Eshu
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Eleggua2005.jpg
Eshu is a trickster-god, and plays frequently malicious tricks for the purpose of causing maturation. He is a difficult teacher, but a good one. As an example, Eshu was walking down the road one day, wearing a hat that was red on one side and blue on the other. Sometime after he departed, the villagers who had seen him began arguing about whether the stranger's hat was blue or red. The villagers on one side of the road had only been capable of seeing the blue side, and the villagers on the other side had only been capable of seeing the red half. They nearly fought over the argument, until Eshu came back and cleared the mystery, teaching the villagers about how one's perspective can alter one's perception of reality, and can be easily fooled.
(In many versions of this tale, the two tribes were not stopped short of violence; they actually annihilated each other, and Eshu laughed at the result, saying "Bringing strife is my greatest joy". Eshu is thus a prototype of the maltheistic view of God's nature.)
Alternative: Exú (Brazilian Vodun), Eleggua (Cuban Vodun), Esueo:Eŝuo pt:Ex (orix)