The Meaning of the Beginning: A Perspective from an Igbo-African Popular Religious Philosophy

By Isidore Okwudili Igwegbe

The Meaning of the Beginning is a mosaic of timeless wisdom hidden in nature and encapsulated in the folklores of the Igbo of sub-Saharan Africa. This book is a philosophical jab, a moral punch line, and a social commentary on the human condition.
Curious minds, teachers and students of Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology and Religious studies will find this collection useful.




In The Meaning of the Beginning, the author has produced a work that is outstanding both in the simplicity of its language and presentation and depth of its philosophical insight In the short as it is commentaries, there are rich and deep philosophical reflections of a moral or religious nature which qualify this work as a serious effort at another type of African Philosophy.

Monsignor Theophilus Okere, Ph-D




This is a beautiful piece of work, a combination of simple tales with uncommon lofty ideals in a flowing and very readable language, picturesquely descriptive of the images desired to evoke, in a manner matching Chinua Achebes.

Rev Dr. Emmanuel Odirachukwunma Udechukwu

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477254356

Isidore Okwudili Igwegbe

Isidore Okwudili Igwegbe is a Catholic priest, teacher, and storyteller. He was born in Ogboko, Imo State, Nigeria, and has served in Italy, Germany, Nigeria, and Canada. He has written numerous articles and is the author of a companion volume of commentaries on the readings for the lectionary’s Cycle C.

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© 2012 by ISIDORE OKWUDILI IGWEGBE. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   09/19/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5434-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5433-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5435-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012917058

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Section One  God and Creation

Section Two  Differences in the World

Section Three  Evil and Divisions in the World

Section Four  Society as one Large Community

Section Five  Respect for the Elders

Section Six  Continuity of Life

Section seven  Injustice

Section Eight  Equilibrium

Section Nine  Diversity as the Basis for Harmony

Section Ten  Joy and Sadness

Section Eleven  Caution

Section Twelve  Power

Section Thirteen  Gratitude

Section Fourteen  Tact

Section Fifteen  Vices

Section Sixteen  Indecision

Section Seventeen  The Wisdom of the Snail

Section Eighteen  Perception

Section Nineteen  Personal Secrecy and Esteem

Section Twenty  Virtue

Section Twenty-one  Protest

Section Twenty-two  Death

Section Twenty-three  Our Daily Rule of Life

About the Book

To my siblings:

Geraldine, Joel, Pius, Philip, Clementina, Uchenna, and Chibuzo

From whom I have learned to keep the meaning

of the beginning always in view.

Foreword

In The Meaning of the Beginning the author has produced a work that is outstanding both in the simplicity of its language and the presentation and depth of its philosophical insights.

The author explores popular thought as it ranges from God, creation, the beginnings of sun and moon and humans and their habits, their institutions, and various culture traits. Such popular thought has the actions often dressed up in the garb of animals for, as the Igbo say: No folktale misses (does without) the tortoise. In this collection, other actors come into play: God, gods, men and women.

Many customs are explained or justified as well as peculiar values and vices of society.

Above all, it is a book of origins—the origins of death, the tortoise’s mosaic shell, women’s beardlessness, the lizard’s silent nodding, the he-goat’s body odour, etc.

But this book, ostensibly describing the above named objects and phenomena and their origins is really about none of them. None of the stories of animals is of animals. A lot of the zoological details are really just good anthropology. Animals are being used to describe, criticize, and, to comment on the human condition. Of course, at the level of description, this is good entertainment. But there is more than entertainment and there is more than anthropology. And this is the story of the story contained in this fascinating work. In the short as it is commentaries, there are rich and deep philosophical reflections of a moral or religious nature which qualify this work as a serious effort at another type of African philosophy. This philosophy uses the tales of folklore and their newly invented cousins to probe philosophically into the human condition. And it shows that a popular narrative can be pregnant with philosophical and theological meaning.

Some of this is also social commentary. The passage from matrimony to patrimony and indeed the stories of why women were created and, why and how women lost the power to rule are clearly only thinly veiled jibes aimed at men and women entangled in gender wars.

All in all, the stories constitute a masterstroke of humour, irony and social comment, and the examples I cite are together only one gem out of the many studding the crown jewel that is this book. I commend the author and recommend this book.

Monsignor Theophilus Okere, Ph-D

Director,

Bishop Whelan Research Institute, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Preface

The human person grows, matures, toils, celebrates, suffers and dies but certain value systems and thought patterns remain. Society evolves, sheds some of its ways and assumes new ones, but certain codes and mental moulds outlive the ups and downs of history. The great question of why things are the way they are has been posed in every culture and the answers given to these questions have often guided thought, informed conduct, influenced character, and inspired particular visions of the world.

The identity of a typical sub-Saharan Igbo-African lies in how he/she lives, thinks, and responds to the world. By talking about sub-Saharan Igbo-Africa, I am dealing with a vast area with important differences among many segments within the Igbo. Yet underlying this vast area, there are some common elements or essential characteristics. These common elements, essentials or features in the midst of diversity and huge differences permit one to speak of sub-Saharan Igbo-Africa in general terms. These common elements, essentials or features which find expression in a particular way of life and mentality are present in the soul of the typical sub-Saharan Igbo-African and are manifested wherever and however the typical sub-Saharan Igbo-African is found¹

Popular thought, popular folklore, popular spirituality, and popular philosophy are the expressions of a people’s soul. Humanity is human because she asks questions about the Why of all things. This work is an investigation into the foundations of our reality.

Every culture is sustained by a particular philosophy. Wherever a cultural group exists, there is a particular world, a particular vision. A way of thinking that is nature-bonded is genuinely human. This nature-bonded thought pattern favours religious philosophy and narrative theology.

As a matter of value, The Meaning of the Beginning is an attempt at demonstrating the relevance of social philosophy, religious beliefs and theo-myths which shape the identity of a typical sub-Saharan Igbo-African. I have written this book to make people chuckle, marvel and disagree.

Some sections of this work were collected, examined and edited over the years. Some sections are my own intuitions, and commentary on the human condition as I perceive it and, the challenge it poses.

In this task, I owe a debt of gratitude to my father, Sylvester Okwarachukwu Igwegbe who instilled in me deep love for the wisdom of this work. I listened with rapt attention to his explanations of why things are the way they are.

I am grateful to my brother Joel for collecting and editing some of the contents of this work. I thank Monsignor Theophilus Okere and Dr James R. Nolan for reading the proofs and, making useful corrections. I accept responsibility for all errors and anticipate criticisms from my readers.

I salute my audience at different occasions when I explain why things are the way they are. It is the passionate request from my audience that I have granted by writing this book.

Isidore Okwudili Igwegbe

Section One

God and Creation

AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING

i. When and how God lived in the sky

We thought and taught that God was the first, the middle, and the last. He made everything when and how he wanted them. In the great beginnings, heaven and earth formed one spherical whole. God lived with human beings and among them. Human beings saw, visited, touched, talked with and played with God. And because God lived with and among people, it was always bright in the world without darkness.

But one critical day, human beings committed an abomination. One stubborn man recklessly sat on God’s stool and a woman carelessly poured water around God’s throne. When God called them to order, they failed to respond with proper decorum.

God left his habitation among human beings and went to live in the sky. From that moment, there existed two worlds: heaven and earth. From that moment, there existed night and day, darkness and light. God chose to live up in the sky so that human beings could lift up their eyes whenever they wanted to talk to him.

It became