Staff for Esu (Ogo Elegba)
Willful and irreverent, Esu's next move is unpredictable. This staff shows off a row of calabashes attached to his hair. In each, he would keep numerous charms to put people to sleep or to become invisible in one of his many acts to confuse the arrogant, deceive the careless, and trip the powerful. Thus, he adds his name to one of the oldest and most persistent patterns of cultural deliberation: Hermes, Prometheus, Anansi, Raven, Rabbit, Spider, Coyote, The Joker, etc.
Esu Praise Poem
Esu turns right into wrong, wrong into right.
When he is angry, he hits a stone until it bleeds.
When he is angry, he sits on the skin of an ant.
When he is angry, he weeps tears of blood.
Esu slept in the house--
but the house was too small for him.
Esu slept on the veranda--
but the veranda was too small for him.
Esu slept in a nut--
at last he could stretch himself.
(Collected by Ulli Beier, 1971)
Wood, hide, cowrie shells, twine, indigo, metal
20 x 4 x 11 in. (50.8 x 10.2 x 28 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.592
