This Eshu is made of wood then covered with brass sheeting.
Eshu (other names include Exu, Esu Eleggua,
Esu Elegbara, Eshu Elegbara, Elegba, Legba, and Eleda)
is an orisha,
and one of the most known deities of the Yoruba
mythology and related New World traditions.
He has a wide range of
responsibilities: the protector of travelers, deity of roads, particularly
crossroads, the deity with the power over fortune and misfortune, and the
personification of death, a psychopomp. Eshu is involved within the Orisa (also spelled
Orisha or Orixa)-Ifá
system of the Yoruba as well as in African diasporic faiths like Santeria/Lukumi
and Candomble
developed by the descendants of enslaved West Africans in the Americas, where
Eshu was sometimes identified with Saint
Anthony, Saint Michael [1]
or Santo Niño de Atocha , depending on the
situation or location. He is often identified by the number three, and the
colours red & black or white & black, and his caminos or paths
(compare: avatar)
are often represented carrying a cane, shepherd's crook, as well as a pipe.
Eshu is a god of Chaos and Trickery, and
plays frequently tempting choices for the purpose of causing maturation. He is
a difficult teacher, but a good one[2].
As an example[3],
Eshu was walking down the road one day, wearing a hat that was red on one side and black on the other.
Sometime after he departed, the villagers who had seen him began arguing about
whether the stranger's hat was black or red. The villagers on one side of the
road had only been capable of seeing the black side, and the villagers on the
other side had only been capable of seeing the red half. They nearly fought
over the argument, until Eshu came back and cleared the mystery, teaching the
villagers about how one's perspective can alter a person's perception of
reality, and that one can be easily fooled. In other versions of this tale, the
two tribes were not stopped short of violence; they actually annihilated each
other, and Eshu laughed at the result, saying "Bringing strife is my
greatest joy".
In