Elegua
The trickster, messenger Orisha who sits at the crossroads.
Agó Laroyé!
There’s no Orisha more ubiquitous than the mischievous trickster Eleguá! Eleguá is the messenger between worlds - it is through Eleguá that we are able to communication with the Orisha and Egún. He carries our prayers and offerings, but only if properly appeased. For this reason, Eleguá is the first Orisha we call in ceremonies, the first we feed, and often the first we receive.
In Lucumí, Elegua is commonly received in the form of a concrete head with cowries for eyes and mouth, as a sacred stone, or packed inside a conch shell. He lives behind the door to the home, guarding it alongside his fellow Warriors Ogun and Ochossi. To this Orisha of luck and chance, we say “Agó Eleguá” as we ask him to open all the good doors to us and keep all the bad ones closed.
Often pictured as a mischievous child, Eleguá walks many roads, just as often manifesting as an old man. From the trash heap to the crossroads, there is an Eleguá everywhere! And because he is everywhere, even at the very beginning of creation, it is Eleguá whom we ask for advice through the sacred divination system called diloggún.
Painting: Elegba at the Crossroads by Karmella Haynes.
Caretaker of children and small animals, this sometimes wily Orisha is our constant companion as we walk the roads of life.
In one well-known patakí, Eleguá’s sense of humour comes through most clearly. There were two farmers who lived across the road from each other but never got along. One day, they both looked up from their work to see a strangely dressed man coming down the road. After he passed, one of the farmers said, “What a strange man! He wore all black and a red cap!” The other farmer said, “No, you’ve got it mixed up. He was wearing all red with a black cap.”
Later that day, the same man came back. And to the first farmer’s amazement, now he was wearing all red with a black cap! But the second farmer called out “I guess you’re right, he is wearing all black with a red cap!” The two farmers began to bicker, eventually getting heated. “Fine,” one shouted, “we’ll settle this when he comes back again!”
Sure enough, soon the strangely dress man came back, but this time the first farmer saw a man all in black again with a red cap, and the second farmer? All red with a black cap! The two farmers started arguing, and they ran towards each other, sure to come to blows! Just as they reached each other, the man came back laughing and the two farmers were embarrassed to see that they were both right and both wrong: he was wearing all black on one side and all red on the other, with his hat split in opposite colours!
Maferefun Eleguá!