Chapter 8: Eshu
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. - Groucho Marx
The gray concept is Mercury. Gray is neither black nor white. Of all the planets that can be seen, the planet Mercury is the hardest to find. Mercury is the God of learning.
Civilization keeps going by organized thievery called business, and everyone in civilization is made a part of the process. Colleges are set up to control how people fit into this system. Higher education is limited to a select few. Lots of students don’t care what they learn. They just want a degree. The person with an advanced degree is the elite high priest of the business society. I would prefer a school where anyone can learn, and no one is required to get a degree.
Mercury can also be a part of a nature-loving religion. Our temple can have priests. In ancient times the priest wore horns at to distinguish himself. When the old pagan religions were replaced by anti-Nature religions, the man with horns became known as an evil symbol. The meanings of old pagan Gods were forgotten. Christians consider the old pagan Gods evil Demons. I prefer the old pagan, nature-loving cult. The Horned God is the good God in my religion.
The ancient Greeks would identify the Gods of other people with there own Gods. Egyptian Thoth, German Odin, Roman Mercury, and Babylonian Nebo were all identified with the Greek Hermes. Perhaps the Greeks were right. Perhaps popular religious ideas spread from culture to culture until every tribe near the Mediterranean worshipped similar of Gods. Other cultures separate from Europe, such as that of the ancient Mexican's, also have similar Gods. I think each culture discovers the same family of Gods simply because all people encounter the similar conditions in life. I discovered many of my Gods simply by thinking about things I have seen happen in real life.
Influence
Reality is more than point of view, and there is a real world out there. Our view is limited. Someone could walk over a cliff they never thought was there. We should keep our senses open to find our way in this world. Our inner nature motivates and guides us as we explore our world. Each person is different. Observe a bunch of babies and you will get an idea of what I mean. Notice how different people search in different places and specialize in different kinds of knowledge. Adults do it too; we never stop doing it.
By "world", I mean everything in that world; even the thoughts and opinions of people are part of that world. People synthesize knowledge to create knowledge, but the raw material we uses to make knowledge comes from what we have learned or felt from the world; this is true of everyone, even those who think that the material world does not exist.
The way something makes a person feel affects how a person sees it. Our feelings create images. As we discover the world, we create opinions about it. It is possible for these opinions to be wrong, especially when a person is letting a belief rather than actual facts decide opinions for him. For example, a civilized person who has never been in nature might think Nature is evil.
Perhaps we are biologically made to see the world in at particular way, in a particular place. That place would be the natural environment that we evolved to fit. If we were another species, we would have a different system and see things in a different way, but we are not another species. Only someone living naturally can see in a naturall way. Anyone outside of Nature will develop perverted ideas, and never know what he could know if he was natural.
Environmental factors that can influence a person are people, ideas, emotions, politics, philosophy, expectations, and anything else that affects your life. This includes any changes you made in your environment. Ideas influence the way people act. Even false ideas have real influence on people. An insane idea would be one that causes you to create an unnatural situation. Unnatural situations can cause unnatural ideas. The environment is creating you, but you also create your environment.
Human knowledge is not limited to each person alone, because people group together into a knowledge pool, where they learn from each other. Even the words you use to think get meaning by how people use them. Cultural influences can condition people to believe that what they are doing is right, even if it isn't. Most people have never really examined their beliefs. They just think whatever cultural bias is the norm in their culture.
A society's behavior can be affected by how its members think or feel. Society is affected by the environment and also creates its environment. Different conditions can cause different societies to think differently. Civilized cultures, are detached from Nature and their mind thinks unnaturally.
You can never be sure that you will get where you intend to go. You might not be sure why you chose such a goal. Even you own thoughts are put together from ideas that you learned from other people. You can not be sure that you own intentions are really your own or if your desires are influenced by outside powers. You might not know the whole story. Even the powers that control you might not know where the story will go.
The Devil
You might find a lot of expectations that do not happen, even when you try. You might see that Good does not always win over Evil, nor is the end of the tunnel always lighted. No divine law makes our expectations the purpose of the universe, even though we might want them to be. The holy spirit that guides the world might sometimes seem to be a wise guiding hand, or sometimes might appear to be purposely deceiving us. This Holy Spirit is called Eshu. You can see him as an Angel or a Devil.
As we go through life, we make choices and develop plans. When we get to the crossroads, we must to choose a path. We might not know where the road will lead us, but we use "what we think we know" to make the choice. Eshu means rising or beginning, such as the beginning of a journey. You choose each step in life and you discover from it.
For some people, initiation means the beginning of their religious devotion. This can be an IAO ritual, where they destroy their old self and start a new self. Perhaps it would be better if you did not do this. Let each step be a natural continuation of your life or you might wind up fighting yourself. I want a nature-loving religion, where we walk down a natural path.
Some people think Eshu is the Devil, because he sometimes leads us down the wrong path. Actually, there is nothing evil about occasionally going the wrong ways. We learn from our mistakes. If Eshu sent us down the right path all the time, we would never learn anything. You must take many wrong paths to find the right path. The natural ability to think is not evil. Our ability to think has created civilization, which is a wrong path, but we can still realize our mistakes and try to find the right path.
At the crossroads are paths to choose. A belief is where we think each path might lead. The truth is where each path actually leads. You can picture the crossroads with Eshu in the middle of many paths leading away from him. Each path leads to something different. You can think of the Zodiac as the truth at the end of each path. The Zodiac is everything, stable and absolute. Mercury is a point of view in the Zodiac, such as someone who is thinking.
Every time you start a new journey, you will be starting over again, like the rising Sun. You cannot be sure if what you think is true or not. You are always starting from the beginning, every moment of your life. Eshu is always young. There is a grown-up, mature Eshu, called Legba, but you will never be completely grown up. You will always have more to learn. You can try to become Legba, but you will never reach that point. There is always another hill to climb. The crossroads is where you always are. If you think you have reached the end, you are mistaken, and Eshu will trick you again.
The name Eshu can be spelled as Esu. This name appears in the center of Yesuo, which is Jesus. Jesus is sometimes called the Christ spirit. I am not too sure what the Christ spirit is supposed to be. Esu is sometimes called the Devil spirit. Eshu is the rising sun and the point where everything begins. Yesuo is what everything is traveling through. Yesuo is our body and our environment. The S in Yesuo is Shin and means learning.
Eshu means rising. Euo means setting. Eshu is East, where the Sun rises. Euo is West, where the Sun sets. The path between the two words is the path of life. Eshu is the source of the word Asia the land of the rising Sun. Euo is the source of the word Europe, the land of the setting Sun. I got the idea for EUO from EUOI, which is an ancient Greek cry for joy used in the cerimoney of Dionysus. Modern witch cults pronounce it Evohe.
The environment can affect how you feel and what you believe, Your biggest environmental factor is yourself. The path you choose will be your environment. Everything you do is done to yourself. You might take a wrong path, which would lead you to wrong ideas, which can lead you farther down the wrong path. People often get into an uncomfortable situation and cannot escape, because their self-made environment has given them an attitude that prevents them from getting out. They do not realize that they are creating their own Hell, that a simple change in course could free them from. It may be difficult to break a habit that keeps you on a wrong path.
That which you struggle against, only exits because you have been programmed for this struggle. But do not fear. A slight change of mind would end the war. The monsters were not real, but also the angels that protected you were not real. You searched for a light at the end of the tunnel only to find that the light never exited. The tunnel was just a fantasy you inherited. Ever feel like no particular definition or idea is true for very long. It changes in an endless series of play. This might panic some people. Other people get use to it.
The Shaman
People have choices to make, as we selects our path A Shaman can help our society become more uncivilized. A Shaman is not exactly a priest. Generally, a priest learns his craft from some kind of institution in his cult. I usually think of priests as lawful and solemn. Shamans invent their own religion. They are the Artist of religion. A Shaman has the ability to communicate with the Gods. Generally, Shamans are chaotic personalities under the influence of the dark forces of Evil. They are the most uncivilized of all people. Usually, after a society is conquered by civilization, a few Shamans are the only ones who still try to live in the old ways.
Only a few people are born with the Shaman's curse. Shamans were a vital part of a primitive society. They can see things in a way most people cannot. They can make a society's view of the world make sense or not make sense. Shamans ministered religion to people, back when we were part of Nature. They are not just plugged into their own unconscious, but also the unconscious of a society. The mythology, ethics, styles, and attitude of a culture is like a map that the Shaman can read. Perhaps they can feel Nature's ways and a society's needs, and guide people to follow the right natural path. All societies produce a few Shamans. The genetic trait that produces Shamans could be a natural part of us. Even though often insane, Shamans could be a selective advantage to the society. Their insanity keeps the society sane; therefore, natural selection has molded mankind to be a species that produces a few Shaman, who are the gifted winged ones. In a natural society Shamans become important, but in a civilized society they are lost. Their vision fails to fit civilization, so they end up as confused social rejects. Civilization has rejected the Shaman in the same way that it rejects all Nature. The Shaman should be up on a hill seeing and dreaming about their view of Nature, but most cannot find Nature in civilization.
Even back in primitive times, the Shaman was often considered a crackpot. They separated from society, remaining alone with their personal Demons. They would only come back to the rest of the tribe when they had some reason. A Shaman's reason for doing anything is something even the Shaman might not understand. A vision quest is like performing a spell. And the meaning of this spell is the important part. Perhaps in order to know this meaning, various allies are needed. These allies can be almost anything, from physical objects to thoughts. The Shaman's magic bundle might look like a bag of junk. His activities might seem pointless. The places he goes might seem strange. The Shaman can seem quite mad.
Imagine a mystical door to enter the world of the Gods. In order to better demonstrate what I am talking about, I will show you what this door might look like, using some of my own concepts.
During the winter solstice, the creator spirit unites with Mother Nature and conceives a son. He is born in the spring, reaches maturity during summer, and dies during the fall. The gray circle with the six-pointed star in it is the symbol of the seasonal God. The circle is eight, the number of the priest. In the middle is four, the number of the door between this and that. Uniting two triangles makes the six-pointed star inside. The red triangle, pointing up, represents fire, the spirit. The green triangle, pointing down, represents matter.
Each point in the six pinted star is connected by a line to a point on the opposite side of the symbol. A brown line represents the circle of the equator and connects the Morning Star of denying passion, which appears in the east, with the Evening Star of asserting passion, which appears in the west. The purple line represents the circle of the Zodiac. The two lines cross during the spring equinox. The spring equinox is the Door through which the son is born. An invisible mystery line connects the Sun with the Zodiac. The mystery line also connects the top point of the red triangle with the bottom point of the green triangle.
The halves of a figure eight represent fall and spring. Spring is the time of birth and youth. Fall is the time of death. Both halves equal four and represent the West. The God of the spring is Dionysus, a God of passion, called EVO. The God of fall is Zeus, a destructive thunder God, and the west wind, called JOVE. In the middle of the figure eight is the Door. Two triangles can be drawn, with one in each side of the figure eight. One triangle is Spirit; one is matter. If the triangles touch, it is a symbol of conception. If the two triangles point away from each other, it is a symbol of death and Fall. Crossing the center of the figure eight between both sides is a red line of the soul, which also represents the mystic who may choose to explore this symbol. This symbol can be a door that rests between anything.
Imagine two triangles moving toward each other. The triangles touch point to point, and there is conception, they unite and there is life, they separate and there is death.
As you draw a figure eight, you may notice how it is clockwise on one side and counter-clockwise on the other. The west can be Nature's greatest enemy or it can be a mystic's greatest view of Nature. The door is a mystic eye between your two eyes. You can often see things better when you see the clockwise turned counter-clockwise; this does not mean you destroy them.
I like to set my temple clockwise and set things that I consider wrong counterclockwise, but you do not have to do this. It is possible for there to be a counter-clockwise temple where evil is clockwise, which would be just as Nature loving as my temple. You can set things any way you want. You can give the Gods any meaning you want. My temple is simply way of classifying things. People can see things in different ways. Not all of these ways are right, but there can be more than one right way. Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, and any others who invent written dogmas, really do not understand religion at all. Religion comes from the free imagination. Only the primitive Shaman understands. Beyond the door is the mystery, on which a Shaman can see the meaning of his culture and the meaning of the age he lives in. If he can see far enough, he can see that one voice common to all Shamans. I call the voice "Azoth." Ten is everything and four is the door. Add the first four numbers and you will get 10.
A Shaman will usually start to feel the effects of his curse when he is young. His first experience can be a total mental breakdown. In primitive societies an older Shaman may help a younger Shaman develop his vision. Without this help the young Shaman might become confused and never realize the full potential of his gift.
When I was young in Brazil, a man who worked as a handyman at the school I went to was a sort of hermit and had a reputation of being a witch doctor. He was supposed to be a mixed South American Native and African, who supposedly knew both African and Indian black magic. He noticed how I did not act like the other kids, and he would sarcastically tell me that I would grow up to be like him. I would see, hear and feel things that no one else could see. None of the civilized people understood and only wanted to destroy my vision by using psychology. I wanted to keep my vision. During recess after lunch in school, I talked to the witch doctor, who told stories. I only remember parts of a few of the stories. Some of his stories indicated influence by the music of Ozzy Osbourne.
In his stories, the handyman often mentioned the Devil, usually as a cause of accidents. Occasionally, during special parts of stories, he called the Devil "EXU." This name had a dramatic effect and helped me to realize the importance of sacred names. He said that sunrise is birth; noon is maturity, and sunset is death. He told me that EXU is the rising Sun at the center of the crossroads of life. He told me a few stories about the female Jaguar of the jungle. The Jaguar was deadly, death herself. The nuns at school taught me that Nature was deadly and that technology could save us from Nature. The witch doctor did not condemn the Jaguar. Instead, he said that he himself had hunted with her. I liked the brutality of the stories. I began to realize that his way of seeing things was not civilized. I began to realize the difference between what is civilized and what is savage. I only talked to him a few times, but I learned a lot. His information helped me develop my own vision, so I did not end up as confused as I would have been if I let civilization destroy my vision.
After a short time the young Shaman may return to normal behavior. Many years later, he may start to feel a calling. This calling is an obsession that just happens. He might be living a happy life before the calling, and suddenly become mad. He might remember the breakdown he had long ago and the things the other Shaman showed him. That breakdown is the key that can help him unlock the door that the obsession wants to enter.
The Shaman is the door through which powers can act upon the Earth; through him all things are made. The Shaman gets sacred power by walking in a sacred manner and may show other people ways to walk in a sacred manner. Though the Shaman, people are healed. The fire that Prometheus gave people was religion. As he hung upon the tree, Odin found the sacred letters of this religion. This tree grows in the middle of the Earth circle. Black Elk saw this tree become weak, as civilization infected the circle of his people, but he also saw that the tree could bloom again. The tree will bloom when the ancient Gods rise again. The Shaman will open the door. No one else has the keys.
Most of what I just told you about the power of the Shaman is pure fantasy. A guy named Joseph Campbell invented the story about the Shaman being the artist of religion. Hey, there is nothing wrong with a little fantasy.
Mexican mythology tells of a great king who created civilization. One day a trickster came to the temple with a black mirror. This mirror was the night sky with all the stars that represent what is, was, and will be. Inside this mirror was the truth about people. Inside of this truth the king saw the reflection of a normal man. Before this discovery the king did not know that his reflection was that of a normal man. I guess the king thought he was going to see something else.
Ideas about ideas
Hermes Trismegistus, The Emerald Tablet. http://www.sacred-texts.com/alc/emerald.htm
David Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, 1777. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/9662
Jacques Derrida, 1974. http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/derrida.htm