Score #17: Who protect the waters near you?
Logun Ede is the orisha, a divine spirit, of wealth and abundance, and the son of Oxum, the goddess of fresh water, and Oxossi, the god of hunting and forests. A skilled hunter, Logun Edé brings together the domains of Oxossi and Oxum, the beauty and abundance of the waters and forests. Oxum had a great passion in her life: Oxossi. However, as she was married to Ogum, she could not give herself over to her great love. One day, Ogum had to leave for a battle. Oxum then met Oxossi and she became pregnant. Nine months later, when her child was about to be born, Ogum sent a message that he would soon return. Oxum gave birth to a boy, but Ogum could not see him. Oxum left the child on top of a lily flower. Iansã, the goddess of wind and lightning, found the boy and it was up to her to raise him, teaching him to hunt and fish. As he grew, Logun Edé often went out hunting. Once, from the top of a waterfall, he saw a beautiful woman. Enchanted by such rare beauty, Logun Edé hid and began to observe her. Oxum was admiring herself in a small mirror, through which she saw a man looking at her. She turned the mirror towards him, who, at that moment, fell into the water in the form of a seahorse. Learning of the fact, Iansã ran after Oxum and told her that the boy she had bewitched was in fact her son, Logun Edé, whom she had once abandoned on top of a lily flower. Oxum undid the enchantment and declared that from that day on Logun Edé would live six months in the water, eating fish (eja), and six months on land, eating game (eran). Logun Edé is an orisha (divine spirit) of contradictions. In him opposites alternate; he is the god of surprise and the unexpected.
Logun Edé is an orisha of the African Yoruba culture, brought to Brazil by the slave traffic in the 16th century. It is an afro-brazilian entity for the protection of rivers and forests.
Score and text (from the book Candomblé – a panela do segredo – Pai Cido de Osun Eyin) by Kidauane Regina Alves, living in São Vicente, São Paulo – Brazil.
Clay sculpture by Alexandra Neuman, living in New York, USA.