Queen Mothers
The Origin of Fa: Dahomean System of Divination
Monkey's Ingratitude: Why one does not Deceive the Diviner
Why a promise to the Vodun must be kept
QUEEN MOTHERS
Ewe: Dr. Ofori Akyea, Rosen Publising, New York, 1998
Gbadu came after Agbè and Naetè. She has sixteen eyes, and like Mawu is both male and female. She was told to live on top of a palm tree in the sky in order to observe the kingdoms of the Sea, the Earth and the Sky. Mawu said she would be told later the duties she was to perform.
When he says this Gbadu, who watches over the kingdom of the Sea, the Earth and the Sky, does not want to speak, for others might overhear. In reply to Legba, she puts a palm kernel in his hand.
If she places one kernel in his hand, it means she wishes him to open two of her eyes, and if she gives him two, one of a pair of eyes is to be opened. When Legba does this, he himself looks about to see what is happening in the sea, and on earth, and he has promised Gbadu, whom we also call Fa, he would also report on what happens in the domain of Mawu. And so that is the way it is. After a time Gbadu began to bear children. The first child was Minona, a daughter, and the second was also a daughter. The others, all sons, were named Aovi, Abi, Duwo, Kiti, Agbanukwè, and Zose. One day Gbadu confided to Legba that she was troubled because she had not as yet been told what her work was to be. Since Legba alone knew the alphabet of Mawu, he promised his sister Gbadu he would teach her that.
Some time after this, Legba said to Mawu that there was a great War on earth, a great war in the sea, and a great war in the sky, and that, were it not for Gbadu, alt these three kingdoms would Shortly be destroyed, since men did not know how to behave. The water of the sea did not know its place, and the rain did not know how to fall. This was because all those who had been given these kingdoms did not understand the language of their parent. Mawu asked, "What is to be done?" Legba said it would be best to send Gbadu on earth. But Mawu said, "No. Let Gbadu remain here, but let an understanding of my language be given to some men on earth. In that way men will know the future and will know how to behave." Mawu said to Legba to go and find three men to send on earth. Legba went to find three sons of Gbadu to teach the "alphabet" of Mawu to men. Now, before these children of Gbadu went down on earth, Mawu turned over the keys of the future to Gbadu.
It is said that this is a house with sixteen doors, each one corresponding to the eyes of Gbadu. The palm tree on which Gbadu rested was called Fa. So, when Gbadu received the keys, Mawu said that since Legba is the "inspector" of the world, Mawu wishes that Cbadu be the intermediary between the three kingdoms and herself, the parent. When men wished to know their future in order to guide their actions, they should take palm kernels and "play" them at random, and this would open the eyes of Gbadu which correspond to the number that remained, and the order in which they fell. As the kernels opened an eye which corresponded to a door in the house of the future, the destiny of the one for whom the divining was done could be seen. That which each house of the future contained was taught to the three men who were sent on earth.
Now, Mawu assembled Gbadu and Legba and all Gbadu's children, and Duwo, Kiti, and Zosë were chosen to come to earth to teach Fa. They brought palm kernels with them, showing men how to use them. They did their teaching, and told each man what was his sekpoli [destiny]. They said sekpoli is the soul which Mawu gave to all, but before calling this soul, it is Gbadu who opened the eyes to call it. It is always necessary to know the number of eyes Gbadu opened before calling this soul; so that if a man knows the number of lines that Fa has traced for him, he will know his sekpoli. They said no shrines are necessary for the worship of the sekpoli, because the human body itself is its shrine. When the three had finished their teaching, they went back to the sky.
Later Mawu sent all the children of Gbadu on earth. They were Led by Legba, who installed them. When they came, Zosë took the name of Faluwono, "Fa-secret-possessor-of," which Gbadu had given him. Minona became the goddess of women, and abides in the houses of women, where she spins cotton on her spindle. Duwo, who took the name Bokodaho, resides in the houses of Pa, while Kiti stays with Duwo to help Zosê, who is Faluwono, do his work.
Zosê plays the palm kernels. He has only one foot, and in the beginning, when he traced the lines by which he divined, people did not believe him. His brother, Aovi [Mishap], was charged with making people more respectful toward their cult. Today if Fa says something which you do not do, tomorrow he will tell his brother Aovi to punish you. Then at once you will respect Fa.
Pa made a small clay figure of Legba and put this in a little house to one side of the Fa house, called aghanukwè.
Abi was told to play for Minona the role which Aovi plays for Fa. Abi is ashes. He is the one who makes women respect Minona. When a woman cooks and Minona is angry with her, the fire burns her, or her house burns. And it is for this reason that the place where pottery is fired is called Abi, because here the ashes are plentiful.
Little by little people began to understand the new "system," and since Aovi is very severe the cult came to be respected. So the cult of Fa has spread everywhere.
Meanwhile, when Legba was in the sky he slept with Gbadu, and when he came on earth, he did the same with Minona. That continued so. One day, he came on earth to visit the cult of Pa with Gbadu. As was their habit, they shared the sleeping-mat together, but late that night he arose stealthily, disguised himself, and went to Minona. Gbadu awoke, however, and discovered that Legba had deceived her with her own daughter. They quarreled, and both went to the sky to bring the case before Mawu.
Legba did not want to acknowledge that he had slept with mother and daughter. Mawu ordered him to undress. As he stood naked, Mawu saw how his penis was erect and said, "You have lied to me, as you have deceived your sister. And since you have done this, I order that your penis shall always be erect, and that you may never be appeased." To show his indifference to this
punishment, Legba began at once to play with Gbadu before their parent and, when reproached, pointed out that since his organ was always to remain erect, Mawu had herself decreed such conduct for him.
That is why, when Legba dances it is like this, and he tries to take any woman who is at hand.
Gbadu is always in the tree. At night, when she sleeps, her eyes close, and since she cannot open them herself, Legba has been charged by his parent to climb the palm tree every morning to open the eyes of his sister [2]. When Legba climbs the palm tree, he first asks Gbadu which eyes she wishes to have opened, whether those of the back or front, to the left or right.
*Cf. Dahomey, 11, pp. 263-165.
2 The narrator said, "ou bien son frêre." [or good son]
The name was not given. No attempt was made by the narrator to reconcile Minona as the child of Gbadu with Minona as the mother of Mawu and Legba or (as in No. ro), as the sister of Legba and daughter of Agbanukwè.
I.e., it is, therefore, a predestined soul. In this portion of the tale, Pa ceases to be synonymous with Gbadu, but becomes a term for the children of Gbadu,
Monkey can climb, but Tortoise cannot. The two were not friends. Once, during a famine, Monkey found a cornfield where the harvest was fine. But he could not eat the corn, because people always chased monkeys away. So he went to the bokonon ] to ask what to do. Tortoise said, "I am a great diviner, but I do not go out of my house. If you want something, you must come to my house. I am here for the poor, for all those who want to do something. If I were to go with you, you would not feed me, be-cause you know how to climb trees, and I do not." Tortoise did not want to go, but Monkey urged him and urged him until he finally went with him. He took the Fa sack along.
When they reached the field, Monkey began to eat. He told Tortoise to wait a while for him. But he gave Tortoise nothing. So mid-day came and Tortoise had nothing to eat. Good. Then Leopard came to the same place where Tortoise was. He said to Tortoise "I have a sick child at home. I went to your house twice, but I did not find you." Now, Monkey climbed up the tree and was watching them from above. Tortoise told Leopard to come with him Under the tree where Monkey was. "There I will divine for you." When they sat down, he began to divine. He said, "We must find a monkey in order to cure the child."
"Must I find one at once? And where shall I find one?" asked Leopard. Tortoise said, "Oh, that is not hard. You are strong. What I need, you cannot fail to get. I know their ways. What present will you give me if I show you how to find what you need?" He asked for a thousand francs. Leopard gave him the thousand francs. "Look up, above my head," said Tortoise, "and you will see a monkey."
Leopard called to Monkey, "Ah, you are quite close by! You didn't want to come down and hear what was said? You are mocking me, then? Are you bigger than my son? The divination points to you. I need your head and your tail. The rest you can have." Hearing these words, Monkey fled. He said, "I am not here to give you my head and my tail." Good. Monkey ran, and Leopard ran after him. At last Monkey was caught, and Leopard brought him to the diviner. The diviner said, "All right. Bind him." Leopard bound the monkey.
Then the diviner told Leopard to cut off Monkey's head and tail. Then he gave the rest to the diviner to eat. Good. The sick child was cured. That is why, in Dahomey, a person does not deceive his diviner.
The vodun came into the world because of Agadja. The vodun
came from Adja.1 There was a woman who was called Hwandjelè.
She brought all the vodun from Adja. In those days there were no
vcidun. If a woman was pregnant she could bear a goat, and a goat
could give birth to a man.
Ahwandjelè, who came from Adja, sold indigo. She saw many times men behind goats. She saw goats behind women, and she asked who bore these? They said that a woman bore them.
There was a wife of Agadja who was called Naè Adono. The life of Agadja with this woman was not yet happy. After market, Naè came to tell her husband that she saw a woman from Adja in the market who said she knew the sacrifice to make so that men will bear men and goats bear goats.
Agadja sent a man to call Hwandjelè of Adja. Now Hwandjelè was married to a man in Adja, and she had borne him a male child. When this woman heard that Agadja called her, she came to Agadja and she said, "In our village, women give birth to human beings, and animals bear animals. Agadja asked her what they did in their country so that this happened. She said, "In our country we have vodun. You have no vodun here.
Agadja said, "Bring us these vodun, too. She asked him for all that was necessary, and she brought Sagbata, Hevioso, Ogu, Lisa, Dã, Aido-Hwedo, Nesuhwe, Tovodun, Fa, Minona, Boko Legba. She brought all these for Agadja.
Now Agadja asked Naè Hwandjelè to become his wife. Hwandjelè gave birth to a boy called Tegbesu. In those days, just as today we give soldiers to the whites, the Dahomeans gave men to the people of Oyo called ayogban,2 which means the load given to the Ayo. To give those people to the Ayonu, each of the chiefs had to give his own son, as well as many others of his village, and Agadja himself had to give a son, too.
When the boy Tegbesu grew up and the time came to give the men to Ayo, Agadja's wives said to him, "Now you must send
your son Tegbesu. They, too, had Sons but they refused to give theirs. Agadja was angry and said that Tegbesu must not go. Hwandjelè went to see her husband and said that he was to send Tegbesu. She did not want her son to break the kingdom.
Good. Tegbesu then went with the others. When the king of Ayo wanted to send a message to Agadja, he always sent Tegbesu with the message. One day Tegbesu was on his way to give a message to Agadja from the king of Ayo. On the road he met a diviner with the white head of a bull. The bokonon asked him, "Where does this boy whom I always meet on the way come from? The bokonon said, "When you go to see your father, I will go with you. Tegbesu went and told this to his father. His father said, "Go and bring him. He brought the bokonon there. The bokonon's name was Djiso, the second was called Gongon. They both had their Fa. Agadja gave them a place to make Fa.
As Agadj a's death was approaching, he said, "Why is it that you do not like my son Tegbesu? He said this to his other sons and wives. "My life and Dahomey belong to Tegbesu and Fa.
A region of present-day western Dahomey.
~ I.e., tribute.
~ Idiom for "destroy.
surrounded by walls. With the fourth, hammocks appeared and the stools for the needs of a king. He broke the fifth, and he saw many people inside the houses. He broke the sixth, and he saw horses appear. He mounted a horse. He broke the seventh and he found Fa and Legba. Now he became king. These were the men themselves, Fa and Legba, and not just the things for worshipping them.
But Kakpo did not give to Loko the ox which he had promised him.
Now Loko changes into a man. He is wearing a raffia cloth,3 and he comes to this man to ask him for a drink of water. He found the Minga of this man who had become king. Loko asked for the master. The Minga said, "Get out of here. What kind of man is this who wears a raffia cloth?
Good. Now Loko went away. He came back a second time. The Minga beat him, beat him with a whip. He went away. And now he came back for the third time. The villagers were busy cultivating for the chief. They beat him again. Now, Loko began to sing a song,
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