Papa Legba

Hello everyone!

I have been working with Papa Legba based on my own research about him from his different aspects for the last three weeks. I understand that for me to contact the Lwa, I must please him first. I feel like something is missing.

I wanted to get some idea on how Voodoo honors Papa Legba. It's hard for me to google information that I feel will suffice with proper way to honor him, symbols, his taboos, and ritual placement or 'activation'. Since Voodoo is more of a oral tradition and not much is written down, not a lot comes up on web searches.
Please forgive my ignorance on the subject; I am of Wiccan and Native American training.

Thank you for your help,
Temperance :)

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Permalink Reply by Botanica Congo on February 20, 2008 at 1:10pm: well heres some Offerings you can give : Grilled or smoked chicken, goat, sweet potatoes, white yams, bananas, any fresh fruit, black coffee (strong with no sugar). He likes pipes with tobacco, but I have also given him a really good cigar, and that seems to please him as well. I have a djakout I bought in Haiti hanging over his altar, with his pipe, his tobacco and a bottle of rum in it, for him when he arrives. I have read where he also likes mottled roosters, smoked fish, cassava, kleren candy, guava, beans (white or red) and rice. In his Petro aspect he is given peppered rum and foods peppered or with Tabasco sauce, cayenne peppers. NOTE: All of Legba's meats should be smoked on a grill if possible.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Botanica Congo on February 20, 2008 at 5:19pm: unless you have been initiated i say stay away form that u dont need to be doing of that stuff plus u have to watch it down many time before you can attempt your self so it is done the right way; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Houngan Matt on April 17, 2009 at 8:53pm: Woooahhoooo..... careful; 2 things... NEVER GIVE THE LWA YOUR OWN BLOOD!!!! nevernevernever... its an invitation for them to treat YOU as the sacrifice and consume your life energy. BADBADBADBAD. ;-)

Second; there isnt a Yemaja in Vodou; she's Santeria... its important to keep the two traditions seperate. Talk to Vodou clergy about servig La Sirene, but you want to talk to Santeras/Santeros/Babalwos about serving Yemaja, she's a very different "force" than La Sirene and is served in a slightly different manner. Just like you wouldnt call up Persephone by name in an entirely Welsh flavoured Wiccan rite, its important to keep the various powers of the Caribbean religions separate and distinct.... the Spirits DO NOT fall under the 'all gods are one god, all goddesses one goddess' "rule" of neopagan ecclectic Wicca; just like the Traditional Wiccan covens and hierarchies keep their powers as tribal and distinct, so too our Spirits are -distinct- entities in their own right.... think of them like intelligences without bodies, kinda like boddisatvas are for the buddists only with different concerns than speeding up enlightenment. They are distinct individuals (and we'll even say for the very image of La Sirene that may appear to you there are at least 6 others standing behind her with differences and variations you'll only learn by exploration and patient work)

Also... a common and beloved offering to Papa Legba (the Rada one you'll most commonly be coming into contact with as you begin your journey into Vodou) is something called Mais Grille (or Mayi Griye in more correct Kreyol), which is just dried corn kernels quickly toasted in a skillet until some of them begin to brown.

NOTE: The Spirits should NOT be given foods or offerings that havent cooled to room temperature; heat and coolness are vital aspects of working with the Lwa, and offerings placed on their altars should be cool to the touch. Also note that for Rada spirits there should ALWAYS be fresh cool water available. ;-); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Azraelwitch on April 18, 2009 at 2:31pm: Thank you Matthew for your response to this I learned something! Danke!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rachal on April 20, 2009 at 1:21am: Matthew when you say corn kernals please define this from popcorn kernals for me.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Houngan Matt on August 23, 2009 at 10:42pm: Oh! Im sorry, didnt mean to skip that part... you can use popcorn kernels, but you have to toast them in a pan first without popping them... just scorch them up a little. It makes a haitian dish called Mayi Griye (grilled corn, that's all); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Houngan Matt on April 19, 2009 at 9:07pm: Not a prob. ;) Papa Legba is practically the easiest Spirit to serve, he'll be totally happy if you keep him in your thoughts and maybe from time to time give him a cup of coffee. (I live in a pretty busy city so I'll buy him one every so often when Im getting one for me and place it at a busy intersection while saying something like "hey Papa! here's a cup o' coffee to warm your bones!"; since he's the owner of the crossroads and the place where the material world touches the spirit world, crossroads are a terrific place to put quick offerings to him.)

Keep Papa happy... or he wont let you communicate with the other Lwa; he's the doorway through which your offerings to them are transmitted and through which they come to talk to you (and there are many Legbas... every nation of Lwa has one) Kinda like a bouncer at the hottest nightclubs... keep him happy and you'll be on the guest list or he'll sneak you in; piss him off and there's no way you're ever gonna see that hot new band play. Legba is a trickster figure, too.. he likes riddles, he likes twisting logic, and he likes a whole lot of things that make you scratch your head wondering what the ol' man's up to; he's one of two spirits we say that everybody "has" (meaning has ready access to without needing "proper introductions" like you do if you want to talk to lwa who dont walk with you) Everyone has a Legba, and everyone has at least one Ghede (the Lwa of the dead); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rachal on April 20, 2009 at 1:24am: matthew I have to say I have a lot to learn here. Often coming from different backro9unds I wont be able to identify certain foods that Papa legba likes my the name of the food. I have found before that they are sometimes called different names in different regions of the world. So I amy need to ask a few questions.
Also about altars - inside the house or outside? which is best. I recently had mine inside but ended up putting it outside for the last few days - I feel good about that - any preference?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tabitha on May 9, 2009 at 8:54am: He Likes to be in closets behing a door. Cigars that are flavored , rum and candy are some of his favorites.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tabitha on May 9, 2009 at 9:00am: There are different aspects of Yemeya ( Olokon) LaSiren , but she is a tripple goddess as well. With Oya, and Oshun . Oya would be La Ezurile Danto or Mamma Brigette, La Ezurile Freda Would be Oshun.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Awo Abayemi on May 11, 2009 at 2:29am: Matthew, good writting.

I would like to say that Papa Legba seems to me as written by Botanica Congo to be a similar aspect of Elegua known to the Lukumi from the diaspora.

In the Yoruba pantheon Esu would characterize all of these you mention as he has many different paths and names of praise such as Alagbara confused with Elegbara which means powerful one because of imense power of this Orisa.

In the Yoruba faith one can receive Esu and receive limited training and should also receive incision or medicine rubbed into the skin to protect the devotee from any negative influence etc.

Esu lives outside and never in ones home because his energy is too strong to keep in doors.

The Vodun people in Fa also have forms of Esu as practiced in Benin and what many people do not know is that Fa or Vodun and Ifa and the Orisa are the same but with different names and different worship today because of region difference and information reserved from ones ancestors but they really are very similar.

If one would like to develop or please Esu one may receive him.

Ire O

Awo Abayemi; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Houngan Matt on May 20, 2009 at 12:35am: There's a great deal of similarity between our two paths and some shared names, but quite a bit of difference too... most of Vodou comes from the Fon people, where most of Santeria/Lukumi comes from the Yoruba (there's some overlap, and we both got different parts of Congo practice as well); ▶ Reply to This