International Journal of Humanities and Social Science

ISSN 2220-8488 (Print), 2221-0989 (Online) 10.30845/ijhss

Sound as a Mechanism for Spirit Invocation and Possession in IGBE Cult Dance: An Indigenous Religious Movement in Aguleri Kingdom.
Madukasi Francis Chuks, Settler Guliano Federico, Okeke Nkeiruka Joy

Abstract
Sound is an essential medium in mediating with God (s), ancestor veneration and worship in traditional religion. Sound is a ground breaking study in the area of religious scholarship and it has been shown to be intrinsically important in aiding of spirit invocation and possession in religious communication as it pertains to Igbo tradition through the use of some indigenous instruments. This paper focuses on creation of spirit possession through the mediating power of sound produced by beating of hands with local fans by the members of Igbe cult – a collective ritual group of devotees who worship the tutelary spirits. Through ethnographic data, it explores how this ritual emerges as a manifestation of the group’s intrinsic power of accomplishment, adaptation, and invention. Moving through ritual spaces and will, these devotees utilize their independent and ritual per formative power in order to actively develop their religious practices through the mediation of sound.

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