KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future

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, dnan, 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 d), 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 Gods 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-am, mana ofu
chi anagh 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 creedbut 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 ofChi na Eke (God and Creator), a duality of
deities, is a mischaracterization of Chi nEke (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 nEke 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 nEke) God the Creator
(b) Isind The Source of Life
(c) znd The Smith of Life
(d) Omakaesikewa 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:

Abasi Efik & Ibibio (Nigeria)
Amma Dogon (Burkina Faso/Mali)
Aondo Tiv (Nigeria)
Chido Jukun (Nigeria)
Chikara Korekore (Zimbabwe)
Chineke Igbo (Nigeria)
Egbesu Izon (Nigeria)
Imana Banyarwanda (Barundi/Rwanda) )(Burundi)
Inkosi Zulu (South Africa)
Jalang Bambara (Mali)
Mawu Ewe (Benin/Ghana/Togo)
Modimo Bakwena-Tswana (Botswana)
Mulungu Digo (Kenya)
Mungu Sukuma-Nyamwezi (Tanzania)
Nyame Akan & Asante (Ghana)
Oghene Urhobo & Isoko (Nigeria):
Olodumare Yoruba (Nigeria)
Onyankopon Twi (Benin/Ghana):
Oritse Itsekiri (Nigeria)
Osalobua Edo (Nigeria)
Si Bamikeke (Cameroon)
uDali Xhosa (South Africa):
Unkulunkulu Ndebele (Zimbabwe)


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.


========


M. O. En, 2006, Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.