Igbo (west Africa)Ā āOmā
į»m! int. salutation of respect to an old man (especially a pagan)
ā Dictionary of ĆĢ£nƬĢ£chĆ Igbo. Kay Williamson, Ethiope Press, 1972.
[An] ancient Igbo principle (stemming from another mythic account) [ā¦] holds that Chukwu created the world by uttering two words, į»m and Om
These two Divine expressions, according to the ancient Igbo, became āThe Two Sacred Words āi.e. Okwuabuo Chukwu ji were ke uwaā. Again, the basic notion here is dualityābut specifically this time; duality dealing with the two Igbo mystical principles of Akwu na Obi (Stillness and Motion). It is remarkable to note that these two principles unified, remains one of the most utilized and infinitely explored of all Igbo mystery teachings.The āTwo Sacred Wordsā as explored in another Igbo mystery cult is also held as the āTwo Primordial Soundsā. In this respect, it expresses one of the most esoterically studied of all Divine expressions i.e. sound. In Igbo mystery circles, the naturally produced human-sound (phonetically molded continuously from birth, eventually condensed into a specific lingual form as the child matures) is held to be a mystery of its own. Hence, the ancients explored it in a separate, dedicated cult where its latent creative powers were synthesized for use in invocations, spiritual chants and several forms of oracular practices.
ā Nze Izo Omenigbo. Chukwu Bu Ulidereuwa: Odinala, Igbo Antiquity and the Esoteric Roots of Human Expressions.
į»m is pronounced similarly to āumā inĀ āumbrellaā, and om likeĀ āomā inĀ āhomeā, in addition to į»m being a salutation for elderly men, om or omoĀ is the greeting for elderly women.
