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KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future |
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Chi THE SUPREME SPIRIT
Sunday, January 8, 2006
PROLOGUE The concept of CHI, the Supreme Spirit or the formidable force of creation, is common in many religions and in scientific circles. The Igbo religion, Ọdịnanị, is no exception. The name and the nature of the Force differ in many known beliefs. The Igbo ancestors probably preoccupied themselves with the arduous analyses of the nature of Chi. They tried to establish an acceptable notion of the nature of Chi. In the end, they most humbly declared that Chi exists (Chi dị), but to know the nature of the Force would be the end of knowledge, hence the name Amaamaamachaamacha. This attribute endures to this day. We know God to exist, but no one really knows the true nature of God. All claims to the contrary are deep delusions.
CHINEKE The falsity and futility of constructing Chi have not stopped humans from holding on strongly to sometimes-crazy concepts of God’s nature, to the point of attempting to know the beginning of God… when they are yet to know when life actually begins! The Igbo theosophy has its share of attempts to explain the nature of God. What is there to explain? Actually very little, but little things have a way of growing wings and flying all over the place and causing controversies. The controversy is probably rooted in the presence of Chi in the morning of Creation (Eke) or, probably, a part of Chi that guards and guides the soul of the new person from the cradle to the coffin. Interestingly, the component of Chi is also called “chi.” Hence, the expression “Ofu nne na-amụ, mana ofu chi anaghị eke” simply means that siblings might be of the same mother but they receive different divine attributes; it should not convey the existence of a different god of creation for each soul!
To differentiate between Chi, the Supreme Spirit, and chi, the animating spirit, the term Chi Ukwu (Chukwu) is now used, which makes chi the equivalent of angels in Judaea-Christian creed—but without wings and genders. Hence, the expression “Onye kwe, chi ya ekwe” takes its proper meaning: One who believes, achieves with an individualized spiritual guardian. Therefore, the concept of “Chi na Eke” (God and Creator), a duality of deities, is a mischaracterization of Chi n’Eke (God in Creation) or Chineke, which is yet another name for Chi, the Supreme Spirit, reflecting its animating and creative attributes.
The word “Chineke” can be broken down as follows: (a) Chi na Eke God and the Creator (b) Chi na-eke God who creates (God creates) (c) Chi n’Eke God in (the morning of) Creation (d) Chi nne Eke God, mother of Creation (God the true Creator)
Whichever applies, nothing should detract from the fact that in Igbo belief system, God is the genderless spirit that sits at the summit of the spectrum of all deities and spirits known and unknown. If it has not always been so -- and it has not always been so in many religions -- it is now so. The belief in Chineke as God the Creator is now pan-Igbo.
NAMING GOD It could be argued that the Igbo have different names for God because the name for God in Igbo is as many as there are words and dialects, but the concept of one supreme spirit is set. No matter how and where, the names for God convey the idea of one Supreme Being. In northern Igboland, around Adaada area, the expression “Ezechitoke, Eze Chi Abiama” (Lord God the Creator, Lord God of Abiama), is common. Many names of Chi are an evidence of the Igbo continued quest to conceptualize the nature of Chi in such a way that it would bring some of the divine attributes closer to what everyone could grasp.
The names could be classified in seven broad categories: 1. Divine designer (a) Chineke (Chi n’Eke) God the Creator (b) Isindụ The Source of Life (c) Ụzụndụ The Smith of Life (d) Omakaesikeụwa The Repository of Knowledge
2. Eulogy (a) Ebubedike The Glory of Heroes (b) Omemma The Doer of Good (c) Ekwueme The Promise Keeper (d) Omeamara The Giver of Grace
3. Supremacy (a) Okaaka The Supreme Power (b) Ikekaike The Superpower (c) Alusiuka The Almighty (d) Eze ndi eze King of Kings
4. Mystery (a) Amaamaamachaamacha (b) Ugwuanaariatuegwu (c) Ogbarankitiokwujurunonu (d) Oganigwe
5. Kingship of the Universe (a) Ezechitoke (Eze Chi Okike) Lord God Dispenser of Equity / God the Creator (b) Ezeigwe King of Heavens (c) Odenigwe The Ruler of Heavens (d) Yanweuwa (Onyenweuwa) The Owner of the World
6. Forces of Nature (a) Ikukuamanonya The wind that cannot be ensnared (b) Akaejiejeogu The Hand that leads in Battle (c) Akanaagbajiigwe The hand that breaks iron (d) Udeigwe The Echo of heavens
7. Deeds (a) Omeokachie The final arbiter (b) Odumeje My guard and my guide (c) Dikenagha The War Hero (d) Uzunaakpunwa The Smith of Life
Other African nations have different names for God but, in almost all the cases, the concept of one God endures. Examples:
Many modern attributes of God are sometimes misguided and tainted by Euro-Christian creeds. For example, any allusion to gender or a physical heaven is outside Igbo traditional theosophy. Then again, no one knows for sure; all we know is that Chi di (God exists); everything else is embellishment.
And may the Force be with you.
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