Offerings:
Pipe tobacco, rum, three pennies, bones at a crossroads, a walking stick, Legba's image.
Litany:
Pour Legba, qui garde la porte. Dieu le soleil, la rayonnement de la creation, pere et patron. Mystere des carrefours, source de communication entre le visible et l'invisible. Legba, phallus cosmique, poteau-mitan qui s'etire du soleil a la racine. Acceptez nos offrandes. Entrez dans nos coeurs, dans nos bras, dans nos jambes. Entrez ici. Dansez avec nous.
Kreyol:
Pou Legba, gadien pot Lwa soley. Papa ak patron. Miste kafou, sous relasion visib ak envisib. Poto Mitan ki monte jis nan sie-la. Aksepte ofran'n nou. Antre nan ke nou, nan bra nou, nan jam'm nou. Antre vin'n danse avek nou.
Translation:
For Legba, who guards the door. God the solar Father, the radiance of creation, Father and patron. Mystery of the crossroads, source of communication between the visible and the invisible, the center post which stretches from the sun to the root. Accept our offering. Enter into our hearts, our arms, our legs. Enter and dance with us.
Traditional:
The guardian of the crossroads, Legba opens the door that divides the spiritual and physical worlds. Legba is called on first in a Vodou ceremony to allow the other spirits to pass through his door. He is old and lame from traveling through the world with his children. Legba is seen as a benevolent father figure, but he can be a trickster as well. He can open doors, but he can close them, too.
Legba wears Masonic black clothes, and he carries a walking stick. He sits, as the sun, at the top of the crossroads. He is syncretized with Saint Lazarus, who is cripple and walks with a cane, Saint Peter, the gatekeeper of heaven, or with Saint Anthony. Legba likes rum, a good cigar, and the color red.
