Elegua is the orisha who opens and closes all paths to humanity. He is the one who divides heaven and earth. Travel between heaven and earth letting Olofi and Olodumare know what happens in this kingdom. Elegua is an Orisha girl in some ways who loves to do tricks and tests the man’s faith. He walks between day and night in search of humanity to test his faith in the great Olofi and the orishas. It is said that there are 121 roads from Elegua. It ranges from a small child to a very knowledgeable old man. There is also an Elegua path where the essence is that of a woman. On more than half of Elegua’s roads, he is a little boy who sits on street corners, mountain tops, seashores, hospital entrances, cemetery gates, etc. It has many names such as Elegba, Elegbara, Legba, Eshu or Exu. Elegua is seen all over the world. From continent to continent the presence of Elegua is felt, praised and heard. An inseparable friend of Ogun and Ochosi that the trio makes up the first group of orishas from “Los Guerreros” to receive in Santeria. Elegua is anyone and everywhere.
Elegua is the guardian of the dead as well since through him he opens the door for the deceased to walk until they reach Olofi where they will rest. On this path it is called Eshu Alagwana. In other religions or beliefs you can associate it with the Egyptian god of the dead Osiris, who leads the dead through the underworld.
Elegua is the one that makes you play at your own risk. In that I mean, he is the one who if you are stuck at a crossroads and you don’t know which way to go, he is the one who tests you and watches you make a decision. If you make the wrong decision, Elegua will open the door for you with her garavato (hook stick made from the guava tree) so that you pay your consequence. As you pay for your mistakes, he tests you again to see if you will continue to do it wrong or take the right path. If you are successful and take the right path, you will open the door to happiness and fortune. If you have heard of a maze, you can associate it with Elegua. Our lives are formed in labyrinths to see which way we follow. Elegua is the guardian who sits around every corner and round the labyrinth. If you make a wrong move, you will lead the way to the wrong result. If you take the right path, he will open the path you are looking for.
Elegua knows it and sees everything. There is nothing that Elegua does not know. He is the messenger of Olodumare and Olofi, along with the orishas. Which means that it is he who carries the messages of humanity to the orishas and the messages of the orishas to Olofi. That is why he is the first and last orisha who is praised in all the ceremonies that take place in Santeria.
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