View source for Odinala

{{Short description|Religious practices and beliefs of Igbo people}}
{{about|the traditional spiritual practices of the Igbo people|their traditional cultural practices in general|Igbo culture}}
{{Odinani infobox}}
{{Traditional African religion}}
'''Odinani''', also known as '''Odinala''', '''Omenala''', '''Odinana''', and '''Omenana'''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ezekwugo |first=Charles M. |date=1991 |title=Omenana and Odinana in the Igbo World: A Philosophical Appraisal |url=https://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=142885924 |journal=Africana Marburgensia |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=3–18}}</ref> ({{Langx|ig|Ọdịnanị/Ọ̀dị̀nàlà }}), is the traditional [[cultural]] belief and practice of the [[Igbo people]] of [[South East (Nigeria)|south east]] and [[Igbo people]] of [[South South (Nigeria)|south south]] [[Nigeria]].<ref name="ndc">Afulezy, Juju [http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/oarticles/on_odinani_the_igbo_religion.htm "On Odinani, the Igbo Religion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127061438/http://nigerdeltacongress.com/oarticles/on_odinani_the_igbo_religion.htm|date=27 November 2010}}, ''Niger Delta Congress'', Nigeria, April 03, 2010</ref> These terms, as used here in the [[Igbo language]], are synonymous with the traditional Igbo "[[Religion|religious system]]" which was not considered separate from the social norms of ancient or traditional Igbo societies. Theocratic in nature, spirituality played a huge role in their everyday lives. Although it has largely been syncretised with [[Catholicism]], the indigenous belief system remains in strong effect among the [[rural]], [[village]] and [[diaspora]] populations of the Igbo. Odinani can be found in Haitian [[Haitian Vodou|Voodoo]], [[Obeah]], [[Santeria]] and even [[Candomblé]]. Odinani is a [[pantheistic]] and [[polytheistic]] faith, having a strong [[Deity|central deity]] at its head.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Nwauwa|first1=Apollos O.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hpu4DwAAQBAJ&dq=monotheist&pg=PA182|title=Culture, Precepts, and Social Change in Southeastern Nigeria: Understanding the Igbo|last2=Anyanwu|first2=Ogechi E.|date=2019-10-24|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4985-8969-7|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Mbaegbu, Chukwuemeka 2015">Mbaegbu, Chukwuemeka (4 March 2015). "A Philosophical Investigation of the Nature of God in Igbo Ontology". ''Department of Philosophy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria''.</ref> All things spring from this deity. Although a [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] of other gods and spirits, these being [[Ala (odinala)|Ala]], [[Amadioha|Amadiọha]], [[Anyanwu|Anyanwụ]], [[Ekwensu]], [[Ikenga]], exists in the belief system, as it does in many other [[Traditional African religions]], the lesser deities prevalent in Odinani serve as helpers or elements of [[Chukwu]], the central deity.<ref name="kwenu-odinani2">M. O. Ené [http://www.kwenu.com/odinani/odinani.htm "The fundamentals of Odinani"], ''KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future'', April 03, 2010.</ref>
Lesser spirits known as ''ágbàrà'' or ''árúsí'' operate below the other gods and higher spirits. These lesser spirits represent natural forces; agbara as a divine force manifests as separate arụsị in the Igbo pantheon. A concept of 'the eye of sun or God' (''[[Anyanwu]]'', {{Langx|ig|ányá ánwụ́|links=no}}) exists as a masculine and feminine solar deity which forms a part of the solar veneration among the [[Nri-Igbo]] in northern Igboland. Arụsị are mediated by ''Dibia'' and other priests who do not contact the high god directly. Through ''áfà'', 'divination', the laws and demands of the arụsị are communicated to the living. Arụsị are venerated in community shrines around roadsides and forests while smaller shrines are located in the household for [[ancestor veneration]]. Deceased ancestors live in the spirit world where they can be contacted. Below the arụsị are minor and more general spirits known as ''mmúọ'' loosely defined by their perceived malevolent or benign natures. These minor spirits are not venerated and are sometimes considered the lost souls of the dead. Ancestor worship and the worship of various gods and spirits, form the main component of the traditional Igbo religion, standing in contrast with [[Abrahamic religions]].<ref>M. O. Ené "The fundamentals of Odinani", ''KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future'', April 03, 2010.</ref>
The number of people practicing Igbo religion decreased drastically in the 20th century with the influx of [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Missionary|missionaries]] under the auspices of the [[Colonial Nigeria|British colonial government in Nigeria]]. In some cases, Igbo traditional religion practice known as ọdịnala was syncretised with Christianity, but in many cases indigenous rites were demonised by Christian missionaries who pointed out the practice of [[human sacrifice]] and some other cultural practices that were illegal under the colonial government. Earlier missionaries referred to many indigenous religious practices as ''juju''. Igbo religion is most present today in harvest ceremonies such as [[New Yam Festival of the Igbo|new yam festival]] (''ị́wá jí'') and masquerading traditions such as mmanwụ and [[Egbo|Ekpe]].
Remnants of Igbo religious rites spread among African descendants in the Caribbean and North America in era of the [[Igbo people in the Atlantic slave trade|Atlantic slave trade]]. Igbo ''ọ́bị̀à'' was transferred to the [[British West Indies]] and [[Guyana]] as [[obeah]] and aspects of Igbo masquerading traditions can be found among the festivals of the [[Garifuna people]] and [[jonkonnu]] in the West Indies and [[North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite dictionary|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obeah |title=Obeah |dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster|Merriam Webster]] |access-date=2010-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia |first=Douglas B. |last=Chambers |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2009 |pages=14, 36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqpoxEl_0_4C&pg=PA36 |isbn=978-1-60473-246-7}}</ref><ref name="rucker">{{cite book|title=The river flows on: Black resistance, culture, and identity formation in early America |first=Walter C. |last=Rucker |publisher=LSU Press |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c2XlG4rRK4QC&pg=PA40 |year=2006 |isbn=0-8071-3109-1}}</ref><ref name="eltis">{{cite book|title=Routes to slavery: direction, ethnicity, and mortality in the transatlantic slave trade |first1=David |last1=Eltis |first2=David |last2=Richardson |publisher=Routledge |year=1997 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kuXEzQZQmawC&pg=PA74 |isbn=0-7146-4820-5}}</ref>
== Etymology ==
''Ọdịnala'' in central Igbo dialect is the compound of the words ''ọ̀ dị̀'' ('located') + ''n'' (''nà'', 'within') + ''àla'' (the one god) [consisting of anu (E nu) above (the heavens) and Ala, below (the earth)].<ref name="kwenu-odinani">M. O. Ené [https://web.archive.org/web/20020819010001/http://www.kwenu.com/odinani/odinani.htm "The fundamentals of Odinani"], ''KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future'', April 03, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Chigekwu G. |last=Ogbuene |title=The concept of man in Igbo myths |publisher=Peter Lang |page=207 |year=1999 |isbn=0820447048}}</ref><ref name="echema2010">{{cite book |first=Austin |last=Echema |title=Igbo Funeral Rites Today: Anthropological and Theological Perspectives |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=21, 48 |location=footnotes |year=2010 |isbn=978-3643104199 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbhrqpWxRI4C&pg=PA48 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref> Other dialectal variants include ''ọdịnanị'', ''ọdịnana'', ''omenala'', ''omenana'', and ''omenanị''.<ref name="echema2010"/><ref>{{cite book |first=Sylvester |last=Okwunodu Ogbechie |title=Ben Enwonwu: the making of an African modernist |page=161 |publisher=University Rochester Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1580462358}}</ref> The word ọdịnala and all its variations is also associated with the culture and customary laws of the Igbo people. Many of the laws and culture were counterparts with religion such as taboos and laws concerning sacred spaces like a deity's sacred forest. Since customary law is recognised in Nigeria, many in Igbo society find themselves syncretising these beliefs with other beliefs and religions.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
==Beliefs==
[[File:-Remains of Long Juju Gorge, Arochuku-, late 19th century (imp-cswc-GB-237-CSWC47-LS2-041).jpg|thumb|alt=Magic lantern Image of the entrance to the cave of the Ibini Ukpabi oracle at [[Arochukwu]].|Entrance to the cave of the [[Ibini Ukpabi]] oracle at [[Arochukwu]], 1900s]]
Ọdịnala could loosely be described as a [[polytheistic]] and [[panentheism|panentheistic]] faith with a strong central spiritual force at its head from which all things are believed to spring; however, the contextual diversity of the system may encompass various theistic perspectives that derive from a variety of beliefs held within the religion.<ref name="echema2010"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Ikenga International Journal of African Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yAcOAQAAMAAJ|access-date=26 July 2013|year=1972|publisher=Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria.|page=103}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Peter Chiehiụra |last=Uzor |title=The traditional African concept of God and the Christian concept of God: Chukwu bụ ndụ-- God is life, the Igbo perspective |publisher=Peter Lang |page=194 |year=2004 |isbn=3631521456}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Cosmas Okechukwu |last=Obiego |title=African Image of the Ultimate Reality: An Analysis of Igbo Ideas of Life and Death in Relation to Chukwu-God |publisher=Peter Lang |page=88 |year=1984 |isbn=3820474609}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Charles A. |last=Ebelebe |title=Africa and the New Face of Mission: A Critical Assessment of the Legacy of the Irish Spiritans Among the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria |publisher=Univiversity Press of America |page=24 |year=2009 |isbn=978-0761845966}}</ref><ref group=note>Benjamin Ray says of the position of African religions:
<blockquote>But as we have seen, there are other elements [besides monotheistic ones] which tend towards polytheism or pantheism. What, we may ask, accounts for these different tendencies? As Evans-Pritchard and Peel suggest, they do not derive so much from different observers' standpoints as from the different standpoints within the religious systems themselves This, of course, does not mean that African religions consist of conflicting "system" (monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, totemism), which lack any inherent unity. Rather, the totality of elements in each religious system can be viewed from different internal perspectives according to different contextual alignments. What is misleading is to seize upon one perspective or tendency and make it the dominant framework. This may satisfy the observer's own theological preferences, e.g., monotheism, but only at the expense of over-systematizing the contextual diversity of African religious thought.</blockquote>
{{cite book |first=Benjamin C. |last=Ray |title=African Religions: Symbol, Ritual, and Community |publisher=Prentice-Hall |page=53 |year=1976 |isbn=0130186228}}</ref> Chukwu as the central deity is classed among the {{transl|ig|ndi mmuo}}, 'invisible beings', an ontological category of beings which includes ''Ala'' the divine feminine earth force, ''chi'' the 'personal deity', {{transl|ig|ndichie}} the ancestors, and {{transl|ig|mmuo}} the minor spirits. The other ontological category consists of ''ndi mmadu'', 'visible beings', which include ''ánụ́'' animals, ''ósísí'' plants, and the final class ''ùrò'' which consists of elements, minerals and inanimate beings.<ref name="agbadiere">{{cite book |first=Joseph Thérèse |last=Agbasiere |title=Women in Igbo Life and Thought |publisher=Psychology Press |pages=48–64 |year=2000 |isbn=0415227038}}</ref> While various gods, the spirit class of Arusi, and ancestors are worshiped and prayed to; no sacrifices are given to Chukwu and no shrines and altars are erected for it.<ref name="agbadiere"/> If an Arusi is assigned to an individual, it becomes a chi, a personal guardian god/spirit.<ref name="wiredu"/>
Complex [[animism]] builds the core concept of most traditional African religions, including Odinala, this includes the worship of [[Tutelary deity|tutelary deities]], [[nature worship]], [[ancestor worship]] and the belief in an [[afterlife]]. While some religions adopted a [[Pantheism|pantheistic]] worldview, most follow a [[polytheistic]] system with various gods, spirits and other [[supernatural being]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kimmerle|first=Heinz|date=2006-04-11|title=The world of spirits and the respect for nature: towards a new appreciation of animism|journal=The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa|language=en-US|volume=2|issue=2|pages=15|doi=10.4102/td.v2i2.277|issn=2415-2005|doi-access=free}}</ref> Traditional African religions also have elements of [[fetishism]], [[shamanism]] and [[veneration of relics]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Asukwo|date=2013|title=The Need to Re-Conceptualize African Traditional Religion|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/afrrev/article/download/91437/80924}}</ref>
[[Nigerian Americans|Nigerian American]] professor of indigenous African religions at [[Harvard University]], [[Jacob Olupona]] summarized the many traditional African religions as complex [[Animism|animistic]] religious traditions and beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic "colonization" of Africa. [[Ancestor worship|Ancestor veneration]] has always played a "significant" part in the traditional African cultures and may be considered as central to the African worldview. Ancestors (ancestral ghosts/spirits) are an integral part of reality. The ancestors are generally believed to reside in an ancestral realm (spiritworld), while some believe that the ancestors became equal in power to deities.<ref name="The spirituality of Africa">{{Cite web|date=2015-10-06|title=The spirituality of Africa|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/10/the-spirituality-of-africa/|access-date=2020-11-30|website=Harvard Gazette|language=en-US}}</ref>{{Blockquote|text=The defining line between deities and ancestors is often contested, but overall, ancestors are believed to occupy a higher level of existence than living human beings and are believed to be able to bestow either blessings or illness upon their living descendants.
Ancestors can offer advice and bestow good fortune and honor to their living dependents, but they can also make demands, such as insisting that their shrines be properly maintained and propitiated. A belief in ancestors also testifies to the inclusive nature of traditional African spirituality by positing that deceased progenitors still play a role in the lives of their living descendants.|author=|title=|source=}}Olupona rejects the western/Islamic definition of [[Monotheism]] and says that such concepts could not reflect the complex African traditions and are too simplistic. While some traditions have a supreme being (next to other deities), others have not. Monotheism does not reflect the multiplicity of ways that the traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings.<ref name="The spirituality of Africa"/>
Chukwuemeka Mbaegbu from the [[Nnamdi Azikiwe University]], [[Awka]], [[Nigeria]], describes the Igbo religion's system as "''Monopolytheism''", referring to the belief in many distinct gods and spirits, but with one distant and unpersonalized supreme force, which resulted in the creation of everything, but is not a god per definition.<ref name="Mbaegbu, Chukwuemeka 2015"/>
===Chi===
[[File:Chi shrine.jpg|thumb|alt=An interior photograph of a chi shrine with plates inset into the polished mud walls|Interior of a chi shrine at Nkarahia, southern Igboland, 1900s]]
In Odinani, the Igbo people believe that each person has their own personal spiritual guardian called Chi (or ''ḿmúọ́''), appointed to them before and at the time of their birth. The Chi remains with them for the rest of their lives on Earth. A person's Chi is the personification of that individual's fate, which is credited for an individual's life's successes, misfortunes and failures. The Igbo believe that their success in life is determined by their Chi, and that no man can rise past the greatness of his or her own Chi.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Achebe |first=Chinua |title=Chi in Igbo Cosmology from Morning Yet on Creation Day |publisher=Heinemann Educational |year=1975 |isbn=9780435180263 |location=London |pages=93–103}}</ref> In this respect, the concept of chi is analogous to the concept of a [[guardian angel]] in Christianity, the [[Daemon (classical mythology)|daemon]] in [[ancient Greek religion]], and the [[Genius (mythology)|genius]] in [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]].<ref name="agbadiere"/><ref name="udeani2007"/><ref name="ndukaihe2006"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Opata|first=Damian Ugwutikiri|title=Essays on Igbo World View|publisher=AP Express Publishers|year=1998|isbn=9782001155|page=62}}</ref> Culturally, people are seen as the creators or makers of their own destiny.<ref name="wiredu">{{cite book |first=Kwesi |last=Wiredu |title=A Companion to African Philosophy |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |page=420 |year=2008 |isbn= 978-0470997376}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Molefi K. |last1=Asante |first2=Emeka |last2=Nwadiora |title=Spear Masters: An Introduction to African Religion |publisher=University Press of America |page=108 |year=2007 |isbn=978-0761835745 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QS3Y93DBe4QC&pg=PA108 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref><ref name="okoh2012">{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Okoh |title=Fostering Christian Faith in Schools and Christian Communities Through Igbo Traditional Values: Towards a Holistic Approach to Christian Religious Education and Catechesis in Igboland (Nigeria) |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=37, 58 |year=2012 |isbn=978-3643901682 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04VwpwD7R_AC&pg=PA37 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref> The breath of life is in the heart, ''óbì''.<ref name="okoh2012" /><ref name="udeani2007">{{cite book |first=Chibueze C. |last=Udeani |title=Inculturation as Dialogue: Igbo Culture and the Message of Christ |publisher=Rodopi |page=35 |year=2007 |isbn=978-9042022294 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGjKp-7FyGIC&pg=PA35 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref><ref name="ndukaihe2006">{{cite book |first=Vernantius Emeka |last=Ndukaihe |title=Achievement as Value in the Igbo/African Identity: The Ethics |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=185–187 |year=2006 |isbn=3825899292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERM77W_wgZYC&pg=PA187 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref><ref name="uzukwu2012">{{cite book |first=Elochukwu Eugene |last=Uzukwu |title=God, Spirit, and Human Wholeness: Appropriating Faith and Culture in West African Style |publisher=Wipf and Stock |pages=63, 123 |year=2012 |isbn=978-1610971904 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HPdMAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref> Chi can be masculine and feminine. A ''Dibia'' can identify a person's chi through divination (''ájà'') and advise adherents of ways to placate it.<ref name="cole1982">{{cite book|last=Cole|first=Herbert M.|title=Mbari: Art and the Life Among the Owerri Igbo|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1982|isbn=0253303974}}</ref><ref name="Talbot1916">{{cite journal|last=Talbot|first=P. Amaury|date=July 1916|title=Some Beliefs of To-day and Yesterday (Niger-Delta Tribes.)|journal=Journal of the Royal African Society|publisher=The Royal African Society|volume=15|issue=60|pages=307–308}}</ref> ''Éké'' is one's ancestral guardian spirit but exists at the periphery of human life and remains a mystery to the people.<ref name="cole1982"/> Households usually contain a shrine for veneration of the Chi, which could be focused on a tree. In marriage a woman takes her chi shrine along with all her belongings to her matrimonial home.<ref name="agbadiere"/> A shrine to ones chi is set up at daybreak to summon the spirit from the sun. The shrine of an individual's chi is destroyed when they die.<ref name=":0" /> Around Nkarahia, in southern Igboland, there are the most elaborate chi shrines which are decorated with colourful china plates inset into the clay walls of the chi shrine building; the altars hold sacred emblems, while the polished mud benches hold offerings of china, glass, [[manillas]], and food.<ref name="Talbot1916"/> As a marker of personal fortune or misfortune, good acts or ill, chi can be described as a focal point for 'personal religion'.<ref name="agbadiere"/>
===Cosmology===
The community of visible interacting beings and the cosmos is referred to as ''ụ̀wà'', which includes all living things ''íhẹ́ ndi dị́ ńdụ̀'', including animals and vegetation and their mineral elements which possess a vital force and are regarded as counterparts to invisible forces in the spirit world.<ref name="agbadiere"/> These living things and geomorphological features of the world therefore possess a guardian deity. Igbo cosmology presents a balance between the feminine and masculine, perhaps, with a preponderance of female representation in Igbo lore.<ref name="agbadiere"/> In Igbo cosmology, the world was divided into four corners by the high god corresponding to ''èké'' ''órìè'' ''àfọ̀'' ''ǹkwọ́'' which are the days of the week in the [[Igbo calendar]] regarded as market days.<ref name="ukaegbu">{{cite journal |first=Jọn Ọfọegbu |last=Ụkaegbu |title=Igbo Identity and Personality Vis-à-vis Igbo Cultural Symbols |publisher=Pontifical University of Salamanca |page=60 |year=1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Israel |last1=Anyahuru |first2=Tom |last2=Ohiaraumunna |title=Musical Sense and Musical Meaning: An Indigenous African Perception |publisher=Rozenberg Publishers |page=56 |year=2009}}</ref> The universe is regarded as a composite of bounded spaces in an overlapping hemispherical structure, the total spaces are referred to as ''élú nà àlà''.<ref name="agbadiere"/> In one Igbo cosmological theory reported by W.R.G. Morton in the 1950s from an elder in Ibagwa Nike in northern Igboland, Chukwu sees that the sun travels across the world in the day time and then cuts into two in order for the moon to pass on a perpendicular route, and so the world is divided into four parts and four days.<ref name="ukaegbu"/> The quarterly division of the earth and the days makes the number four sacred (''ńsọ́'') to the Igbo.<ref name="ukaegbu"/><ref name="morton">{{cite journal |first=W. R. G. |last=Morton |title=God, man and the land in a Northern Ibo village-group |journal=African Abstracts |volume=7-9 |publisher=International African Institute |page=15 |year=1956}}</ref> The ''élú nà àlà'' space is defined by two boundaries: ''élú ígwé'', 'sky's limit' composed of heavenly bodies under the main forces of the 'masculine' sun and 'feminine' moon, and ''élú àlà'', 'earth or lands limit' consisting of the four material elements of fire and air (masculine), and earth and water (feminine).<ref name="agbadiere"/>
[[File:Ogbo Obodo.jpg|thumb|left|200px|alt=Picture of figures drawn in chalk on the ground|Ogbo Obodo figures for the cult of Nkpetime, near [[Asaba, Delta|Asaba]], 1900s]]
The pattern of two and four reoccur in Chukwu's creations.<ref name="morton"/> The days correspond to the four cardinal points and are its names in Igbo, èké east, órìè west, àfọ̀ north, ǹkwọ́ south.<ref>{{cite book |author=Isichei, Elizabeth Allo |title=A History of African Societies to 1870 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic/page/247 247] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-521-45599-5}}</ref> The Nri-Igbo claim the market days to have been introduced to the Igbo by their divine progenitor and king [[Eri (king)|Eri]] in the 9th century after encountering the days as deities.<ref name="chigere2001">{{cite book |first=Nkem Hyginus M. V. |last=Chigere |title=Foreign Missionary Background and Indigenous Evangelization in Igboland |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=20, 56 |year=2001 |isbn= 3825849643}}</ref> These Arusi are venerated as the primary or as a major deity under Chineke in parts of Igboland. In terms of hierarchy, some communities recognise èké as the head of these Arusi, while others prioritise órìè and ǹkwọ́ first after the high god.<ref name="chigere2001"/> Market days may have local deities representing the spirits in some places, in many southern Igbo towns Agwu is the patron of Eke, Ogwugwu the patron of Orie, Amadioha the patron of Afọ and Ala for Nkwọ.<ref name="ukaegbu"/>
The Cosmos itself is divided into "four constituent complexes" known as ''Okike'', ''Alusi'', ''Mmuo'', and ''Uwa''. Okike is the event of "Creation", the Alusi are the lesser deities, Mmụọ are the spirits of the Ancestors and all other beings, and Uwa is the World.<ref>Onwuejeogwu, 1975: The Igbo Culture Area in "Igbo Language and Culture," F. Chidozie Ogbalu & E Nolue Emenanjo</ref>
===Justice===
{{main|Ogu na Ofo}}
Ọfọ and ogụ́ is a law of [[retributive justice]]. It vindicates anyone that is wrongly accused of a crime as long as their "hands are clean". It is only a person who is on the righteous side of ''Ọfọ-na-Ogụ́'' that can call its name in prayer, otherwise such a person will face the wrath of Amadiọha (the god of thunder and lightning).<ref>{{cite book |first=Christopher I. |last=Ejizu |title=Ofo: Igbo Ritual Symbol |publisher=Fourth Dimension Publishers |year=1986 |isbn=9781562684}}</ref> [[Kola nut]] is used in ceremonies honour Chukwu, chi, Arusi and ancestors and is used as a method of professing innocence when coupled with libations. The Igbo often make clay altars and shrines of their deities which are sometimes [[anthropomorphic]], the most popular example being the wooden statues of Ikenga. Typically, only men are allowed to make representational figures of supernatural forces.<ref>T. Phillips (ed.) [https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/c/ceramic_altar_for_the_new_yam.aspx "Ceramic altar for the new yam harvest festival"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019020939/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/c/ceramic_altar_for_the_new_yam.aspx |date=19 October 2015 }}, ''BritishMuseum.org'', London, April 03, 2010</ref>
===Afterlife and reincarnation===
{{see also|Igbo name}}
The Igbo traditionally believe in an [[afterlife]] in the [[Spirit world (Spiritualism)|spirit world or dimension]], where the deceased ancestors exist, and may influence the material world and their descendants. Ancestors are protectors and guardians of ones lineage, close friends and heritage, and may become to higher spirits (semi-gods), as in the case of many other traditional religions of the world.<ref name="Nwauwa">{{Cite book|last1=Nwauwa|first1=Apollos O.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hpu4DwAAQBAJ&dq=il%E1%BB%8D-uwa+igbo&pg=PA182|title=Culture, Precepts, and Social Change in Southeastern Nigeria: Understanding the Igbo|last2=Anyanwu|first2=Ogechi E.|date=2019-10-24|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4985-8969-7|language=en}}</ref> Sometimes however, ancestors may reincarnate into families that they were part of while alive.<ref name="nnam2007">{{cite book|last=Nnam|first=Nkuzi Michael|title=Colonial Mentality in Africa|publisher=Hamilton Books|year=2007|isbn=978-1461626305|pages=69–70}}</ref> This is called ''ilọ-uwa.'' Reincarnation is seldom, but may happen occasionally, if a deceased person cannot enter the spirit world for various reasons or may be absorbed into a new-born if it would die immediately after birth.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Short|first1=J.A.|last2=Pedersen|first2=O.|last3=Kendrick|first3=G.A.|date=October 2015|title=Turf algal epiphytes metabolically induce local pH increase, with implications for underlying coralline algae under ocean acidification|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2015.08.006|journal=Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science|volume=164|pages=463–470|doi=10.1016/j.ecss.2015.08.006|issn=0272-7714}}</ref> Unlike in [[Hinduism]], humans can only be reincarnated as humans.<ref name="nnam2007"/> Families hire fortune-tellers to reveal if the child harbours the soul or an aspect of an ancestor; the baby is sometimes named after this relative.<ref name="nnam2007"/> The personality of the ancestor is not identical to the child's but rather the concept establishes a vital relationship with the child and characteristics of the ancestor.<ref name="udoye">{{cite book|first=Edwin Anaegboka |last=Udoye |title=Resolving the Prevailing Conflicts Between Christianity and African (Igbo) Traditional Religion Through Inculturation |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=45–53, 104 |year=2011 |isbn=978-3643901163}}</ref> Other signs can be certain behaviors, physical traits, and statements by the child. A diviner can help in detecting if the child has reincarnated from an ancestor and may identify this ancestor. It is considered an insult if a male is said to have been reincarnated as a female.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancestors |first=William Hare |last=Newell |pages= 293–294 |isbn=90-279-7859-X |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1976 |chapter=Ancestoride! Are African Ancestors Dead? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjpDp5ckvv8C&pg=PA293}}</ref> An ancestor (or aspects of the ancestor) may be reincarnated in multiple people, in which case the reincarnations share a mortal bond; upon the death of one person, it is believed that the others may die a sudden death if they see the corpse.<ref name="Nwauwa"/>
====Ogbanje====
{{Main|Ogbanje}}
An ''ọgbanje'' is a reincarnating [[evil spirit|evil or revengeful spirit]], that would deliberately plague a family with misfortune. In folklore, the ''ọgbanje'', upon being born by the mother, would deliberately die after a certain amount of time (usually before [[puberty]]) and then come back and repeat the cycle, causing the family grief. This time period varies between minutes, hours, days and years. [[Igbo culture#Female circumcision|Female circumcision]] was sometimes thought to get rid of the evil spirit. Finding the evil spirit's ''[[Iyi-uwa]]'', which is buried in a secret location, would ensure that the ''ọgbanje'' would never plague the family with misfortune again. The ''Iyi-uwa'' is a stone that the ''ọgbanje's'' way of coming back to the human world and is also a way of finding its targeted family. The stone is usually buried deep enough to not have been hidden by a child. The ''iyi-uwa'' is dug out by a priest and destroyed. Female ''ọgbanje'' die during pregnancies along with the baby, male ''ọgbanje'' die before the birth of a wife's baby or the baby dies. The child is confirmed to no longer be an ''ọgbanje'' after the destruction of the stone or after the mother successfully gives birth to another baby.<ref name="nnam2007" />
==Deities==
{{Main|Arusi}}
[[File:Pottery shrine piece, Ibo - African objects in the American Museum of Natural History - DSC05998.JPG|thumb|alt=An image of a pottery piece depicting three people seated representing the Igbo deity Ifejioku|Shrine representation of the ''alusi'' [[Ahia Njoku|Ifejioku]]]]
The Arusi, who are also known as ''the Arushi'', ''Anusi'' or ''Alusi'' by dialects (see [[Orisha]], the [[Yoruba religion|Yoruba]] cognate), all spring from Ala the Earth goddess and Goddess of Fertility, who embodies the workings of the World. They are lesser deities in Odinani, each of whom are responsible for a specific aspect of nature or abstract concept. According to Igbo lore, these lesser deities as elements of Chukwu have their own specific purpose. They exist only as long their purpose does, thus many Alusi die off save for those who represent universal concepts. Some of the more notable male Alusi include: [[Amadioha]] the God of Thunder and Lightning, popular among the Southern Igbo; [[Ikenga]] the [[horned god]] of Fortune and Industry; [[Agwu Nsi|Agwu]] the God of Divination and Healing; [[Njoku Ji]] the God of Yam, and [[Ogbunabali]] the God of [[Death deity|Death]]. In southern Igbo dialects especially, ''ágbàrà'' is the term for these forces.<ref name="Ilogu">{{cite book|title=Christianity and Ibo culture |first=Edmund |last=Ilogu |pages=34–36 |publisher=Brill |year=1974 |isbn=90-04-04021-8}}</ref>
''Arusi'' manifest in natural elements and their shrines are usually found in forests in which they are based around specific trees. At shrines, ''íhú mmúọ́'', an object such as a hung piece of cloth or a group of statues, are placed at an ''Arusi's'' group of trees to focus worship. Deities are described as 'hot' and often capricious so that much of the public approach shrines cautiously and are advised to avoid them at most times; priests are entrusted in the maintenance of most shrines.<ref name="cole1982" /> Many of these shrines are by the roadside in rural areas. Tender palm fronds symbolize spiritual power and are objects of sacred power. Shrines are cordoned off with ''ọmu'' to caution the public of the deity's presence.<ref name="kalu">{{cite book |first1=Jacob K. |last1=Olupona |first2=Sulayman S. |last2=Nyang |first3=Ogbu U. |last3=Kalu |title=Religious Plurality in Africa: Essays in Honour of John S. Mbiti |chapter=Religion and social control in Igboland |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |page=118 |year=1993 |isbn= 3110850079}}</ref> Larger clay modelings in honor of an ''Arusi'' also exist around forests and rivers. Other ''Arusi'' figures may be found in and around peoples' homes and the shrines of ''Dibia.'' Much of these are related to personal chi, cults, and ancestral worship.<ref name="Nwauwa"/>
===Ala===
{{Main|Ala (odinala)}}
{{external media| width = 230px
| image1 = [http://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/14 ''Mabri: Art as Process in Igboland'' by Herbert M. Cole, a description of mbari]
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[[Ala (odinala)|Ala]] (meaning '[[earth]]' and 'land' in Igbo, also ''Ájá-ànà'')<ref name="isichei1977">{{cite book |first=Elizabeth Allo |last=Isichei |title=Igbo worlds: an anthology of oral histories and historical descriptions |publisher=Macmillan |pages=27, 334 |year=1977 |isbn=0333198379}}</ref><ref name="oriji2011">{{cite book |first=John |last=Oriji |title=Political Organization in Nigeria Since the Late Stone Age: A History of the Igbo People |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=44–48 |year=2011 |isbn=978-0230116689}}</ref> is the feminine earth spirit who is responsible for morality, fertility and the [[Ancestor veneration|dead ancestors]] who are stored in the underworld in her womb. Ala is at the head of the Igbo pantheon, maintaining order and carrying out justice against wrongdoers. Ala is the most prominent and worshipped Arusi,<ref name="udoye"/> almost every Igbo village has a shrine dedicated to her called ''íhú Ala'' where large decisions are taken.<ref name="agbadiere"/> Ala is believed to be involved in all aspects of human affairs including festivals and at offerings. Ala stands for fertility and things that generate life including water, stone and vegetation, colour (''àgwà''), beauty (''mmá'') which is connected to goodness in Igbo society, and uniqueness (''ájà'').<ref name="agbadiere"/> She is a symbol of morality who sanctioned ''omenala'' Igbo customs from which these moral and ethical behaviours are upheld in Igbo society.<ref name="ogbaa">{{cite book |first=Kalu |last=Ogbaa |title=Igbo |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |pages=[https://archive.org/details/igbo00ogba/page/14 14–15] |year=1995 |isbn=0823919773 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/igbo00ogba/page/14 }}</ref> Ala is the ground itself, and for this reason taboos and crimes are known as ''ńsọ́ Ala'' ('desecration of Ala'), all land is holy as the embodiment of Ala making her the principal legal sanctioning authority.<ref name="agbadiere"/><ref name="ogbaa"/>  Prohibitions include murder, suicide, theft, incest, and abnormalities of birth such as in many places the birth of twins and the killing and eating of pregnant animals, if a slaughtered animal is found to be pregnant sacrifices are made to Ala and the foetus is buried.<ref name="agbadiere"/> People who commit suicides are not buried in the ground or given burial rites but cast away in order not to further offend and pollute the land, their ability to become ancestors is therefore nullified.<ref name="okoh2012"/> When an individual dies a 'bad death' in the society, such as from the effects of divine retributive justice or breaking a taboo, they are not buried in the earth, but are discarded in a forest so as not to offend Ala. As in cases of most Arusi, Ala has the ability to be malevolent if perceived to be offended and can cause harm against those who offend her.<ref name="agbadiere"/><ref name="ogbaa"/>
[[File:Python-regius-kopf-königspython.jpg|left|thumb|alt=An up-close photograph of a royal python which is a messenger of Ala|The royal python is revered as an agent of Ala.]]
Within the earth's spherical limit, in a cosmological sense, is a designation of the 'earth's bosom' within, {{transl|ig|ímé àlà}}, a hemispherical base to the earth with an opening or 'mouth' at its highest point, ''ónụ́ àlà''. This is composed of mainly deep dark sea water ({{transl|ig|ohimiri}}).<ref name="ogbaa"/> Ime ala is considered as the underworld.<ref name="agbadiere"/> Ala in addition to embodying nature, is the cosmic base on which the vault of heaven, {{transl|ig|ígwé}}, rests.<ref name="agbadiere"/> As the foundation of all existence, children's umbilical cords are saved and symbolically buried under a tree to mark the child's first sharing of family owned lands; this tree could either be an oil palm, bread-fruit tree, raffia palm, or plantain tree depending on the cultural region.<ref name="agbadiere"/> In some places, such as [[Kingdom of Nri|Nri]], the [[Python regius|royal python]], ''éké'', is considered a sacred and tame agent of Ala and a harbinger of good fortune when found in a home. The python is referred to as ''nne'' 'mother' in areas where the python is revered, it is a symbol of female beauty and gentleness. Killing of the python is expressly forbidden in these places and sanctions are taken against the killer including the funding of expensive human sized burials that are given to slain pythons.<ref name="agbadiere"/><ref name="udoye"/><ref name="hodder">{{cite book |first=Ian |last=Hodder |title=The Archaeology of Contextual Meanings |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=73 |year=1987 |isbn=0521329248}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Edmund |last=Ilogu |title=Christianity and Ibo Culture |publisher=Brill Archive |pages=23–24 |year=1974 |isbn=9004040218}}</ref>
===Amadioha===
{{Main|Amadioha}}
Amadioha (from ''ámádí'' + ''ọ̀hà'', 'free will of the people' in Igbo) is the Arusi of justice, thunder, lightning and the sky. He is referred to as ''Amadioha'' in southern Igboland, ''Kamalu'', ''Kamanu'', ''Kalu'' among the Aro and other [[Cross River (Nigeria)|Cross River]] Igbo people, ''Igwe'' among the [[Isuama]] Igbo and in northwestern Igboland, and ''Ofufe'' in certain parts of Igboland.<ref name="onunwa">{{cite book |first=Udobata R. |last=Onunwa |title=A Handbook of African Religion and Culture |publisher=Dorrance Publishing |pages=18, 40 |year=2010 |isbn=978-1434953964}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=G. I. |last=Jones |title=The Trading States of the Oil Rivers: A Study of Political Development in Eastern Nigeria |publisher=James Currey Publishers |page=28 |year=2000 |isbn=0852559186}}</ref><ref>McCall, John. ''Dancing Histories: Heuristic Ethnography with the Ohafia Igbo''. Page 123</ref><ref>Oriji, John. ''Sacred Authority in Igbo Society''. Page 115</ref><ref>Diala, Isidore. ''Ritual and Mythological Recuperation in the Drama of Esiaba Irobi''. Page 101</ref> His governing planet is the [[Sun (astrology)|Sun]].<ref name="Uchendu">Uchendu, Victor C. ''The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria''. Page 96</ref> His color is red, and his symbol is a white ram.<ref name="Diala, Isidore Page 104">Diala, Isidore. ''Ritual and Mythological Recuperation in the Drama of Esiaba Irobi''. Page 104</ref> Metaphysically, Amadioha represents the collective will of the people and he is often associated with Anyanwu.<ref>[[Maurice Iwu|Iwu, Maurice]]. ''Handbook of African medicinal plants''. Page 320.</ref> He is the expression of divine justice and wrath against taboos and crimes; in oaths he is sworn by and strikes down those who swear falsely with thunder and lightning.<ref name="onunwa"/> Amadioha shrines exist around Igboland, his main shrine is located at Ozuzu in the riverine Igbo region in northern [[Rivers State]]. While Anyanwu is more prominent in northern Igboland, Amadioha is more prominent in the south. His day is Afọ, which is the second market day.<ref>Patrick, Iroegbu. ''Igbo-Okija Oracles and Shrines, Development and Cultural Justice''</ref> In mbari houses Amadioha is depicted beside Ala as her consort.<ref>{{cite book |first=Fred |last=Kleiner |title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2009 |page=219 |location=Igbo |isbn= 978-0495573678}}</ref>
===Ikenga===
{{Main|Ikenga}}
[[File:Raccolte Extraeuropee - Passaré 00279 - Statua Igbo - Nigeria.jpg|thumb|alt=An image of a carved deity named Ikenga, the grey wooden piece has legs, a stylised but simple body, a trinagular head and shallow facial features and two horns around 1/3 its size|A miniature abstract cylindrical Ikenga figure]]
Ikenga (literally 'place of strength') is an Arusi and a cult figure of the right hand and success found among the northern Igbo people. He is an icon of meditation exclusive to men and owners of the sculpture dedicate and refer to it as their 'right hand' which is considered instrumental to personal power and success.<ref name="ibos1912">{{cite book |first=G. T. |last=Basden |title=Among the Ibos of Nigeria: 1912 |publisher= Routledge |page=45 |year=2013 |isbn= 978-1136248498}}</ref><ref name="cole-social">{{cite web |first=Herbert M. |last=Cole |title=Igbo Art in Social Context |page=6 |publisher=University of Iowa Museum of Art |url=http://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/15?start=5 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref> Ikenga is a source of encoded knowledge unraveled through psychological principles. The image of Ikenga comprises someone's ''chi'' ('personal god'), his {{transl|ig|ndichie}} (ancestors), ''aka Ikenga'' (right hand), ''ike'' (power) as well as spiritual activation through prayer and sacrifice.<ref name="Okere">{{cite news |last=Okere |first=Rose |title=Ikenga In Traditional Igbo Society |url=http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/arts/article02/110709?pdate=110709&ptitle=Ikenga%20In%20Traditional%20Igbo%20Society&cpdate=110709 |newspaper=Ngrguardiannews.com }}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Igbo cultures value of resourcefulness and individualism in society utilises the concept of Ikenga to regulate the relationship between individuality and family relations and obligations, as well as free will and industriousness balanced with destiny decided persons chi. Ikenga acts as a physical medium to the consciousness and emphasises individual initiative through reflection and meditation.<ref name="wiredu"/> Success validates the Ikenga and the sculptures act as visual representation of a person's inner success, people give offerings in thanks to the Ikenga after providing energy to overcome any unwanted pre-life choices.<ref name="wiredu"/> These choices are at the hands of the persons earth bound spirit, mmuo, who chooses sex, type, and lifespan before incarnation.<ref name="wiredu"/> The successful Ikenga influenced the saying of well-being 'íkéǹgàm kwụ̀ ọ̀tọ́ ta ta' meaning that 'my Ikenga stands upright today'.<ref name="ibos1912"/> During festivals of ''Ogbalido'' or {{transl|ig|oriri Ikenga}} ('feast of Ikenga') sculptures of him may be paraded around a village or displayed at the village centre if too monumental to transport.<ref name="wiredu"/> When a person does not become successful with hard work the Ikenga has 'fallen' and is seen as a sign of danger, if meditation and cajoling the Ikenga fails, the sculpture is 'thrown down' and broken which spiritually kills the Ikenga; a new one is carved to replace it.<ref name="wiredu"/>
Ikenga figures are common cultural artefacts ranging for six inches to 6 feet high and can be humanistic or highly stylised.<ref name="wiredu"/><ref name="ibos1912"/> There are anthropomorphic, architectonic, and abstract cylindrical Ikenga sculptures.<ref name="wiredu"/> Ikenga is a symbol of success and personal achievement.<ref name="wiredu"/> Ikenga is mostly maintained, kept or owned by men and occasionally by women of high reputation and integrity in the society. At burials, a man's Ikenga is broken into two with one piece buried with him and the other destroyed.<ref name="wiredu"/><ref name="ibos1912"/>
===Ekwensu===
{{Main|Ekwensu}}
This Arusi was adept at bargains and trade, and praying to Ekwensu was said to guarantee victory in negotiations. As a force of change and chaos, Ekwensu also represented the [[List of war deities|spirit of war]] among the Igbo, invoked during times of conflict and banished during peacetime to avoid his influences inciting bloodshed in the community, warriors set up shrines to Ekwensu to help war efforts.<ref name="udoye"/> This is based upon the finding of old shrines dedicated to the worship of the spirit,<ref>Agozino, Emmanuel. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150923205738/http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43790:ekwensugod-of-victory-not-devil-&catid=54:arts&Itemid=694 ‘Ekwensu:God of victory not devil’]}}, ''Nigerian Compass'', Nsukka, April 03, 2010</ref> as well as the recounting of old oral stories which depict the character of Ekwensu. Ekwensu was a bringer of violence and possessed people with anger.<ref name="onunwa"/> Ekwensu holds the propensity of bringing misfortune and is regarded as an evil spirit in this sense.<ref name="udoye"/> Among the Christian Igbo Ekwensu is representative of [[Satan]] and is seen as a force which places itself opposite to that of Chukwu.<ref>{{cite journal |first=John A. I. |last=Bewaji |title=Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief and the Theistic Problem of Evil |journal=African Studies Quarterly |volume=2 |issue=1 |publisher=University of Florida |year=1998 |url=http://asq.africa.ufl.edu/files/ASQ-Vol-2-Issue-1-Bewaji.pdf |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref> Ekwensu festivals are held in some Igbo towns where military success is celebrated and wealth is flaunted.<ref name="onunwa"/>
===Mmuo and minor gods===
Mmụọ is a broad class of minor gods and spirits or divinities manifesting in natural elements under the class of elder divinities with major cults. Feminine mmụọ inhabit earth and water and masculine mmụọ inhabit fire and air.<ref name="agbadiere"/> This class can be broken down by the ''Arusi'', serviceable mmụọ, ''àgwụ'' are related to unusual and deranged human behaviours, these spirits interact with human in a capricious nature that often makes them dangerous.<ref name="agbadiere"/><ref name="nwaorgu2001">{{cite book |first=Andrew E. |last=Nwaorgu |title=Cultural symbols: the Christian perspective |publisher=T' Afrique International Association |pages=92–95 |year=2001 |isbn=9780529020}}</ref> Other cult deities exist around Igboland such as [[Njoku Ji]], yam and fire deity overseeing agriculture, Idemili, 'the pillar of water', the female Arusi based in [[Idemili North]] and [[Idemili South|South]] who holds up the waters, and Mbatuku the 'bringer of wealth' or 'coming in of wealth'.<ref name="cole1982"/><ref name="uzukwu2012"/> In addition to minor spirits there are evil wondering spirits of wrong doers called ''ogbonuke''.<ref name="chigere2001"/>
Among the Mmuo are:
* Mbatuku: spirit of wealth
* Ikoro: drum spirit
* Ekwu: heart spirit or spirit of the home
* Imo miri: river spirit<ref>Slattery, Katharine [http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/nigeria/religion.htm "Religion and the Igbo People"], ''Queen's University of Belfast'', Belfast, April 03, 2010</ref>
* Okwara-afo: for Nkwerre people in Imo state is god of mercantile activities
* Aju-mmiri: sea-goddess in Nkwerre is goddess of prosperity, fertility and general well-being.
* Ogbuide: goddess of the water associated with the [[Oguta]] people.
* Urashi and Enyija: god of the river
* Ezenwaanyi/Owummiri: Female Water Spirit, Mermaid, Seductress
==Practices==
===Dibia===
[[File:Igbo medicine man.jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white photo of an Igbo traditional spiritual practitioner known as dibia wearing a cloth alung round the should and sitting cross legged on an outside sand floor, tools of his practice are in front of him including what appear to be animal skins, a small carved image of Ikenga, and a bell. He has a white line of chalk over his eyes and is slightly bowing. In the background is a carved door with intricate lines carved into it, appearing to stick out the ground behind the man.|A dibia from the early 20th century with tools of his practice including bells and a miniature Ikenga figure]]
Dibia are the mystic mediators between the human world and the spirit world and act as healers, scribes, teachers, diviners and advisors of people in the community. They are usually consulted at the shrine of a communities major deity. ''Dibia'' is a compound of the words ''di'' ('professional, master, husband') + ''ọ́bị̀à'' ('doctoring, sciences').<ref name="eltis"/> The dibia are believed to be destined for spiritual work. The dibia sees the spiritual world at any time and interprets what messages being sent and sees the spiritual problems of living people. They are given the power by the spirit world to identify any alusi by name and the possible ways of placating and negotiating with the deity. Dibia are thought to be revealed to possess the power over one of three elements namely water (and large bodies of water), fire and vegetation. Dibia whose elements are vegetation can go on to become herbalists by their supposed instinctual knowledge of the health benefits of certain plants they are instinctually drawn to, fire element dibia can handle fire unscathed during their initiation, and water element dibia do not drown. Dibia can partially enter the spirit world and communicate this by rubbing chalk on one half of their face.<ref name="udoye"/> Dibia and obia practices were transported to the [[West Indies]] as a result of the [[Atlantic slave trade]] and became known as ''[[obeah]]''.<ref name="rucker"/><ref name="eltis"/>
====Afa divination====
The name of divination in Igbo derives from ''ígbá áfà'' or ''áhà'' meaning 'to name' coming from the diviner's skill in rooting out problems hence naming them.<ref name="achebe2011">{{cite book |first=Nwando |last=Achebe |title=The Female King of Colonial Nigeria: Ahebi Ugbabe |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=54–55 |year=2011 |isbn=978-0253222480}}</ref> The dibia or ''ogba afa'', 'interpreter of afa', is considered a master of esoteric knowledge and wisdom and igba afa is a way in which people can find out the cause of such things as misfortunes. The diviner interprets codes from ''àlà mmuọ'' the unseen by throwing divination seeds, cowries, and beads,<ref name="achebe2011"/><ref name="Iroegbu2010">{{cite book |first=Patrick E. |last=Iroegbu |title=Healing Insanity: A Study of Igbo Medicine in Contemporary Nigeria |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |pages=344–346 |year=2010 |isbn=978-1450096294}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}} or observing a divination board sometimes called ''osho'' which can be used in pronouncing curses on the evil.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jude C. U. |last=Aguwa |title=The Agwu deity in Igbo religion: a study of the patron spirit divination and medicine in an African society |publisher=Fourth Dimension Publishing |page=108 |year=1995 |isbn=9789781563997}}</ref> In this way the diviner is endowed with special sight.<ref>{{cite book |first=Philip M. |last=Peek |title=African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing |publisher=Georgetown University Press |page=200 |year=1991 |isbn= 0253343097}}</ref> it is related the sciences of homeopathic medicine known as ''ọ́gwụ̀'', a practitioner consciously picks to either of these abilities.<ref name="agbadiere"/>
Animals that are special in divination and sacrifice include a white he-goat, a white ram, a tortoise and male wall gecko. These animals are prized for their rarity, price and therefore the journey taken to obtain. Chameleons and rats are used for more stronger medicines and deadly poisons, and antidotes can include lambs, small chickens, eggs, and oils.<ref name="agbadiere"/> Nzu is used in rites from birth to death and is used to mark sacred buildings and spaces.<ref name="agbadiere"/> Agwu Nsi is the Igbo patron deity of health and divination and is related to insanity, confusion, and unusual human behaviour which is linked to possession of Agwu by the diviner.<ref name="nwaorgu2001"/><ref name="Iroegbu2010"/><ref>{{cite book |first1=Patrick |last1=Iroegbu |first2=Christine E. |last2=Gottschalk-Batschkus |editor-first=Joy C. |editor-last=Green |title=Handbook of ethnotherapies |chapter=Igbo Medicine Practitioners and Ways of Healing Insanity in Southeastern Nigeria |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |page=157 |year=2002 |isbn=3831141843 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hyR_dqdZ5SQC&pg=PA157 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Damian Ugwutikiri |last=Opata |title=Ajija: an Igbo agent of death and destruction |publisher=Great AP Express |page=28 |year=2009 |isbn=978-9788087748}}</ref> Agwu can be manifested by other alusi so that there could be images of a divination Ikenga or ''Ikenga Agwu'' for instance.<ref name="Iroegbu2010"/>
===Ancestral veneration===
[[File:Igbo male figure.jpg|thumb|alt=An image of a brown wooden standing male figure partially painted with large black, yellow and white pigment, figure is in an exhibition case on a green background|A male ancestral figure]]
Ndebunze, or {{transl|ig|ndichie}}, are the deceased ancestors who are considered to be in the spirit world, {{transl|ig|àlà mmúọ́}}.<ref>{{cite book |first=Okwuchukwu Stan |last=Chukwube |title=Renewing the Community and Fashioning the Individual: A Study of Traditional Communal Reconciliation Among the Igbo |page=30 |year=2008 |isbn=978-0549638605 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofywX9zydwEC&pg=PA30 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref> In Odinani, it is believed that the dead ancestors are invisible members of the community; their role in the community, in conjunction with Ala, is to protect the community from epidemics and strife such as famine and smallpox.<ref name="Ilogu"/> Ancestors helped chi look after men.<ref name="Talbot1916"/> Shrines for the ancestors in Igbo society were made in the central house, or ''òbí'' or ''òbú'', of the patriarch of a housing compound. The patriarchal head of the household is in charge of venerating the patriarchal ancestors through libations and offerings, through this the living maintain contact with the dead. Only a patriarch whose father is dead, and therefore in the spirit world where they await reincarnation into the community, were able to venerate ancestors.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael Angelo |last=Gomez |title=Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/exchangingourcou0000gome/page/129 129] |isbn=0807846945 |url=https://archive.org/details/exchangingourcou0000gome/page/129 }}</ref> Female ancestors were called upon by matriarchs. At the funeral of a man's father there is a hierarchy in Igbo culture of animals that will be killed and eaten in his honor. Usually this depended on the rarity and price of the animal, so a goat or a sheep were common and relatively cheaper, and therefore carried less prestige, while a cow is considered a great honor, and a horse the most exceptional. Horses cannot be given for women.<ref>{{citation |first=Simon |last=Ottenberg |title=Igbo Religion, Social Life, and Other Essays |publisher=Africa World Press |page=348 |editor=Toyin Falola |year=2006 |isbn=1592214436}}</ref> Horses were more common among the northeastern Igbo due to [[tsetse fly]] zone that Igboland is situated in and renders it an unsuitable climate for horses.<ref>{{cite book |first=Clive |last=Spinage |title=African Ecology: Benchmarks and Historical Perspectives |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |page=932 |year=2012 |isbn= 978-3642228711}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Ian |last=Williams |title=Riding in Africa |year=2005 |publisher=Ian Williams |page=30 |isbn= 0595373011}}</ref> Horse heads are traditionally decorated and kept in a reliquary and at shrines.
A number of major masking institutions exist around Igboland that honour ancestors and reflect the spirit world in the land of the living. Young women, for example, are incarnated in the society through the [[agbogho mmuo|àgbọ́ghọ̀ mmúọ́]] masking tradition in which mean represent ideal and benevolent spirits of maidens of the spirit world in the form of feminine masks. These masks are performed at festivals at agricultural cycles and at funerals of prominent individuals in the society.<ref>{{cite book |first=Hope B. |last=Werness |title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Native Art: Worldview, Symbolism, and Culture in Africa, Oceania, and North America |publisher=A&C Black |year=2003 |page=145 |isbn=0826414656}}</ref>
===Kola nut===
[[File:Kolanut bowl (ọkwa ọjị), Nigeria, Igbo people, early 20th century, wood - Chazen Museum of Art - DSC01783.jpg|thumb|alt=An image of a kola nut bowl in a museum showcase, it is wooden, round and brown and a small compartment is at the centre with a lid featuring animal faces carved on.|An ókwá ọ́jị̀ bowl in the Chazen Museum of Art, [[Wisconsin]]]]
[[Kola nut]] ({{transl|ig|ọ́jị̀}}, or {{transl|ig|ọ́jị̀ Ìgbò}}) offerings and prayers ({{transl|ig|ị́gọ́ ọ́jị̀}}, 'kola nut blessing', {{transl|ig|ị́wá ọ́jị̀}}, 'kola nut breaking') can be performed personally between one and his spirit or in a group in a form of a prayer or chant. The saluter addresses their personal god or chi as well as alusi and their ancestors.<ref name="agbadiere"/> These kola nuts are held in a special round bowl called {{transl|ig|ọ́kwá}} with a compartment at the centre of the bowl for condiments for the kola nut such as [[alligator pepper]] (or ''capsicum cayenne'', {{transl|ig|ósẹ̀ ọ́jị́}})<ref name="agbadiere"/> and ground peanuts. The bowl and kola nut rite is used to welcome visitors into a household.<ref>{{cite book |first=Anthony Chike |last=Idigo |title=Oji: cola acuminata-Oji Igbo: the cornerstone of Igbo traditional ceremonies |publisher=Snaap Press |page=26 |year=2002 |isbn=9780491732}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=George Uzoma |last=Ukagba |title=The Kpim of Feminism: Issues and Women in a Changing World |publisher=Trafford Publishing |page=194 |year=2010 |isbn=978-1426924071 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vaJIMRO9-cgC&pg=PA194 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref><ref name="eboh2004">{{cite book |first=Simeon Onyewueke |last=Eboh |title=African Communalism: The Way to Social Harmony and Peaceful Co-existence |publisher=Transaction Publishers |page=143 |year=2004 |isbn=3889397158}}</ref> After the prayer, the ceremony ends with the saluter sharing pieces of the kola with the group, known as {{transl|ig|ị́ké ọ́jị̀}}. The kola is supposed to cut by hand, but more recently knives have become acceptable. When the cola has three cotyledons, or parts, it is considered an {{transl|ig|ọ́jị̀ ìkéǹgà}} in some northern communities (going by other names in communities Ikenga does not operate) and is considered a sign of great luck, bravery and nobility. {{transl|ig|O wetalu oji wetalu ndu}} — 'one who brings kola brings life' is a popular saying that points to the auspiciousness of the kola rite.<ref name="eboh2004"/><ref name="udoye2">{{cite book |first=Edwin Anaegboka |last=Udoye |title=Resolving the Prevailing Conflicts Between Christianity and African (Igbo) Traditional Religion Through Inculturation |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |page=142 |year=2011 |isbn=978-3643901163}}</ref>
== Folktales ==
The Igbos have been known to pass down their culture from generation to generation with the use of verbal (largely undocumented) stories.  Examples include:
{{Listen
| filename = Ogbozoroba - Nwunywe di na Nwunye di.mp3
| title = Nwunye di na Nwuye di
}}
===Architecture===
====Mbari====
[[File:RAAI 645.3 (2).jpg|thumb|alt=An image of modelled figure in an mbari house|Scene in an mbari house, 1904]]
Among a small area of the Urata-Igbo cultural area, near [[Owerri]], there is a tradition of building votive monument houses called ''ḿbàrí'' primarily dedicated to the ''ágbàrà'' Àlà specific to the community and sometimes other community deities. The name joins the word ''ḿbà'' ('nation, town, society') + ''rí'' ('eat') in reference to the 'festival of life' held after its completion. These votive shrines are typically designed with four columns and a central volt, around the columns are modelled deities, spirits, and depictions of human life, the entire building built out of clay from termite mounds symbolically named ''jí'' ('yam') by the initiated spirit workers called ''ńdí m̀gbè''. Ndi mgbe are secluded from the community for a couple of months during the rites of building the mbari to a deity. Mbari are requested by a deity who the diviner tells the community feels neglected and cannot feel pride in the face of other deities in the spirit world. A string of unusual and unfortunate events befalling the community is linked to the aggrieved deity. An mbari is commissioned and artists are chosen. After the completion of the mbari the spirit workers are reincorporated into the community and a feast is held for the opening of the mbari house where elders and the community come to exhibit the critique the expensive mbari. The mbari house is not a source of worship and is left to dilapidate, being reabsorbed by nature in symbolic sense related to Ala.<ref name="cole1982"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Mabri: Art as Process in Igboland |first=Herbert M. |last=Cole |url=http://africa.uima.uiowa.edu/topic-essays/show/14 |publisher=University of Iowa Museum of Art |access-date=2015-03-28}}</ref>
====Uto pyramids====
Before the twentieth century, circular stepped pyramids were built in reverence of Ala at the town of [[Nsude]] in northern Igboland. In total ten clay/mud pyramidal structures were still existing in 1935. The base section of a pyramid was {{Convert|60|ft|abbr=on}} in circumference and {{Convert|3|ft|abbr=on}} in height. The next stack was {{Convert|45|ft|abbr=on}} in circumference. Circular stacks continued, till it reached the top. The structures were temples for the god Ala/Uto who was believed to live at the top.  A stick was placed at the top to represent the god's residence. The structures were laid in groups of five parallel to each other. Because it was built of clay/mud like the Deffufa of Nubia, time has taken its toll requiring periodic reconstruction.<ref>Basden, G. S (1966). ''Among the Ibos of Nigeria, 1912.'' Psychology Press: p. 109, {{ISBN|0-7146-1633-8}}</ref>
==See also==
* ''[[Qi]]'' (term in Chinese religions)
* [[Godianism]]
* [[Igbo culture]]
* [[Ibo loa]]
{{Portal bar|Traditional African religion|Religion}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |first=John Anenechukwu |last=Umeh |title=After God is Dibia: Igbo cosmology, divination & sacred science in Nigeria |publisher=Karnak House |year=2007 |isbn=978-1872596099}}
*{{cite book |first=Joseph Thérèse |last=Agbasiere |title=Women in Igbo Life and Thought |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2000 |isbn=0415227038}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
* [https://www.igboguide.org/ An insight guide to Igboland's Culture, Religion and Language]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081015034453/http://mccoy.lib.siu.edu/jmccall/jones/ G. I. Jones Photographic Archive: Southeastern Nigerian Art & Culture]
{{Odinani}}
{{Igbo topics}}
{{Religion topics}}
{{Afro-American Religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
[[Category:Folk religions]]
[[Category:Igbo religion| ]]
[[Category:Religion in Africa]]
[[Category:Traditional African religions]]
[[he:איגבו#מיתולוגיה]]