Information on Papa Legba

Papa Legba,Attibon Legba



Papa Legba on of the most well known spirits of Haitian Vodou and also one of the most misunderstood spirit.
The reason I decided to make this article is because I see people ask for infirmation on Legba here I will put correct information because I see allot of misconceptions and misinformation about this wonderful Lwa.
Who is Legba ? You ask
Well Legba most commonly referred as "Attibon Legba" which means good old Legba.
He is the second Lwa to be called in a ceremony he is served with yellow and purple in some houses but this is not common brown and purple some brown and white.
Legba is NOT served with black and red this is highly disrespectful to a Rada Lwa as a general rule is that Rada Lwas are not served with black or red this is the color of Petwo,Nago and Guede.
Legba is often mistaken as a aspect of Met Kalfou or the other way around which is entirely false Legba is NOT a aspect of Kalfou because Kalfou has no aspect in Rada he is too hot of a spirit.
The Petwo Legba is Legba-Nan-Petwo now he is served with white and red not red and black.
Petwo Legba is often seen as a younger version of Legba and given foods which often contains pepper.
Legba is also often mistaken as a spirit of crossroads which is also false because the crossroads are Kalfou literally.
Legba is connected to doors and some say gates but mainly door after all he open the door to every rite in ceremonies.
Legba is a old man and is often given a cane,a good corncob pipe,tobacco and a Djakout (straw bag).
Some people say that Legbas altar needs to be on the floor I completely disagree after all Legba is a old man and he is not a snake for his altar to be on the ground.
Legba is given Vodka,Coffee,peanuts,candy,chicken and more.
The Saint that is used to represent Legba is most common Saint Lazarus.
Altars to Legba is often kept appart of the other Lwas and is often put by the door.
In ceremonies Legba is the guardian of the Pateu Mittan.
Papa Legba is the Lwa that is served when one does not know ones Eskort (spiritual court) because Legba is with everyone.
Even though Legba is a old man he is always on the move so dont panic if he doesnt show himself right away he is just a very busy man.
Legba has a wife she is a rather obscure Lwa named Adjessi.
He can help with many things like clearing your path.

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Papa legba is the crossroads, personified.Papa Legba is the first spirit called in all houses of Vodou across the board. He is definately the most quickest probably to help, he is never too busy as you claim. He did a favor for God and he got more ashe or energy than the other lwa. This is why he is important and called FIRST. He can mutiply because of this gift from God.

Attibon Legba is a certain "path" or "aspect" of Papa Legba. But not Papa Legba himself.

Offerings are more like Rum, not Vodka. I am pretty sure they do not have that in Haiti to begin with.

Legba-nan-Petro, is Kalfou and he and Legba are associated with crossroads. The different sides of a coin but the same crossroads.

For the Guede, black and purple are their colors. Not black and red.

Papa legba does not recieve offerings of djakout nor does he carry one this website proves my statement. It belongs to Kouzen Azaka, the farmer.

http://www.kiwimojo.com/kouzenazaka.htm (this link tells you about"Djakout" and Azaka)

"Adjessi" or whatever you made up is not coming up in a google search, I never known papa legba to have a wife. Reason why you said "obscure" because she never existed....

There is so many mistakes in this article it is too time consuming to point them all out, Kenaz Filan has some great books. I would buy them from online like Amazon.

Legba is not the crossroads personified Met Kalfou is the crossroads literally.

Gran Chimen is the first Lwa to be called in ceremony then Legba as Gran Chimen is the great road on which the Lwas walk on into ceremonies.

Legba is a busy man after all he is called all the time which he goes from Hounfor to Hounfor which means he is always moving.

offerings to Legba are Vodka he also takes rum there is no such thing as Ashe in Vodou we have Fos which is spiritual heat or power.

Legba-Nan-Petwo is not associated with the crossroads he opens the door to the Petwo rites Legba does get a Djakout in Haiti.

As a non-initiate that is taught Vodou by my Houngan I provide these Vodou articles to help spread good information and not misinformation I go over my articles over and over and see of the information is correct I dont find Kenaz Filan has good books on Haitian Vodou books.

A really good book on Vodou is Moma Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn and I also heard Divine Horsemen:The Voodoo Gods of Haiti by Maya Darren I heard is a good book.

Adjessi is the wife of Legba the reason why I say she is obscure is because she is a rare Lwa that is not served often only those who she is with and not much is known about her As for other Lwas that are not really served like because they are not common like: Le Don,Le Blanc,Zile,Dereyale and many many more.

If you want more information on Legba here is one of the best articles I have come accross on Legba: http://www.kiwimojo.com/papalegba.htm Which explains on Legba,his djakout his offerings and so on.

http://www.vodouroots.com/lwa.html

Papa legba is listed first.....in the rada list on this website.

http://www.kiwimojo.com/papalegba.htm

Your own listed website says Legba is first yet again....

I lost all faith in humanity today, thank you "Vodouisant". This is a botched article at best.

YOU SAID YOURSELF "Legba is connected to doors and some say gates but mainly door after all he open the door to every rite in ceremonies." HE IS THE FIRST.

Please don't talk about Vodou if you aren't well read up. It confuses people that have not even gotten the chance to learn about the lwa and the religion.

Gran Chimen IS LEGBA it is a so called praise name. This website says so.

http://www.vodouroots.com/lwa.html

And this so called Papa legbas wife. If they were important they would at least be in a book or mentioned on the internet with a click of a button. Kenaz Filan's books are great for the English speaking person.

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."
- Stephen King

If you are not a Mambo or has any spiritual parent in Vodou or a house teaches you.

I do recommend find one and go to their ceremonies to see how the Reglemen is.

As I said time and time again Legba is second in CEREMONIES Vodou has a reglemen in which all spirits are called in certain order.

Gran Chimen is the road to the Door of Ginen which Legba opens so that the Lwas can come into the Ceremonies.

May I point out I am well read and I do recommend you seek out a Mambo or Houngan with a good reputation to ask these kind of questions about Ceremonies and such.

Adjessi is not a common Lwa so you wont find anything on her online just like you wont find anything on Mainze Marie or other Lwas that are not common.

The only place you will find anything about her is by a Houngan or Mambo.

By calling my article "Botched" is by calling my House botched and the knowledge that is passed to me "Botched" which I find disrespectful.

By "reading" online articles you will find out very little by going to a Mambo or Houngan you will find out more than what is online.

Sim, remember that typing words in capital letters is a violation of the rules of this site. Please keep this in mind or future postings may well be deleted.

Looking at these replies, the most common point I see is "this website says so" or "this one says this, so it must be right!". I am sad to inform you that guiding yourselves by the internet when it comes to Vodou you will not get very far. Vodou is a religion learned in community rather than through some website on the internet, I'd also like to remind you that different communities may do things differently.

If you are looking to learn about Vodou, please do not guide yourselves by websites or things on the internet; the best thing to do is find a Houngan or a Mambo(who are deemed to be legitamate, don't just go for the first person to cross your path). Many Vodouisants are solitary, however you must start somewhere and that place should not be any website that says they know Vodou.