The pathway to sensual liberation is feeling comfortable in your own skin, comfortable enough to express and access power through your physical form, comfortable enough with your own nakedness. Oshun revels in the feel of Her body. She is fluid, like water; she loves to swim, dance, writhe naked and bathe naked. She’s fond of finer things and nice jewelry and loves the feeling of jewelry jangling on Her body. Oshun gets turned on by Her own image and loves to gaze at herself in the mirror. It is said She wears a mirror on Her belt so She can admire herself! If you are daring enough to explore your own body with the intention to love and appreciate it, let Oshun be your guide.
http://shawnacohen.tripod.com/thetribaltraditions/id63.html
This is my all time favorite performance of Erykah's. She is a child of Oshun, meaning Oshun is the orisha that rules her head, whom she shares attributes with, and whose mysteries she would learn if she were crowned/initiated....She seems to really channel the Oshun energy here, even a couple of times seeming to have Oshun descend upon her (watch for her holding her head and semi-grimacing: that ain't just a headache)
Here, this song seems to me to describe a woman without boundaries, the Sacred Harlot. The panties she lacks seems a euphamism for the inhibitions she lacks or the need to circumcise her sexuality in the face of propriety: she even exposes herself/unleashes her sacred sexuality in the church, in front of the repressive patriarchy that would have her bound. And her line "fellas if ya can't afford it, I think ya need to videotape record it" reminds me of Beyonce's "video phone" where she puts herself on display as the Image of the sex goddess for those who are not divine enough to really tangibly claim her and therefore would only desecrate her in their ignorance (i.e. "if you want to feel me, better be divine" in Erykah's "Kiss me" above)
Here Beyonce is channeling Oshun and Josephine Baker who, i feel, would have been a child of Oshun but more probably the Vodoun Erzulie Freda for reasons and specifics I won't go into here...notice the golds/yellows, Oshun's signature colors, the wild dancing indicative of Oshun and the coy, laughing sensuality
personally, I feel the Destiny's Child "Fulfilled" album/tour days and the B'Day album/tour era was the last time Beyonce was REAL. I feel she was much more human, warmer, still fake and ruthless and brainwashed but you could definietely see and feel more emanating from her, especially in her live performances. Nowadays it seems she's further descended into Luciferian realms and is totally soul-less and truly robotic as she continuously reminds us in her videos. But in B'day, I really felt Oshun's energy coming through, the African force whereas nowadays Beyonce seems much more dead and dry and a more "white" caricature of herself.
Notice during this medley, she endters dressed in all white, like a true santera or even an initiate. She ascends the pyramidal platform amidst the African drums as the Queen Bee she is (or Queen of the Bees, Oshun) with her followers/devotees. The song's choreography is indicative of a sexual ritual/orgy and you can see the Spirit feeding off of the increasingly hot energy from the dancers, beyonce herself, and the fans. You can see her getting "more into it" or "more Sasha coming out"...I always equated Sasha with Oshun anyway, before she gave it a last name and manufactured and caricatured it to where it is a soul-less mime of grotesque sexualkity now where it was before, during these days, more organic and joyfully teasing as Oshun does...
Now, Oshun has fully descended it would seem as she leaves her white garmet and bursts out in the gold of Oshun, covered, it seems, in the golden honey that is in the myths the metaphor for Oshun's sexuality as we see her glistening with sweat, glowing skin, and the honey-gold of her outift...notice at the end she says "ladies, get 'em" and the background dancers, her followers, then enact highly sexual solo dances of their own, much like the followers whose souls she takes in the Sasha Fierce and Demon Possession series on youtube and OrangeMoon's series concluding the same....
No comments:
Post a Comment