The Lord of the Third Gourd

Once, Exu was challenged to choose between two gourds for a trip to the market. One gourd contained goodness, while the other held evil. One represented medicine, and the other, poison. One was associated with the body, and the other with the spirit. One was what is visible, while the other was the unseen. One was spoken word, and the other represented what would never be said.

Exu immediately asked for a third gourd. He opened all three and mixed the contents of the first two into the third gourd. He shook it well. From that day on, medicine could also be poison, and poison could cure; good could transform into evil, and the soul could inhabit the body. The visible could become invisible, the unseen could manifest as presence, the spoken word could remain unvoiced, and the unsaid could deliver powerful speeches.

Thus, Exu became Igbá Ketá: Lord of the Third Gourd. It is with this gourd that he walks among humans in the world. From time to time, Exu takes a little powder from the gourd, blows it among men and women, and continually challenges us to bravely navigate, like the three-colored coral snake, through the devastated and uncertain depths of the world. As a result, we become ambiguous, fluid, both remedy and poison, always in transformation and ever perfect.