OMINOUS IN IGBO ONTOLOGY: A SOCIO-METAPHYSICAL CONSIDERATION

Abstract

Igbo existence is replete with ominous. This is a perplexing feeling that portends an impending or already manifested calamitous event. Ominous experience therefore precedes or succeeds disastrous or ill-fated events. The ominous preceding calamitous events or circumstances is either experienced by the victim(s) of the impending doom or other people, while post ill-fated events' ominous is an odd feeling often experienced by person(s) that are not victim(s) of the occurred disastrous event. This paper investigates the import, essence, sources, mechanisms and dynamism of ominous experiences as well as the socio-existential connections paving the phenomenon in Igbo world. The study finds that Igbo-Africans view ominous experience as prior warning and desperate call to circumvent imminent disasters. The paper also discovers that pre-calamitous ominous experiences serve to prepare one towards imminent ill-fated circumstance, while post disastrous events' ominous experiences are meant to cushion adverse psychic effects an already existent doom may have. Despite these, averting impending catastrophic circumstances that propel ominous experiences among Igbo-Africans depends on the sagaciousness, capacity and responsiveness of the victim, the people undergoing the ominous experiences, available space and time prior to the disaster, and believed resolve of immaterial forces in the metaphysical realm. This paper thus concludes that ominous experience among Igbo-Africans may portend catastrophic events, yet it is a natural apocalyptic experience that either calls for re-adjustment to the safe side of life or is a predisposition towards a disastrous circumstance