Dons Eze
GROWING TREND OF NEO-PAGANISIM IN IGBOLAND
Dons Eze, Ph.D donseze@gmail.com 08033436028
Abstract
The paper considers the so-called “paganism” or African Traditional Religion (ATR), and its anti-thesis, Christianity, and how the two religious systems co-existed. It also considers the emergence of a new form of “paganism” generally referred to as “neo-paganism” in various communities of Igboland, which is currently being propagated or championed by some young boys and girls, who call themselves “Eze Nwoke” and “Eze Nwanyi”. and compares it with what was obtainable before the advent of Christian religion. The paper then suggests reasons for the emergence of this new form of paganism, as well as the challenges it poses to society at large. It finally seeks a common ground between Christianity and African Traditional Religion.
Key Words: Religion, Paganism, Neo-paganism, African Traditional Religion, Christianity
Definition of Terms
We begin our discussion with a brief definition of some key terms found in the paper, such as religion, paganism, and neo-paganism, which we believe, will help to make for a better understanding and appreciation of the subject matter.
Religion – Religion, according to Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary (Hornby, 2010:1244). is defined as belief in the “existence of a god or gods.” Religion is man’s acknowledgement in the existence of a Superior Being, who he believes, is the Author and Director of the Universe and everything therein. Man subordinates himself to this Superior Being and gives Him reverence, worships, or adores Him. Due to the finite or mortal nature of man as well as his limitations, he feels insecure or threatened. He then seeks or hankers after something superior or higher than him, who he hopes, will give him comfort and protection, and who will equally help to satisfy his various needs and aspirations, both temporal and spiritual. (Agbokike, 1999:108) states that “man by nature is a religious being (homo religious) who consciously or unconsciously walks or works towards actualisation and unification with God, the supraordinate Being.” Religion therefore, is innate in the mind of many people and it transcends territorial boundaries, races, tribes, and colour of the skin, even if different people have their different methods and ways of practising it.
Paganism – This is used pejoratively, and is taken from its Latin origin, paganus” which means, “a village-dweller”, “a countryman”, “a person who lives away from the civilized community (Idowu, 1973:116). Seen from the religious angle, paganism means holding religious beliefs that are not part of any of the world’s main religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc. Christian missionaries used the term to describe people who did not believe in Christianity, while the Muslims refer to those who do not believe in Islamic religion as “infidels”.
Neo-paganism: This is a new form of paganism or African traditional method of religious worship that is currently emerging in many communities of Igboland.
Methodology
The methods adopted in this work are historical, analytical, expository and critical. In the collection of materials for the paper, we depended mainly on relevant literatures. We thus consulted books, journals and other literary sources. We further sourced information via the internet in order to attend comprehensively to our research problem.
What is African Traditional Religion?
African Traditional Religion (ATR) has suffered several negative connotations and misconceptions in the hands of European scholars and anthropologists who first visited the continent. Without a clear understanding of what they met on ground, these European scholars gave African traditional religious worship different terminologies and interpretations, and described it as “primitive”, “savage”, “fetish”, “occultic”, “satanic”, or “devilish” (Idowu, 1973: 108-114). Many of these scholars believed that Africans had no correct idea about God, and stressed that the people were pantheists who believed and worshipped material objects such as trees, stones, etc., and regarded them as God. They also believed that Africans were “animists”, that is to say, that the people animals and believed in the plurality of gods.
The Christian missionaries who came after them equally toed the same line as these European scholars and anthropologists, and believed that Africans were ignorant about God and religion. Ranger and Kimambo (1972:132), report with regard to the Padhola people of Uganda, that “the European missionaries had little difficulty therefore in concluding that the Padhola were a people without religion and hence they had a kind of religious tabula rasa on which to write the Ten Commandments”.
These missionaries equally created boundaries between those who practice Christianity and followers of African Traditional Religion, dismissed the latter as “pagans”, denounced their methods of worship, and concluded that the people would go to hell unless they “repented” and come out from their “evil” way. While these Christians would dutifully honour and revere their dead ancestors and acknowledge them as “saints”, they told the people not to even mention the names of their own dead ancestors because these dead Africans were already roasting in hellfire, since they had not been initiated into their own religion. This was what made many Africans began to develop an inferiority complex and ingrained hatred about themselves, their culture, history, religion, language, the food they eat, their native or traditional names, and everything about Africa. In consequence, many of these Africans began to abandon their original way of life and worship, and to follow the new method of religious worship brought by the Christian missionaries.
Apart from denigrating the culture and tradition of Africans, intimidating and cajoling the people into accepting their own religion, the Christian missionaries equally came with various material enticements aimed at drawing African people to their side. For example, they built schools to train, brainwash, and indoctrinate African children with the dos and don’ts of their own religion, culture and lifestyle. They also built hospitals and introduced medical practices different from the way Africans used to treat their own sick people. Through these methods, the European missionaries succeeded in swaying Africans away from their own roots.
Nature of Traditional African Religion
African Traditional Religion permeates all facets of life of the African. It is all inclusive, and all embracing. Religion has no boundary as far as the African is concerned. It is multilateral. It is embodied in the life activities of the people. (Ezeanya, 1980:324) states that “for the African, life is religion, and religion is life”, while JS Mbiti (1969:2) explains that “traditional religion permeates all departments of the African way of life, there is no formal distinction between the sacred and the secular, between the religious and non-religious, between the spiritual and the material areas of life. Wherever the African is, there is religion: he carries it to the field where he is sowing seeds or harvesting a new crop, he takes it with him to the beer party, or to attend a funeral ceremony…”
This was what these European scholars and missionaries who first visited Africa did not understand. They thought that religion had separate existence in the life of the African, and that the people believed and regarded the material objects of their immediate perception such as trees, stones, etc. as God, or that religion was departmentalized, with clear distinction between the sacred and the profane, as is the case in Europe. They did not know that religion is part and parcel of the African, and that it embodies his entire life and activities.
Africans have knowledge about the Supreme Deity, or God, who goes by different names, according to language and locality. In Igbo, the people call Him Chi-ukwu (Supreme Deity), or Chukwu Okike (Creator) (Okoye, !980:13), while the Yoruba call Him, Olodumare (Idowu,1973:56), and for the Efik, He is called Abasi, and so on. It is God who created the universe and everything therein, including every material object. In the order of hierarchy, God or the Supreme Deity is at the apex. He created everything and controls it. Below the Supreme Deity are smaller deities or divinities. who serve as God’s agents or assistant, and who help in the work of creation. The Heaven (Enu-igwe), the Earth Goddess (Ani), hills, rivers, and other deities are His representatives, and they equally play their different roles in the Universe, the same way as angels and saints play their different roles on the part of believers in Christian religion.
The Priest in African Traditional Religion
The priest in African Traditional Religion serves as an intermediary between the people and the Supreme Deity. He offers sacrifices to the Supreme Deity on behalf of the people through the smaller deities and divinities. Just as the Christian priest would erect an altar through which he worships the Supreme Deity, so also would the priest in African Traditional Religion erect a shrine through which he equally worships the Supreme Deity. The ATR priest never lives in isolation, away from his people. He lives among the people, and interacts with them. The traditional religious priest is not materialistic, and he never asks for monetary rewards for his services. People could however approach the Supreme Deity, with the priest serving as intermediary, with such sacrificial items like wine, goat, fowl, yam, and so on. After the sacrifice, the priest does not take all the sacrificial items alone. While he takes some proportions, he shares out the rest to the provider(s) of the sacrificial items, as well as to all those present during the sacrifice. This shows that the priest in African Traditional Religion is egalitarian in the same way as traditional African society is egalitarian.
Emergence of Neo-Paganism
Through missionary activities a good number of Africans were supposed to have converted to Christianity. But looking at the day-to-day life activities of these so-called “converted” African Christians, very many of them did not actually leave their traditional beliefs and method of religious worship. They were said to be Christians in day time, and traditional religious worshippers at night. They had their one leg in Christianity, and their other leg in traditional religious practices. Each time they were threatened, or had one problem or the other, they would look back to where they came from – sneak out at night to consult a “dibia” or “dabalawo” (fortune teller) – to find out what was amiss, and how to deal with the situation. Or they would delegate any of their uncles or aunts in the village to visit the fortune teller on their behalf. This is called syncretism. Many of our so-called converted African Christians are guilty of this.
Thus, since many people who claimed to have converted to Christianity had actually not left their traditional root, it is not surprising that a new form of traditional religious worship called “neo-paganism”, would easily emerge in different parts of Igboland. This new movement is no longer being championed by the once haggard-looking-ill-dressed old men, but by some well-dressed young boys and girls, who were once city-dwellers, but who now have decided to come down to the villages to gather stones and other objects around trees, and decorate them with red and white cloths and begin to worship it as shrine. Though still bearing Christian names, these young boys and girls would gleefully tell anybody who cares that they were returning to the religion of their forefathers, because Christianity had failed the people, or that Christianity “is a scam”.
They would bear such title names as Eze Nwoke (Chief Priest), or Eze Nwanyi (Chief Priestess), and claim to have the powers to solve both spiritual and physical ailments afflicting the people such as ancestral curses that had been responsible for premature deaths, barrenness, failed marriages, miscarriages, chronic poverty, and many other bodily diseases and sicknesses. Many people would believe them and begin to troop to their shrines to seek remedies or solutions to their numerous problems. These priests and priestesses, would charge their clients exorbitant fees which they would use to purchase various items for religious worship or sacrifice
However, looking closely at both the activities and way of life of these new priests, one would observe a world of difference between them and the traditional religious priests of old. For instance, while the priests of old were very elderly people, who many people believed were eminently qualified to commune with their ancestors, these new priests are relatively young men and women who are not even grounded in the culture and tradition of their people. Also, while the priests of old never asked for financial inducement or gratification before they would carry out their priestly functions, but only accepted such material items like palm wine, yam, fowl or goat (as might have been prescribed by the dibia (fortune teller), which they would even share among all the people present during the sacrifice, these new priests would not only charge exorbitant fees, but would equally ask for such big items like goats, rams and cows, human organs before they could carry out their priestly functions.
In the past, there was a clear distinction between the priests of the deities or divinities (dibia arushi or dibia ogo mmuo); and the traditional medicine men (dibia mgbalogwu n’mkpa akwukwo); as well as fortune tellers (dibia afa or dibia anya nzu). While the first group offered sacrifices to God through the deities or divinities and played intermediary role between God and the people; the second group administered medical treatment on sick people, and the third group foretold what the future had in stock and preferred solution to the problems. But these new priests and priestesses of traditional religion would combine all the above functions, and claim that they had solution to every problem on earth, whether physical or spiritual, and in the process, would skin off any of their clients in form of exorbitant charges. In other words, while the priests of old had concerned themselves with worshipping and offering sacrifices to God through the deities, the new priests are jack of all trades, combining priestly functions with traditional medical practice as well as fortune-telling and solving spiritual problems. But their sole purpose is monetary gains, or how much money they would make from the misfortunes that befall human individuals.
In the days of old, before any traditional medicine man agreed to prepare medicine or charm that could harm or kill any individual, he would have sent pre-warnings to all and sundry, to inform the people that there is danger on the air. In Oghe, people would begin to hear that (Ijiji ana-ta-kwa nshi), that is to say, that the fly was in possession of poisonous elements, and people would begin to take necessary precautions, or become extra careful about what they eat, or who they go with. Not so, for these new traditional religious priests, who might have even been the harbingers of such sicknesses, ailments or spiritual problems, and they would turn round to claim that they have the solution to these sicknesses, ailments or spiritual problems and lay down mind-boggling terms and conditions for tackling them. In the end, they would not succeed in solving any of the problems.
Virtually, everybody now believes that most of these so-called priests of new traditional religion are indeed not priests in the real sense of it, but ritualists and occultists. Rather than use goats, fowls, yams, etcetera, in their religious worship and sacrifice as their predecessors had done, many of these new priests and priestesses would ask for human organs as ingredients of sacrifice or religious worship. In some cases, they would even ask their clients to nominate any of their dearest relation, be it father, mother, wife or child, that would be used in order for the sacrifice to be effective.
Most of the atrocities being perpetrated in present-day Nigeria, such as kidnap for ransom, armed robbery, ritual killing, rape, occultism, yahoo yahoo, could be traceable to the activities of these so-called new priests of traditional religion. Sometimes, they would not only hypnotize their victims, but would equally prepare dangerous charms and concoctions that would be used by perpetrators of these criminal activities. This is very far from what the priests of old traditional religion did.
Reasons for Emergence of Neo-Paganism
Youth Unemployment – One major factor that is responsible for the emergence
of neo-paganism in Igboland is youth unemployment. Most young boys and girls who currently champion return to African Traditional Religion were once Christians and city-dwellers, but who had no visible means of livelihood. These young men and women who had earlier moved to the cities with every hope to better their lives, either as apprentices, traders, artisans, etc., soon got frustrated and disappointed when their expectations had failed to materialize. Unfortunately, neither the state, nor the church, could offer them any form of assistance. In frustration, they decided to pack their bags and baggage and returned to their villages and began to lead a new wave of evangelism in traditional religion.
Allegation of Foreign Sponsorship: There is the allegation that the current trend
of neo-paganism in Igboland is being sponsored by some Igbo people in the diaspora. Proponents of this theory point out that a lot of Igbo people who live outside the shores of Igboland currently imitate or toe the path of people of Western Europe where many of them, like the German philosopher, Friederick Nietzsche, have given up on religion, and proclaimed God as “dead”. Nietzsche had looked at the melancholy or frustration of Western Europe of his day and declared that “the greatest fact was neither the military power of Germany, nor the unfolding advances of science, but rather the uncontrivable fact that belief in the Christian God had drastically declined to the point where he could say that “God is dead” (Stumpf, 1977:371). Many of these Igbo diaspora therefore. no longer go to church or believe in Christianity, which they claim to be “European religion”, and which they also accuse to have destroyed Igbo culture and tradition. Neo-paganism therefore, will be a way to return Igboland to its “original form”.
But Christianity, in so far as it was brought to Africa, and to Nigeria, by European
mercantilists and colonizers, is far from being a “European religion.” Christianity had its origin in the Middle East, in Israel to be specific. Most countries of Europe, including Rome, the headquarters of Catholicism, were originally into “paganism”, but were later converted to Christianity.
Differences in Priorities Between European and African Christian Evangelists:
While the European missionaries who brought Christianity to Africa seemed to be more concerned with the inner being – the spiritual life of the individual, African evangelists who took over from them focused more on externalities – on miracles, wonders and prosperity. This has reflected in their different outlook and methods of evangelical work. While the European missionaries looked at Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross as symbol of Christianity: led frugal and austere life, and trekked long distances or rode on bicycles and motorcycles to deliver the gospel message, the African evangelists preach the gospel of miracle and prosperity and live a flamboyant lifestyle. They go on flashy and expensive vehicles like Rolls Royce, with some of them owning private jets. Ironically, while the Shephard will be growing fatter and fatter, the sheep will be getting leaner and leaner, wallowing in want and abject poverty.
In order to meet with the expensive lifestyles of these African evangelists, the church authorities will introduce different kinds of monetary payments and fund-raising activities. Apart from the normal offering, the people will be required to pay tithe, sow seed, contribute for the maintenance of the priest’s vehicles, birthday celebration, ordination anniversary, construction of church building, and so many other activities. Sometimes, the church service will drag on for several hours, mainly for the purpose of hunting for money. Many people will become weary and tired, particularly the youths, who are always in a hurry. Soon, they will begin to lose interest in church activities, and stop going to church altogether. Since nature abhors a vacuum, some of them will either relapse into traditional mode of worship, or will begin to follow bad gangs.
Springing Up of New Evangelical Churches: Another factor responsible for the
emergence of neo-paganism is the springing up of new evangelical churches that claim to be centres of prosperity, miracles, signs and wonders. These new churches will promise heaven on earth to those who worship with them. In order to live up to these promises, some of them will engage in unorthodox method of worship like ritual and occult practices. They will slaughter or bury cows, rams, tortoises, and even human heads, under their altar, as part of sacrifice. Many people will begin to troop to these churches with the hope of receiving their miracles and having all their problems solved. The leaders of these miracle churches will be cajoling their worshippers into making generous donations while stressing that “God loves a cheerful giver,” and that “those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly, while those who sow generously will reap abundantly”. As a result, some of the worshippers will begin to empty their pockets with the hope of reaping “abundantly”.
Unfortunately, not all these seekers of miracles will actually receive them the way they had wanted as many of them who are sick will still not be healed; those looking for jobs will still not be employed; while those looking for life partners will still be unmarried; etc. As a result, some of the people will be disappointed, frustrated, and begin to backslide, and eventually stop going to Church. They will begin to call Christianity a “scam”, because it had failed to meet their expectations. Then, they will return to their villages and begin to decorate trees with red and white cloths in the name of going back to the religion of their forefathers.
In any case, since some of the youths have observed that these new evangelical churches equally adopt almost the same method of religious worship like the traditional religious worshippers of slaughtering cows, calves, rams and goats, and bathing people at river banks, they see no reason of continuing to cling to on imported religion, rather than to the one that was indigenous, and which they were very familiar with, which is African Traditional Religion.
Between Christianity and African Traditional Religion
From the above discussion, we now can see that there is nothing fundamentally different between Christianity and African Traditional Religion, qua religion, defined as “belief in the existence of a god, or gods”. All religions lead people to God. So also, is Christianity, and African Traditional Religion. The problem however lies in their practitioners. In other words, while there may be good practitioners of Christian religion, and bad practitioners of Christian religion, so equally may be good practitioners of African Traditional Religion, as well as bad practitioners of African Traditional Religion.
Those who brought the Christian religion to Africa, and to Igboland, in particular, were too hasty in their judgement about what they saw. As such, they decided to throw away the baby with the bathwater, such that they did not see anything good in traditional religion. They regarded everything as evil, simply because what they saw did not correspond with their own way of worship.
But a close observation of the Christian religion compared with what is obtainable in traditional religion, reveals that there is no much difference between the two faiths. For instance, both Christianity and African Traditional Religion believe in the existence of one Supreme Deity, which the Igbo call Chi-Ukwu or Chukwu Okike, who made Heaven and Earth (Enuigwe n’Ani), and everything therein. The two religions have priests who interface between man and the Supreme Deity. They equally pray to God through intermediaries – saints and angels, for the Christians; and ancestors and lesser deities, for the traditional religionists. Both Christianity and traditional religion also erect altars or shrines for the worship of the Supreme Deity. They equally offer sacrifices to God – bread and wine by Christians; and animals, yam and wine by traditional religious worshippers.
Christianity and African Traditional Religion also believe in spirits, both the good and the evil spirits (ezhi ma, n’ajo mma, or ekwensu). They both believe in life after death, as well as in reward and punishment for the good or bad things done when one was on earth. For the Christians, reward and punishment will be eternal bliss in Heaven, in communion with God, his angels and saints, or eternal damnation in Hell fire, with Lucifer and other evil spirits; while for traditional religionists, reward and punishment will be joyful communion with the ancestors in the land of the spirits, or thrown into the evil forest for vultures to devour, and thus cut off from immortality, and equally excluded from ancestorship.
God has engraved in the heart of every man or woman, Christian and non-Christian, the knowledge of what is good and what is bad, or the Golden Rule, (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you). The same way that there are good Christians and bad Christians, so also are good traditional religionists and bad traditional religionists. A good Christian, and a good traditional religionist, will definitely meet at the same place at the end of their earthly sojourn. What matters is the wellness of life, how well one had lived when he or she was on earth, and not the different vehicles boarded, or the different routes taken.
Christianity and traditional religion are therefore two faces of the same coin. They are two different routes to the same destination. God does not discriminate. He is a universal God. He loves all His creations, irrespective of their creed, race, language, colour of skin, and nativity. It is human being that creates division, that makes God to look as if He is wicked or discriminatory, who will have one group with Him in Heaven, and every other group, He will send to Hell fire!
References
Hornby, AS (2010) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (Oxford University Press) p.1244
Agbodike, CC “African Traditional Religion and Culture As a Tool for National Reconciliation and Integration in Nigeria” Njoku, ON (ed.) (1999) in Nsukka Journal of the Humanities (Enugu: Magnet Business Enterprises) p.108
Idowu, EB (1973) African Traditional Religion – A Definition (London: SCM Press Ltd) p. 116
Ibid pp. 108 -114
Ranger, TO & Kimambo. Isaria (1972) The Historical Study of African Religion (London: Heinemann) p.132
Mbiti, JS (1969) African Religions and Philosophy (London: Heinemann) p.2
Okoye, M (1980) Embattled Men (Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers) p.13
Ezeanya, SN “The Contribution of African Traditional Religion in Nation Building”, in Amucheazi, EC (ed.) (1980) Readings in Social Sciences (Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers) p.324.
Stumpf, SE (1977) Philosophy: History and Problems (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company) p. 371
