“[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling”
Against the backdrop of the demonization of Africana Religious Traditions (ARTs), peoples of African descent, in shame and ignorance, and seduced by the benefits of a ruthless capitalist Christianity, fail to affirm the value of their ancestral spirituality. In Jamaica and other parts of the Anglop...
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UJ Press
2024-07-01
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| Series: | African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ajgr/article/view/3325 |
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| author | Claudette A. Anderson |
| author_facet | Claudette A. Anderson |
| author_sort | Claudette A. Anderson |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Against the backdrop of the demonization of Africana Religious Traditions (ARTs), peoples of African descent, in shame and ignorance, and seduced by the benefits of a ruthless capitalist Christianity, fail to affirm the value of their ancestral spirituality. In Jamaica and other parts of the Anglophone Caribbean, the word “Obeah”, a label for African spirituality, remains misunderstood, demonized, and criminalized as Christians consistently thwart any effort to value it. Dibịa-Professor Umeh’s spiritual oeuvre provides necessary redress to the epistemicide that fuels the continued criminalization of “Obeah”. This article presents John Umeh’s After God is Dibịa: Igbo Cosmology, Divination & Sacred Science in Nigeria, Vols. 1 and 2 as performative texts that affirm traditional African Priesthood as honorable, valuable, and necessary, while negating the myth of a superior white male god and consequent female inferiority. I explore these acts of writing the Igbo Dibịahood as sacred performances of testimony, communion and redemption. The emphasis on Dibịa ethics, I posit as offering a critique of Christian priestcraft. African defined Ọbịa rejects eurocentric impositions on the term by affirming it as a healing vocation and inclusive priesthood defined by wisdom and knowledge. Through attention to the feminine space of revival, Ọbịa balmyard, I explore similarities with continental antecedents and present female Dibịahood as a radical faith tradition that insists on the power of Nne Agwu, Mother Holy Spirit. The respell of Ọbịa through eight emanations is shown as a potent antidote against epistemicide. By affirming the sacredness of matriarchal power, the dignity of traditional Dibịahood and the ethical force of traditional knowledge, Umeh exemplifies a priest class worthy of the name.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9bd03bab116b4c99a567f417617b3adb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2707-2991 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | UJ Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) |
| spelling | doaj-art-9bd03bab116b4c99a567f417617b3adb2025-01-08T08:59:08ZengUJ PressAfrican Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR)2707-29912024-07-0130110.36615/mxnj5732“[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling”Claudette A. Anderson0https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8297-6770Unuchi Foundation Against the backdrop of the demonization of Africana Religious Traditions (ARTs), peoples of African descent, in shame and ignorance, and seduced by the benefits of a ruthless capitalist Christianity, fail to affirm the value of their ancestral spirituality. In Jamaica and other parts of the Anglophone Caribbean, the word “Obeah”, a label for African spirituality, remains misunderstood, demonized, and criminalized as Christians consistently thwart any effort to value it. Dibịa-Professor Umeh’s spiritual oeuvre provides necessary redress to the epistemicide that fuels the continued criminalization of “Obeah”. This article presents John Umeh’s After God is Dibịa: Igbo Cosmology, Divination & Sacred Science in Nigeria, Vols. 1 and 2 as performative texts that affirm traditional African Priesthood as honorable, valuable, and necessary, while negating the myth of a superior white male god and consequent female inferiority. I explore these acts of writing the Igbo Dibịahood as sacred performances of testimony, communion and redemption. The emphasis on Dibịa ethics, I posit as offering a critique of Christian priestcraft. African defined Ọbịa rejects eurocentric impositions on the term by affirming it as a healing vocation and inclusive priesthood defined by wisdom and knowledge. Through attention to the feminine space of revival, Ọbịa balmyard, I explore similarities with continental antecedents and present female Dibịahood as a radical faith tradition that insists on the power of Nne Agwu, Mother Holy Spirit. The respell of Ọbịa through eight emanations is shown as a potent antidote against epistemicide. By affirming the sacredness of matriarchal power, the dignity of traditional Dibịahood and the ethical force of traditional knowledge, Umeh exemplifies a priest class worthy of the name. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ajgr/article/view/3325obeahAfrican traditional religionwomen's spiritualityDibịaỌbịaReparations |
| spellingShingle | Claudette A. Anderson “[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling” African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) obeah African traditional religion women's spirituality Dibịa Ọbịa Reparations |
| title | “[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling” |
| title_full | “[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling” |
| title_fullStr | “[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling” |
| title_full_unstemmed | “[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling” |
| title_short | “[Obeah] Ọbịa by Igbo Spelling” |
| title_sort | obeah obia by igbo spelling |
| topic | obeah African traditional religion women's spirituality Dibịa Ọbịa Reparations |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ajgr/article/view/3325 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT claudetteaanderson obeahobiabyigbospelling |