aganju is not even a widely recognised deity in Yorùbáland

macof:

How can Agwu be closer to Èṣù when Agwu is associated with Afa divination and supports the Chi
Similar to Orunmila

Aganju is not even a widely recognised deity in Yorùbáland

Ekwensu is only popular because of Christianity promoting the name. Prior Ekwensu was regional and minor. The entities not associated with Christianity has all seen a major demotion in popularity.
Esu is also associated with Ifa and has the same relationship with Afa and Agwu has with Ifa. They are both messengers between the living and unliving, God and mortal and both holders or embodiments of universal wisdom or the divine mind. They're also both the patrons of dibias in their respective cultures.

OruExpress:
Ekwensu is only popular because of Christianity promoting the name. Prior Ekwensu was regional and minor.

Regional, yes. Minor, no. Perhaps if we take the scope of the general Igbo ethnolinguistic region into account, then Ekwesu may be considered minor, because many communities and regions it seems did have the Ekwesu cult. However, in regions or communities where it did exist, it received more than its fair share of festivals and veneration similar to Ala.

ChinenyeN:


Regional, yes. Minor, no. It may be considered minor in general, because some regions did seem to have the Ekwesu cult, but in regions that did, it was indeed prominent.

Regional is minor, and minor is also relative to Ekwensu's current status (Fear inspiring spirit v God's rival)

OruExpress:


Regional is minor, and minor is also relative to Ekwensu's current status (Fear inspiring spirit v God's rival)

Then only one deity is major, Ala. The rest are all minor.

ChinenyeN:


Then only one deity is major, Ala. The rest are all minor.

I would agree

OruExpress:


Ekwensu is only popular because of Christianity promoting the name. Prior Ekwensu was regional and minor. The entities not associated with Christianity has all seen a major demotion in popularity.
Esu is also associated with Ifa and has the same relationship with Afa and Agwu has with Ifa. They are both messengers between the living and unliving, God and mortal and both holders or embodiments of universal wisdom or the divine mind. They're also both the patrons of dibias in their respective cultures.

Ah.. I see you confuse èṣù with Orunmila

macof:

Ah.. I see you confuse èṣù with Orunmila

oh yes, you're right, thank you