it makes ckukwu into all divine manitestations. but chukwu is a different work, name, being from anyanwu, not to mention agbala and chi.
it might be interesting to cite text (oral or written) in which the claims for the identity of chukwu and the sun are articulated in prayers or sayings etc. the quotes below are very compelling, but i think they actually prove the point that it is divinity in another manifestation than chukwu's that is mentioned in the prayer.
however, on the original point, i think i can remove my objection to the reference to god as existing in the sun, in equiano. this makes it close enough, especially as he was a child when he was kidnapped; and even if he was born in s carolina, as the baptism certificate states, he could just as easily have heard about igboland and its faith through many other slaves and their accounts and beliefs and practices
ken
ken
On 1/29/13 10:22 AM, OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU wrote:
Just observed from reading Ogonna Agu, The Book of Dawn and Invocations : The Search for Philosophic Truth by an African Initiate that he describes Anyanwu,'the sun' as a name for Chukwu. He does the same for Igwe 'the sky'.
Wikipedia has these very suggestive description of Anyanwu-
Anyanwu (Igbo: Eye of the Sun) is an Igbo deity that is believed to dwell in the sun. Anyanwu was one of the principal spirits for the Igbo, often associated with Agbara, the holy spirit as they both dwelled in the sun. This deity was seen as the perfect image of what a human should be.[1]
Wikipedia on Chukwu develops Ogonna's thesis-
There are five aspects of Chukwu:
- Chukwu is the first force, and existence of all beings living or not, time, and place are offsprings. God is God, no earth-bound people is perfect or god-like.
- Anyanwu-Symbolic meaning of the sun. The sun is everywhere, therefore Chukwu is everywhere. The sun is all powerful. The sun reveals everything so Chukwu is the source of knowledge, and the author of all knowledge.
- Chukwu means Agbala which is the fertility of Earth, its people, and its spiritual world full of sub-dieties under Chukwu (or Chukouuee) the supreme God.
- Chi, a sub-deity functioning as a personal spiritual guidance of a person manifested in the power and ability to look over all living beings. [Achebe in his Chi essay has some very interesting reflections on this line of thought]
- Okike (Chukwu the supreme God) created laws that govern the visible and invisible. Laws are neither good nor bad, they are simple laws that enable things to work.[3]
Omenka Nwa-Ikenga in his blog post Ayanwu :The Eye of Light at Odinani : The Sacred Arts and Sciences of the Igbo People : An Igbo Cyber Shrine develops a range of conceptual associations and parallels with other religions, reinforcing this by quoting Anenechukwu Umeh's After God is Dibia : Igbo Cosmology, Divination and Sacred Science in Nigeria. Vol. 1:
"As Ose Obala, Agwu is the God of Light, Anwu, whose eye is the Sun (Anyanwu). ..As the God of Light, Agwu is an integral part of Ose Ora (Uche Chukwu), the universal Consciousness of God…which is the completeness awareness of what was, what is, and what will be…..God of Light whose blaze or Divine Light disperses and/or extinguishes danger, evil or darkness." (Page 114).
He is quoting from Umeh's very, very rich chapter on Agwu. Umeh's treatment of Agwu is highly elevated, abstract and spiritual in spirit. It can be profitably correlated with Onwuejeogwu's more concrete personificatory description of Agwu in Afa Symbolism to facilitate a richer grasp of this fascinating concept in terms of both conceptual elevation and imagistic grounding.
These interpretations correlating Chukwu, Anyanwu and the sun reinforce each other.
thankstoyin
--
On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 4:38 AM, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
Ah!! very interesting. that means paul edwards introduction where he makes this claim is wrong. i wondered since it seemed weird to me.
thanks
kenharrow@msu.edu
On 1/28/13 1:54 PM, Chidi Anthony Opara wrote:
"Above" in this context means "heaven". The Igbos believe that heaven
is located above, just above, not in the sun or moon. The reference to
Chukwu as "Onye bi na elu" translates to "He who lives above". As a
child and as an adult in Igboland, I have never heard any elder allude
to Chukwu living in the sun or moon.
CAO.
On Jan 28, 7:02 pm, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
chidi
in your praise for chukwu, can you help me out?
i am teaching equiano tonight, and he alludes to their african belief in
god who dwells in the sun.
in your poem, chukwu dwells above. would you agree that equiano's
statement about dwelling inthe son could be an accurate one (i know it
was more than 200 years ago, which might have been different then)
ken
On 1/28/13 4:24 AM, ChidiAnthonyOparaPoetry/Quotes wrote:
(Poem By: Chidi Anthony Opara)--
I come before you
This hour before dawn
Chukwu.
You, who dwell above,
Below
Is your foot stool.
You, whom the gods
Genuflect in his presence,
Before you I come
Clean,
Devoid of dirt.
Your covenant with my forebears
Bound me to come before you
On this market day,
At this hour
To purge my soul of impurities
Of the period past.
I have washed my body
And rinsed my mouth
With the waters of onu ngara.
No human is worthy
To present sacrifices
And libations in your presence.
My sacrifices
I have presented to the good gods,
My libations
To my ancestors.
I stand before you in awe,
Yet
I must make my confessions
Before the din of dawn.
Reproductions in part or in whole, in whatever forms, of
ChidiAnthonyOparaPoetry/Quotes except for non-profit information and
education purposes, without a written permission from
PublicInformationProjects
<http://www.publicinformationprojects.blogspot.com/><http://www.chidianthonyopara.blogspot.com/>
is not allowed.
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