Oracles

Ali Mason Oracles

An ** Oracle ** was a person who people went to for prophetic opinion, predictions, or to read the future. They were said to be inspired by the Gods, and were the only way to directly contact God.

Oracles performed rituals, or different rights of passage to receive messages from the Gods. They did this at sites called ** Shrines. ** Shrines are where Oracles can be reached and can be accessed. They are places of consultation.

Oracles use ** Deities ** to help them determine answers and supernatural forces. **Deities are supernatural forces without human bodies.** Images are usually used to represent the various forces, and they can be either dead or alive objects. For example a deity force can be shown through a tree, a river, a mountain, a hill, etc. In Nigeria the Igbo villages commonly went to Oracles for advice, they were usually female priestesses. Ogwugwu in the Okija community ( in the Igbo villages ) is an example of one of the Oracles used. Oracles read signs from around them to interpret the answer to a said question, fear, etc. The answers they received were signs that they believed were sent from God.


 * Oracles were important to Nigerian Culture because they were used in the every day life of the people and they were the people's direct contact to God.** The Oracles were people of wise counsel that could answer all unanswered questions and fears. They resolved problems, such as political or economic trouble, religious, theft, killing, etc. The shrines were also places of healing and was used in everyones daily life. Every problem, issue, fear, and sorrow was helped through the Oracles determining the answers through deities.

Works Cited:

http://www.nigeria-direct.com/activity/visit-the-long-juju-shrine-of-arochukwu [] http://www.waado.org/urhobo_community/archive/exhibit/agbogidi_shrine.htm

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