Reincarnation can explain some of life’s mysteries, it is confirmation that life does not end at death.
In Igbo land, when a child is born, the parents normally go to Afa (divination) to inquire about the life of the child.
Many people visiting Afa are doing so to know who among his ancestors reincarnated in his family; this is usually done before the 8th day after childbirth. Children are given names on the eighth day from the date of their birth, which is also the day of circumcision in Igbo land, though some may take a long time to find the exact ancestor that reincarnated into their family.
There had been vivid cases of reincarnation in Igbo land, particularly after the civil war, when many people had no idea where their loved ones who had gone to the war were.
Because the tradition in Igbo land is that when a person is presumed lost, the family should wait 7 years before doing the burial ceremony for the lost person.
Many had reincarnated with different degrees of injuries; some children were born with open bullet wounds that miraculously healed without treatment after birth. Some people were born with injuries in the place that caused their deaths. These were pure evidence of reincarnation, which nobody can dispute. Because when these families try to sort out the reasons for these strange happenings, they are normally told that their relatives who died on the war front have reincarnated so that they can do the burial ceremonies. Then the family will welcome the reincarnated spirit through some ceremonies. There are numerous stories about elderly people telling their children or grandchildren that when they die, they will reincarnate as one of their children. Some children have shown vivid examples of their past lives by telling stories about events that occurred in the lives of those who are their reincarnates, such as the case of a young girl who mentioned the name of her great-grandmother, whose name even her parents did not know.
There are children who have suffered various degrees of misfortune because their parents thought it was not worth it to find out about this, or, simply put, they don’t believe in reincarnation.
Reincarnations are commonly referred to as Ilo/Ino Uwa.
Reincarnation is a part of Igbo belief; it is believed that those who died prematurely or who are not perfect enough to work with Nd Ichie always return to earth, choose a family in which to reincarnate and decide how and when to reincarnate.
There are stories of people who died as a result of juju, domestic violence, a man’s wickedness, or a woman’s betrayal.
People vowed that they would never die as a result of these circumstances in their next life. And when they are reincarnated, these things are evident in their lives.
So the belief in life after death is rooted in Igbo culture through these reincarnations.
There is a belief that Nd Ichie, who does not need to reincarnate, remains in the spiritual world, guarding, protecting us from evil, and guiding us to the right path.
This is why we pour libations on them, offer them kola nuts, which are of great importance to the Igbo culture, and drop foods on them before we eat. This is also the reason burial rites and funerals are important to the Igbo people because they are the right of passage for the deceased. If a deceased person’s burial rites are not performed, it is believed that the person has no right of passage to the spiritual world, where his spirit is wandering around in the universe.
However, in recent times, reincarnation has been viewed with disdain and reproach in Igbo communities. Because the foreign religion that took over Nd Igbo started demonizing reincarnation, 85% of today’s Nd Igbo do not know the person who reincarnated them. For, I am my father’s great-grandfather; his name is Nwachinemere, which is why I am also referred to as High Priest Nwachinemere.
However, religion has made it taboo to observe these things today, and one does not need to be a seer to see the effects on society as a whole. The chaos of our present societies can be traced not only to the neglect of reincarnation but also to various age-old traditions that today’s world believes are evil.
The church fought against reincarnation in order to weaken Nd Igbo’s spiritual foundation.
Because even the Bible adopts the ideology of reincarnation, this is why many people believed that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah. There are numerous stories of reincarnation throughout the Bible, but because my Christian brothers and sisters do not understand or read the Bible, their interpretation of the Bible is according to what the pastor says, not what is actually written in the Bible. They were manipulated to abandon the practice of finding out who reincarnated. Because the pastors do not have the capacity to find out who is who, allowing this practice is also admitting that our ancestors were right. So the church decided to abolish this practice. Today in Igbo land, if you talk about reincarnation, the so-called Christians will see you as a pagan.
The main reason the church opposed reincarnation was not that it was not written in the Bible, but because it would grant legitimacy to our forefathers, whom they labelled as pagans and worshippers of the devil.
But nevertheless, it is important to note that 90% of successful Igbo men and women, at some point in their lives, had to find out who reincarnated them and do some rituals to appease them and reunite with them. In fact, I want to say categorically that this is one of the ways to succeed as an Igbo person. But because we live in a Christian society where admitting this fact is associated with idolatry, many people keep it secret. It is only when you are too close to some people that they will tell you what to do because knowing who reincarnated in you will help you understand the course your life will take.
Ignorance of this has led many young people to engage in money rituals and other schemes to get rich quickly, with the resultant consequences. Because they believe that, to make money or to be successful they should engage in these demonic acts, simply put these young people are misguided. Because they were not told the truth but were instead brainwashed into believing that the devil was to blame for all of their ills, they focus their attention on fighting the devil they do not know, and the pastors who help them fight this devil are making a lot of money.
Reincarnation is part of the universal law of continuous existence; life is infinite. We only change forms at that point. When people say that our ancestors were pagan or that they worshipped idols, I just sit down and laugh. Because most of the people who say this when you ask them to give reasons usually point to shrines scattered all over Igbo land as evidence of idolatry, Another day we will talk about shrines, and maybe we will learn one or two things from that.
The old wise people said that the only true knowledge is to admit that you know nothing. Learning from everyone and everything is a demonstration of wisdom.
