Just an honoring of Legba, whom I love!

Here's something I wrote about him to explain him to someone who mistakenly thought he was "the devil." I hope I did him honor:

Legba is the name of one of the main Loa (or Lwa)
of the African-American spiritual pantheon.
(I understand a Loa as not exactly a "deity,"
but more an embodiment of an archetype from the
collective consciousness. A Loa can also be an
ancestor who is especially honored and remembered,
and contacted frequently in the present generation
for advice and guidance and teachings.)

Legba is one of the principal and most revered
Loa. Back in Africa (West Africa, most likely
Dahomey...tribally, the Mahis, the Amines, the Adjas,
the Foulas, the Sousous, the Haousas), he was
known as Elegba (or Alegba), a great solar and phallic deity.
He was shown young and strong! (In Dahomey, even
today, the image of Alegba, made of clay, stands or
sits before the entrance to many villages. Sometimes
the image is nothing more than a mound or column
of earth, symbolic in its "rise.") Elegba is life,
uncontained and rising toward the sun.

In the Americas, however, he has become an old man
who uses a crutch. Yet he is still powerful. He
is saluted before any of the other Loa are saluted.
He is the one who connects the inner world with
the outer world. One could also say he is a messenger
between humans and the powers of Nature. He is called
"The Opener of the Way" and has been associated with
St. Peter, because he holds the "keys to the kingdom."
He is also a linguist and a master of language...which is
another kind of "key." And coincidently, he holds
the keys to the musical language, too.

He is the guardian of the gate, the crossroads,
and the highway. He is a divine trickster who is
both feared and loved. His "mischief" is often
in the realm of sex, and indeed, his sexual prowess
is legendary. In Louisiana, he is known as
"Papa Lebat." Perhaps that stick he carries that
helps him to walk is symbolic of the power to make
magic, with his "wand"--and that "wand" can be
a sexual or a musical instrument!

Since the white slave-owners felt that the original
spiritual beliefs of their black slaves were
"of the devil," they referred to Legba as the Devil.
The blacks were made to also refer to him as the
Devil, but they continued to see in him aspects
of goodness. (If you would like to read my essay
about the Sacred Clown and the Trickster in spirituality,
please ask me and I will send it to you.)

One of the aspects of goodness of Legba was that
of helping the slaves to survive. As Luisah Teish
writes in her book "Jambalaya,"

"Because they were under constant surveillance
by the overseer, the master, and a hostile government,
the art of deception became a virtue and magical works
came to be called 'tricks.'

"'Turning the trick' must be understood in its own context.
The African God Elegba was always an important energizing
force. All magic began and ended with him. As messenger
of the gods, he could be enticed .... to alter the course
of fate by delivering a message different from the original
one sent. In the African view, trickery had been used
in procuring the slaves; therefore trickery was necessary
to survive.

"There are many things about nature and human nature that
defy the rigors of Western logic. We do not know what fire
and electricity are, really. Yet we know that they work
and we learn more about them only by using their power.
Fire is one of nature's tricks. And even those things
we are beginning to comprehend, such as the powers of the
subconscious mind, still refuse to be reduced to test-
tube operations. Our minds are a trick of nature.

"Until recently, African religions have been described
by people who sought to suppress their practice. Because
the African perspective on life, nature, and worship are
in conflict with the rigidity of Christianity and the
materialistic-mechanistic world view, false images have
been fostered and nonapplicable concepts have been imposed
on the African point of view. As a result, this tradition
is often seen as a random collection of foolish super-
stitions and 'devil worship.'

"Just as Jung has given another meaning to the word
'coincidence' by discussing the concept of synchronicity,
it is time the word 'superstition' was redefined.

"After examining the 'superstitions' of the black U.S.
South in the light of African magic, I now define 'superstition'
as a belief or practice whose origin and context has been
lost to us and/or is in conflict with the beliefs of
the dominating culture.

"Christianity usually views the world as a battle
between differing and hostile forces. All good is posited
in God, and all evil in the devil. THE AFRICANS HAD
NO DEVIL."

You can see some depictions of Legba in the movie
"Crossroads" and also see a healing ritual done for Legba
to "open the way" in the movie by Talking Head's
David Byrne, called "True Stories."