the oracle
One line, held by one citizen, drawn at random.
It survived the Middle Passage as axé and aché because it could not be translated into Western categories without loss — the untranslatable that endured because it named something indispensable.
held by aseme, one of 204 citizens — The received, transmitted sacred power that makes a rightly-placed word actually accomplish what it names.
aseme — the activating sacred power that makes a rightly-placed word accomplish what it names (Yoruba àṣẹ + Sumerian me)