Ashe (Axe)
Author: Ben Chelero
Ashe (Axe) is a unique concept fundamental to all African cultures. It has many names, but most widely mentioned in capoeira. We cannot explain in detail what is Ashe, as it is an irrational concept, while at the same time real. It takes time to comprehend and to interact with it.
Exploring what Ashe is, we might better understand the African philosophy, the main particularity of which is irrational thinking. The ability to think irrationally allows you to interact with a different forms of consciousness, which gives a particular way of perceiving things around. Trough comprehension and working with Ashe, we may encounter powerful force that can materialize itself into various forms and shapes.
Ashe is the energy contained in multiple surrounding worlds, from plants and minerals to the planetary level. It transmits itself through the energy of food, jewelry, clothes, masks, musical instruments we play, songs, as well as various forms of worship and practices, which all give a person an initiation and mystical experience through his connection to this power. The experience of Ashe requires a certain ceremonialism and amount of faith, while it not a religious concept.
Exploration of Ashe leads us to tactile perception and awareness of the irrational. Ashe carries a deep meaning and is expressed through symbolism. It can be represented in the form of a cone, crown, personifying the higher forces of space.
A person fighting against the forces for his freedom or prevent him from developing is one of the most useful and practical actions behind the concept of Ashe. This is comparable to the contest of life and death. Ashe is a game, a competition that has shaped many ceremonial acts. Today capoeira is the most famous example of that.
The energy of Axe is still present in various cultures under different names and images thanks to the Yoruba tradition that preserved it till now. They described a relationship between human and higher levels of existence in the forms of Orishas, which are all different expressions of Ashe.
Only by knowing the nature of Ashe you can see the nature of space, the nature of Orishas. This force is not a spatial or visual character but is connected with the internal sound, experienced through the rhythm. And if we try to introduce the concept of God in African traditions, it will have rhythmic characteristics. And the accepted names of different gods are representing different kinds and frequencies of rhythms.
There is an old legend in Yoruba tradition about Ashe. Once upon a time, the world of the earth Ae (Aue) and the world of heaven Orun (Oryn) were interconnected, and people moved between worlds. But then it became a separated, and one world turned to the sky, and the other to the earth. And today, Ashe is the main connecting link of all worlds.
