THE THINKING AND ITS OBJET

SUMMARY

Welcome
Purpose
The gods
God's telling
The beginning
God's symphony
God's legends
Men's thinking
End
  Paul G. Aclinou
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 ...LINKS

 

THE GODS

LÊGBA  

 Is the god of croosroad; the god of the head

FA

The god of the divination

GÛ

The god of the war

AZIRI

The goddess of possesions

OSANYIN

The god of rhe medecines

HÊBIESSO

The god of thunder

AGÊ

The god of hunting

OBOTO

The goddesses of serenity

 

 

 

We are going to concern us in gods, masters of the pedagogy. I have retained some eight; as you do not ignore it certainly, African beliefs state multiple gods to very various functions. Here, I will speak only eight gods; this are these that "carry the pedagogy " . This are also the alone that do not reflect a natural phenomenon adoration; they differ in that purely gods animistes; even the god of the thunderbolt has no anything a god animiste as you go you to render some account when we will have examined its history. I would have been able to add two or three other gods again, as that the creativity; I have not made it because its function appears me as a supplementary precision to that the god of the head, the god of crossroads.

I have told to you that the theogony not between in the purpose of these pages; however, for your information, here is nevertheless ( in brief ) an overview what we believe to it Be Supreme through speeches of the old man.

" -What else do we know? First of all, you must understand that by saying that before the Beginning there was only God alone and Himself does not mean that there were two entities, two essences, two forces or something like that.Of course not, otherwise the ancient ones would not have defined him as Ma Hu. Do you understand that? As for the rest, we shall say little because it must be so. However, this little is essential. That is why you hear it everywhere.You have heard it at home.You have also heard it elsewhere; in the street, at the market and everywhere you go.You hear it during the day and at night.

-What do people say? What do we proclaim? Two things and only two are thus proclaimed.You really must remember them.Firstly we say " there only exists what God has created. " You have heard that very often... "

"-Of course! "

The boy exclaimed with the sort of joy one usually feels when the horizon becomes clear and new perspectives open up to our spirit.The old manÕs remoinder was so obvious that the child thought it necessary to explain;he said:

"-that is true of course but I thought that........."

The old man had interrupted him to continue his explanation but he first made a remark that was useful only to the child.He said:

"-Yes,I know; one no longer pays any attention to it. However, it is fundamental.

At this moment we ought to stop for a minute to look into the meaning we give to the word "created" in our language, as it is not easy to translate into the language of our friend.

In fact, in our language this word has the meaning of " make " or, at best, that of " possess " which can also be used to imply " create"; whereas the notion of " creation "( according to the concept of our friend ) is translated in our language by a word whose meaning lies between " to put in an upright position ", " to found " and " to engender or procreate "; and above all, with this meaning,the word is only used when talking about God, and sometimes when referring to the soul in its role as a sponsor. Even more exceptionally, it can be used to refer to somebody's ancestors.

The two key words are:" do " and " djo ". But one must be very careful about the tone.

Consequently, we say : what Ma Hu " do " ( what God possesses ; what God dressed ); whereas, what God possesses is His whole work:Creation. This is the first approch of the concept.

Then, the second thing that we know, and which is also as fundamental as the first, is that: " all that which is done by God is good. " In our language, I would give a more precise translation as: " all that god has caused to come into existence is good. " And here, I find remarkable the word that is used to say " all that God has caused to come into existence " It is " ho" said in a low tone, which means ÒmakeÓ.In fact,when used in the context of Ma Hu, the word means " make " but with a meaning which combines those of " do " and " djo " which we have already mentioned. Thus we consider that " to make " ( as far as God is concerned implies the act of creation by God ) and the coming into existence of what He has thus created in the world of men.

Here too, you will understand everything as soon as, in your own mind, you have grasped what is meant by " existence ". That explains why you will come across no specific rituals for Ma Hu, for God. That is a result of the two things said of the Supreme Being. "....................

 NOW, COME MEET THE GODS !

HERE IS GODS THAT YOU ARE GOING TO MEET. THEY ARE ONLY EIGHT ( IN MY CHOICE; ALL IN ARBITRARY FACT ). THEY ARE SUFFICIENT FOR OUR PURPOSE.

I have indicated for each of them, its function such that the popular belief conceives them.