Agwu Deity for medicine and divination Agwu deity is associated with a cultural spin on medicine and divination skills. Etymologically, the word agwu is a name of a given deity for medicine and divination. Agwu by itself is derived from Agwa, “manner or behaviour”. Specifically, Agwu refers to the major deity or god-head of medicine and divination (Chi ogwu). Its symbol is a doll-like human being made of wood or covered with clay, also called Agwunsi. Agwu is believed to be the ally of men or women determining their destiny and life skills. It is a god of care who directs human affairs while navigating the world. One's Chi or tutelary god is often regarded as the same as one's Agwu. Affliction of certain illnesses and healing are primarily associated with Agwu. Therefore, Agwu pertains to the domain of morality and continuity of tradition of caring skills. A family with a record of healing art
is likely to continue this tradition. The god of
medicine and divination, Agwu, will intrude
upon a family member in order to transfer to
him or her, the divinatory seeing (visionary
power) and healing skills. This is also known as clairvoyance dimension. In the event of
refusal, this deity is responsible for pattern
of illness or misfortune called ara Agwu
(deific insanity). The intent of which is
temporarily to give time for a rethink to
accept a calling to assume a traditional responsibility to discover sources of affliction
and to heal them. It can only endure in the
case of total arrogance or negligence to listen
and accept cultural obligahem. It can only
endure in the case of total arrogance or
negligence to listen and accept cultural obligation for health and healing. Broadly, ara Agwu or deital-force
related mental episode is mostly a
portentous or forewarning insanity and
remains to be the kind of ara (insanity) which
is mostly misunderstood and
misrepresented. For example, while some people say ara Agwu is a devilish
harassment of human, others note the deity
to be nothing good than being spirit of
madness. Those who interpret Agwu from an
overtly Christian perspective tend to depict
this over-excitation in very negative terms. In order to be a healer one need not go
through ara Agwu or deital insanity. Rather
the affliction is a punishment given to those
who refuse to yield to their election into
healing. My informants kept saying that it
appears in one's dreams, to call up the person to take up the ancestral healing
tradition. A cultural lore, reinforcing this
view, states that, “agwu selects with whom
to work” (Agwu na-awa awa). Informants
maintain that it is a very good spirit, which
sees to the goodness of people and never fails in healing specific afflictions (oria). But it
may also afflict the wrongdoers as a way to
punish them and exercise its authority
without further question. It is said Agwu
does not approach just anyone but expects
those approached to reciprocate their call with respect and on time too. Put differently, Agwu has two faces at
the same time, the good and the bad. The
good is for the innocent and well behaved. It
is called, mma Agwu evoking good (its health
and progress). The other side is evil, and is
referred to as njo agwu. Those misrepresenting Agwu such as bad healers
or offenders are punished severely by
Agwu. The double-edged sword of Agwu
(mma ihu abua) does not fixedly make
someone prone to penalty if he or she does
not behave according to its disciplinary measures, such as when a healer is: (i) not
charging too much money in cases which do
not allow it; (ii) preparing medicines
according to its directives; (iii) listening and
carrying out appropriate instructions; (iv)
avoiding certain prohibitions, such as not using one’s healing power unduly against
others; (v) not sleeping with one's patient/s,
or taking other people's wife or husband; (vi)
not going to sleep with a woman during her
menstrual period; (vii) avoiding certain
places like funerals of people whose behaviour in society are questionable; (viii)
not defying healing objects with unwashed
hands, or petitioning to it with inappropriate
rites or its neglect at all; (ix) being stingy
instead of showing compassionate, liberal
hands. But one is liable and punished at any contravention that occurs in order to guide
against any wrong potentially hampering
healthy relationships and environment to
come about. Ara agwu, or its mental affliction, may also besiege someone who willfully
breaks or destroys any of its cultic
resources. The Agwu shrine is found with
statuettes in the home of any healer and in
many of the patients’ houses. In cases
where such shrine items are rebelliously being destroyed or burnt, Agwu inflicts
untold hardships to the family. It can trigger
insanity as well as other forms of
misfortune, such as accidents, untimely
deaths, loss of money or goods, and social
isolation. It can give people troubles that might even lead to their imprisonment, or
that bring entire failure if one would choose
to oppose to the calling for the role of diviner
or healer. For a healer to become truly
immersed into the dynamics of healing
knowledge and strategies, initiation to the cult of Agwu is a cultural duty and essential
for the start of the process of learning and
applying the skills with due protection in the
ecological perspective. The following then
will explore and describe how this is carried
out to attain the underlying aims.