UNDERSTANDING EXU - UMBANDA
In the Brazilian culture of Candomblé and Umbanda, no orixá/entity generates more curiosity and myths than Exu. Much is said about him, but little is actually known about him. Due to the colonization of African peoples, this character ended up receiving a negative connotation of being the devil, but this view is completely different from what he really is.
Exu is the guardian of axé (asè), Olodumaré gave him this mission because he is an orixá of great strength and pride. In addition to being the one who ensures that all energies in Aye are balanced.
With the arrival of the Europeans with their Manichean thinking, they sought to make associations with their cultures, thus transforming what is a god into something lesser, another way to dominate and enslave Africans.
When the enslaved were forced to come to Brazil, this vision of evil also came to contribute to the domination of this people. The best way to dominate is to end the culture and transform it into something bad. Thus, transforming Exu (Èsù) into a demon is to destroy the energy that sustained that people.
In both Candomblé and Umbanda, Exu is demonized and relegated to a place of inferiority in relation to the other orixás and entities, as if he were a lesser being, but there is no ritual that can be performed without the presence and permission of Exu. He is the one who opens the doors and ensures that everything is carried out smoothly with light and peace.
Exu is path, strength, power, fire, earth, vibration, sexuality, life.
In this video, I offer a reflection on who Exu is in Candomblé so that we can demystify misconceptions about this orixá, so important to religions of African origin.
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