OGBU CHI AND WOMANHOOD AMONG THE IGBO
The Igbo traditional society has the belief in one supreme God who they call Chi Ukwu which means the Great God, the Highest God, and the Omnipotent God. It is then believed that because of the greatness of this particular God (Chi), there should be some smaller gods through which they reach this big master. It is then also believed that these smaller gods would be the servants of this great master and then through them, they reach the mighty master, likened to the Igbo idea and system of monarchy in which they believe that every king must have servants and attendants. In the same vein, they arranged their pattern of traditional worship to be in line with having smaller gods through which they reach their master. So, they have Ogwugwu, Udo, Agwu, and a host of others. Apart from all these, they still have the need to have and maintain personal gods. For this, they use some sacred trees such as ?gb?, ?ha, Ogirisi, Echichirii, Ngwu, Akp? and others to represent these personal gods. Of all these, the women make use of ?gb? to represent their chi hence, the ?gb? chi
Keywords: chi, igbo, ogbu, womanhood