Ch.+9+Tribal+medicine+and+ogbanjes+-+Riley

Medicine men in the Igbo tribe were around to cure sickness and ailments by using a greater power then the ones humans have to offer. The medicine men were sometimes called diviners or oracles. These men were viewed as holding a key to the secrets of lifelines, having knowledge of the underworld and possessing an ability to see things and transmit that knowledge to others in need. The learning of divining involved seeing patterns that interconnect time, spirit, and soul. The training for this is to innate capacity in order to see beyond the humans normal perceptions. The Medicine men would have to gain a deeper more appropriate insight and remedies based on rituals. One of the rituals of the tribe was due to the Ogbanje. The Ogbanje was an evil spirit that the tribe believed took the lives of the children because many kids did not make it to adulthood.Once the child died the tribes medicine mad would cut, scar, and mutilate the dead child's body. This would prevent the Ogbanje from gaining entrance to the living world.

-Iroegbu, Patrick. "Introduction to Igbo Medicine." //KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future//. 23 Jan. 2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2010. .
 * Sources:**

-Iroegbu, Patrick. "Introduction to Igbo Medicine and Culture in Nigeria." //KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future//. 2010. Web. 05 Nov. 2010. .

-Ezi. //Igbo Man with scarification//. N.d. Igbo Tribe Photos, Igbo Ukwu Ndi Igbo. //A Genetic Migration Story of a Nigerian Igbo//. Web. 9 Nov. 2010.