Talk:Papa Legba

Spoil or not to spoil
I am reading the novel Mona Lisa Overdrive, that is mentioned in this article. Legba, the subject of this article, appears right in the beginning of the novel. I came to wikipedia to check out what it this all about. Then I read, and was satisfied. Then I started reading the last session, and of course, I searched for the book I'm reding. Then I read the whole line, and guess wat, it's a spoiler. It's an awful spoiler. It told me something that will only be told in the ending of the book.

So, If it was a gross use of the spoiler tag, and if this last section cannot be seen as a "fiction" section, even if it is talking about a fiction book, and worse, talking about facts that only make sense inside that book, then I suggest we remove the last part of the phrase.

Afterall, it doesn't matter wether Legba in the movie is real or a dream, and much less if it is a natural dream, or if it is a dream caused by the fact that the character had fragments of the Wintermute/Neuromancer... (This fact being the spoiled I did not want to read) -- NIC1138 04:02, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Caption for Picture in Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam.
The caption states, "Legba figure in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. This legba figure is missing his knife or walking-stick. He normally wears a hat and not horns" but in the text it states, "In Benin and Nigeria, Legba is viewed as young and virile, is often horned and phallic" which states it is an alternative view. I have NO knowledge of the Vodou religion and was reading this and a bit confused by the conflicting statements. To me, the statue raises the question of whether it represents a traditional Haitian Vodou figure of Legba or whether it represents the view of the alternative version in Benin and Nigeria. Given the horns and fairly prominent phallus, it makes me suspect at least that it is representative of the Benin/Nigerian view. The usual appearance where he is described as "an old man on a crutch or with a cane, wearing a broad brimmed straw hat and smoking a pipe, or sprinkling water. The dog is sacred to him." is just not at all representative of that statue. I would say the horn strapped to his right arm could be a pipe and the vessel on his left arm could hold water for him to sprinkle but aside from that, he is not old, does not have a crutch or cane, is not wearing a broad brimmed straw hat and does not have a dog. I am just asking out of curiosity. I happened on this article and saw a tiny typo in the caption then as I read further, it caused me to wonder. WayneyP (talk) 22:05, 3 June 2013 (UTC)