#diviners

Title: The Diviners

Author: Libba Bray

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2012

Genres: fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, paranormal, mystery, horror, supernatural

IGBOS RELIGION AND EXPRESSIVE CULTURE

BELIEFS

Although many Igbo people are now Christians, traditional Igbo religious practices still abound. The traditional Igbo religion includes an uncontested general reverence for Ala or Ana, the earth Arushi, and beliefs and rituals related to numerous other male and female deities, spirits, and ancestors, who protect their living descendants.

Revelation of the will of certain deities is sought through oracles and divination. The claim that the Igbo acknowledge a creator God or Supreme Being, Chukwu or Chineka, is, however, contested. Some see it as historical within the context of centralized political formations, borrowings from Islam and Christianity, and the invention of sky (Igwe) Arushi. The primordial earth goddess and other deified spirits have shrines and temples of worship and affect the living in very real and direct ways, but there are none dedicated to Chukwu. Ala encapsulates both politics and religion in Igbo society by fusing together space, custom, and ethics ( omenala); some refer to Ala as the constitutional deity of the Igbo.

The Igbo concept of personhood and the dialectic between individual choice/freedom and destiny or fate is embodied in the notion of chi, variously interpreted as spirit double, guardian angel, personal Arushi, personality soul, or divine nature. Igbo have varied accounts of myths of origin because there are many gods and goddesses. According to one Igbo worldview, Chukwu created the visible universe, uwa. The universe is divided into two levels: the natural level, uwa, or human world, and the spiritual level of spirits, which include Anyanwu, the sun; Igwe, the sky; Andala (or Ana), the earth; women's water spirits/goddesses, and forest spirits. Through taboos, the Igbo forge a mediatory category of relations with nature and certain animals such as pythons, crocodiles, tigers, tortoises, and fish.

177Acculturation and Culture Contact

771General Character of Religion

776Spirits and Gods

787Revelation and Divination

795Religious Denominations

RELIGIOUS PRACTITIONERS

There are two different kinds of priests: the hereditary lineage priests and priests who are chosen by particular deities for their service. Diviners and priests—those empowered with ofo, the symbol of authority, truth, and justice—interpret the wishes of the spirits, who bless and favor devotees as well as punish social offenders and those who unwittingly infringe their privileges, and placate the spirits with ceremonial sacrifices.

791Magicians and Diviners

793Priesthood

DEATH AND AFTERLIFE

The living, the dead, and the unborn form part of a continuum. Enshrined ancestors are those who lived their lives well and died in a socially acceptable manner (i.e., were given the proper burial rites). These ancestors live in one of the worlds of the dead that mirrors the world of the living. The living pay tribute to their ancestors by honoring them through sacrifices.

Tarot October BPC: October 9, 2023 Death - Series Finale

It’s been a long time. But the other day, I got an email from someone, asking me if the Apprentice Tarot was ever coming back. To be honest I really moved away from it during the pandemic. The logistics of everything was too much for me at the time.

For those who didn’t see it or don’t recall, it has upright and reversed meanings, elements, and suit associations on the cards to help the new reader in getting into their practice right away. I originally made it as a deck to help myself learn, and I was so happy that I got to help some other people learn too.

So I’ve decided to re-release it here, permanently this time, as a print-on-demand deck. It doesn’t come with the rigid box anymore in order to keep costs down given how expensive PoD can be, so it has a purple velvet deck pouch instead. But it is otherwise the same deck, and if you’d been wanting to get ahold of one, well, it will remain available here if you’d like.

Hope everyone made it through ok.