Ekwensu

Ekwensu is a trickster of the Igbo people, a trickster spirit of confusion,[1] that serves as the Alusi (god) of bargains and the tortoise.[2] Crafty at trade and negotiations. He is often invoked for guidance in difficult mercantile situations. He is perceived as a spirit of violence that incites people to perform violent acts.[3] His companion was Ogbunabali.

Despite contemporary interpretations, Ekwensu was not originally regarded as the devil.[3] With the rise of Christianity, the more beneficent aspects of the deity were supplanted by missionaries who came to represent Ekwensu as Satan.[4] Europeans influenced their beliefs of good and evil to convince Igbo that Ekwensu was Satan-like.[5] The goal of European's influence was to easily colonize the Igbo tribe, forcing them to be fearful of something.[6] Originally, Ekwensu was highly honored as one of the benevolent lunar deities.[7]

The traditional Igbo do not think of Ekwensu as the force that stands in opposition to other beings. Hence, Ekwensu is the IGBO god of war , who guided warriors in battle. They were tricksters. They only believe in spirits whose nature is either good or bad, but they do have what humans know as an afterlife.[8]

He was the testing force of Chukwu, and along with Ani the earth goddess, and Igwe, the sky god, make up the three highest Arusi of the ancient Igbo people.

  1. ^ Ndubisi, Ejikemeuwa J . O. “The Notion of Satan.ekwensu.” OWIJOPPA, 25 Apr. 2020, https://www.academia.edu/42852598/The_Notion_of_Satan_Ekwensu.
  2. ^ Kanu,Ikechukwu, Anthony.“The Hellenization of African Traditional Deities: The Case of Ekwensu and Esu.” African Scholar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol.22. No. 6. Sept. 2021. ISSN: 2110-2086.
  3. ^ a b Molefi Kete Asante; Emeka Nwadiora (2007). Spear Masters: An Introduction to African Religion. University Press of America. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-0-7618-3574-5.
  4. ^ A.I. Bewaji, John. "OLODUMARE: GOD IN YORUBA BELIEF AND THE THEISTIC PROBLEM OF EVIL." Archived 2010-05-17 at the Wayback Machine, University of Florida, Gainesville, April 03, 2010
  5. ^ Ezeh, P-J. “The Ekwensu Semantics and the Igbo Christian Theolinguistics.” Google, Google, 2005, https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=c291dGhzYXhvbnMuY29tfGJlcnJ 5fGd4OjMyMDg0MzNlMjA2Mzg5NTg.
  6. ^ Ndubisi, Ejikemeuwa J. O. PhD. “The Notion of Satan.Ekwensu.” OWIJOPPA, 25 Apr. 2020.
  7. ^ Enugu, Discover. “How Evil Is Ekwensu?” Medium, 17 Nov. 2019, https://discoverenugu.medium.com/how-evil-is-ekwensu-23cb43786224
  8. ^ Enugu, D. (2019, November 17). How evil is Ekwensu? Medium. Retrieved May 20, 2022, from https://discoverenugu.medium.com/how-evil-is-ekwensu-23cb43786224