6 Rada -- Legba

afrosaxon

Papa Legba, guardian of the crossroads, appears in this air suit:

http://alpha.mxat.ru/WWPCM/decks05/d02446/d02446s6.jpg

The card is equivalent to the 6 of Swords.

In this card, Papa Legba sits in front of a campfire. Children are sitting around him, and he appears to be telling a story. This is a very dark card, and it's hard to make out some of the features. The black orb behind Legba could be the setting sun...it's hard to tell. The card seems to be set in the nighttime (hence the need for a fire). The red streaking out from that orb would lend credence to that, but that orb could also be a new moon. The red is not a bright, fiery, Petro red, but a dark, crimson red (like blood).

The black sun against a red background (sun rays?)  darkness. The entire card is dark. The muted red denotes diminished energy.

This is a card of verbal communication, perhaps using stories/fables/parables instead of a direct statement of facts?

The traditional 6 of Swords meaning is that of a journey; in the NOVT, perhaps a journey via words (stories take you to another place via your imagination, which fits since this is a Rada [mental] card).

Legba wears a red jacket/shirt and hat, and white pants; passion over purity? Making the story exciting is more important than making it true?


This is a card of communication, I guess, and using words to get your point across.

Thoughts?
 

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elkahib

I've always taken the card colours as a direct homage to Papa Legba (his colours being red and black).

There is a saying in Nigeria: 'Call something black, black, and something red, red.' 'Red' here means any other colour than black or white.

I think this another tricky card, seeing as Legba is a trickster. The card colouring being hard to read would make me think that this was Legba mixing up the communciations again.

Make sure you read something right, or that you didn't mishear what another person said.

As always, this is just my opinion :).