Essay on the Ibos Sacred Relationship in Chinua Achebes...

The Ibos Sacred Relationship in Things Fall Apart nbsp; The Ibo people had a very sacred relationship with their landscape. Their entire existence depended on their environment and nature was sacred to them. This is unlike the English who came to the lower Niger with imperialistic goals of civilizing these primitive people. The Europeans were more technologically advanced, but in this progression they lost touch with nature and the spiritual connection with this significant aspect of the world. The Ibo on the other hand personified nature and turned to deities as well as ancestral spirits for guidance in their survival against unexplainable and often uncontrollable forces. When hardships arise they attempt to appease their†¦show more content†¦Not only were there ancestral spirits, but each person in the tribe had a personal god or chi, that was person specific. nbsp; Chielo was a priestess of the god Agbala, and occasionally the spirit of her god entered her body, and she would begin to prophesy. On one night her Agbala reveales that he wanted to see Enzima, OkonkwoOtilde;s daughter. Enzima was then carried on ChieloOtilde;s back to his house in the hills and the caves. Many Westerners would not permit a possessed woman to haul off their daughter to the forest in the middle of the night, but with the Ibo they believe that there are gods in nature who offer protection and sanctify the landscape. Chielo running with Enzima on her back is a very remarkable feat and it was said that she was not a woman that night, and that her endurance and ease were a miracle. This again is the godOtilde;s spirit which arose from nature that has given this woman superhuman powers. This again is faith in nature and faith in a god that allows for these remarkable feats. nbsp; Immortals are often turned to for help, but often they require appeasement from the tribe. When Okonkwo accidentally killed an Ibo boy he had to flee his fatherland because that crime against men was a crime against the earth goddess also. The villagers were closely tied to the earth and the earth was a protector of the people, and so the