The sculpted iconography of Esu-Elegbara presents us with a dual gendered deity.
This symbolises the Yoruba civilization in the two phases of becoming: the first agrarian phase in which indisputably following the same civilization pattern world wide Esu was the first Yoruba earth Goddess. That accounts for the mammary feature of this iconography.
As in other civilizational patterns the Yoruba having mastered cultivation symbolized by the metallurgical conquest of nature in the Ogun myth embarked on the creation of cities and the citi-states civilizations like the Greek city states ( See the concluding essay of Soyinkas Myth, Literature and the African World for more on this.)
This is where the Oduduwa myth comes in. The historical personage at the centre of this civilizational push is symbolically represented as the author but he may not actually have existed as one man but a composite of several men spanning several generations.
If the USAA-Dialogue series were only oral in orientation and is being examined 300 years later when writing suddenly comes it is possible all the materials generated be attributed to the moderator alone as if he dialogued with himself and by himself alone as in the Socratic dialogues.
Going back to my hypothesis in the preceding the second post agrarian city state/conquest phase is represented in the phallic symbol on the Esu statue. It reminds the viewer of the link between one phase and the other. It points to a strong male priestly figure (Orunmila) responsible for the interpretation of this Goddess will, responsible for coherent Yoruba narratology and mathematical and numerological sophistication which were put at the service of the early Yoruba ancestry (or conquering progenitor Oduduwa as depicted in Moremi) in developing a thriving city state civilization (and later an empire.)
As I pointed out in my prolegomenary essay to Moremi: The Courage of Motherhood dialectical etymology is the most reliable indicator of these vetities.
Orunmila was most probably an 'ara oke' or Ekiti word which indicates how far north Oduduwa came from. The idea of migration from Mecca is most likely an addition after the influence of Islam in the savannah area of Oyo kingdom.
An Ekiti pronounciation of Orunmila is Orun męla. We know that the other name for Esu in the divination lore is Ęla. It is not hard to see that Orunmela refers to the male priest who knows intimately the will of the female earth deity Esu/Ela (himself later deified and hence represented as indivisible from the Esu sculpture). Orunmela thus became Orunmila in Oyo dialect.
It is the twinning if both figures that represents Esu as the protector of twins and the author of ALL things dialogical as well as serves as the basis of the dialogical matrix of the development of the Ifa corpus.
The etymology of Oduduwa is also fruitful and revealing. It may have referred originally to the creative potency of the word in an oral society rather than one single personage. The 'uwa' part of the name is the 'ara oke' (northern Yoruba)manner of pronouncing what Oyo Yoruba calls Iwa. Oduduwa may in the final analysis may be referring to the creation lore and process that is responsible for the onset of Yoruba civilization.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
From: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com>
Date: 03/08/2017 05:56 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - FALETI -LOSS OF A FATHER
Superb.
May the aforementioned deities be with him.
On another note, I am struck by the reference to the two prominent Yoruba origin Orisa cosmology deities Orunmila and Esu in terms of the feminine gender, which is unusual.
Can you educate us?
toyin
On 3 August 2017 at 06:31, Olayinka Agbetuyi <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com> wrote:
--We have been engrossed on the university mentees debate for so long that another mentor story that is of immeasurable significance to me is being inadvertently buried under the deluge.
That is the passing away of my mentor and father in more senses that one: Pa Adebayo Faleti.
As a broadcaster it was Pa Faleti who opened the gates for me into the world of broadcasting. It was Pa Faleti who inaugurated me into the rituals of full grown adult independent men.
Pa Faleti it was who became my muse into translation studies as I indicated to faculty at the graduate school in the United States. He was the role model who graduated with a honors degree in English but chose to go into creative writing mostly in his native tongue: Yoruba.
He wrote plays for the stage such as the powerful drama Basorun Gaa which together with Akinwunmi Isolas Efunsetan Aniwura kept viewers glued to their television sets for decades.
Pa Faleti's penchant for defying the odds saw him functioning as both intellectual, member of the literati and civil servant simultaneously. Many times he would convert a foyer in Ile Akede to a theatre rehearsal stage making do not with a theatre dept students cast but home grown theatre practitioners. Ile-Akede was conveniently located at Orita Basorun (Basorun Crossroads) perhaps by the divine guidance of the Principality at the Crossroads. It was little wonder he grafuated into film making on early retirement.
Pa Faleti was also a renown novelist and poet.A translation of his work has been published by a forumite Pamela Olubunmi Smith
Pa Faleti was the guiding spirit behind the legions of radio and television jingles that raised self awareness in Oyo State.
Together with Bayo Sanda Pa Faleti was the soul of Yoruba broadcasting in all the Yoruba states.
I urge forumites to please join me in recognising the passing of a titan
May Èşù-Ęlęgbára receive this celebrant and Orunmila incarnate onto her fecund bosom.
Àşę
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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