Our name

Our name

Our name

The name “Elegoa” refers to Elegua (or Ellegua), a god of the Cuban Santeria, derived from the Yorùba religion. Yorùba originated in West Africa (Nigeria, Benin, and Togo) before spreading to the Caribbean and the Americas back in the days when triangular slave trade thrived between Africa, Europe, and the Americas, supplying the New World colonies with black slaves for several centuries. Nowadays, the Yorùba religion is still very much alive in forms that vary according to the region where it is observed.

Elegua is a deceitful child god, a food lover and a dancer who misleads the mortals he meets on the roads he travels. He is also very much aware that reality appears in many guises, hence the multiple colours that symbolize him—red and black or red and white. He tries to communicate this awareness to the mortals through experiences, which can sometimes be hard, though they open up new horizons and values.