a door . The dream was so intense when I awoke I could still hear the knocking so I looked at my bedroom door thinking I might catch a glimpse of the man . As soon as I fell asleep , the knocking started again and I woke up . This happened one more time . When I woke up in the morning I thought about the man in my dream . Usually when I dream of a man he is naked so this was completely new to me . In this dream , the man was trying to get my attention and wake me up . He did . I had seen this elderly man with a grey beard before . He was on the altar at the Voodoo temple in New Orleans . His name is Papa Legba .
Papa Legba is the spirit , or lwa *, of the crossroads and communication . He opens the door for all of the spirits . He is the first spirit greeted in all Voodoo ceremonies . His number is three . When I put it all together I realized that Papa Legba knocked on the door three times so I would open it and invite him and all the other spirits into my life . Little did I know my life was going to change drastically .
The first thing I did was to start building an altar for Papa Legba . Most of the lwa are connected to Catholic saints . This syncretic system is the result of the transatlantic slave trade . The slaves were not allowed to bring their spirits with them from Africa and they were maimed , sometimes killed , if their owners caught them venerating their spirits . The slaves created a system in order to keep their indigenous religion alive . During the forced conversion , slaves were shown images of the Catholic saints . When the slaves saw the image of St . Lazarus , they thought of Papa Legba because Legba is also an old man with a beard and a cane ; hence , Legba became Saint Lazarus . Legba is also connected with Saint Peter and Saint Anthony .
After looking at the three saints , I chose St . Lazarus for my altar so I ordered a statue of him from Amazon . Fortunately , I got a big one for cheap . I like my men big and cheap . Once the statue arrived , I put it next to my bedroom door . An altar for Papa Legba is typically placed next to a doorway because he is the spirit who opens the door for all of the other spirits . I also put a cup of coffee , popcorn and peppermint candies next to the statue ( he likes candies ). At first I thought it was strange to leave edible offerings to a spirit , but then I realized that these are gifts of gratitude . I see my spirit guides as close friends and if I were to ask a close human friend for assistance , I would thank them with words and a gift . I am constantly asking Legba for help so in return I give him offerings . I do not want to be one of those friends who just receives and does not give back .
When I want to talk to Papa Legba , I sit in front of the altar and tell him to open the gate and come on through . Then I talk to him like a friend . Sometimes I ask him for help and sometimes I just sit in front of the altar and meditate . One time when I was sitting in front of the altar I had an out of body experience . As I was sitting in front of the altar a feeling of great peace and joy came over me . Time stopped . I had become one
* Lwa is another term used for spirit in Voodoo .
with the entire universe . The feeling of joy that came over me felt like an orgasm , but it lasted much longer and I did not have to kick anyone out of my room . I think I experienced Nirvana . I remember not wanting the moment to end .
Papa Legba is my main spirit guide so his altar is always on display in my room . I am constantly adding items to the altar . I have provided the reader with a photograph of my altar .
Notice the statue of St . Lazarus -- this is the big one I ordered from Amazon . Next to Lazarus is a statue of Papa Legba . In this avatar , he is the elderly black man with a grey beard . This is the Papa Legba from my dream . I got this statue from a small antique shop in San Juan . The man who sold me the statue told me that it came from a Vodou temple in Haiti . He also told me that a Vodou priestess had taken the spiritual power out of it , but I knew that was not true because the statue actually looks back at me . Statues of Saint Anthony and Ganesha are also on the altar . It might seem strange to find a Hindu god on the altar , but he is the Indian equivalent of Papa Legba . The keys on the altar are present because Papa Legba is the door opener .
Many people do not know that the central part of both Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo is service to the spirit . Haitians do not say , “ I practice Vodou ." Instead , they say , “ I serve the spirits ." No service to the spirit , no Vodou or Voodoo . Most Hollywood movies that reference Voodoo neglect to mention the spirits . Ezili Dantor , a protector of women and children , also made an appearance in one of my dreams as the Black Madonna . The message she aggressively delivered was mindfulness . After her visit , I began to meditate .