Amade Onhia has practically usurped the place of Chi, the Creatrix,
and reigns as supreme deity. For months after our arrival, we were
invariably told by natives of all parts of the Division that the
Thunderer was distinct from his brother Igwe, Lord of the Bright Sky.
Later on, while collecting information concerning rain-making by
magical means, it transpired from the words of the invocation used
that the two originally symbolised different aspects of the same
personality--Zeus of the thunder, lightning and storm cloud, Lord of
the dark sky as well as the bright. Now, though most people regard them
as separate deities, the old idea has not yet died out, especially
among rain-makers.
Formerly, it is said, Igwe was more generally worshipped than at
present. This was explained as due to the fact that the God of the
Bright Sky only gives advice by his oracles and does not ensure wealth,
health or special good fortune to his votaries; while these additional
gifts may be obtained through prayer to Amade Onhia.
In January 1915 good fortune led us to Ozozo, where stands the greatest
of all shrines of the Thunder God--a temple not made with hands--the
sanctity of which is so great that pilgrims come thither from hundreds
of miles. Until now its existence had been carefully guarded from
the knowledge of Europeans, and the chief priest had so far avoided
coming into contact with any white man of the few who had visited the
neighbourhood.
Early next morning we set out to seek the place of pilgrimage. The
way led through a part of the bush set aside for the reception of the
corpses of the unburied dead. At intervals the road was strewn with
cowries, while ghost-offerings such as pots, broken that their astral
forms might be set free for the use of the shades, and lengths of
cloth, faded by sun and rain, were to be seen in the bush on either
hand. Here and there, too, a long, narrow crate formed of palm stems
was passed, half covered by the dense undergrowth. In these the bodies
of the unblest dead had been borne to their last resting-place,
thence to be flung forth for vultures, ants and other carrion-feeding
creatures to work their will upon--leaving but a handful of bleached
bones for the luxuriant vegetation to cover with its charitable mantle.
Through these ill-omened shades we hurried, only stopping to pluck
a new flower, the white cups of which together with masses of their
strangely flattened calices had been found strewing the pathways of
the beautiful Oban District, but hitherto it had been impossible to
secure any leaves owing to the height of the trails, which had eluded
discovery amid the network of giant branches to which they clung. Here,
in the glade of the unburied dead, the path was festooned from side to
side with spray upon spray, rich in flower, fruit and leaf.
[Illustration: FIG. 21. The Aroid which grows round about the great
Amad’ongha shrine at Ozozo]
Thence we crossed the market-place and, by a network of many mazy paths
made apparently for no other purpose than to mislead chance-comers,
reached an open space shaded by giant cotton trees and heavy-scented
Monodoras. In the low bush round about sprang great aroids, said to
be connected with the worship of the Thunder God’s children. It is
possible that the idea is due to the phallic-like appearance of the
central spike, the long, thin, basal flowers of which give it somewhat
the look of the Schlange im Schilf--the Pangwe description of the
phallus.
At the further end of the space lay the compound of the head priest,
its open sheds full of cult objects but deserted; for the priest and
all his family had fled at our approach.
Towards the near end of the cleared space two paths branched off, one
on either side of a great clump of trees, the gnarled roots of which
stretched right across as though barring the way. These two paths
join later by a second group of no great size, which has sprung up
round the riven base of a forest giant, the remains of whose trunk,
lightning-scarred, may still be seen stretching far out into the bush
beyond. Some few yards away a palm-leaf screen is placed across,
shutting off the cleared space from the priest’s compound. In the midst
of the screen a little erection like the door-frame to a miniature
house may be seen thickly plastered with the blood and feathers of
sacrificed fowls. For about seven feet before this the ground is broken
as though continually disturbed, and here and there in the soft sand
depressions may be found as though round-bottomed water-jars had been
set therein. This was explained as follows:
When pilgrims come hither bringing the appointed gifts, the
priest first makes sacrifice and afterwards calls aloud the
special favour which the worshipper has come to ask. Should
Amad’ongha be favourably inclined, so soon as the prayer is
finished, the roll of his thunder begins to sound, no matter
how clear the sky. Then, with a great crash, a ball of stone
about seven inches across falls from the blue overhead. This
is the sign of the god himself, come down from his home in the
clouds to bless the earth-folk.
In vain we looked upwards, expecting to see branches which might serve
to hide these mysterious missiles. Nothing was to be seen above but
slender twigs tossing a delicate tracery of scarce open leaves against
the blue. On the far side of the fence, however, stretched part of the
high priest’s compound; so, if the means by which the seeming miracle
was worked baffled discovery, the probable agency, at least, was not
far to seek.
Later we learned that the name of the priest was Chioma Madume, and
after some difficulty we succeeded in overcoming his dread of meeting
a white man--a matter which had hitherto been considered as tabu. He
was even persuaded to come with his two assistant priests to visit us.
He proved to be a strange and somewhat pathetic figure, borne on a
rude litter, thin, pale and with only one foot; the other, according
to his own account, had ‘rotted away and dropped off.’ The skin of his
two attendants was of that peculiarly vivid red occasionally met with
in these regions. This appears to bear out Sir Harry Johnston’s theory
of an original red stock, but is explained by Ibo as showing that
man or woman so marked out is a child of Amade Onhia. Both among the
last-named people and the Kalahari the law of the Thunder God ordains
that all such shall be devoted to his service and become ‘slaves of
the Juju’ unless ransomed by their family for a heavy sum. A sister of
chief G. A. Yellow was thus chosen on account of the redness of her
skin but was afterwards ransomed.
Chioma Madume gave the following account:
I myself have been priest of Amade Onhia for seven years.[11]
Before me my father, Madume, held the office for about the
same time and before him my grandfather, Odu Kerin, ruled--I
cannot tell for how long.
Our god is a very great god and is the only one throughout this
region who gives a visible sign of his presence. When he wishes
us to sacrifice or perform ceremonies for him, we ask a sign
whereby we may know that this is really his will. In answer he
sets a rainbow in the sky. When he descends into the shrine
before the screen of plaited palm, the rainbow comes down also
and hangs just above the place, thereby showing his presence.
Many thunder stones fall there and the holes in the ground
before the shrine are caused by something which falls from the
sky, denting the earth; but it is invisible. No man has looked
upon its shape.
(This assertion is in direct contradiction to the statements of
pilgrims, who declared, as above related, that the holes were caused
by stone balls, roughly speaking, seven inches in diameter, which
fell down from above. It was, however, explained by one of the chiefs
present that it was probably unlawful for the priest to describe the
mysterious missiles--the outward, visible sign of the Thunder God’s
power.)
Chioma continued:
Amade Onhia, like Ale and the Aro Chuku Juju, is against all
those who act contrary to native custom. The Thunder God sends
down his bolt to strike such sinners; so, when a man is killed
by lightning, people always know that he has done some bad
thing. Witches and wizards specially dread his power and never
dare to go out during a storm.
It was explained, in all seriousness, that the reason Amade Onhia so
often sends his lightning to strike tall trees or hill tops is because
he is jealous of all things which seek to raise themselves near to his
kingdom. Only the birds may venture safely into the sky realm. The
children of earth should keep close to the breast of their mother. The
idea seems contradictory to that held among some Etche Ibo and Aro
as to the efficacy of sacrifices made to the so-called ‘palms of the
Thunder God’ mentioned on p. 46.
With Amafa Ibo this jealousy is thought to be developed along curious
lines. Among this people it is forbidden for a woman to climb to any
height, up a tree-trunk or even over the top of a wall or fence. So
strictly is the tabu enforced that ‘civil war’ actually broke out
among this people because the late chief Oosi, father of the present
head chief of Amafa, built himself a ‘story-house,’ _i.e._ a two-floor
building raised above the ground upon a foundation of piles--and
allowed his women to go up and down the stairs. That this superstition
obtains also among Isokpo Ibo is shown by a complaint brought before
me by two men of Nkarahia as to the treatment accorded them by the
chiefs of their town who were enraged because they had ventured to
build themselves a ‘story-house,’ to the top rooms of which they
allowed their women to climb. The chiefs declared that this endangered
the safety of the town; for, should Amade Onhia hurl his bolt at the
offending structure, peradventure he might punish the whole people for
this disregard of his laws by two of their number.[12]
[Illustration: FIG. 22. The shape, surrounded by skulls and draped with
blood-stained linen, which represents the earth goddess Ale in the
shrine at Ewawfe]
At sacred places, such as the shrine at Ozozo, the grove at Young Town
or the sacred bush at Ngeri-Baw-Ama, no leaf may be picked nor branch
broken.
To every one of the great Jujus slaves can run throughout the
Ibo country and become its servants, after which no man has
power to take them back without paying a great sum of money
to the priest. In some cases even this is forbidden. In many
parts of the interior such slaves can go into the market-place
and take anything they want without payment; for no one dares
touch them. After living for a long time with the Juju, they
might sometimes go free; but could only go back to their native
town at their own risk, for there their masters could recapture
them. Amad’ongha and Ale have special power and their shrines
are often placed near to one another, because this is pleasing
to both, since they work together.
Perhaps the central part of Degama District may be looked upon as
that where the worship of Ale holds chief sway. One of the strangest
of her shrines lies at Ewawfe, in friendly nearness to church and
school. Between them, more to the rear is a great, open shed, with
elaborately fringed, corrugated iron roof. Beneath this are several
clay pillars of the Ibudu type, before one of which some beautifully
wrought torque-like bronze manillas lie amid a heap of smaller ones.
A few yards off stands a small mud hut containing a figure of Ale
indescribably gruesome with its strangely-shaped skull, its folds
upon folds of blood-stained linen and the streams of blood poured and
splashed over the supporting logs and the skulls and clumps of feathers
thickly strewn around.
At this town it is customary to store all seed yams, etc., in the huts
built for carrying out the rites of the ancestors--to whose care the
germs of the new season’s crops are thus entrusted.
Indeed, amongst many peoples here, the dead are thought to be more
powerful even than Ale for the granting of fertility, especially as
regards the crops, which is not surprising since they are supposed to
live under the ground between incarnations on earth. In most parts,
however, the fertility of the marriage bed, of the byre and of the
crops is deemed to be chiefly due to the great Mother Goddess of the
Earth. The duty is usually delegated to some of her subordinate tribes
of Jujus and it is the members of one of these who are responsible for
placing in the womb of the mother the spirit of the being about to be
born on the earth plane. There is no ignorance here as to the necessary
part played by the human father and mother, but their action would be
fruitless and conception impossible without the help of the gods or
jujus.
At the neighbouring village of Ogbokoro the chiefs were anxiously
waiting to speak of a serious trouble which had befallen them. One of
the schoolboys had broken the fence round the principal Ale shrine and
stolen therefrom a quantity of manillas out of the mass of such which
were to be seen, half smothered in feathers and congealed blood, upon
the mud altar. On being assured that such desecration would be severely
punished, the head chief answered:
This is a good word for us. We feel this thing very much. Ale
is our mother and our god; all that we have comes from her, and
without her gifts we must indeed be lost.
As already mentioned, it is indicative of the reverence in which the
Earth Goddess is held, that only the head chief of a town can aspire
to be her priest. It is not without significance that the same rule
holds with regard to the principal shrines of Amade Onhia. Only after
pilgrimage to Ozozo may subsidiary lodges be erected, while the shrine
of Ale is usually found nearby.
Where Amad’ongha is paramount, he appears to arrogate to himself the
functions of Igwe, the Ibo sky god proper (cf. p. 52), thus following
in the footsteps of his Grecian prototype, ‘Zeus, God of the bright
sky,’ who is also ‘Zeus, God of the dark sky’; and it is in this
capacity, as Lord of the drenching rain-storm, that he fertilises his
consort the Earth Goddess.[13]
Of these mystic spousals of Earth and Sky perhaps the most beautiful
picturing of all is to be found among the Ekoi of the South Cameroons
and of Oban, Southern Nigeria.[14]
A curious link between the worship of Ale and the bearing of babes came
to light one morning just as we were leaving Isokpo waterside, a market
town of some importance on the banks of the upper New Calabar River.
A long, shadeless march, by roads as yet practically unknown to white
men, lay before us. We had risen at earliest dawn in order to place
the first miles behind before the sun should add to the burdens of the
carriers, when, just as we were setting forth after seeing the last
load safely started, a complainant arrived with a letter appealingly
held out in both hands. It was entitled ‘To his Majesty the District
Commissioner. _Re_ Wansumu _v_. Egeom. 17th February, 1915,’ and ran
as follows:
Sir,
I have the honour, most respectfully, to lodge this my humble
complaint before your kind worship....
I am living in the defendant’s town because it is my mother’s
city. Deceased is my brother.... His death took place in that
month during which it is forbidden to die. By our native
custom, should any one disobey this law, heavy expenses used to
be paid before that person might be buried. Defendant knew that
the place I am residing in is a mother city, yet he allowed me
to perform all the ceremonies on behalf of the deceased Wawesi
without assistance....
Leaving this for your discretion
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
WANSUMU (his X mark).
On reading this document, it struck an ignorant white man as somewhat
strange that there should be any month ‘in which it is forbidden to
die.’ On this point the complainant stated:
The man died in the seventh month of the year. Now according to
our native law and custom no unmarried man may be buried during
the seventh moon of the year. Should any die at that time, none
may take notice of his passing and no relative may show sign
that a death has taken place; for the seventh moon is the month
of our mother Ale and by her law it is forbidden for anyone
to die during this holy time. Most of all does she forbid the
death of the unfruitful, whether man or woman. The bodies
of such must be thrown away with all secrecy and may not be
buried. The only exception to this rule is in the case of a man
belonging to a very rich family. Then, in consideration of the
property left, some of the relatives may undertake the expense
necessary for carrying out his funeral rites. Should a man die
during the holy month of Ale many purificatory ceremonies must
be gone through. This law extends over the whole of our country
lying round Isokpo part.
When questioned on the subject, chief G. Yellow owned that a similar
‘rule’ exists among Kalabari, but is only enforced during the day on
which an Owu play is given. He added that the prohibition as to burial
applied also to those who die of certain diseases. ‘When such people
die,’ he said,
a certain mark is visible upon the body. The flesh of such an
one looks decomposed, whereon people say ‘Ale has forsaken
him!’ Such bodies must be carried far from the town and, if
buried at all, it must be a long way from the haunts of men.
When a woman dies in childbirth, her death is concealed for
the same reason, since to pass away before bearing a babe is
displeasing to Ale. In such a case, a corpse must be carried
forth at night secretly through the back door of the house.
Young maids and pregnant women may never see the body of one so
accursed. By native law all the property of the dead must be
destroyed by fire, lest the ban of sterility should pass to any
who might afterwards make use of such things.
Among Okrikans, during the seven days on which the feast of the Earth
Goddess, called by this tribe Elechu, is held, a similar rule obtains.
Should a man die, he may not be buried but must be flung away into the
‘bad bush’ set apart for such outcasts. Only if the family be rich
enough to support the cost of the purificatory ceremonies necessary
before the goddess can be appeased, may the dead be laid to rest in
the breast of the Earth Mother--thence, like sown seed, to spring forth
to new life. The spirits of the accursed corpses flung into the place
of ‘bad bush’ on the other hand become Akalagoli or Ekwensu and on
such the gate of reincarnation is closed for ever. They haunt waste
places and lonely creeks, seeking to harm those who still dwell in the
sunshine. Specially at noon or midnight is their evil power most to be
dreaded.
Should pot or bowl be let fall, or wooden implement broken, during the
feast of Elechu, the sherds must be piled in a heap upon which is flung
the body of any animal which should die during the festival. So large
had these mounds grown in many cases that they formed a serious menace
to the health of the town and proved no inconsiderable difficulty in
the way of an official with leanings towards sanitation. It is to a
mixture of good fortune on the one hand and reasonableness on the part
of the Okrikans that the trouble is now, for practical purposes, a
matter of past history.
Among Ibibio the burial of women dying in childbirth is also forbidden.
These were borne forth, through a hole purposely broken in the house
wall, to be flung away in the bush, lest their barrenness might have
ill effect upon the fruitfulness of the Earth Mother.
VI
IBUDU
To those who pass through the country with open eyes it is obvious
that the phallic cult is very strong among Ibo. Where the Ibibio had
contented themselves with a plain mud pillar, set as emblem amid the
farm, Ibo take special pains in modelling not only a personification of
the symbol, but in showing unmistakably that the circumcised phallus is
intended to be represented.
Among Ibo, as with the ancient Egyptians also, the feminine, as well as
the male, genital organs are worshipped. Both are rudely depicted under
the title Ibudu--a name which embraces the chief protective Jujus[15]
erected in town or compound, the primary purpose of which appears to be
the granting of piccans, though most also act as protector in general
to the family or village of which they are the fetish, and bestow
fertility on farm and byre. The feminine part of the Juju is usually
in bell shape, instead of the pot or calabash form found among Ekoi
and Ibibio. It generally shows the high coiffure only permitted to Ibo
women after the birth of a babe. The nose is often joined to the base
of the hair ridge and the impaled tortoise, already explained as a
feminine symbol, is as a rule seen in the foreground.
Perhaps the most convincing testimony to the efficacy attributed to
the feminine genital organ is a carefully carved representation of
the labia, which was explained as having been one of the most sacred
objects in a great Andoni Juju house, whence it was taken by a man who
had no idea of its significance. In course of time it came to my notice
and was subsequently added to our collection.
An example of the simplest form of phallic pillar may be found in a
compound next door to that of Ababua, head chief of Omo Chuku. Save for
two roughly modelled feet at the base, no attempt was made to add limbs
to the column, down either side of which a row of rough wooden pegs had
been driven. It was explained that each man of the compound inserted
one of these on taking a wife, so that the Juju might have a constant
reminder of the need to send ‘plenty of piccans’ to their hearth.
[Illustration: FIG. 23. Obelli Oduaha Ibudu juju for granting many
piccans]
[Illustration: FIG. 24. Ibudu in compound next to Chief Ababua’s, Omo
Chuku]
[Illustration: FIG. 25. Headless Ibudu in Omo Alipo compound, Omo Chuku]
In another quarter of the same town, in front of Omo Alipo compound, an
Ibudu may be seen of which the pillar represents a body from the loins
upward--the hands, so roughly modelled as more nearly to resemble feet,
resting upon the circular base as though in the act of lifting the
upper part through from the earth beneath. The figure is headless; only
the end of the central pole and the twigs and tie-tie forming the core,
round which such images are modelled, protrude from the broken rim. It
is perhaps worth remarking that this pillar, like some to be mentioned
later, combines both male and female attributes, somewhat in the
style of the Indian Linga.
Perhaps the most highly conventionalised of all such images is one to
be found in a shrine built in a prominent position on the main road,
just outside the Omo-Ofo quarter of Ndelle. This represents the male
part of the Juju. At the other end of the shed a smaller figure is to
be seen, bell-shaped and showing feminine symbols. This is typical of
most of those intended to represent the feminine creative power, though
one of a type more nearly approaching the male form of Ibudu was found,
later on, in Chief Wokogg’s compound at Omo Akani, Owerri District.
Just beyond the shed containing the two phallic pillars, a couple of
shrines may be seen, one on either side of the main road. That on the
right is built in honour of the Juju Onru-Ji (farm yam). This was
explained as ‘one very big woman spirit, all same Ala.’ In the ground
were many knives and pieces of iron, said to have been placed there by
order of the priest who declared that the Juju needed them.
[Illustration: FIG. 26. Ibudu at Ogaminni, near Ndelle]
A little further, on the opposite side of the road beneath an
arbour-like cutting made in the thick bush, was a piece of white baft
stretched between two posts. This is set up in honour of Onru Ka’n Ala,
stated to be the husband of Onru-Ji. The chief of the quarter explained:
Both of these Jujus are strong too much. Therefore we never
swear a man on their name, because, should he even hesitate
to tell the truth when brought before them, the spirit of one
or other would strike him dead at once, giving no time for
repentance! It is a very strong rule for our part that both
Jujus must be dressed by the people of Omo-Ofo before they may
eat new yams.
[Illustration: FIG. 27. Ite Uru Ibudu
_See page 71_]