The destruction of every culture deemed threatening by the west is not a new concept. Thanks to Prof Damian Opata, the name of Ekewensu has finally been vindicated. Ekwensu is not the Devil; Ekwensu is the Igbo God of War and Trickster God.
It’s quite funny to see how we Nigerians have become more holy than the Pope. The Europeans venerate their deities and make them look appealing. We let our children watch Disney’s Hercules, call our daughters Diana, we read the Greek illads, we watch Odysseus, The goddess Britannia is on every monument in the Uk, the goddess Columbia is on every American Monument; yet we call our heritage, demons, devils and diabolic, ”The worst thing that ever happened to Africa; was turning your gods into demons”, How on earth do you expect to find peace, I think it’s time to rehabilitate our Gods?
The Society we live in is the reflection of the God we create/serve; if this is a standard, do you think the western God you worship merits a pass mark from you, Just a question, don’t persecute me yet,

Jackdaniel,
I gbadun your post joo! The Yorubas should follow suit like the Igbos because Esu is not the Devil/Satan as depicted in the Bible or the Quran. He's like Ekwensu, a really naughty boi , not some malevolent deity.

Some of us who have left 9ja can go visit tourist places (gleefully toting our cameras) like the Temple of Artemis and other such places reminiscent of the Greek and Roman Empires (let's not forget that the Vatican is replete with similar Gods-cum-Saints) , admire their archicture , the history behind it blah, blah, blah, but will say a very loud 'Tufiakwa' 'Olorun maje' while snapping one's fingers and making a half-circle over one's head when invited to Sango's shrine or to Amadioha's obi to have lunch with him.

Is it because the foreign Gods sound 'Behind' and ours don't? We've demonised our own Gods and destroyed beautiful architecture, yet we venerate the foreign Gods and even pay to hear or see them.

@ Malama, I am very grateful we still have very enlightened Nigerians like you , and not the normal cliché of ‘tufiakwa’, ‘olorun maje’, binding, casting, photocopying and laminating Nigerians . Who are in the psychotic hobby of calling invincible fires they would never understand . Little do they know; the Vatican sent Cardinal Arinze to document the whole Igbo cultural sacrifice, I wonder what they are doing with it.
The demonization of our Gods has ruined the psyche of most Nigerians. We have destroyed our heritage, architecture and economic potentials. Imagine how much the Greek government makes from tourists visiting and venerating the temples of their Gods (millions of Euros). Funny enough, among these tourists are our so called brimstone and fire religious fanatics.
The greatest slavery the west archived in instilling in most blacks wasn’t by whips, chains, racial antics, but in enslaving the mind and making them believe ‘’that everything they had is evil and mediocre’’. Yet the artefacts’ of all the stolen Gods of Africa are highly guarded in the western museums all over the world,

The destruction of every culture deemed threatening by the west is not a new concept. Thanks to Prof Damian Opata, the name of Ekewensu has finally been vindicated. Ekwensu is not the Devil; Ekwensu is the Igbo God of War and Trickster God.
It’s quite funny to see how we Nigerians have become more holy than the Pope. The Europeans venerate their deities and make them look appealing. We let our children watch Disney’s Hercules, call our daughters Diana, we read the Greek illads, we watch Odysseus, The goddess Britannia is on every monument in the Uk, the goddess Columbia is on every American Monument; yet we call our heritage, demons, devils and diabolic, ”The worst thing that ever happened to Africa; was turning your gods into demons”, How on earth do you expect to find peace, I think it’s time to rehabilitate our Gods?
The Society we live in is the reflection of the God we create/serve; if this is a standard, do you think the western God you worship merits a pass mark from you, Just a question, don’t persecute me yet,

Why not spend your time judiciously by conducting researches that will better our society and the lives of igbos and not the genealogy of ekwensu?

Why not spend your time judiciously by conducting researches that will better our society and the lives of igbos and not the genealogy of ekwensu?

@Alloy.Emeka

A typical Igbo man I presume; one who does not appreciate art and history . You remind me of a clip (spoof) on you tube tagged Mrs Omokarade( WATCH IT, IF YOU CAN).
I have one question for you my good man. Do you think you are smarter than the westerners that spend millions of dollars on historical / art work?
In Response to the issue of my judicious use of  time; I am proud to brag to you, I am presently carrying out researches in one of the world’s finest university, on projects you cannot possibly imagine or glimpse in science fictions.
Yet I believe and consider that the study of the genealogy of ekwensu is of great importance. History and art are the life blood of every society’s advancement. “How do you expect to understand a plant, when you don’t understand its seed”?

This has been on my mind for a long time now. I remember, when I was younger (and even now), how my parents would use the word "ekwensu". And the more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder and question how other people used the word "ekwensu". A lot of people, even my parents, kept saying that "ekwensu" is our equivalent of the Christian "Devil" (Satan, Adversary of God), but I could never truly bring myself to believe that. Reason being that for one, the way they would sometimes use "ekwensu" didn't always seem to connote "Adversary of God". Secondly, I know that our ancestors stored lots of information regarding traditional Igbo world view in our proverbs, and I have yet to come across a single traditional proverb that remotely hints at Ekwensu being the "Adversary of God". Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if I've come across any traditional proverbs that make any sort of reference to Ekwensu.

So everytime I heard "ekwensu", I always equated it with being deceptive, a trickster, being cunning, craftiness, confusing someone/some people, etc., and not the Biblical Satan, even though I knew people were referencing the Biblical Satan. I can also understand Ekwensu's connection to war, even to the point of Ekwensu being our own God of War, because, essentially, the more one can "ekwensu" someone else, the more likely one is to win in a struggle/competition/fight. This topic just confirmed my thoughts.

jackdaniel:


The destruction of every culture deemed threatening by the west is not a new concept. Thanks to Prof Damian Opata, the name of Ekewensu has finally been vindicated. Ekwensu is not the Devil; Ekwensu is the Igbo God of War and Trickster God.

interesting so igbo mythology is similar to the jewish mythology. . . Igbo's also have their own god of war like yahweh of the jewish mythology. . .

I love THIS THREAD!!!!

Time for me to revive this thread. Ekwensu has a bad reputation even though he is our very own God of War!

Akhenaten: Time for me to revive this thread. Ekwensu has a bad reputation even though he is our very own God of War!

Close but wrong Amadioha is god of war and ekwensu is intelligence
Igbos insulted both their forefathers and their angels. Thank God we didn't insult CHUKWU. CHUKWU is still with us and nigh is the time for the Igbo restoration. Kele CHUKWU

Dibiachukwu:
Close but wrong Amadioha is god of war and ekwensu is intelligence
Igbos insulted both their forefathers and their angels. Thank God we didn't insult CHUKWU. CHUKWU is still with us and nigh is the time for the Igbo restoration. Kele CHUKWU

Ekwensu is the igbo God of war, Amadioha is the God of our collective consciousness eg like the universal mind

No wonder Biafra lost.

Imagine going to war after insulting your war God.

AlfaSeltzer: No wonder Biafra lost.

Imagine going to war after insulting your war God.

Exactly.

Ekwensu is the same as Esu in Yoruba.

Hail! Ekwensu

It's an individual thing. One has to be determined to study or understand the concept of worship and God of their ancestors. When one has been indoctrinated into believing that the names of God in their native tongue is associated with demons.

The missionaries kept what works for them. It would have been destructive for them to completely demonize all names. Till today, Nigerian still use the names of their ancestral Gods interchangeably with western names of abrahamic gods.

When someone calls on Olodumare, Chukwu, Oghene, Osanonbrugwe in prayer and say through your son we pray.That tells me they do not know the philosophies or folklore behind those names. I always ask when did Chukwu accept his only son for sacrifice.

When did Ekwensu plot coup against Chukwu. When did Esu plot coup against Olodumare..? And they always come back with God has many names. But they discard the creationists beliefs behind each name.

Mental slavery is a dirty who.re..!

Amadioha represents the collective will of the people, but specifically, he is Igbo god of thunder and lightening. He is married to Ani, the earth goddess. Amadioha serves many functions from justice, peace, unity, oracle, and so forth.

We need to build more Shrines.

PAGAN9JA: We need to build more Shrines.

That one go hard... We need to offer contemporary literature on ancestral mode of worship, beliefs system and redefine our approach to certain traditional practice.

We cannot continue to act like the Gods are not 21st century compliant..

A village changed its name from umuekwensu to umuchukwu after pastor deliverance revealed that name was responsible for problem of land

GooseBaba:

That one go hard... We need to offer contemporary literature on ancestral mode of worship, beliefs system and redefine our approach to certain traditional practice.

We cannot continue to act like the Gods are not 21st century compliant..

of what use is useless piece of paper when our ancestors did everything orally and practically. We need to get the practicality factor and incorporate traditional religion into every day like and way of thinking.

The Gods can move ahead. but are the people ready?

tobechi74: A village changed its name from umuekwensu to umudibia after pastor deliverance revealed that name was responsible for problem of land

foreign religion is killing us.

PAGAN9JA:

of what use is useless piece of paper when our ancestors did everything orally and practically. We need to get the practicality factor and incorporate traditional religion into every day like and way of thinking.

The Gods can move ahead. but are the people ready?

Incorporate traditional religion into our thought process. I agree. But everyday life.. we're talking about people who refuse to see greatness in themselves without aligning themselves with foreign mythology. You have to challenge the mind with knowledge and understanding, before the individual can make that personal decision to practice.

It is,best to revert with knowledge instead of cultural belonging. It's like knowing how to drive but have no clue how to change a flat tire. Or understanding the rules and regulations of driving despite having the tools.

People including you.. Are you ready to redefine the presentation of a shrine. Majority of these reverts are scared of common calabash or cowries. Talkless of animal sacrifice. For me I don't even want them to revert. I rather want them understand it and respect it. Instead of demonize it out of ignorance.

tobechi74: A village changed its name from umuekwensu to umuchukwu after pastor deliverance revealed that name was responsible for problem of land

Gbam... This is my point right here. If they had knowledge of Ekwensu they would know not to link it with lucifer or yahweh. The villagers probably know more of why Ekwensu must be feared, but not for the reason the pastor delivered.

Pastors are operating on a different story line. It's like saying harry potter is the same as lord of the rings.

GooseBaba:

Incorporate traditional religion into our thought process. I agree. But everyday life.. we're talking about people who refuse to see greatness in themselves without aligning themselves with foreign mythology. You have to challenge the mind with knowledge and understanding, before the individual can make that personal decision to practice.

It is,best to revert with knowledge instead of cultural belonging. It's like knowing how to drive but have no clue how to change a flat tire. Or understanding the rules and regulations of driving despite having the tools.

People including you.. Are you ready to redefine the presentation of a shrine. Majority of these reverts are scared of common calabash or cowries. Talkless of animal sacrifice. For me I don't even want them to revert. I rather want them understand it and respect it. Instead of demonize it out of ignorance.

Knowledge is useless without practice.

I want more Shrines to be constructed and people to pray , perform rituals and occasional sacrifice to the Gods.

No one is scared of calabash , cowries or sacrifice. You are exaggerating.

If Nigeria was a vegetarian country,then you would have had a point.

Do you know that religions like Hinduism used to perform large scale animal sacrifice in the past?

Then after the entire country converted to anti-animal killing religions like Buddhism and Jainism, HInduism underwent a reform and switched to plant,flower and fruit sacrifice. As a result Hinduism resurfaced again and Buddhism was kicked out of India. People now could worship the Gods, practice culture and also avoid killing animals.

However animal sacrifice still survives in certain few Hindu cults and old world Hindu shrines.

This reform took place around 2500 years back.


Paganism is ever evolving with time , though not compromising on the basic core tenets.

Animal sacrifice is not a big issue. Maybe 1 day, IF Nigeria decides to go vegetarian, then animal sacrifice may be substituted for other kinds of sacrifice. But for now it doesnt matter.

Sacrificed animals are not wasted and are distributed among devotees anyways.



We need to first kickstart basic Paganism in Society.

PAGAN9JA:



Knowledge is useless without practice.

I want more Shrines to be constructed and people to pray , perform rituals and occasional sacrifice to the Gods.

No one is scared of calabash , cowries or sacrifice. You are exaggerating.

If Nigeria was a vegetarian country,then you would have had a point.

Do you know that religions like Hinduism used to perform large scale animal sacrifice in the past?

Then after the entire country converted to anti-animal killing religions like Buddhism and Jainism, HInduism underwent a reform and switched to plant,flower and fruit sacrifice. As a result Hinduism resurfaced again and Buddhism was kicked out of India. People now could worship the Gods, practice culture and also avoid killing animals.

However animal sacrifice still survives in certain few Hindu cults and old world Hindu shrines.

This reform took place around 2500 years back.


Paganism is ever evolving with time , though not compromising on the basic core tenets.

Animal sacrifice is not a big issue. Maybe 1 day, IF Nigeria decides to go vegetarian, then animal sacrifice may be substituted for other kinds of sacrifice. But for now it doesnt matter.

Sacrificed animals are not wasted and are distributed among devotees anyways.



We need to first kickstart basic Paganism in Society.

Bros, I exaggerate not..!

We need to create a thread and ask Nigerian Christians and Muslims... what their take is on,

Calabash, cowries, feathers, cowry bracelet, African carved art, clay pot etc

Let's ask simple questions:

"Would you decorated your living space with any of these listed items..?

I say these because I understand their mindset. These are the same people that could believe ants, yes ants can be demonically possessed. Carved African artful images are only good to house evil spirits...

These are the same people you just want to simultaneously study and practice what they believe is demonic.

Pagan 9ja I think Goosebaba is right.
Knowledge is very important here, you can't practice what you have no idea about.

Many think Ekwensu is the Christian devil, if they can be educated well enough to appreciate the concept of Ekwensu, we can start talking about people honouring the God

Hmmm, it's interesting that this thread is resurrected at this time. The Igbo civilization is a typical example of a lost civilization. Think Nsibidi and Iron Smelting

[quote
author=GooseBaba]It's an individual thing. One has to be determined to
study or understand the concept of worship and God of their ancestors.
When one has been indoctrinated into believing that the names of God in
their native tongue is associated with demons.

The missionaries kept what works for them. It would have been
destructive for them to completely demonize all names. Till today,
Nigerian still use the names of their ancestral Gods interchangeably
with western names of abrahamic gods.

When someone calls on Olodumare, Chukwu, Oghene, Osanonbrugwe in prayer
and say through your son we pray.That tells me they do not know the
philosophies or folklore behind those names. I always ask when did
Chukwu accept his only son for sacrifice.

When did Ekwensu plot coup against Chukwu. When did Esu plot coup
against Olodumare..? And they always come back with God has many names.
But they discard the creationists beliefs behind each name.

Mental slavery is a dirty who.re..! [/quote]
yoruba belief that olodumare has a son called ela and they are expecting him to come and save them. just like the jews but esu is never a satan.

OJODEL10:
yoruba belief that olodumare has a son called ela and they are expecting him to come and save them. just like the jews but esu is never a satan.

Ela..!?

Save them from what...? Can you kindly elaborate on this...

OJODEL10:
yoruba belief that olodumare has a son called ela and they are expecting him to come and save them. just like the jews but esu is never a satan.

Ela is Orunmila
He reincarnates some thousand years apart.

macof:

Ela is Orunmila
He reincarnates some thousand years apart.

But he said yorubas are actually expecting a savior.. You don hear that one before.? Abeg share information sharp sharp... Abi is this another yoruba linking themselves with jews... Lol

GooseBaba:

But he said yorubas are actually expecting a savior.. You don hear that one before.? Abeg share information sharp sharp... Abi is this another yoruba linking themselves with jews... Lol

Yoruba believe knowledge is key to gaining a higher consciousness that is why Ela is viewed as a saviour.
Ela is the same as Orunmila, and as I have realized Orunmila has reincarnated so many times

Ela means Saviour
Orunmila means Orun(spiritual realm) saves some say Orun knows who/how to save