JOURNALS

ABSTRACT

The Igbo deities are not only associated with nature and natural objects but are also depicted with material objects from nature. The need to depict the gods in material object symbols-sculpted or natural- may be connected with the sophistication of Igbo phenomenological mind. Achebe argues that the Igbo have a natural proclivity to transcribe abstract or spiritual concepts in tangible, visual forms. Phenomenology relates basically to the human mental capacity to make visible what is "hidden" in the spirit world, and to "see" or discover the hidden dimension of physical things. The Igbo believe that the spiritual world can assume physically just as the physical can shed its materiality. This perhaps is the philosophical basis for symbolizing the gods with material objects. Therefore, Igbo phenomenological thought pertains to the peoples tendency to make the invisible visible and the historic historical through art and a variety of other symbolic forms. The intangible elements of the Igbo worldview are perceived through the optics of tangible things, hence the ecospirituality of the Igbo belief system. This piece will, therefore, study Igbo sacred objects in relation to eco-spirituality. For the purpose of the study, the phenomenological method of inquiry will be patronized.