IBO CULTURE
Religion and Other Beliefs
Spirituality
■ The universe is divided into two levels
– The natural level (human world)
– The spiritual level (gods, goddesses, and spirits)
■ Ibo spirituality affects everyday life; it is how they make
sense of the world.
Three levels of diving beings:
■ Chukwu= supreme god or high god (highest level)
■ ágbàrà or álúsí = lesser spirits
■ Ndi Ichie= the spirits of dead people
Chukwu
■ Also referred to as the “great spirit”
■ His symbol is the sun
■ He is associated with nature and all its parts, like rain and plants
■ Chukwu created the whole world and other gods, or deities
Chukwu continued . . .
■ The rains he brings upon the world are used to help the Ibo people be
prosperous when planting
■ All good that happens in the lives of the Ibo is directly related to
Chukwu
■ Ala is the daughter or wife of Chukwu that is responsible for fertility as
well as death
■ Ala is the god that rules both at the beginning and at the end of life
Deities
■ Chukwu created all earth, so in turn, all the deities of the Ibo originate
from earth
■ Deities can be made of wood and worshiped as gods
■ There are many deities in the Ibo religion
Deities continued . . .
■ Deities are said to be messengers of god to the people
■ The Ibo people know and immediately fear the deities
■ Although Chukwu is supreme, deities are feared because they can
immediately affect the lives of the Ibo people
What is a Chi?
■ Chi is the name for smaller gods and spirits
(a person’s personal guardian spirit)
■ A person’s Chi is their personal fate
■ The purpose of a Chi is to care, and to determine successes,
misfortunes and failures throughout life
■ Similar to a guardian angel
– Chi is usually in the form of a wooden idol
Chi continued . . .
■ Every person has a personal Chi (female/male) from birth to death
■ A person’s Chi is one way to connect with Chukwu
– A person’s Chi is assigned by Chukwu while the person is in the
womb
– To survive spiritually, one must establish a special relationship
with their Chi
“ . . . when a man says yes his chi says yes also.”
Chielo and the Oracle
■ Chielo is the current priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and
the Caves
■ When Chielo is not possessed by Agbala, acting as the Oracle, she's a
normal woman
■ When Chielo is possessed by the Oracle there is a whole other side to
her personality
■ Agbala choses to communicate with the Ibo
through Chielo
Chielo continued . . .
■ Just like our modern day priests, Chielo expresses
the wisdom of a higher power
■ Chielo’s entire countenance changes when she is possessed; instead of a
regular, lovable, hardworking woman, she becomes a fierce, deep-voiced
communicator of Agbala’s desires
■ No one dares challenge or argue with her
■ The villagers respect her and she plays a large role with in the
community offering wisdom, communicating orders from Agbala,
and basically telling people what to do
Ibo Birth
■ Ibo strongly believe in reincarnation
– If one has lived a “socially approved life” they
will reincarnate
■ A child is born after a spirit enters the womb
– Evil spirits call Ogbanje will continually be born and die
over and over again
■ Ogbanje- a child possessed by an evil spirit that leaves the
child's body upon death only to enter into the mother's womb
to be reborn again within the next child's body
■ An Iyi-uwa is an object from Ibo mythology that binds the spirit
of a dead child (known as ogbanje) to the world, causing it to
return and be born again to the same mother
Ogbanje
■ Ogbanje is what the Ibo believe to be a wicked child
■ This child is born, then dies in infancy, and then enters his mother's womb to
be born again
■ This belief caused dead babies to be mutilated to try and stop the wicked
child from returning
■ Okonkwo's wife Ekwefi lost nine of her children and the medicine man told
Okonkwo it was because of an ogbanje
■ Finally Ezinma is born to Ekwefi, and Ezinma lives although she goes through
periods of illness
■ This story helps to reveal some of the tribal culture and belief. It also shows
us a very human side to Okonkwo and Ekwefi as they struggle with the loss
of so many children and Ezinma's illnesses.
Ibo Death
■ Dead spirits will return to the same family
■ Funerals are the biggest of the religious ceremonies
■ Funeral services vary based on type of death
– For women who die during childbirth or people who commit
suicide (both considered shameful), their ceremonies normally
consist of being thrown in a bush (no burial provided)
– The honor of the death varies dependent on the background, title,
gender, relationship with family and circumstances around the
death
– Funerals consist of two burials; after the second burial rites, it is
believed that the person can reach the spirit world
Other beliefs . . .
■ The Evil Forest
– Superstition is that evil spirits lurk in the
mysterious forest
– The evil forest is a sacred place where sick
men are taken to die. Twins are left there to die. No one dares
build or farm there, as it is land reserved for the gods
■ Twins
– Ibo feared the birth of twins
– Ibo society viewed twins as a bad omen sent by the gods. They
considered twins as supernatural beings that could bring
devastation upon society