Papa Legba

In voodoo, one of the more powerful loa. Lord of the crossroads.

In the novel Count Zero by William Gibson, Legba is one of the AIs created by the union of Wintermute and Neuromancer that have infiltrated cyberspace. As Lord Of The Crossroads, he is seen as the loa of communication, and therefore the Net.

Papa Legba also appears in Tim Powers' voodoo/pirate novel On Stranger Tides.

Often depicted as an old, crippled man or gardener, he is also called just Legba or Legba Ati-Bon. The dog serves as his familiar and symbolic animal. During any vodun ceremony he is the first loa invoked--so that the gate to the spirit world may be opened for communication.