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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Book

Las penas de Exu

authors

    Karina Flores Hidalgo

    Nationality: Chile

    Residence: Elegir...

    Editorial Humanos

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

discussants

    Karina Flores Hidalgo

    Nationality: Chile

    Residence: Elegir...

    Editorial Humanos

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

    Karina Flores Hidalgo

    Nationality: Chile

    Residence: Elegir...

    Editorial Humanos

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

Keywords:

Exú, Esú Elegbera, Legba.

Abstract:

This research is focused on contributing to the study of Esú Elegbera, a divinity belonging to the Ifá pantheon of the Yorubas. This mythical being, also called Legba by the Fon was bequeathed to the American continent and the Caribbean during the slave trade. Is U, pronounced Exú by the Portuguese, was identified with the devil, linked to the practice of magic, forbidden and denied. However, different investigations have contributed to reconstruct the image of this mysterious entity nourished with meanings, connoting its role as mediator between men and gods. Exú is a central element of the religious construction of the African tradition, which It appears in the different Afro-descendant cults that emerged in Brazilian territory. Its complex symbolic composition was nourished by the historical process of that country in a way that this enigmatic god was submerging himself in the macumbas of Rio de Janeiro, where he developed the beliefs of Africans after abolition, influenced by Yoruba and bantos, indigenous natives, spiritists, gypsies and witches. There, the messenger god transformed into a legion of spirits dressed in capes and hats, accompanied by the Pombagiras gypsies. This study proposes to analyze the adaptation that Exú had in Santiago de Chile through observation of the case of Michael, a medium who discovered the connection with an ancient spirit who calls himself the Exú of the Seven Catacombs. About the enigma of this leader religious, the initiates of the Ilé of Xapana and Oba meet, a house of worship linked to other city temples. The question that concerns us is this observed religious phenomenon, in which ancient spirits manifest themselves through mediums. His following leads us to the meeting with the people of the Exús.