Igbo

Religious Beliefs

The Igbo religious way of life promotes a personal and positive connection with their family and people, nature, water, the Earth, the sun, the universe, fire, and God/Goddess. According to Igbo cosmology, two worlds exist—spiritual and physical. The two worlds are distinct, although also deeply interrelated and interdependent. The spirit world is inhabited by at least four distinguishable sets of entities.

First are the spirits that have become disconnected from the physical bodies at the time of death, Ndicbie (Ancestors). Some of them have reached their destination and lay in the spiritual space of good spirits. Others, in contrast, who have failed to do so sometimes make incursions into the physical world and cause misfortunes among the living. The second set of entities is personal spirits, Chi- (Guardian). The Igbo believe that every human has been endowed with a Chi at the time of their birth. The Chi is responsible for the source of life and destiny of the individual. The third set of entities is the spirits connected with nature and nonhuman entities, Alusi. Those, such as the Earth, the sky, the sun, and the water, never had physical human bodies. Finally, the fourth set of spirits is evil spirits Ula Chi (“adversary of Chi”), and Akaloglii. The Igbos believe those evil spirits to be humans who became completely wicked and enjoy inflicting pain and grief on humans. Whereas offerings and sacrifices are bestowed to all of the spirits in the Igbo cosmology to appease them for blessings and protection, evil ones are not granted such an honor. Instead, they are given the least and worthless items to keep them at a distance to prevent havoc in families and the society as a whole.

The Supreme Being in Igbo mythology is addressed as Chukwu or Chineke. Chukwu is a compound word from Chi (“personal guiding spirit”) and ukwu (“big”), which can be translated as “the big or great Chi.” Chineke is also a compound word from Chi (“personal guiding spirit”), na (“who”), and eke (“to share out”), which can be translated as “supreme being who shares.” The Igbo traditional and ancient religious system is centered around the belief that there is a single, unique, and individual spiritual being who is the foremost provider and on whom, as a result, all living things are ultimately dependent for guidance, blessings, love, protection, support, and so on. Chukwu is not categorized as either a male or female spiritual entity. [Page 333]This, in turn, allows inclusive spiritual space for both genders, especially for women, who are excluded from the highest pantheon of spiritual force(s) in other religious expressions. Actually, all living entities, known and unknown, seen and unseen, are connected to and are from the same spiritual force. Nothing and no one is given priority or special consideration based solely on superficiality or physical characteristics from the Supreme Being, only those who are positive and perform good deeds that add to the forward progress of humanity.

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