I grew up to hear the word "Ekwensu" being used by my Igbo family and friends to represent the Igbo interpretation of the Christian Satan. If someone did something bad, they would be called a child of Ekwensu who is bound to go to hell. As children, we were very afraid of that name.
Growing up and desiring to know more, I took a sojourn into African spirituality and culture, which led me to the study of this being called "Ekwensu" that made us so scared as children, terrified of going to be with him in hell.
From my research, I discovered, to my greatest surprise, that Ekwensu is not the Satan or Devil of Christianity, rather is a trickster god of the Igbo people who serves as the Alusi (Divine Principle) of bargains. Crafty at trade and negotiations, he is often invoked for guidance in difficult mercantile situations. He is also the deity and force of Chaos and Change, thus in his more violent aspects, Ekwensu was also revered as a God of War and Victory who ruled over the chaotic forces of nature. He is perceived as a spirit of violence that incites people to perform violent acts. Thus after a war and there is peace, the chaotic aspect of Ekwensu is often banished from the people lest he promote more wars.
He was the testing force or counterbalance of Chukwu (the good God). Ekwensu is a Divine Principle that comes from Chi-Ukwu/Chukwu/Chineke. Our ancestors understood the place of BALANCE in Nature. So, both Ekwensu and Chukwu (symbolically representing good and evil) are Divine Principles that live within us.
There was never a physical Devil or God in African Spirituality, from ancient Egypt to Nubia to all round Africa. These African deities are principles that exist within us and in the Ether (the Universe), balancing our higher and lower selves; the Ekwensu in Chukwu energies of negative and positive Consciousness. The fight between Good and Evil is a fight that goes on in our minds. One must strife to become good (Chukwu energy) in order to conquer the lower self that pushes one to hurt people (Ekwensu energy).
However, we need both Energies in our lives. When we go to war, punish offenders, repay evildoers with even more evil, we are activating the Ekwensu energy. So, when people do something bad, they say "It's the Devil's work" or "Satan pushed me". No sir, you gave room to your lower self (Ekwensu energy) to be used when it was not meant to be used. It all happens in our minds. And when we die and return to the realm of the Ancestor-Gods, we shall give account of how we used our positive and negative energies that were embedded in us by Chukwu (Feminine and Masculine Divine Life Force) when we were born into the world.
The concept of Divine Judgement was already embedded in the African Spiritual System before Abrahamic religions came with their own, which has been proven is a twisted version of the African spiritual original (cf: ancient Egypt [Kemet]).
You see, during the advent of Christianity and the colonial enslavement-missionary period, Seth, Èsù, Ekwensu, etc (Divine Principles in African spirituality) were transformed to become the Christian Satan, owing to their attributes.
First off, Ekwensu is not in hell. Ekwensu did not start a war in heaven. He did not deceive mythical Adam & Eve with a forbidden fruit.
When the Judo-Europeans established Christianity in Africa, they had one problem, which is they could not find the Devil, as there is no devil in the African spiritual pantheon. So they formed the devil out of the African Gods. Note there are people and villages in Igboland that answer Ekwensu, like Cyprian Ekwensu and Obiekwensu the community of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Lekwensu in umunneochi LGA in Abia state.
This is unfair. Africans need to realize that our spiritual system is far different from that of Abrahamic religions, which is rooted in the fear of hell. African Gods are divine principals living within us. These makes us Gods in human form, who are one with the Universe, manifesting the power of Divinity on Earth.
#igbohistory
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