Esa Lalé
c.1888 to c.1925
Traditional religionist
Ethiopia
The prophet Esa was born to the Golla Malla clan in Zara, Gamo, in Ethiopia
about 1888. He launched his popular ministry around 1920 in his home
community of Zara near Chencha and his influence spread to Gamo, Kucha
Boroda, Gofa and Wolaitta.
Whether he received his inspiration for his messages through divine dreams
or through contact with the Orthodox Church is unknown. He gathered his
followers in fields and market places to preach a three-fold message:
Firstly, the people were to worship creator God, Tosa. The head of the
house was to take pure white honey early Sunday morning and, with his
family standing behind him, face east. He was to dip his fingers into the
honey, flick it towards the sky and say three times, "You are the creator
of all, Tosa, have mercy upon us. We offer this which is the best we have
to you." Objects of divination were to be destroyed.
Secondly, an adaptation of rituals was urged wherein family prayers were offered to Tosa
instead of offering oblations to ancestral spirits at the center pole of
the house.
Thirdly, Esa stirred up social consciousness and ethical sensibilities.
In 1924, Esa was arrested at his Zara home by the provincial governor of
Chencha and escorted by armed soldiers to Addis Ababa where he died in
prison.
Esa was a substantial influence in southern Ethiopia as both pre-Christian
prophet and providential precursor of Christianity.
Lila Balisky
Bibliography:
Balisky, E. Paul, 1997, "Wolaitta Evangelists: A Study of Religious Innovation in Southern Ethiopia, 1937-1975," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1997), 115-132.
Singleton, Michael , 1978, "Asa - Pagan Prophet or Providential Precursor?", Afer, Vol.II, 82-89.
This article, received in 2002, was compiled by Paul and Lila Balisky,
missionaries with SIM International in Addis Ababa and members of the DACB
Advisory Council.
