UNTIL THEY FIND PEACE
“It’s going to be a long night, brother”, Amaka said confidently, “the moon is just rising from its long sleep, and till it falls asleep again, it’s just going to be night after night”. It baffles me how a ten-year-old girl knows so much about myth and certainty, not only does she know, her confidence too scares me most. No one could tell where she gets her perception from, which most times is right, though N’pa Nnuku (grandfather) said her wisdom was a blessing from the gods. But I still think she is an Ogbanje (People believed to cycle rapidly and repeatedly through birth and death). N’pa Nnuku had severely warned me to stop calling her that, but I couldn’t help it, I’m older and she does look like an Ogbanje. From the way she smiles and does her things, not that I have seen an Ogbanje before, but from the stories I have heard, she exhibits a similar nature to theirs, and the fact that she always wins amongst her pairs, including myself, her elder brother.
In as much as she is my sister, I sometimes get scared when I am around her, one can never know what an Ogbanje has in stock. I also think they can read thoughts too, and know what a person is thinking. Little wonder Amaka is always able to tell our next move whenever we play games, and that’s how she gets to win. It is indeed terrifying to have an Ogbanje as a sister, a feeling only the gods can understand. Having her as a sister isn’t just the problem you see, the fact that she is always saying scary things only she understands, and predicting unforeseen events, is the part I can still come to terms with. Amongst her many forecasts, I can remember vividly a night she told me in confidence that it was going to rain till daybreak, and it did. When N’pa Nnuku’s goat was pregnant, she also predicted that the goat was going to give birth to a triplet, which it later did.
“N’pa Nnuku, are you sure Amaka is not an Ogbanje?”, I had asked Grandfather severally, but he would always respond with just a smile, and nothing more. After Amaka’s prediction of a long night, scared again I asked, “N’pa Nnuku are you sure Amaka is not an Ogbanje?” As usual, he smiled, then went further, “My son, your sister is not an Ogbanje, and I can recall telling you to stop calling her that. She is like every other child you know that the gods decided to bless her with the wisdom of her ancestors. There were times when Ogbanje existed and lived amongst men, but that was a long time ago when men and spirits had so much in common. Couples who were unable to give birth to children would go into a bargain with their ancestors to be blessed with even one child, in return, certain rituals are to be performed and terms met. Then the spirits gave them children, but these children never lived long, they all died on their 14th birthday, with the same illness. The people realized that most of these children were their ancestors who reincarnated because they all had familiar birthmarks, and exhibited similar behaviours. On that note, it was then forbidden to ask your ancestors for a child. So, you see my boy, your sister is not an Ogbanje, infact we don’t have any in our village, we only communicate with the dead, and that is only when the need arises”.
He then looked at our faces, smiled, and continued, “Invoking of spirits is a common thing here, “anyị bụ ndị mmụọ nsọ” (we are people of the spirit), but we do not ask them for children, it is forbidden. We let our Chi (God) decide our fate, we are only allowed to communicate with the spirits, to help the dead find their path and to help them find peace”.
“The dead!” we all exclaimed in surprise, including Amaka. “Look at this Ogbanje o”, I murmured so N’pa Nnuku won’t hear.
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“Yes, my children”, he answered. “Remember what I said earlier, “ anyị bụ ndị mmụọ nsọ” and until the spirit of the dead finds peace, we do not rest in peace…”
I am from a small village called Ogurugu, Uzo-Uwani L.G.A of Enugu state in eastern Nigeria. It amazes me how my people were able to find settlement in a place surrounded by waters, from the Isi to the Mabolor, then to the Egedobo, and all the rivers are large, but that’s not all. When Grandfather talked about us being people of the spirit, he meant it. We are people of the spirit, and this spirit includes even that of waters, what the modern man calls “Marine spirit”, and a local man “Mammy water”. Weird right? It gets scarier.
“A part of our belief is the popular adage of “ Onye nwuru n’osimiri, abughi nke ayi ọzọ, kama nke miri ahu” (He who dies in the river, is no longer ours, but that of the waters). It is believed that if anybody drowns in the river, the body of the deceased now belongs to the river. The search for the deceased body can only begin three days after the incident, this is because there are three mighty rivers and the deceased must spend a day with each, at least. Only when it is three days complete, the body of the deceased can be found. Regardless of the river where the body drowned, the deceased is to be buried by the river bank where the body was found, fate has decided. Seven days after the burial, the spirit of the deceased is to be brought home to rest in peace, for “Until they find peace, we do not rest in peace”.
The deceased’s spirit is then called upon to choose from among the living someone who would carry their spirit back home, following the completion of the required rites by the riverbank. It is said that most times, the dead selects their best friends or those they were closer to. The night the spirit of the deceased is to be brought home, the Ogene (Clapperless forged iron bell of the Igbo people of Nigeria) is sounded during the day to warn people about the event, and not to come out at night.
The chosen (the one who is to bring the dead home) is to be at the river bank before midnight with an Ogene. At midnight, the Ogene is to be struck three times, and the name of the deceased is called at intervals to come home. When the name is called the third time, one can hear footsteps coming out of the river. At this point, the selected individual quickly starts running without looking back to the place of residence of the deceased. The spirit of the deceased runs after the chosen till they both arrive at the place of residence of the deceased. When this is met, the chosen can stop running for the deceased is now home; the dead is now resting in peace”.
We wanted to hear more when Grandfather finished his explanation since it was so fascinating, but it was getting late and we were the only ones outside. It was several minutes past midnight when Amaka looked at the time. None of us had remembered that the Ogene was rung throughout the day. Until we heard multiple footsteps in our direction, we could not tell who it was, the lantern had been extinguished by a strong breeze. Everywhere became silent suddenly, I felt a cold touch; that was when grandfather’s words hit me again, “Until the dead find peace, we…,”. N’paaa! was the last thing I remembered screaming before losing consciousness.
