DADA-HAIR STYLE THE ENGINE POWER HOUSE FOR MAIMI WATER SPIRITUALITY AND SPIRIT POSSESSION IN TRADITIONAL IGBE CULT RELIGION OF THE AGULERI PEOPLE

Abstract

Various rituals recognize Mami Water’s power to give countless gifts or blessings, but at the same vein require that the devotees give gifts to others as well as receive them for themselves. Nonetheless, the fears and aspirations of the devotees who basically identified as individuals with curly hair – dada are equally identified in the course of the sound and incantations ascribed to Mami Water and other divinities. The objective of this work is to investigate the symbolic acts of spirit possession through cultural relativism as a method of my analytical lens and how it concerns those aspects of its use in Igbe cult to bring out its religious and cultural significance. Born out of this, the author found out that in traditional Igbo religion the practice of spirit possession is significant and related to one function that brings religion and science as a discourse. This paper focuses on the creation of spirit possession in Mami Water worship through the mediating powers of special individuals with dada hair styles who evidently are the members of Igbe cult. It explores how this ritual emerges as a manifestation of the group’s intrinsic power of accomplishment, adaptation, and invention. The researcher recommends that Africans should go back to their root and reconcile with the positive traditions. Cultural studies should be included in the educational curriculum at all levels. This will help awaken the interest of the youths towards their cultural heritage and in turn give them a sense of identity where spirit possession is concerned.