Chi Na Ezumezu In Igbo Spirituality

This Igbo concept of Chi na Ezumezu or Ihe So Mmadu Bia Uwa creates a chain of cosmic interaction between themselves and the individuals they are attached to. These forces include; Ndi-otu, Agwu, Chi, Alusi, Ndi-Ichie, Umuada, Ndi-Mmiri, etc.                                                            To understand them and their functions, our ancestors materialized them within artefacts known as “Okposi”.
They imbued these Okposi with the energies of these concepts and used them as the medium of venerating, sacrificing, and channeling the energies and attributes of these concepts into materializing what they honestly want and wish for which falls within their Akaraka.Each of these concepts functions uniquely in certain aspects of our life.
For instance, the Igbo concept Agwu functions uniquely with the creative ability and upliftment of an individual, which has resulted in the practice of Iru-Agwu either at the linage or personal activation, as a way to obtain, reignite, grow, or improve one’s creative capabilities.
The next concept which is the Chi, is perceived as not just an individual’s creator but its driving force, whom all things good or bad pass through before its manifestation in an individual’s life.
Ndi-Otu, functions as the spiritual age group that checks or delays an individual, hence, using the achievements of your age group as a status marker. They are perceived as a spiritual group that comes into this reality as a group with similar goals or iyi-uwa “Cosmic contract” and are also destined to attain certain status at the same time and eventually should die within a certain time-frame, in our villages, we know them as Otu-Ogbo.
These concepts and others have diverse functions but ultimately their goals align and remarkably one group does not act against the interest of others, their organic interaction should be noted and implemented within our current society at large. We also have diversed rituals of acknowledgment, alignments, and settling karmic debts that arise from them as a way to prepare ourselves to live a full life in this incarnation.NB: There is still a lot to learn about these concepts but you can check out the book  “Chi na Ezumezu and Ihe Di Na Igbo”