Traditional Religious
Beliefs of the Igbo
By: Som Ngeth and Emily Kobayashi
Animism
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The Igbo people's religion was called
animism.
This religion believed that spirits exist in
humans, plants, animals, rivers and even
rocks.
Chukwu: God
Chukwu is the Igbo version of God. He is the
one that created the universe. He is much
like the god from Christianity.
Alusi: Minor Deities
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Minor Deities were called Alusi and were the
forces for blessing or destruction.
The Igbo people believed the Alusi could
help the tribe and serve their interests.
If the Alusi performed these interests the
people would continue to believe in them.
The Alusi
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Ala or Ana, the Earth Goddess and controls
the fertility of land and of men.
Igwe is the Sky God, however he can not
control the rain.
Imo miri is the spirit of the river and it was
forbidden to fish in big rivers.
More Alusi
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Mbatuku is the spirit of wealth.
Agwo is the spirit that is always envious of
others wealth.
Aha njuku or Ifejioku is the yam spirit.
Ikoro is the drum spirit.
Ekwu is the hearth spirit and women's
domestic spirit.
Cowries and
yams
Chi
Chi was a person's energy or spirit that an
individual possessed. It can be read by
people and may tell a lot about that person.
Spirits and Ancestors
The Igbo praised many of their ancestors. The
looked high and learned from them. They
believed that the elders were the closest in
contact to them.
Spirits were beings that were also like
ancestors but some were good and some
were bad. Spirits varied like Ekwefi's
daughter or the evil spirits that come out at
night.
Ogbanje
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A way to explain why children keep dieing
because the child's spirit was bad.
Igbo people believed that the child would
keep dieing and reentering womb to be
reborn, until a iyi-uwa, a special stone, was
found, the child would keep dieing.
What an Iyi-uwa
might look like
Egwugwu
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This was how the Igbo people administered
justice.
Village leaders would wear masks of an
ancestral spirit, and then ask the people to
bring forth their problems.
The leaders would then tell how to fix the
problem, or settle a dispute.
Sacrifices
In the Igbo tribes make sacrifices for their
ancestors and their gods. They believe it
pleases the gods and gives good chi to them.
They usually sacrifice before harvest and
going to talk to a spirit or ancestor. They
usually sacrifice chickens and goats.
Funeral Traditions
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They are very complex.
Chief's burial most complex.
Some deaths are considered shameful and
people are thrown into a bush.
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Suicides
Babies that die with no teeth
Women that die in labor
Bush
More death
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Sometimes the Igbo people would put
people to death because of their religion.
Twins
o Children born with teeth
o Children whose upper teeth grew first
o Babies born feet first
o And other people their religion found unfit.
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Festivals
The New Yam Festival
All previous year's yams are eaten or thrown
away
First yam is eaten by leader or elder and he
will present the yams to the spirits,
ancestors, deities, and god.
Festival is especially for Ana/Ala
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Picture of
Ana/Ala
Festivals Continued
Week of Peace
To avoid being punished by spirits,
ancestors, deities, and god.
If broken, spirits, ancestors, deities, and god
will wreak havoc on the city
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Citations
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Slattery, Katharine. "Religion and the Igbo People." Religion and the Igbo
People. N.p., 15 Aug. 2001. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.qub.ac.uk/imperial/nigeria/religion.htm>.
"Igbo - Religion and Expressive Culture." Countries and Their Cultures.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-MiddleEast/Igbo-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html>.
Onah, Godfrey Igwebuike. "THE MEANING OF PEACE IN AFRICAN
TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND CULTURE." THE MEANING OF PEACE
IN AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND CULTURE. N.p., n.d. Web.
15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/goddionah.htm>.
"New Yam Festival of the Igbo." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Oct.
2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Yam_Festival_of_the_Igbo>.
"Animism." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Oct.
2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism>.
"Ogbanje." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Oct.
2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogbanje>.
Citations for Pictures
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N.d. Photograph. The New York Times. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/earth_planet/index.h
tml>.
N.d. Photograph. The Activist. 10 Sept. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yAOYE3J1mo/TmsnBJ6ucYI/AAAAAAAABcA/5ZKqEv3p-6I/s1600/36676sky_blue.jpg>.
N.d. Photograph. Pitt Rivers Museum. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/LGweb/coins/1894_27_214.htm>.
N.d. Photograph. Wikipedia. 18 Nov. 2004. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/YamsatBrixtonMark
et.jpg>.
N.d. Photograph. Odinani: The Sacred Arts & Sciences of the Igbo People
An Igbo Cyber Shrine. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://igbocybershrine.com/tag/egwugwu/>.
N.d. Photograph. Clker.com. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.clker.com/clipart-soft-bush.html>.