Every Igbo man or woman is supposed to know certain aspects of his or her life. These aspects refer to his spiritual foundation which is his Chi, his Agwu, his Ikenga and by extension Nde Mmiri. These are the components that drive a man. They either push you back or propel you forward.
Meaning of Chi:
This is the indwelling spirit that decides the inside of you. It is this your Chi that understands your journey, that knows the hurdles and direction that your journey is supposed to take. It is this your Chi that knows the destination that you are headed to because it is your Chi that came back to earth to fulfill its purpose and occupy the body.
You are not just that physical body but a spirit that resides inside the physical body. It moves the body from the beginning of the journey in this physical body to the end of the journey.
But it is the spirit that is making the journey. The body is just the vehicle. What you are is the chi and the reason we make reference to your Chi because it is what defines the outcome of your existence. It is rooted spiritually individually. This is also the reason we say ‘onye na chi ya’ (everyone and his spirit). All of us have our have the spirits that guides and leads us to see us through no matter what we encounter. It is compulsory that you not only know your Chi but become one with it.
How to know your Chi:
The only way for you to know your Chi is by spiritual consultation called Afa (divination) in Igbo language. Even if your Chi is being revealed to you in the dream you still need to confirm it. In the Afa, the processes would be revealed to you to make sure that you are one with your Chi. Knowing your Chi means knowing the line you came from, that is either from the mother or father side, who you were in your previous lives, your past assignments etc.
This thing will help you to choose what you will do on earth because what you would do on earth depends on what you have come to do and that will help you to open your eyes and minds to your responsibility in this physical life. It is compulsory that you know and become one with your Chi. These things have rituals or rites that must be performed to harness it or make it work in your favour.
Agwu:
The next is Agwu. These things work together. Agwu is normally and variously called the spirit of wisdom, some call it the spirit of knowledge, some call it the spirit of motivation. It is like the brain or mind of your Chi. There are two types of Agwu. There is an Agwu that do not really disturb the person that it possesses.
There is another Agwu that disturbs until something is done or until it is recognized and given a particular position. These are the ways that it manifests. We all have Agwu but few of us have active ones, it makes one behave in certain forms. Sometimes you see one misbehaving doing things that he is not supposed to do.
For example a young man that is supposed to settle down is busy jumping from one woman to another, Most often this is caused by Agwu. A woman that is supposed to get married is rejecting suitors not because she has any specific reason but because she is under an influence she may not know about.
People behaving abnormally often are under the spell of Agwu. Like in the previous case, Afa must look into the case and declare if it is Agwu and declare what can be done. There are two things involved. One is Iru Agwu and Isa Agwu. What one does is dependent on the activeness of the Agwu.
Ikenga:
Ikenga is something that is compulsory for everyman because it means that the power that propels or drives or moves to give you courage to pull through situations. The kind of Ikenga to be presented to you depends on the Chi that you have. Your Chi will speak volumes when it comes to spiritual matters. There are certain things that you may or may not be able to handle because of your Chi.
Chi awotu meaning that all Chi’s are not the same or in same category. People are being led by different circumstances. Your Chi must be in harmony with the Agwu so if it is something that you can do all then you would be able to understand things in high frequency. Ikenga is the symbol of strength and authority, courage.
This is the reason that kingdoms do have their Ikenga. Any man who must excel or progress in life must have an Ikenga. In those days when a man enters age grade the next thing that he will do is to have an Ikenga before he even thinks of joining a masquerade. Each of these passes through a ceremonial ritual to confirm it.
Nde Mmiri:
After Ikenga, there is another one which may not be for all but it is called Nde Mmiri (water spirits). Majority of our people are being disturbed because they have neglected and turned their back from the spirit that dwells in the water. They have turned away from something that should help them instead it becomes something that is tormenting them.
Many of us have wives and husbands in the sea, in the marine kingdom and we need to harness that relationship. We need to fulfill the marriage rites so we can have a good arrangement by the end of the day. Remember that before we came into this physical world we were in the spiritual realm. These are people we were living with, our husbands, our wives in that realm. We did not divorce.
Now that we have entered here the spirit is busy monitoring our movements, the moment it sees you getting to a woman or man, the spirit get jealous showing anger. Since it will not kill you it will start to destroy things around you and torment you, making you to suffer. So you need to do the needful by fulfilling the marriage rites either as a man or woman. You need to give them a position in your life. The Igbo look at the world from both physical and spiritual. They are not ignorant of the spiritual environment that they find themselves.
The problem we have is that when the church came it the eyes and attention our people from their spirituality. Our people have lost everything that makes them Igbo. They no longer think. It is now their bible and pastor that is thinking for them. This is the reason in a discussion with your brother or sister, they will always say that the bible said, my bible says. Does that mean that if the bible did not say it then that is not true.
What I can say is that these scripts that we are reading written by white man is as corrupt as it can be and that is the major problem that we are having. When you tell someone to go and do Nde mmiri he will tell you that it is evil when there is no evil about it. Let us have a proper perspective of these things.
Keep an open mind without bias so you can grasp the point about it. Now you are married to your husband and you travelled to another land. Getting there you want to settle down but the man or woman the other way is still there for you. Instead of you having a problem with the other woman now that you have a new one here you reach out to her in settlement.
What you do is that you have to settle the first one and arrange how to work out things when this one enters. This is about the Nde mmiri which people are running away from but which they cannot avoid. This is ‘apiti uzo ubi'(inescapable) no matter how smart they think because they will unleash their anger on you bringing so many misfortune against the defaulter. So our men and women should face the reality.
This is basically the reason why there are so many frictions in marriages, marriage failures and poor relationships. It can only be remedied by doing what is necessary.