RENASCENT IGBO RELIGION
Monday, April 6, 2015
FUNDAMENTALS
OF IGBO RELIGION THAT HAS NO FANATICAL DOCTRINES AND DOGMAS THAT GIVE RISE TO
CRUSADES
This is
merely An Introduction To RENASCENT IGBO RELIGION
·
AGUNABU UMUELECHI BIAFRA categorically
states that our forefathers lived holier lives than our generation is living.
They were the contemporaries of Patriarch Enoch of Genesis Chapter 5. Both
practised NSO–ANI, which is Total Obedience to the Almighty Creator’s Natural
Laws!
·
And in our scientific age, we do not need armchair
philosophers any more. They have done us enough damage. See the current ISIS mass religious psychopathology that is
using online media to deceive youths worldwide to join them.
·
Send all your replies to email; agunabu1948@gmail.com
This
Zionist symbol is to be modified
With
nine tree branches and a triangle in a circle
·
The highest number in numerology
worldwide is nine and
·
The highest fine levied for
crimes and offered to the Ultimate Spirit for absolution
·
In ritual worship in Igbo land
nine kola nuts and nine alligator peppers is used and finally
·
The same number applies to
presents given in obeisance to the highest titled men.
The Igbo has no name for
the Ultimate Giver of Life! All we have are appellations that describe the
superlative traits of this Consummate Spirit that created, creates and will
still continue to create and sustain all the beings, visible and invisible, for
ages in the future;
1.
Chi-na-eke: the ultimate spirit that
creates
2.
Chi-ukwu: the greatest
spirit
3.
Obasi bi n-elu: the omnipotent that
lives on high
4.
Ama-di-oha: the supreme husband of all
5.
Ogara-nya ngada-nga: the wealthiest of
the rich
6.
Ugwu ana-ari-atu egwu: the highest
mountain that is climbed with trepidation
7.
Ogbajiri igwe kpoo ya nku: He that
breaks steel and calls it dry wood
8.
Utu na agba igwe: bacteria that eats
up iron, i.e. potent ant that tears iron to shreds
9.
Ogbu onye mbosi ndu n’ato ya oto: he
that snuffs life off the arrogant
In our culture, one
can only give names to what one owns, has authority over and can dispose of at
will! It is not right to give any name to the creator; we describe what he is
and does; “Chi-na-eke”, meaning; “the divine spirit that creates” or
“Chi-Ukwu”; the Ultimate Spirit! Therefore, I conclude this prelude thus:
May Our Chineke prosper the work of your hands and provide divine guidance and
protection for your spouses and children. I share in this last prayer and hope
that all is well for those who love Chukwu, the Lord that gives us love and
children may always be diligent in obeying His marriage laws! Amen!
Whereas other nations and
cultures built places of worship for their religions, the Igbo know that the
sky is the dome of the Creator and his illuminating lights are the sun, moon
and stars. The grooves or open squares well planned and decorated are our
places of worship come rain come shine! Most devotional rituals are done in
moonlighting periods as it is cool and lasts the whole night. Above are
edifices other major world religions built. For the Igbo, no human engineered
structure is good enough to be the abode of the supreme spirit that owns the
sky, the land and the sea. He is worshipped in the open!
PANTHEON IN RENASIGBOREL NEEDS
MODERNISATION
The most widely worshiped
deity of the Igbo was clearly the Earth goddess, ALA
Thus she became the deity
that must be placated first for protection before one is clean enough to
approach Chineke or else face the wrath of Amadioha, the god of thunder and
lightning, the disciplinarian. She
is represented by a nursing mother in sculptures and painting. Mud statues of a
Breastfeeding Mother was used earlier, today, Renascent Igbo Religion RIR uses
this tripartite symbol of a family to depict her;
The Greatest
Gift of the Chi-na-eke
It is impossible to
enumerate all the lesser deities our forebears had, many of whom are now mere
names to us. Among them were the spirits of many mountains, rivers, springs,
respected ancestors, and reputable warriors, past kings and queens who had
“become gods” at death. Demons also existed in pre-colonial era as malevolent
spirits under the command of Amadioha, the disciplinarian. Sickness and
misfortune were ascribed either to these demons, to sorcery or to divine
retribution.
Gods and men
The gods were imagined to
have their own lives, though also needing the service of their worshipers, who
in turn were dependent on the gods for their well-being. They lived in their
temples, where they had to be fed, clothed, washed, and entertained. Part of
their time, however, might be spent in heaven or in roaming the sea or the
mountains. They might withdraw in anger and so cause life on Earth to wither
and cease. One of the most characteristic rituals of the Hittites was the
invocation by which a god who had absented himself was induced to return and
attend to his duties by a combination of prayer and magic.
The relation between man
and god resembled that between a servant and his master. “If a servant has
committed an offence his master may do with him whatever he pleases; but if he
repentantly confesses his guilt before everyone and his master, because he has confessed his guilt
publicly. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. Both the community’s spirit is appeased and master's anger is cooled and he
will not call that servant to account.” Confession and expiation form the main
theme of the extant royal prayers.
THE
IGBO THEORY & PRACTICE OF “NSO ANI”
A literal ‘one-for-word’ translation of the concept is
‘reverence earth’, whose real import implies “Total Reverence for the Prescriptions of
the Sacred Earth Goddess and Avoidance of her Proscriptions” is the sum total of all
the religiosity in Igbo land.
Although the
pre-scientific metaphysics of the people of Biafra will
definitely need updating, their Pristine Social Ethics will never need any
existential change despite the whirlwind of foreign religions raging all around
them! This is not only the opinion of this author but that of many
intellectuals who affirm that the corrupting influence of both Westernisation
and Catholicism will never erase the respect, adoration and loyalty NSO ANI
enjoys in the hearts of liberated and self-actualised indigenes of the Igbo
land! Authentic natives still live by NSO ANI in their private lives and
transmit its mores and norms to their children by words and deeds!
To date, when all other
religious abracadabra fail to heal an erring son or daughter of Biafra, resort
is made to the pristine modes of cleansing the individual of the guilt he or
she had earned by desecrating the natural laws of the Earth Goddess. No amount
of religious imperialism or psychosocial politicisation of Igbo traditional
religion can ever successfully replace the respect that NSO ANI enjoys in Biafra .
WHAT IS ‘NSO ANI’ IN PRACTICAL TERMS
In one phrase, it is TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO
NATURAL LAWS. This was, has been and will ever remain the authentic religion of
past, present and future genuine religion of true children of CHI-NEKE,
CHI-UKWU, OBASI-BI-N’ELU!
DR
JIDEOFO KENECHUKWU DANMBAEZUE AFFIRMS THUS;
TO DATE, AMADIOHA, THE DISCIPLINARIAN GOD OF THUNDER &
LIGHTNING STILL CARRIES OUT THE PUNISHMENT OF GRAVE VIOLATIONS OF NSO ANI IN
THE ENTIRE LENGTH AND WIDTH OF THE THICK TROPICALIGBO LAND OF BIAFRA ,
WHETHER CHRISTIANISED OR ISLAMISED! THE CORRUPTING INFLUENCE OF BOTH
WESTERNISATION AND CATHOLICISM WILL NEVER ERASE THE RESPECT, ADORATION AND
LOYALTY NSO ANI ENJOYS IN THE HEARTS OF LIBERATED AND SELF-ACTUALISED INDIGENES
OF THE IGBO LAND
SOCIAL
MOBILITY IN IGBO LAND
THE
CHOICE OF A CEREMONIAL LEADER IS DEPENDENT ON THE SOCIAL LADDER ONE HAD
SUCCESSFULLY CLIMBED OR ACHIEVED IN LIFE APPROVED FOR KEEPING NSO ANI FROM
CHILDHOOD, BEING AN HONEST HARDWORKING MAN OR WOMAN WHO HAS BEEN PURE, CHASTE
AND DILIGENT BEFORE AND AFTER MARRIAGE TILL THE COMMUNITY RECOGNISES AND
RESPECTS ONE’S INDIVIDUAL MERIT TO LEAD. IT HAS NEVER BEEN BY INHERITANCE
BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF WHITE MEN ON OUR SHORES! TODAY ALL THAT HAS CHANGED!
THE
DESECRATION OF OUR PRE-COLONIAL HIGH MORAL VALUES STARTED WITH THE ARRIVAL OF
THE FIRST WHITE MISSIONARIES IN WEST AFRICA . WHAT THE NATIVES CALLED “NSO-ANI” WAS
RE-BRANDED FORGIVEABLE SINS AND SO WATERED DOWN THE SANCTITY OF RELIGIOUS
VALUES IN BIAFRA .
ITS PARTNER, WESTERN EDUCATION NEATLY COMPLETED THE ‘COUP DE GRACE’ AS THE
FOREIGN CONCEPTS AND SOCIAL VALUES OF THE COLONIALISTS DESTROYED THE SOCIAL
ETHICS OF THE NATIVES AND RENDERED OUR PRISTINE MORES AND NORMS INEFFECTIVE. IN
SOME COMMUNITIES; “APING THE WHITE MAN’S DRESS CODE AND MANNERISMS BECAME
FASHIONABLE AND IGNORING THE CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS OF THE COMMUNITY WAS SEEN
AS THE CRITERION OF BEING EDUCATED AND MORE CIVILISED THAN THE ILLITERATE FOLKS
IN THE VILLAGES!
---------DR
JIDEOFO KENECHUKWU DANMBAEZUE, @ 30/06/2011 04:14:32 HRS GMT.
A
KENEZIAN EPILOGUE
DR KENEZ SUMMATION OF FAITH FROM
PREVIOUS RELIGIONS THAT CAN ENTHRONE REAL PEACE FOR CITIZENS OF THE GLOBAL
VILLAGE
There
is one supreme eternal reality; the truth; imminent in all things; creator of
all things; immanent in creation. Without fear and without hatred; not subject
to time; beyond birth and death; self-revealing. This Eternal Reality is known
only by the Divine Revelations from His Grace.
Faith
is ultimately the acceptance of the divine authority of the Omnipotent and
Omniscient Almighty Creator of the universe we share with all the other beings
he has made; micro/macrocosms, living and non-living beings that regularly obey
the natural and eternal laws he embedded in his creations for our mutual benefits.
----Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez (1999)
By
faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good
deeds. "Know, therefore, that only the LORD your Creator is the Ultimate
Reality, the Absolute Truth. Only he is the steadfast Godhead who keeps His
gracious covenant to the all who believe and trust in his everlasting love and
fatherly care for beings, seen and unseen to the tens, hundreds and thousandth
generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments."Hence, recognizing and
affirming that this One Almighty Creator of the entire Universe is our
Father/Mother and therefore, only to this Creator is total worship due. Our corporate
willingness, commitment and submission to this One Creator that exists
guarantees all that are alive sustenance, and to His prescriptions for living
in accordance with his ordained eternal and natural laws is surely the only
assurance of living a good life assured to anyone who (1) believes in Him, and
(2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive
their recompense from the Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they
grieve."
------------- ISM
Integrational Faith (2013)
FELLOWSHIP
OF TRUE CHILDREN OF THE CREATOR
Faith in Buddhism centres
on the understanding that the Buddha is an Awakened being, on his superior
role as teacher, in the truth of his Dharma (spiritual teachings), and in his Sangha (community of spiritually developed
followers).
In
the teachings, saddhā is often described as:
· a conviction that
something is
· a determination to
accomplish one's goals
· a sense of joy deriving
from the other two spiritual teachings and in community of spiritually
developed followers.
As
a counter to any form of "blind faith", the Buddha's teachings
included those included in the Kalama Sutra,exhorting his disciples
to investigate any teaching and to live by what is learnt and accepted, rather
than believing in something simply because it is taught.
Meher Baba described
three types of faith, emphasizing the importance of faith in a spiritual
master:
"One of the most
important qualifications for the aspirant is faith. There are three kinds of
faith: (i) faith in oneself, (ii) faith in the Master and (iii) faith in life. Faith is so indispensable to
life that unless it is present in some degree, life itself would be impossible.
It is because of faith that cooperative and social life becomes possible. It is
faith in each other that facilitates a free give and take of love, a free
sharing of work and its results.
When life is burdened
with unjustified fear of one another it becomes cramped and restricted....Faith
in the Master becomes all-important because it nourishes and sustains faith in
oneself and faith in life in the very teeth of set-backs and failures,
handicaps and difficulties, limitations and failings. Life, as man knows it in
himself, or in most of his fellow-men, may be narrow, twisted and perverse, but
life as he sees it in the Master is unlimited, pure and untainted. In the
Master, man sees his own ideal realised; the Master is what his own deeper self
would rather be. He sees in the Master the reflection of the best in himself
which is yet to be, but which he will surely one day attain. Faith in the
Master therefore becomes the chief motive-power for realising the divinity
which is latent in man."
Bertrand Russell noted,
"Where there is evidence, no one speaks of 'faith'. We do not speak of
faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of
faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence."
Kenez
Danmbaezue observes;
“ The only truthful thing anyone can say about the Almighty and Benevolent
Creator known in many cultures and languages by a variety of names is; AN
INTELLIGENT SUPERNATURAL BEING EXISTS WHO CREATED ALL WE CAN EVER SEE, THINK
AND FEEL! Any other statement we make about this Ultimate Reality, Absolute
Truth that is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent being is mere guesswork
that only feeds doctrine and dogmas!
THE
HIGHEST ‘NZE na OZO’ TITLE IN IGBO CULTURE
Before the arrival of Western culture and imported
religions, The IGBOS had ‘OUTWARD SIGNS OF INWARD GRACE!
The sanctity of honest elders were noticed by the special hand-woven and
colourful caps that adorned their wise heads, the bronze or silver walking
stick that aided their weak frames and religio-cultural facial scarification
that indicated to all and sundry the ‘life of purity of thoughts, words and
actions’. Observe the relaxed mood, the nobility of composure, the achieved
social status and dignified social rank of this elder!
IGBU-ICHI is the
scarified architectural design that only the truthful, wealthy and wise elders
of old had/have on their faces. It was the real test of manhood and the
ultimate symbol of the highest title in the ‘Nze-na-Ozo’ title! Currently, many titled men
cannot endure the carving of their faces into the decorative designs done with
very sharp ANCIENTinstruments
with no pain-killing drugs administered and devoid of local or general
anaesthesia. One does not flinch his face, show any discomfort, shed a tear or
sweat throughout the three-hour duration of the crude surgery.
The experts in IGBU-ICHI
were the highest paid doctors and retaining their three-week service for the
scars to heal was very exorbitant. The goats and chickens slaughtered were
uncountable as well as the tubers of yams they and their assistants were fed
on/with throughout the duration. Only the wealthy farmer could afford them!
Take another look at his face in any of the obituary pictures and see whether
you can count the number of the curved lines that arch
up-down-horizontal-vertical? Each of them took at least 10 minutes to carve!
Yet, the titled man MUST not show any sign of pain! If he did, the ceremony is
aborted! He becomes a disgrace in the immediate community if that happens and
might be stripped of all other titles he ever earned in life.
The present descendants
of the pre-western Igbo people do not know what it is, how much it costs, who
are qualified for it, what it symbolises nor its prestigious socio-religious
significance when ‘men were
men and beautiful women were married by the few who deserved them!’ By his death, we have today lost the last doyen of LION-HEARTED
men of his genre in Ezeawara town
in particular and in the entire Igbo land in general, who epitomised the pristine virtues of
truthfulness, integrity, justice, fortitude, patience and endurance of the
highest order in the saintly lifestyle of our revered forebears in pre-colonial
periods when making a good name was worth more prestigious than amassing wealth
that is now in vogue!
·
AGUNABU UMUELECHI BIAFRA categorically states that our
forefathers lived holier lives than our generation is living. They were the
contemporaries of Patriarch Enoch of Genesis Chapter 5. Both practised NSO–ANI,
which is Total Obedience to the Almighty Creator’s Natural Laws!
·
And in our scientific age, we do not
need armchair philosophers anymore. They have done us enough damage. See the
current ISIS mass religious psychopathology that is
using online media to deceive youths worldwide to join them. Send all your
replies to email; agunabu1948@gmail.com
3 comments:
1.
2.
Before
the arrival of Western culture and imported religions, The IGBOS had ‘OUTWARD
SIGNS OF INWARD GRACE! The sanctity of honest elders were noticed by the
special hand-woven and colourful caps that adorned their wise heads, the bronze
or silver walking stick that aided their weak frames and religio-cultural
facial scarification that indicated to all and sundry the ‘life of purity of
thoughts, words and actions’. Observe the relaxed mood, the nobility of
composure, the achieved social status and dignified social rank of this elder!
IGBU-ICHI is the scarified architectural design that only the truthful, wealthy and wise elders of old had/have on their faces. It was the real test of manhood and the ultimate symbol of the highest title in the ‘Nze-na-Ozo’ title! Currently, many titled men cannot endure the carving of their faces into the decorative designs done with very sharp ANCIENT instruments with no pain-killing drugs administered and devoid of local or general anaesthesia. One does not flinch his face, show any discomfort, shed a tear or sweat throughout the three-hour duration of the crude surgery.
IGBU-ICHI is the scarified architectural design that only the truthful, wealthy and wise elders of old had/have on their faces. It was the real test of manhood and the ultimate symbol of the highest title in the ‘Nze-na-Ozo’ title! Currently, many titled men cannot endure the carving of their faces into the decorative designs done with very sharp ANCIENT instruments with no pain-killing drugs administered and devoid of local or general anaesthesia. One does not flinch his face, show any discomfort, shed a tear or sweat throughout the three-hour duration of the crude surgery.
3.
Whereas
other nations and cultures built places of worship for their religions, the
Igbo know that the sky is the dome of the Creator and his illuminating lights
are the sun, moon and stars. The grooves or open squares well planned and
decorated are our places of worship come rain come shine! Most devotional
rituals are done in moonlighting periods as it is cool and lasts the whole
night. Above are edifices other major world religions built. For the Igbo, no
human engineered structure is good enough to be the abode of the supreme spirit
that owns the sky, the land and the sea. He is worshipped in the open!
WHAT IS ‘NSO ANI’ IN PRACTICAL TERMS
In one phrase, it is TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO NATURAL LAWS. This was, has been and will ever remain the authentic religion of past, present and future genuine religion of true children of CHI-NEKE, CHI-UKWU, OBASI-BI-N’ELU!
In one phrase, it is TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO NATURAL LAWS. This was, has been and will ever remain the authentic religion of past, present and future genuine religion of true children of CHI-NEKE, CHI-UKWU, OBASI-BI-N’ELU!
DR JIDEOFO KENECHUKWU DANMBAEZUE AFFIRMS THUS;
TO DATE, AMADIOHA, THE DISCIPLINARIAN GOD OF THUNDER & LIGHTNING STILL
CARRIES OUT THE PUNISHMENT OF GRAVE VIOLATIONS OF NSO ANI IN THE ENTIRE LENGTH
AND WIDTH OF THE THICK TROPICAL IGBO
LAND OF BIAFRA ,
WHETHER CHRISTIANISED OR ISLAMISED! THE CORRUPTING INFLUENCE OF BOTH
WESTERNISATION AND CATHOLICISM WILL NEVER ERASE THE RESPECT, ADORATION AND
LOYALTY NSO ANI ENJOYS IN THE HEARTS OF LIBERATED AND SELF-ACTUALISED INDIGENES
OF THE IGBO LAND
FUNDAMENTALS OF IGBO RELIGION THAT HAS NO FANATICAL DOCTRINES AND DOGMAS THAT GIVE RISE TO CRUSADES
Rev. Prof. J. J. Kenez; 03/03/2011@ 21:09:16HRS GMT
• And in our scientific age, we do not need armchair philosophers any more. They have done us enough damage. See the current
Send all your replies to email; agunabu1948@gmail.com