Kola nutPalm oilCoconutRoosterSmoked fishThe first portion
Invocation Approach
Tone
Quick and exact
Address
EshuElegbaraLaroye
Relationship
The one who must be saluted first
Warning
He takes his share and he does not ask twice
Resonance
Those at a crossroads those beginning anything
Symbols
CrossroadsOgo staffCowrie shellsThe stoneThe door
Mythology Summary
Eshu-Elegbara is the orisha of the crossroads, the messenger of Olodumare and the keeper of ashe, the power that makes a thing happen. He carries the ebo (offering) that a divination prescribes, and every rite salutes him first because he holds the opening; the Ifa odu and the oriki carry him. He is not Satan: the equation is a missionary and colonial misreading, and the Fon/Dahomey Legba is a cognate figure, not the same deity. In the Americas he becomes Elegua in Cuba (the child at the door, St Anthony of Padua) and Exu in Brazil, and the diaspora forms have their own emphases.
Modern Practice
Eshu is saluted first with a small offering at the door or the crossroads, and his practice is the opening done properly: the first portion, the ebo carried, the greeting before anything else. In Cuba the Elegua is received as a warrior and kept by the door; in Brazil the Exu is a separate line with its own houses. The offering is the first portion, not the last.