March is Papa Legba on the Petro side

Legba from New Orleans Vodou Tarot

At the Legba fet in January, Papa pulled the Legba Petro card for March – well, Mambo G pulled it.  Legba said “There will be fast changes.  You need to pay attention.  Some may change in kanzo.”  As Legba Petro is Mambo G’s Met Tet, I thought it very appropriate as the card for March.  We sang Saluwye Legba e! Legba nan Petro, Saluwye Legba E! and I felt as if I had grabbed a live electric wire for the rest of the night.  The Lwa train pulled into Station Scheu and we danced with the angels till they departed – Ayibobo!

So what does this card mean for us as a house? The traditional meaning that was given is that this lwa represents the fire of the sun.  The sun is fertility, male and power.  As Legba is considered to be the solar lwa of the Word Made Manifest, he is the ancient male creative force.  And in his Petro aspect, he is explosive creation, like the Big Bang in action.  This avatar represents explosive and sudden transitions of a magnitude that boggles the mind giving way to choices that reverberated own the halls of time forever.  Bilolo!  Fiery Legba Petro, the younger, more aggressive avatar, speaks loudly and aggressively.  This is the Legba of impulse, fast paced moods, and multiple choices.  He is said to walk the fiery points of Mars, aggressively and without fear.  Legba Petro is quick-fire, a true mercury in the sense that he can move fast, make quick decisions, change his mind, turn around, do it, not do it, change how it's done, undo it and do it again a different way!  Bilolo!

This is the avatar of the Haitian Revolution. This was Toussaint L'Overture's Met Tet.  This Legba inspired and gave voice to L'Overture so that he was able to speak to an entire island of people and unit them against the common enemy.  This is the Legba who helped Toussaint gather the 21 nations of Africans into a cohesive army capable of defeating Napoleon.  And this is the Legba who rode into the Battle of Vertieres in L'Overture's head, clearing the Big Road (Gran Chemin) for all the freedom fighters to find courage and resolve.  So blazingly alarming and seemingly insurmountable were Toussaint's talents, that Napoleon sent an entire battalion of men to capture just him.  When Legba Petro speaks, nations listen.

In this month of March with its erratic weather patterns and wildly fluctuating temperatures, Legba Petro will be speaking loudly and aggressively for change.  Revolutionary energy will be at play. This is the kind of energy that can make your life feel out of control.  We just exited out of an incredible difficult Mercury Retrograde period.  And when things have been stopped or misdirected for so long, it's only natural that the first impulse is one of explosive action.  It's like Bodhi when I let him off leash outdoors.  He goes a little berserk, running pell-mell around the yard, up the hill, jumping wildly off the ledges and highpoints and running full tilt boogie for the sheer joy of having no tethers. But I watch him carefully -- he's still a pup and I don't want him to hurt himself.

You need to be your own constraints at this time.  Pay attention to your choices this month - they will come on top of one another, with seemingly little or no warning.  You will need to make choices quickly.  Those choices will affect your life and your outlook for a long time to come.  Be ready to change or be changed.

Set a place for Legba Petro in your home. As this Legba opens the way for the Petro nation, place him before or on your Petro altar.  Use spice scented candles (Anise, Cinnamon) or red candles or make your own, with cinnamon and anise scents.  Offer him spiced rum, spicy candies, spiced cakes.  This is not a HOT Legba -- this is still Legba, but the facet of Legba who opens the road for the Petro Lwa to come forth.  This Legba smokes cigars, not pipes, so a good cigar is always appreciated. And sing for Him - the "Legba Gwetor-a, ki lwa ou ye!" is a perfect song.

One final note – this is the Legba who will produce His shadow come September.  Mambo G will have to watch her work and her choices then. The road opening talents that are so prevalent this month, will revert to the opposite in six months time.  Everything has its opposite – and it is the same for Legba.  Where is He is quick to move things now, He will become sluggish, lackadaisical and pouty.  He will be more of a trickster than an opener of the way and much more likely to cause you to step off the beaten path but not for a good reason.   It is part of His nature – all Lwa have two sides, the positive and the negative.  It is naïve to think that They only do good in the world, when we know They can do the other and quite well.  So a word to the wise – be more aware in September.  But for now, Legba is a power house of possibilities.  Make good use of Legba during this timeframe – He can open paths before you that you never thought possible. And He will just as quickly close them down in six months time.