Eshu

Trickster, crossroads guardian, and divine messenger-mediator of sacrifice.

Parentage

• parent: Olodumare

Domains

• trickster chance
• crossroads thresholds
• messages mediation

Powers

• Carries and supervises sacrifices between worlds
• Sows confusion to test and restore order
• Translates between languages of gods and humans

Epithets

• Ẹlẹ́gbára yoruba · orikiOwner of power/the club; the empowered oneE. B. Idowu, Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief (1962), ch. on Eshu; P. Verger, Notes sur le culte des orisa (1957) (secondary)
• Láàróyè yoruba · praise-nameEshu's salute-name, hailed in greeting at the crossroadsP. Verger, Notes sur le culte des orisa et vodun (1957); R. F. Thompson, Flash of the Spirit (1983) (secondary)
• Èṣù Òdàrà latin · Eshu Odara · praise-nameÈṣù the wonder-worker; the gracious, unpredictable doer of marvelsWande Abimbola, Ifá; Pierre Verger, Notes sur le culte des orisa (secondary)

Relations

• equated with: Trickster-Linguist of the CrossroadsThe same West African deity under its Gbe/Yoruba reflex (Legba/Eshu).West African vodun/òrìṣà cognates: the same deity across the Gbe (Ewe, Fon) and Yoruba traditions (M. Herskovits, Dahomey, 1938; G. Parrinder, West African Religion, 1961; P. Verger, Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, 1957) (secondary)
• equated with: LegbaThe same West African deity under its Gbe/Yoruba reflex (Legba/Eshu).West African vodun/òrìṣà cognates: the same deity across the Gbe (Ewe, Fon) and Yoruba traditions (M. Herskovits, Dahomey, 1938; G. Parrinder, West African Religion, 1961; P. Verger, Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, 1957) (secondary)
• sibling: ObatalaFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Olodumare) per the figures' cited genealogy.
• sibling: OduduwaFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Olodumare) per the figures' cited genealogy.
• sibling: OrunmilaFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Olodumare) per the figures' cited genealogy.
• sibling: OsanyinFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Olodumare) per the figures' cited genealogy.
• sibling: OshunFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Olodumare) per the figures' cited genealogy.
• sibling: YemojaFull sibling — shares the same attested parentage (Olodumare) per the figures' cited genealogy.
• syncretism: EsuDocumented borrowing: the Edo Esu is the Yoruba Eshu adopted into Benin worship, name and trickster-gatekeeper role intact, especially in Yoruba-Edo border areas. Same deity transplanted, not an independent cognate.R. E. Bradbury, The Benin Kingdom and the Edo-speaking Peoples of South-Western Nigeria (1957) (secondary); Paula Ben-Amos, The Art of Benin (1980), on Yoruba-derived cults in Benin (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Bascom, The Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria (1969) (secondary)