kmariko:


Spirit is not a god.
What is equivalent of spirit in Igbo language is it not nmuo. Is nmuo a god?

Ekwensu was a Trickster God ( Alusi) of the
Igbo people who served as the Alusi or God of
Bargains and the tortoise. Crafty at trade and
negotiations, he was often invoked for
guidance in difficult mercantile situations. Like
most Trickster Gods, the deity was a force of
Chaos and Change, thus in his more violent
aspects, Ekwensu was also revered as a God
of War and Victory who ruled over the wicked
spirits and the chaotic forces of nature. His
companion was Death . With the advent of
Christianity, the more beneficent aspects of the
deity were supplanted by missionaries who
came to misrepresent Ekwensu as Satan . [1]
He was the testing force of Chukwu , and along
with Ani the Earth goddess, and Igwe, the Sky
God, make up the three highest Alusi's of the
ancient Igbo people. Ekwensu is also the Igbo
word for Satan.
©wikipedia

IyfeNamikaze:


nope alusi means god. have you ever heard this words ... "alusi na eje uka".. meaning " a deity going to church "

Does Uka as church have a meaning in Igbo besides the christian interpretation.
Here christanity is inserted into the traditional religion .. hence changes its origianl meaning

Pls how do I do this?

mifavour:



hehe. easy

Scholes007:

Ekwensu was a Trickster God ( Alusi) of the
Igbo people who served as the Alusi or God of
Bargains and the tortoise. Crafty at trade and
negotiations, he was often invoked for
guidance in difficult mercantile situations. Like
most Trickster Gods, the deity was a force of
Chaos and Change, thus in his more violent
aspects, Ekwensu was also revered as a God
of War and Victory who ruled over the wicked
spirits and the chaotic forces of nature. His
companion was Death . With the advent of
Christianity, the more beneficent aspects of the
deity were supplanted by missionaries who
came to misrepresent Ekwensu as Satan . [1]
He was the testing force of Chukwu , and along
with Ani the Earth goddess, and Igwe, the Sky
God, make up the three highest Alusi's of the
ancient Igbo people. Ekwensu is also the Igbo
word for Satan.
©wikipedia

Thats a Wikipedia written by a christian. In traditional Igbo there is no God of tricks or whatever you may name it. Traditional Igbo religious man/woman prays to many gods depending on what he or she wants to accomplish there is no one encompassing god of good or evil.
E.g Amadioha could be a good or bad god depending on ones appeal to "it"

kmariko:
@Op are you not passing the christian concept of diety as that of Igbos who traditionally believe in multi-diety religion not single diety as you are implying.

The Igbo traditional religion might be multi-diety, on the face of it,but all the dieties are all under the One Supreme Diety,Chi-ukwu,the Supreme Chi,from whom all else was created,so can as well be assumed to be Mono Diety in concept..

kmariko:


Does Uka as church have a meaning in Igbo besides the christian interpretation.
Here christanity is inserted into the traditional religion .. hence changes its origianl meaning

its obvious you don't know what you're saying. so because "church " is a Christian place of worship that means that the igbos won't have a word for it?
I have a feeling that I'm not arguing with an igbo person, and even if you are truly an igbo, then you must no doubt be far from your roots than the moon is from the sun.

donbenie:
The Igbo traditional religion might be multi-diety, on the face of it,but all the dieties are all under the One Supreme Diety,Chi-ukwu,the Supreme Chi,from whom all else was created,so can as well be assumed to be Mono Diety in concept..

Beg to disagree Chukwu or chi merely means god does not refer to anything supreme about it as no one god is mightier than another

kmariko:


Thats a Wikipedia written by a christian. In traditional Igbo there is no God of tricks or whatever you may name it. Traditional Igbo religious man/woman prays to many gods depending on what he or she wants to accomplish there is no one encompassing god of good or evil.
E.g Amadioha could be a good or bad god depending on ones appeal to "it"

traditionally Igbos have Ekwensu as a bad spirit...like in my village(clan) Ekwensu is regarded as a heartless and cruel god which controls other evil gods and spirits (ajo mmuo)

stevikenna:
WITH THE ADVENT OF CHRISTIANITY AND ALL THESE NEO COLONIALISM GOING ON,WE THE IGBOS HAVE QUICKLY FORGOTTEN OUR ROOTS
OUR CULTURE IS ON THE DECLINE,THE LANGUAGE IS DYING AND OUR GREAT SOCIETIES LIKE THE AGE GRADE SYSTEM ARE ALMOST EXTINCT
THIS IS A TIME FOR SOBER REFLECTION,WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES HOW WE WANT THE FUTURE TO LOOK FOR US
IGBO KWENU! !.

What I distaste about we igbo's is that we've totally forgotten about our Own alphabet which is Nsibidi ........

99% of US don't know how to read nor write Nsibidi .... .... Nawa' o

Scholes007:

traditionally Igbos have Ekwensu as a bad spirit...like in my village(clan) Ekwensu is regarded as a heartless and cruel god which controls other evil gods and spirits (ajo mmuo)

Ajo nmmadu is a bad person does not mean that he/she controls you and me.

Nwanyi a or Nwoke a bu onye nmmuo does not confer evil to the said man or woman.
Please nmmuo in Igbo land does not confer anything bad. Christianity merely propagandized it as bad...which is not the original meaning.

After all there is nmmuoneke

Vainglory:
The Igbo understanding of the relationship between God (Chukwu) and Satan (Ekwensu) appeals to me better than the Christian version. From the writeup I see that the Igbos take Ekwensu to be serving the purposes of Chukwu and is therefore subservient to Him. This is clearly contradicted to the Christian view of Satan who is always at war with God, and winning most of the time. This view has made God not omnipotent but most of the time helplessly unable to help while his arch enemy, the Satan, wrecks havoc everywhere.

Truly Christians don't see how they insult the creator with this bullcrap about satan

In African beliefs, the creator cannot have a rival or enemy. It's omnipotent, all knowing and self existent Infact it's existence itself...like the OP stated space itself is constitutes the creator

Scholes007:

No it is not , it's among the mmuo ojo (evil spirits) that are believed to cause havoc on earth .Ekwensu is just god of tricks and feeds on evil deeds... so there is nothing Christian about it...

you must admit that christianity has destroyed the system of the Igbos greatly, ekwensu a once highly respected deity is now hailed undue insults

kmariko:


Ajo nmmadu is a bad person does not mean that he/she controls you and me.

Nwanyi a or Nwoke a bu onye nmmuo does not confer evil to the said man or woman.
Please nmmuo in Igbo land does not confer anything bad. Christianity merely propagandized it as bad...which is not the original meaning.

After all there is nmmuoneke

*like i said gods are spirits in Igboland and among the gods there is only one god that is more supreme (chukwu or chineke or obasi bi nigwe)...he (chineke) controls other other gods.
*there are good gods like njoku,amadioha etc
*And there are bad gods like Ekwensu,uke,agwu,ogba nje etc
*Ekwensu controls other evil gods but all of them are are under the supremacy of chukwu abiama or chineke kere uwa or obasi bi na elu

macof:


you must admit that christianity has destroyed the system of the Igbos greatly, ekwensu a once highly respected deity is now hailed undue insults

no no no ekwe nsu have neva been a respected god in igbo land but it is a feared god that brings terror if a group go against the god of the land...in other words he is a tool used by chineke to punish people

Scholes007:

*like i said gods are spirits in Igboland and among the gods there is only one god that is more supreme (chukwu or chineke or obasi bi nigwe)...he (chineke) controls other other gods.
*there are good gods like njoku,amadioha etc
*And there are bad gods like Ekwensu,uke,agwu,ogba nje etc
*Ekwensu controls other evil gods but all of them are are under the supremacy of chukwu abiama or chineke kere uwa or obasi bi na elu

Igbo's never ever referred to chineke bi na elu..that was a co opted literal translation of god in heaven. Ever wondered why we have ..ome na ani not ome ne elu. The gods of the Igbo's are here on earth never , ever referred to a heaven or elu until the christians arrived with that concept.
The Igbo's lost a critical aspects of their language and inadvently supplanted it with literal translation from the colonialists.

A person who lacks tradition is referred in Igbo land as ,,,ome ne elu...that actually tells one a lot

Scholes007:

*like i said gods are spirits in Igboland and among the gods there is only one god that is more supreme (chukwu or chineke or obasi bi nigwe)...he (chineke) controls other other gods.
*there are good gods like njoku,amadioha etc
*And there are bad gods like Ekwensu,uke,agwu,ogba nje etc
*Ekwensu controls other evil gods but all of them are are under the supremacy of chukwu abiama or chineke kere uwa or obasi bi na elu

When did Ogba nje become a god?

Radoillo:


When did Ogba nje become a god?

sorry Ogba nje is an evil spirit

lanxlot:
d relationship between Chukwu and ukwu avin read dix vignette is now...dutifully obvious.....lemme use dix platform den 2 warn Flavour sternly.....I deem it fit dat he shud av respect for ukwu...nd respectfully make use of d word henceforth.

no no no u r misinterpreting the whole thing...... Its UKWU (as in big) not ukwu. ( As in waist)

kmariko:


Igbo's never ever referred to chineke bi na elu..that was a co opted literal translation of god in heaven. Ever wondered why we have ..ome na ani not ome ne elu. The gods of the Igbo's are here on earth never , ever referred to a heaven or elu until the christians arrived with that concept.
The Igbo's lost a critical aspects of their language and inadvently supplanted it with literal translation from the colonialists.

A person who lacks tradition is referred in Igbo land as ,,,ome ne elu...that actually tells one a lot

that's where you get it wrong Afikpo that still practice most of the tradition never regard Obasi as living on|in the ground but the worship the go of the land omakaejeali and their believe Obasi is the main god that sent omakaejeali to the earth...there are other gods like .njoku ji....

Scholes007:

sorry Ogba nje is an evil spirit

....and I think it is an oversimplification to describe Agwu and Ekwensu as evil gods. These deities had complex personalities. Ekwensu was certainly respected, at least in some parts of Igboland, Ngwa (I think; could be wrong) being one of them.

Agwu was (where I am from) the patron deity of doctors and the medical profession, despite also being associated with a mild form of madness and with misfortune.

Radoillo:


....and I think it is an oversimplification to describe Agwu and Ekwensu as evil gods. These deities had complex personalities. Ekwensu was certainly respected, at least in some parts of Igboland, Ngwa (I think; could be wrong) being one of them.

Agwu was (where I am from) the patron deity of doctors and the medical profession, despite also being associated with a mild form of madness and with misfortune.

now i understand your point some of these gods like agwu nsi, Ekwensu etc where not respected but feared...no one worship agwu nsi unless you have urteror

Radoillo:


....and I think it is an oversimplification to describe Agwu and Ekwensu as evil gods. These deities had complex personalities. Ekwensu was certainly respected, at least in some parts of Igboland, Ngwa (I think; could be wrong) being one of them.

Agwu was (where I am from) the patron deity of doctors and the medical profession, despite also being associated with a mild form of madness and with misfortune.

now i understand your point some of these gods like agwu nsi, Ekwensu etc where not respected but feared...no one worship agwu nsi unless you have some evil motive...but there are not regard as bad as the Christian Satan that rebel against God

Scholes007:

now i understand your point some of these gods like agwu nsi, Ekwensu etc where not respected but feared...no one worship agwu nsi unless you have some evil motive...but there are not regard as bad as the Christian Satan that rebel against God

I'm not sure whether Agwu Nsi is the same as simply Agwu. Speaking for the Awka-Nri axis, Agwu is the tutelary deity of the dibias, both dibia afa (diviners) and dibia ogwu (doctors). A dibia need have no evil motive to worship Agwu.

Radoillo:


I'm not sure whether Agwu Nsi is the same as simply Agwu. Speaking for the Awka-Nri axis, Agwu is the tutelary deity of the dibias, both dibia afa (diviners) and dibia ogwu (doctors). A dibia need have no evil motive to worship Agwu.

Agwu nsi is just the full name and it is a god of misfortune and madness as you said there is nothing good about it...unless i na ebu nsi

Scholes007:

that's where you get it wrong Afikpo that still practice most of the tradition never regard Obasi as living on|in the ground but the worship the go of the land omakaejeali and their believe Obasi is the main god that sent omakaejeali to the earth...there are other gods like .njoku ji....

Sent to earth does not necessarily mean from heaven to earth. Sent to earth meant gave birth to. O muwa kpo ta gi na uwa. Does not mean I sent you from heaven .

kmariko:


Sent to earth does not necessarily mean from heaven to earth. Sent to earth meant gave birth to. O muwa kpo ta gi na uwa. Does not mean I sent you from heaven .

and what do you imply?

charlsecy:
I think every culture has their own story about creation and GOD..... but it looks like the colonialists tried to destroy ours. The colonialists attacked everything we have, including our language, that you would be fined for speaking what they called "vernacular." You speak your language and you are whipped.... This is one of the biggest cultural disasters ever experienced. They say your culture is evil; they say your language is backward; they say your religion is demonic......

Heartbreaking, really

...and to think they are not so into their religion like that again...in fact, Africans now champion the cause
SMH

Scholes007:

no no no ekwe nsu have neva been a respected god in igbo land but it is a feared god that brings terror if a group go against the god of the land...in other words he is a tool used by chineke to punish people

we are still saying the same thing.
Ekwensu is jst like Esu of the Yoruba, punisher of the disobedient

But respected is the keyword here

WHR are u going

kmariko:
No alusi is not a god

Alusi is god. Ukwu Alusi is shrine where you go for worship.

Igbos are the missing Jews. The Bible records this in the book of Hebrew. it says not all that left Egypt were by the hand of Moses. hence, the similarity in tradition and customs with the Jews. we believe in the invisible God. In the Bible before Moses, it records that God was silent for 430 years. So, in this long period of silence, people believed there was a God in his absence or silence, made for themselves lesser gods. Eg is the calf which Aaron made which is a symbol of amadioha of today. I could go on and on to trace the link with Jews and igbos. we are the lost tribe

onyenro:
Igbos are the missing Jews. The Bible records this in the book of Hebrew. it says not all that left Egypt were by the hand of Moses. hence, the similarity in tradition and customs with the Jews. we believe in the invisible God. In the Bible before Moses, it records that God was silent for 430 years. So, in this long period of silence, people believed there was a God in his absence or silence, made for themselves lesser gods. Eg is the calf which Aaron made which is a symbol of amadioha of today. I could go on and on to trace the link with Jews and igbos. we are the lost tribe

YOU are a missing Jew. Those of us who are not congratulate you on this discovery of your true roots.