These things were believed by the Igbo people in the ancient days and some still prevail to this day.
The Igbos are the people of an ethnic group native to southeastern Nigeria. In ancient times, rules and beliefs were adapted to keep the sanity of the land and not incur the wrath of the gods.
Most of these beliefs were born out of fear of the unknown. Even though they are thousands of years old, they are still believed and practiced by a lot of people.

Ogbanje
In things fall apart, Chinua Achebe states that Ogbanje is " a 'wicked' child who continually re-enters its mother’s womb only to die again and again, causing its parents grief".

Wine carrying
In the old days and till now, when a man is interested in marrying a woman, he calls his kins men, takes a calabash of fresh palm wine and walks to the girl's house to ask her father for her hand. He carries the keg on his head till he gets to the house. It is considered a bad for his calabash of wine to fall to the ground before he gets to his destination. If this happens, he is to turn back immediately and desist from his plans to marry from that particular house.7

Plantain
It was believed that two fingers of plantain joined together was a bad omen. When one is separating them, he/she is to put it behind his back and not use his/her eyes to see the separation. If not, the person would give birth to conjoined twins.

Eke (python)
Pythons are generally sacred in Igboland and must not be killed or eaten. Pythons are believed to be the reincarnation of ancestors, and regarded as “our father.” They are also believed to be Ala , the guardian of the land/underworld. Killing a python is like killing one’s own father, and apart from drawing the ire of the whole community, it could also draw the ire of the gods.

Suicide
Killing oneself or committing suicide is a taboo in Igboland, and so much frowned upon by both man and gods that the victim of suicide must never be buried within the community. His body is cursed and must never be buried in the land, but in the Forbidden Forest or outside the town to prevent such evils from befalling others in the community. This is also a common taboo to the Yoruba people » .

Using the left hand
Using " aka ekpe" , or left hand to do anything is forbidden in Igboland and strictly prohibited – regardless of the fact that the individual may be left-handed. A left-handed individual is trained or oriented to learn the use of the right hand in eating, writing, giving and accepting things. Elders deeply frown on giving or taking things with the left hand because it is considered most disrespectful and unfortunate. This belief is very common throughout Nigeria and is one every Nigerian will understand » .

Marrying an Osu
An Osu is an outcast within the caste system, and marrying one is considered a taboo that must never be done. An Osu or outcast is considered the property of the gods or a slave and descendant of slaves and must never be offered or taken for marriage. Free-born men and women are expected to investigate the origins and social class of an individual to be certain he/she is not an Osu before contracting marriage. Even to this day, marriage proceedings have been stopped because investigations discovered either family was a descendant of an osu.

https://www.nigerialog.com/culture/beliefs-and-taboos-in-ancient-igboland/new/#new

The one I don't understand till this day is a person getting angry because another jumped over their legs. As a child I got into many fights with this being the origin. The funny part is a lot of those people who forced me to cross back over their legs turned out taller than I am now. They are wiser these days and laugh at their former naivety.

I can swear with my life some 8 - 15 year olds still believe this myth. I'm sure even some 40+ year olds still do. Ishilove, I lie?

meobizy:
The one I don't understand till this day is a person getting angry because another jumped over their legs. As a child I got into many fights with this being the origin. The funny part is a lot of those people who forced me to cross back over their legs turned out taller than I am now. They are wiser now and laugh at their former naivety.

I can swear with my life some 8 - 15 year olds still believe this myth. I'm sure even some 40+ year olds still do. Ishilove, I lie?

I'm just hearing this. The one I'm aware of is entering between two people. When i was a child people, even my peers would tell me retrace my steps and go around them if I happened to pass in between them on the streets.

Nowadays no one can tell me to cross back of i pass between them because you don't own the road. You cannor block road and expect me to circumvent you two. I will pass in between and go my way.

meobizy:
The one I don't understand till this day is a person getting angry because another jumped over their legs. As a child I got into many fights with this being the origin. The funny part is a lot of those people who forced me to cross back over their legs turned out taller than I am now. They are wiser now and laugh at their former naivety.

I can swear with my life some 8 - 15 year olds still believe this myth. I'm sure even some 40+ year olds still do. Ishilove, I lie?

Lol this was very common while growing up. If you jumped over someone laying on the ground, you'd be asked to reverse the jump to undo some curse your jumping action would bring. Childhood memories.

Another one was accidentally striking your left foot against an object - bad omen. If it were the right foot - good omen.

Or if you suddenly sneezed out of the blues, someone somewhere was thinking of you or was calling your name, and the person who sneezed would say out loud, 'onye na-akpo m?' (Who's calling me?)

Ishilove:

I'm just hearing this. The one I'm aware of is entering between two people. When i was a child people, even my peers would tell me retrace my steps and go around them if I happened to pass in between them on the streets.

Nowadays no one can tell me to cross back of i pass between them because you don't own the road. You cannor block road and expect me to circumvent you two. I will pass in between and go my way.

Evangelist Ishilove....it's rude to bump in between 2 people discussing na....

bigfrancis21:


Evangelist Ishilove....it's rude to bump in between 2 people discussing na....

Ehn, I only bump when they block road and i don't want to step off the side walk. If you want to gist on the road then be considerate to other road users

just here to see the taboo and belief of marrying Igbo girl.

Ishilove:

Ehn, I only bump when they block road and i don't want to step off the side walk. If you want to gist on the road then be considerate to other road users

But you can say, 'excuse me please' and they'll shift for you na....

Ishilove!

bigfrancis21:



But you can say, 'excuse me please' and they'll shift for you na....

Ain't nobody gat time for that...

Pythons are generally sacred in Igboland and must not be killed or eaten. Pythons are believed to be the reincarnation of ancestors, and regarded as “our father.” They are also believed to be Ala , the guardian of the land/underworld.

They're not sacred in my place.

bigfrancis21:


Lol this was very common while growing up. If you jumped over someone laying on the ground, you'd be asked to reverse the jump to undo some curse your jumping action would bring. Childhood memories.

Another one was accidentally striking your left foot against an object - bad omen. If it were the right foot - good omen.

Or if you suddenly sneezed out of the blues, someone somewhere was thinking of you or was calling your name, and the person who sneezed would say out loud, 'onye na-akpo m?' (Who's calling me?)

I remember this one, very annoying.
I wonder how children learn all these things. I see them as a lack of modern exposure. All the girls and boys who practiced these those days are now social media slay kings and queens forming posh.

Ishilove:

I'm just hearing this. The one I'm aware of is entering between two people. When i was a child people, even my peers would tell me retrace my steps and go around them if I happened to pass in between them on the streets.

Nowadays no one can tell me to cross back of i pass between them because you don't own the road. You cannor block road and expect me to circumvent you two. I will pass in between and go my way.

Their reason then against the jumping thing was saying it meant they won't grow tall later in life. To undo the curse one had to jump back over.

The passing between two people thing I believe is more of respect than a curse. I'm sure people forced others to pass back for so long they forgot the main reason why.
As a child I'm sure saying 'excuse me' would have granted you their permission but most of the people I'm 100% sure were too ignorant to teach a child the proper way.

Since I like this thread so much I'll add the belief of shooting 'pins'.
This is where an individual looks at a target they want dead or food item they want poisoned and snap their fingers together, causing a transfer of diabolic demonic energy from the host to the other or the piece of food.
A lot of people swear it works but have no proof whatsoever to show its effectiveness.

This second belief is a Nigerian one which Nollywood also capitalises on: eating a stranger's food to later appear in a coven at midnight.
Generations have passed with no evidence yet people believe strongly in it.
I was reminded of it this morning.