Eshu Elegbara

Èshù can make and unmake a community, and is seen as behind all unusual occurrences in any place. First and last and always, Èshù Elègbará opens the way to begin every ceremony, then closes it at the end. Wanna talk to anyone else on the list? Get at him first.

When Olódùmarè upended his basket of Purviews, Èshù Elègbará shouldered everyone else out of the way to catch the most: travel, language, play, timely and untimely arrivals, ordered and chaotic paths, stories, sex, the passage between life and death — everything between point A and point B. He is the divine messenger, the prime manipulator of the universal energy called àshe. As a lover of games and storytelling, you’re his charge. If you feel thankful, he likes rum, toys, candy, and cigars. Leave them at any crossroads. He’ll get ‘em.

You’ll know it’s him if you see a kid or an old man in a black-and-red outfit, anything from a linen suit to a Deadpool cosplay. His adult Incarnations tend to have a permanent Omen in their pants, which Olódùmarè probably intended as a curse, but was not received that way. He leans on a staff or cudgel, and not just for dick jokes; Èshù usually has a missing leg and/or a back injury. His sexual appetite is legendary, his Scions many. He expects them to do whatever they want and not bother him about it, although if you manage to buttonhole him and make him laugh, he’ll probably take you out for drinks or dinner and somehow charge Obàtálá for it.