INITIATION IN IBIBIO CULTURE AND TRADITIONAL RELIGION

Resumen

This work x-rays initiation in Ibibio traditional religion. Initiation deals with rites of passage that are handed down by ancestors to generations after them. It shows basic pattern for genuine change. To gain the right to be admitted among the adults, the adolescent has to pass through series of ordeal tests to undergo initiatory. By virtue of these rites, and of the revelations that they entail, the individual will be recognized as a responsible member of the society. Therefore, initiation introduces the candidate into the human community, and the worlds of spirits and the ancestors. The individual learns behaviour patterns, techniques, and the institutions of adult life. The aim of the paper is to discover the importance of initiation in Ibibio culture and also see it as a very vital sacrament in African society in extension Ibibio traditional religion. This work adopted a sociological approach. Initiation reveals the almost awesome seriousness with which the individual assumes responsibility of receiving and transmitting spiritual values. This work concluded that before one is considered worthy to receive the sacred teaching, one must first be prepared spiritually.