The African Vodún Concept of the Sɛ and Sɛgbo

The 𞤅𞤯 Sɛ and 𞤅𞤯𞤩𞤮 Sɛgbo

As long as I've been in this culture, I'm still fascinated with the profundity of it and the thinking of our ancestors. One example is in the terms 𞤅𞤯 Sɛ and 𞤅𞤯𞤩𞤮 Sɛgbo. 

Sɛ is the general 𞤀𞤶𞤢𞥇 Ajã word/concept for the soul, the essence of a person; that which makes us human and have that direct divine spark. In fact, in Vodún, it is said the sɛ is made of a mystical fire. It is that soul fire that we as Afrikans put into our music, good, walk, talk, dance, kwk. 

The word Sɛgbo is from the Ajã 𞤧𞤯 sɛ, the soul + 𞤩𞤮 gbo, greatest, biggest. Sɛgbo is the gender-neutral term used for the Creator of all worlds. Sɛgbo

So, we see in the word, or title Sɛgbo, the spiritual concept that each individual has a sɛ but it only exists as it relates to the Big Sɛ, which is it's Creator and Owner. Sɛgbo is often used interchangeably with 𞤃𞤢𞥇𞤱𞤵𞥊 𞤂𞤭𞤧𞤢 Măwù Lisa (the balanced combination of the feminine and masculine of the Creator) or simply 𞤃𞤢𞥇𞤱𞤵𞥊 Măwù by itself. 

At its core, Vodún is spiritual striving, through persistent contemplation, to attain True Knowledge of Sɛgbo. The student of Vodún studies the sciences, not as pseudo theories, but as devotion of sorts to Măwù/Sɛgbo — because they reveal a perfectly ordered universe. This timeless wisdom of our ancestors is why you always see me use the term spiritual science.