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. [1] Its literal meaning in the Igbo language is "children who come and go".

The Ogbanje is a captivating entity from West African mythology, particularly among the Igbo people. Translated as “children who come and go” in the Igbo language, the term refers to a being thought to be an evil spirit that deliberately afflicts a family with misfortune.

Sep 19, 2024 · So, what exactly is an Ogbanje? In simple terms, Ogbanje refers to a spirit child who is believed to be stuck in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. These children are said to be born, only to die young and return to their mothers’ wombs, repeating this …

Nov 13, 2021 · Over centuries, various stories, fables and superstitions were built around the legend of the ogbanje. With the coming of western education, many novels by Igbo authors have had ogbanjes as major characters. One of the most topical issues about ogbanjes is their affinity for death, and how they die at very crucial stages of their lives.

Feb 21, 2018 · An ogbanje is an Igbo spirit that’s born into a human body, a kind of malevolent trickster, whose goal is to torment the human mother by dying unexpectedly only to return in the next child and do it all over again.

May 1, 2020 · In Igbo mythology, the Ogbanje are spirits that cause a child to die, and reincarnate just to die again. The Ogbanje is a mischief maker in the spirit world that sneaks into the world of the living through the womb of a woman.

Ogbanje is a 'personality disorder' that describes someone who is not true to their god-given nature and talents, in spite of an excess of good attributes. Ogbanje can be extraordinarily handsome or beautiful, achieve meteoric success, but …

Jun 21, 2020 · Ogbanje/Abiku is not just an Igbo or a Yoruba belief, but a conceived belief by Africans interconnected with reincarnation and the cyclical state of life.

Arguing that the myth, called “Ogbañje” in Igbo language and “àbíkú” in Yoruba, has had over thirty years of uncharted presence in African American literature, Okonkwo advances a compelling case absent in extant scholarship. He traces Ogbañje/the Born-to-Die's appearance in African American texts to a convergence of factors.

Feb 27, 2024 · Ogbanje is the Igbo word for an evil spirit that keeps reincarnating. An Ogbanje, like the Abiku, is born as all humans are, but, they are destined to die.