Ogbanje

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An ọgbanje is a term in Odinani (Igbo: ọ̀dị̀nànị̀) for what was thought to be an evil spirit that would deliberately plague a family with misfortune. Belief in ọgbanje in Igboland is not as strong as it once was, although there are still some believers. Its literal meaning in the Igbo language is "children who come and go". Sometimes the word ọgbanje has been used as a synonym for a rude or stubborn child. The word ọgbanje is often translated as changeling, due to the similarities they share with the fairy changelings of Celtic and broader European mythology. Some theorists have hypothesized that these conceptions serve as mythological ways of understanding what were once unknown diseases that often claimed the lives of children (such as SIDS and sickle cell disease), as the inheritance of these diseases within families may have led people to conclude that the children involved were all incarnations of the same malevolent spirit. It was believed that within a certain amount of time from birth (usually not past puberty), the ọgbanje would deliberately die and then be reborn into the next child of the family and repeat the cycle, causing much grief. It is also believed that ọgbanje are not always born into the same immediate family, but can even be born into an extended family. Ogbanje can be born into family from a spirit between gestation and birth. Another way is by being introduced to an ọgbanje group. The evil spirits are said to have stones called iyi-uwa, which they bury somewhere secret. The iyi-uwa serves to permit the ọgbanje to return to the human world and to find its targeted family. Finding the evil spirits' iyi-uwa ensures the ọgbanje would never again plague the family with misfortune. The iyi-uwa is dug out by a priest...