Introduction to Igbo Medicine

IGBO MODES OF MOBILIZING EXTRAHUMAN FORCES TO RESPOND TO ILLNESS AND PROBLEMS IN SOCIETY - IGA N’AJUJU
(Part 1)



NOBODY WANTS TO WRITE IN THIS AREA; WHY?
I have had a long standing interest in exploring African medical systems. As such, I introduce to you a course in African medicine and the perspectives of its practitioners. I am calling this course “Igbo Medicine” (IGBOMED 101). This way, I anticipate that readers will gain insights and stand up for Igbo medical heritage – therefore align it with vision in a changing global health care and development.

So, what is Igbo Medicine? This course will engage readers in the exploration of African ways of inquiry and discovery when it comes to finding the causes of illnesses and suffering, and the ritualistic and therapeutic remedies that follow. It is my hope that one day an in-depth and expanded edition of “Introduction to Igbo Medicine” (Ogwu Igbo) will emerge, adding to the awareness of indigenous practices of healing and their relevance in the modern world.

There is a need to give philosophical attention and meaning to culture and healing as they are seen by the practitioners in this area. In other words, understanding the principles around which illness is conceived of, explained, and used at cross-points of a knowledge system is necessary.

  Figure 1: Diviner’s Consultation Hut
Basically, related case studies of illnesses in Igboland, how they are explained, and how healing is dispensed by Igbo healers and their counterparts in other African countries should command greater attention than they do currently. In order to get to the root of the matter in a meaningful way, use of personal and related experiences should also be encouraged in the studies of African healing systems and the institution of African medicine. This pertains not only to the wide range of forms of illnesses and social problems that indigenous healers address, but also to the changing patterns in relationship with biomedical sphere, or so-called orthodox, medicine.

In this work, I wish to discuss, specifically, Igbo divination systems. First, I want to question the composition of our knowledge that leads us to believe that the realm of the seen is more real than the realm of the unseen. Festus Adedayo’s (2005) The Dilemma of a Snake[1] points out that

“to establish the possibility of any knowledge, such knowledge has to be founded on some assumptions whose truth has to be guaranteed and to judge a specific knowledge process would be dependent on a knowledge already known to be certain and true as a standard. But obviously the need to ‘prove the reliability of knowledge always poses a problem.’”         
     
While consummation with other cultures has broadened the Igbo cosmology of knowledge transmission, patterns of life, and worldviews, traditional values and practices have endured in the imbrications and realms of knowledge systems. Consulting superhuman forces in matters of healing, rather than throwing the Igbo into an epistemological dilemma, enables them to reach beyond the endless limitations of the human mind. In a serious sense, it allows them to engage in the symbolic and intellectual pursuit of resolving the dilemma of achieving true knowledge in regard to suffering and cures.
  http://www.kwenu.com/publications/iroegbu/igbomed/introduction1.htm

Igbo worldview relies on a diviner a divination to provide answers to problems and puzzles of daily life-experiences.
In other words, the essence of divination in Igbo culture is the provision for resolving one difficulty or the other that the individual or the community encounters as he attempts to understand the world around him.

The diviner (DIBIA-AFA) is thus a busy person among the adherent of Igbo religion. He is consulted for practically all problems, sicknesses and failure in business or failure to have a male child, boundary disputes, sudden deaths etc.

After determining the cause of the problem, the diviner then prescribes remedies which more often than not are sacrifices to be made to the ancestors or to the spirits believed to be angry about something.

i think most ppl dont use diviners cos of their modus operandi amongst other things.any diff. btw herbalist n diviner?

ifyalways:

i think most ppl dont use diviners cos of their modus operandi amongst other things.any diff. btw herbalist n diviner?

Just the same.
Those who do not use diviners use christianity as an excuse. They will choose to use the bible to prove their innocence, yet we all know that the bible does not strike guilty people down. But with the diviners or at some shrines like Kamalu, Ala ogbaga etc, it does not spare the wicked.

where is ala-ogbaku?do u think modern day diviners are still to be trusted?has the pratice not become corrupted?

ifyalways:

where is ala-ogbaku?do u think modern day diviners are still to be trusted?has the pratice not become corrupted?

Ala Ogbaga is a very powerful shrine around Mbaise. There are some other ones in Oguta, Awka, Arochukwu, Ikwerre, Okija etc.
Lots are still trustworthy. During the Easter period that I was in my home town, a busness man reported to a Dibia about his missing 3 bags of palm kernel. The Dibia then consulted all the men who offloaded the bags of the kernel from a truck that fateful day. All the men denied the accusation and the Dibia had no choice than to devine and find out the culprit. Though red-handed, the guy denied it and took an oath. Within two weeks, his stomach got swollen up and he died as a result.
So lots of them are real.

Thanks for this, Andre.

Come to think of it, Do we have COURSES in indigenous medicine, philosophies, religion, culture etc etc

If not, it is a massive oversight on our part.

Thank you Andre Uweh for this wonderful post. This is clearly illustrating the beauty of Igbo culture.

Andre Uweh:

Just the same.
Those who do not use diviners use christianity as an excuse. They will choose to use the bible to prove their innocence, yet we all know that the bible does not strike guilty people down. But with the diviners or at some shrines like Kamalu, Ala ogbaga etc, it does not spare the wicked.

I had this notion that diviners ie ndi afa is different from herbalists ie dibia mkporogwu
I also heard some diviners(its safe to call them seers) can only forsee then direct u to a dibia for a cure/solution.Dr Ihesie(Umuaka) is a diviner while Nwanyo-bu-ije(Umu ndugba ) is a herbalist.IMO
My relgious belifs aside,i still have lots faith in herbalists and very little for diviners who in my opinion are all but almost corrupt.Herbalits use herbs(natural God-given),they study their enviroment to find cures,same cant be said of diviners.IMO
Andrew,sometimes though,some of their pratices do look funny and does not add up eg,whats with traditional bone setters getting a fowl,breaking one of its legs and claming that the speed at which it heals wud determine the patients recovery ? It looks funny,weird and suspicious

It depends on ones belief.

ifyalways:

I had this notion that diviners ie ndi afa is different from herbalists ie dibia mkporogwu
I also heard some diviners(its safe to call them seers) can only forsee then direct u to a dibia for a cure/solution.Dr Ihesie(Umuaka) is a diviner while Nwanyo-bu-ije(Umu ndugba ) is a herbalist.IMO
My relgious belifs aside,i still have lots faith in herbalists and very little for diviners who in my opinion are all but almost corrupt.Herbalits use herbs(natural God-given),they study their enviroment to find cures,same cant be said of diviners.IMO
Andrew,sometimes though,some of their pratices do look funny and does not add up eg,whats with traditional bone setters getting a fowl,breaking one of its legs and claming that the speed at which it heals wud determine the patients recovery ? It looks funny,weird and suspicious

Most of the diviners carry out healing exercises as well. Some may refer you to a more equipped Dibia just as medical consultants make referals for patients/clients.
Most of the bone setters do not use fouls or any ritual similar. They use mostly very hot water cooked with pepper and a leaf. The exercise is mostly massaging and rotation of joints. If it is a fracture to the tibia, they use bark of trees to make frames and rings round the external tissue of the fractured tibia.
After that, some oral concontions prepared with Manya elu or kai kai is given the client to take home. They will inform you to drink it once, twice or thrice daily.
Igbo healing method is very unique.

Interesting.

I was wondering when this would come up.

Greetings to all. Check out this new site I found that speaks about African royalty around theworld. It is called Afrikan Royals http://www.afrikanroyals.com

This is great information. I have always wanted to know more about the Igbo philosophy. More people need to know these things to set the record straight.

I think the line separating a diviner from a herbalist is very thin. Diviners (aka seers) are spiritual men who are well-known for their ability to foresee the future and for their special connection to the spirit world (thus their ability to converse with ndi ogo nmuo). Herbalists are just people who have a thorough knowledge of native plants and their uses. Any botanist can easily become a herbalist. However, those herbalists that have a special connection with the spiritual world that allows them to reach the ancestors, ndi nmuo, and Chukwu himself are Diviners.

For example, a man who opens a shrine in his backyard and begins to give away herbal remedies is a herbalist. However, the priest of the shrine to Kamalu or Ibini Ukpabi is known as a diviner.

Andre Uweh:
Just the same.
Those who do not use diviners use christianity as an excuse. They will choose to use the bible to prove their innocence, yet we all know that the bible does not strike guilty people down. But with the diviners or at some shrines like Kamalu, Ala ogbaga etc, it does not spare the wicked.

I understand what you mean. I am one of those people that believe that a perfect balance between Christianity and Omenali should be maintained. I believe that embracing Christianity shouldn't mean abandoning our past. For example in my town if a man dies and foul play is suspected, the man's family (even if Christians) have the right to consult an oracle and prepare the taking of an oath (otita arunsi).

Death in Igbo World View and its Socio-Anthropological Implications

Through this, the research observes that: the Igbo concept of death is different from that of the other peoples of the world. Death in the language of the Igbo is called Ọnwụ. Unlike the Western conception of death as the total annihilation of human life, the Igbo believe there is life after death possibly with the ancestors in the spiritual realm. Death to the Igbo is not death as such; it is simply a transition, a change of life for a new life. In contradistinction to the Western vertical conception of death which calls for self perfection to inherit heaven, that of the Igbo is horizontal...

http://www.scharticles.com/death-in-igbo-world-view-and-its-socio-anthropological-implications/