Ashé (Yoruba land/ Ache (Cuba) The Lukumí worship a Supreme Being known as Olorún—Owner of the heavens; Olodumare-Owner of the vast expansions of the universe; and sometimes Olofín—Owner of the heavenly palace.[8] Oral tradition maintains that before the universe was created, Olorún existed only in the form of ashé, a generative energy or life force. In time, ashé assumed the consciousness that we have come to call Olorún and the universe and all therein were born. The vast expanses of the infant universe reverberated with the unbridled, life-giving energy that made it all possible, and existence began to prosper and propagate. The orishas, the divinities who through and with ashé assist Olorún in the affairs of the universe, are the first anthropomorphic beings that result from ashé. Most Lukumís consider that the orishas are personifications of Olorún’s divine qualities. It is their role to mediate between humankind and the Supreme Being. The creation of humanity was delegated to Obatalá, the god of purity and senior of the orishas. Obatalá, Olorún’s first offspring, is the direct representative of Olorún on earth. He is Alabalashé, ibikeji Olodumaré—One who bears the scepter of ashé, deputy of God.[9] According to oral tradition, Obatalá molded human beings out of clay. One of Obatalá’s praise names is Alamoreré— the sculptor. But only Olorún can give life. Only Olorún can deposit emí—the life giving breath or ashé, and Eledá—Olorún’s observant and righteous presence, in Obatalá’s creations. The Yorubas and Lukumís believe that when the universe was created, every single thing was empowered with ashé, the mystical energy upon which the very essences of vitality and existence depend. Ashé is power, generative energy, life-force. It is present in all things, concrete and abstract. Humans, animals, plants, rocks, bodies of water, hills, savannahs, forests-ashé, in varying degrees, is everywhere and in every thing. Far from being a remote God as all too often described in the literature, Olorún is forever present and active in all the elements of the universe through ashé. In this respect, ashé should be understood as the prolific presence of the Deity within everything in the universe. Olorún brings forth life and matter. As these are offspring or emanations of the Deity, they are both the product and conduits of ashé, placing a “piece” of Olorún and his grace in every single element in the universe. Through ashé, then, Olorun is Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent, ever mindful of the actions of the universe, and particularly those of human beings. In reality, no one definition can provide a satisfactory account of all that ashé is and encompasses. By its very nature, ashé is ineffable. Albeit, Pierre Verger has given one of the best descriptions of ashé to date. Applying Emile Durkheim’s theories to the concept of ashé, Verger states: . . .the Yoruba have never seen the asé (ashé), and cannot pretend to personify it. Nor can they define it by determined attributes and characteristics. It embraces all mystery, all secret power, all divinity. No enumeration could exhaust this infinitely complex idea. It is not a definite or definable power, it is Power itself in an absolute sense, with no epithet or determination of any sort . . . it is the principle of all that lives or acts or moves. All life is asé.”[10] Art historian Robert F. Thompson refers to ashé as the “power-to-make-things-happen . . . God’s own enabling light rendered accessible to man and woman.”[11] Other scholars refer to it as “the vital power, the energy, the great strength of all things”;[12] life force[13]; Para-divine force[14]; divine, animative, or mystical force[15]; generative force or potential.[16] For the most part, all concur on basically the same principles. Ashé is all that and much more for by its very nature, ashé is existence. Without ashé, nothing would be. Albeit, no one definition can does justice, for by its very essence, ashé is beyond definition and full human comprehension.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 19:36:45 +0000
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