Ashé

This paper was first presented at the 54th Annual Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America for a panel discussion entitled "Possible Contributions of Afro-Cuban Religion to Catholic Theology of Grace: An Interreligious Dialogue." Miami, June 11, 1999.

Regla de Osha^[1] is a religion that was brought to Cuba during the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade by the Lukumí,^[2] a West African ethnic group, from an area that is today part of the Republic of Nigeria. Currently, the Lukumí are called Yorùbá, a name originally applied to a particular Lukumí group, the Oyó.^[3] The Lukumí presence in Cuba and the New World before the eighteenth century was a minor one.^[4] The increased presence of Lukumí slaves in Cuba coincides with the eventual downfall of the powerful West African Oyo Empire in the nineteenth century resulting from internecine strife and inter-ethnic war. An undeterminable number of war captives from Oyo and its protectorates were sold as slaves and sent to Cuba and Brazil,^[5] then the major importers of African slaves in the New World.^[6] Through cunning adaptation, reinterpretation, and assimilation of the new culture and surroundings, the Lukumí preserved their religion and culture in spite of the Euro-centric acculturation.^[7]

Of extreme importance in this process was the Lukumí/Yorùbá concept of ashé-the belief that everything is endowed with the Supreme Being’s divine grace. Ashé as a mystical, generative and all-encompassing force fortifies the belief system and serves as its major adaptational tool, ensuring the religion’s growth and survival. The belief in ashé has allowed the Lukumí religion to endure the burdens of slavery, colonialism, and the many skirmishes encountered more recently with the Cuban Revolution. In the United States, where the Lukumí religion has embraced and incorporated many people of different cultures and nationalities, ashé has also proven critical for the adaptation and survival of the religion, and as a medium for the understanding of a different worldview by people foreign to Cuba and Lukumí Orisha Worship.

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.

The Lukumí religion as practiced in Cuba and the Cuban Diaspora is highly dependent on ashé. For the Lukumí, ashé is the raison d’etre of the universe and the most sacred and revered endowment to humanity. Ashé is all there was, is, and will be: ashé is eternal. Ashé is divinity, life, existence, essence, power, energy, vigor, force, vitality, cause and effect, grace, knowledge, authority, wisdom, experience; ashé is all. Most importantly, ashé is readily accessible and available, ideally for the advancement and welfare of Olorún’s creation.

Although its extent is immeasurable, ashé as the embodiment of power, energy, and authority, is not equally distributed. The degree of ashé varies according to its host. This notion is exemplified in a well-known Lukumí myth recited in divination that describes the distribution of ashé and knowledge throughout the world. According to the myth, when the calabash of wisdom fell from the hands of Ogbedí, ashé and knowledge were dispersed to every corner of the earth. Everyone and everything it descended upon obtained some degree of ashé, depending on how much was drifted to particular areas of the cosmos.^[17] Diviners emphasize that nothing should be underestimated since the degree of its ashé can never be fully ascertained.

Ashé is both universal and immortal, but never stagnant or immutable. It is a malleable energy that can be reinterpreted and reinvigorated, constantly evolving and growing through time. Humans are the principal benefactors of this energy. As they flourished in their separate environments, ashé was learned, interpreted, understood, and applied in different manners and at different times. Hindus call it darsan; the Chinese speak of the Ch’i; in Polynesia it was known as mana. Human beings can draw on this energy and use it to suit their needs, ideally for individual and collective material and spiritual advancement, and the development of iwá— moral character that commands respect and reverence. Once in harmony with ashé, human beings live productive and fulfilling lives.

Absent from Yorùbá philosophy is the popularized (although not necessarily theologically correct^[18]) Judeo-Christian notion of a battle between good and evil. For the Yorùbá, the duality between an Omnipotent Supreme Being and His antithesis is non-existent. Olorún and ashé are the source of everything, both positive and negative. Olorún is Alpha and Omega; Yin and Yen; beginning and end. Good and/or evil are the results of human actions and not the results of a cosmological battle between two entities or two forces. A Lukumí proverb used in divination reminds us of this: Para que haya bueno, tiene que haber malo— literally, for good to exist, there must be evil (the English “for every positive, there is a negative” would be a more accurate approximation). Ashé is neutral. It is “ . . .neither good nor bad, moral nor perverse, neither pure nor impure, any more than electrical or nuclear energy.”^[19] Ashé is simply an unbridled source of energy that is generative in nature; raw power that when accessed by human beings is directed, and its purpose defined, according to the particular situation and/or the individual necessity. It is human action, and not the energy itself, that determines to whether and how ashé is used or misused.

Iwá (moral character) is of extreme importance in its relationship to ashé since proper behavior on earth influences human access to ashé in the present and in the afterlife as well. Olorún monitors an individual’s conduct during a lifetime through the orishas who keep “records” of human behavior. Another of Obatalá’s various functions is to teach morality and order to humankind by setting the example they should follow. He sets very high moral standards for his followers and will not refrain from punishing the infractions.^[20] Developing iwá reré- good moral character- requires not only devotion and respect for Olorún, the orishas, and the ancestors, but also for fellow human beings and all of Olorún’s creations. It is important (and demanded) that the individual be a good child, a good sibling, a good parent, a good citizen. The person who possesses iwá reré must set an example for those who surround him or her to follow. These characteristics are integral and indispensable components of iwá reré.

Nevertheless, humanity was given freedom of choice. Humans are passionate creatures and are sometimes blinded by their own passions. Those who deviate from the proper path of iwá reré, and misuse ashé for evil or selfish purposes, suffer the consequences of their actions during their lifetime and in the afterlife as well. So, although ashé may lack “moral connotations” as some scholars have stated, the importance placed on developing iwá reré adds the moral dimension to the human use or misuse of Olorún’s energy.^[21] Ultimately, though, the responsibility lies in the hands of the individual.

Olorún’s ashé resides in orí, the human head, and His presence there is known as Eledá—the Creator. Together, they function as the individual’s personal orisha, a sort of “guardian angel” or attendant in the life of a human being. Orí is also the seat of human destiny and humanity’s major benefactor. The Yoruba believe that certain aspects of human life are preordained at birth. Before birth, that destiny is chosen at random and Olorún imparts His blessing on the unborn individual’s orí in the form of ashé. At birth, Olorún exhales ashé in the form of emí—breath, and life commences. This dual presence of the Creator in human beings takes the form of Eledá, the silent but observant witness of human existence to who accounts will be rendered in the end.

The relationship between orí and Eledá, and the degree of ashé human beings can possess, is heightened through initiation into the cult of the orishas. By “sitting” the orisha on the devotee’s head, the original ashé received at birth is reinforced by the presence of the orisha in the individual’s life.^[22] Orí continues to function as the seat of destiny and the individual’s personal orisha, while the tutelar deity acquired at initiation functions in conjunction with orí and Eledá to bring balance, harmony and stability to the individual’s existence. Human potential is enhanced allowing the devotee lo live a long, full and prosperous life.

The orishas have the closest proximity and access to Olorún’s ashé. They are Olorún’s first offspring, emanating from Him through ashé. Each orisha has his or her own domains in the affairs of the universe and most are also related to natural phenomena such as oceans, wind, thunder, and so forth. Ashé, as manifest in the forces of nature, is appeased, worshiped, and recognized as the inseparable link in the delicate interconnection and interdependence that exists between human beings and their natural surroundings. Additionally, most of the orishas supervise different aspects of life and human existence such as childbirth, diseases, death, crafts, skills and so forth. Most importantly, the orishas, like human beings, have flaws as well as virtues. Their personalities vary from the rational to the illogical, differing them from humans only in the status and powers afforded them by the Olorún. This aspect makes the relationship between devotees and the orishas not only personal but practical as well. Humans are not expected to be perfect. If the orishas can err, so can human beings. Perfection, for the Yorubas and Lukumís, is an exclusive domain of Olorún. And sometimes, even Olorún errs.

The relationship between Olorishas^[23] and their tutelar deity is a personal and individual one. The Lukumí consider themselves omó orisha—children of the deities. Orí and the orishas assist their omó to acquire ashé by interceding for their cause with the forces of the universe like a parent would intervene on behalf of a child. They bring ashé into balance with and for human necessity.

The Yorùbá and their New World counterparts consider life and living desirable. Orun- heaven- has its value, but if given the choice, life on earth and among direct descendants is preferred over the afterlife, no matter how rewarding orun may be. The quality of life is just as important, and maybe even more important, than the quantity for there is always the possibility of reincarnating and returning to earth. No Yorùbá or Lukumí wants to live a dishonorable or unrewarding existence on earth to reap the bounties in heaven. Living a full life on earth, surrounded by the comforts and spoils that Olorún and the orishas provide as rewards for proper iwá, are of utmost concern. Children, shelter, nutrition, and good health are the most cherished irés—blessings. Financial or economic prosperity are also desirable but are only obtained as prizes for good behavior and hard work. In this sense, Yorùbá/Lukumí ideology is centered on the present, the here-and-now, and ashé is the most important means to the desirable ends.

Ashé is both abstract and concrete. It is important to make a clear distinction between ashé, the energy or force, and the materials that Olorishas use in rituals and offerings, possessors of this energy, that are also called ashé. Herbs, fruits, roots, animals, foodstuffs, stones, soil from different points in nature, and so forth, are compounded according to established formulas. The mystic energy contained within these elements is materialized and its animative energy directed toward the resolution of life’s crises. This is one of the most important qualities of ashé-the fact that it not only exists, but that it can also be used, manipulated, and brought to further fruition.

Olorishas are alashés-entrusted with caring for ashé and ensuring that its force is reactivated and revitalized whenever it is needed.^[24] They rely on a wide body of ritual and mystic knowledge, primarily confirmed through divination, that grants access to ashé’s energy for healing, development, and other restorative purposes. In worshiping an orisha, reciting prayers or chants, preparing an herbal infusion, or offering ebó (sacrifice), devotees consciously act to harness ashé and direct it to resolve problems and issues that arise in life. If channeled respectfully and properly, ashé places the afflicted in contact with the purest and most sacred energy, Olorún Himself. Communication and proper alignment between orun and aiyé (earth) through ashé accentuates the beneficence of the here-and-now, and also ensures the devotee of his or her place in the hereafter. But if the individual’s personal ashé is tarnished by improper earthly conduct or actions, the Divine energy is affected adversely and the desired results are crippled. Ideally, the impure or improper cannot be in contact with the purest of energies.

The material representations of ashé are the vehicles through which Olorishás serve as conduits of this energy between the orun and aiyé; between the profane and the supernatural. Every plant, every animal, every root, a particular type of rock, a feather, water from the sea or a river; all things on earth animated by ashé and can therefore be used to bring about a particular result. The possibilities are infinite. The proper combination of these elements and their individual ashé is summoned through prayers, invocations, chants and other rituals. If compounded properly, its collective ashé is used to resolve such things as curing a disease, helping a barren woman conceive, or in this “modern” world, ensuring success in a business venture or a choice of career.

The Olorisha must be very well learned in the manipulation of material ashé or his/her own ashé loses validity in the eyes of their followers and clients. Tener ashé—to have ashé—is a quality every Olorisha desires, but not all are born with. Ashé results not only at birth, but is also developed and incremented through rituals, conduct, and the acquisition of knowledge and experience. To have iré omá—a blessing of knowledge, and better yet, to use it and obtain beneficial results, is to have ashé. Knowledge is one of the many realms of ashé.

Ritual knowledge is highly valued, but also highly guarded and not shared easily. Knowledge is an ashé that not everyone was born to possess. As implied by the Ogbe’dí myth, everyone obtained some level of knowledge, but no one acquired it all. Knowledge is allocated, divided, dispersed. La sabiduria está repartida! Even ritual experts like the Babalawo^[25] and the Oriaté^[26] are not omniscient. They may often have the need to consult other Babalawos or Oriatés, even Olorishas, who may have more knowledge than they do on a particular orishá or ritual. Still, at some point in life, knowledge must be shared for if it is not passed down to one’s descendants, it is lost, resulting in the loss of a valuable tool to access ashé. Most Olorishás will have one or more apprentices, trusted omó’risha—child through the orishas—who fills the requirements they deem necessary for the transmission of their knowledge or ashé.^[27]

Ashé is especially potent in speech. It is materialized through words, prayers, chants, praises, divination, and possession by the deities. In divination, Olorishas implore the divinities to allow them to tap into their personal ashé to adequately assist their consultants:

Fun mi ashé’lenu lati nsoro Give my tongue the ashé with which to speak.

In prayers and sacrifice, ashé is invoked to ensure the efficacy of the act or ritual:

Ashé tó, ashé bó, ashé bima! Ashé is amply sufficient, ashé envelops all, ashé is born!

Or to extract the potency of an herb used for curing a disease of healing the soul:

All the participants in a Lukumí ceremony contribute with an affirmation: Ashé— so be it!

The ashé of an orisha is especially active during possession. Possession is the ultimate form of contact with ashé and its major personification in the orisha. Likewise, the counsel given by an orisha or the remedy for a particular malady is endowed with ashé and its efficacy ensured by the fact that it was the orisha who spoke in person to bring about a solution to a personal crisis. This personal, one-on-one encounter between orun and aiyé, between humans and the supernatural, is another cherished aspect of Yoruba/Lukumí religion. The devotee supplicates and offers sacrifice to the supernatural, and that realm is made accessible in a very personal way through possession. The supernatural descends to the realm of its devotees and takes an active role in and within it.

The misuse of afudashé can have deleterious effects for ashé is just as potent in maledictions, especially when they result from injustice or disrespect. The reverence given to the alagbás or elders in Yorubaland as well as in the New World rests primarily on the concept of ashé for it is believed that ashé is also acquired and incremented with the experience and wisdom that accompanies age. Purposely offending an alagbá is not only disrespectful, but also extremely dangerous for the grievance can have grave consequences.

^[1] More recently called “Santeria,” a misnomer with pejorative connotations.

^[2] I will refer to the practices and practitioners of traditional Yoruba religion as Yorubá and I will use Lukumí specifically for their counterparts in Cuba and the Cuban Diaspora.

^[3] Awoniyi, Timothy. The Word Yoruba. Nigeria 134-35, 1981; pgs. 104-107.

^[4] See Philip D. Curtin. The Transatlantic Slave Trade-A Census. Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1969.

^[5] In Brazil, the Nagó or Yorubá religion is known as Candomble, a term encountered by the Nagós when they arrived, originally used by the Bantús for their fraternal/religious associations. See Roger Bastide. The African Religions of Brazil. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University press, 1970.

^[6] See Curtin, 1969; Robin Law. The Oyo Empire c. 1600-c. 1836: A West African Imperialism in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. Pierre Verger. Bahia and the West African Trade (1549-1851). Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1964.

^[7] For further reading on the origin of the Lukumí religion in Cuba, see Mercedes C. Sandoval. La Religion Afrocubana. Madrid: Playor, 1975; Isabel Castellanos & Jorge Castellanos. Cultura Afrocubana. 3 vols. Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1988. For the U.S., see Robert F. Thompson. Flash of the Spirit-African and Afro-American Art & Philosophy. New York: Vintage Books, 1984; Joseph M. Murphy. Santeria: An African Religion in America. Boston: Beacon Press, 1988.

^[8] Pierre Verger has convincingly argued that the development of the Yorubá belief in Olorún as The Supreme Being is in all probability a foreign introduction, possibly of Islamic or Christian origin. According to this view, ashé is the closest notion to a Creator God that existed in ancient Yorubaland before the encounter with Islam and Christianity. See The Yoruba High God-a Review of the Sources. Odu, no. 2, 1966; pgs. 19-40.

^[9] Idowu, E. Bolaji. Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief. Memorial Edition. New York: Wazobia, 1994; pgs. 72-73.

^[10] Verger, op. Cit., p. 36.

^[11] Thompson, Robert Farris. Flash of the Spirit-African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy. New York: Vintage Books, Inc., 1984; p. 5.

^[12] Verger, op. Cit., p. 35.

^[13] Drewal, Henry John, and John Pemberton III. Yoruba- Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. New York: The Center for African Art & Harry N. Abrams Inc.; 1989; p. 16.

^[14] Hallgren, Roland. The Good Things in Life-A Study of the Traditional Religion and Culture of the Yoruba People. Lund; Plus Ultra, 1991; p. 32.

^[15] Apter, Andrew. Black Critics and Kings-The Hermeneutics of Power in Yoruba Society. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992; pgs. 55, 84 & 105.

^[16] Thompson Drewal, Margaret. Yoruba Ritual-Performers, Play, Agency. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992, p. 27.

^[17] See Castillo, Jose M. Ifa en Tierra de Ifa. Miami. 1976.

^[18] Personal conversation with Catholic theologian Orlando Espin. Miami, June 4, 1999.

^[19] Verger, op.cit., p. 36.

^[20] See Beier, H.U. Obatala Festival. Nigeria, No. 49, 1954; pgs 10-28; p. 10.

^[21]Thompson, p. 5; Thompson Drewal, p. 27.

^[22] Karioshá, literally “placing orishá on the head,” is the name for the ordination ritual of a Lukumí Olorisha. Part of this ritual involves placing the material representations of the orishás and other secrete elements on the devotee’s head. These elements are also called ashé and represent the embodiment of the transcendent concept in a tangible form.

^[23] Literally “he/she who owns an orishá;” priests/priestesses.

^[24] See Verger, op. Cit., pgs. 35 & 37.

^[25] Literally “Father of the mystery”- Priest of Orunmilá, deity of divination. Ideally, Babalawós should be highly versed in ritual knowledge as one of their major functions is consulting the oracle for devotees.

^[26] The Oriaté is a type of master of ceremonies. His function is to perform all the rituals for the ordination of an Olorishá. As such, he must be extremely well learned in the different prescriptions and proscriptions associated with each individual orishá and the rites for consecration. He also consults the oracle on the third day of the ordination ceremony. As such, the range of his knowledge but be very ample or his ashé is questioned by the community.

^[27] Someone they themselves ordained into the priesthood.

^[28] Osayín is the Yorubá/Lukumí orishá of traditional medicine and magic. As such, he is the most knowledgeable orishá in terms of herblore and botany. Only Osayín knows how to extract the ashé Olorun placed in plants.

Ashé: Divine Essence of Existence