Gods of the Ancestors

So, a while ago i was talking with my mum about my ancestors belief, and to my surprise paganism wasn't too far down the line from me; In fact my grandfather was a High priest in one of the pagan covens of his village. The pantheon was 'Odinani' which was mainly surrounded amongst the Igbo people (Nigeria)

They mainly worshipped three deities, two of which is still believed today but then included into Christianity.

Chukwu- This was the highest God, the sky God, the central deity who i guess if compared to other countries such as Greece..was equal to Cronous or Zues. Today he is still mentioned in Christianity, except he is the only God and is used as another name for the Christian God (Jehovah)

Alusi- This was the Goddess of the Earth and fertility, she resembles the Goddesses Gaia, Luna, Isis. She was always there for the women of that tribe when they were marriage problems or childbirth. She was then abolished and abounded after the christianization of Nigeria.

Ekwensu- Like every Pantheon out there, there was the God who was a trickster or...lets say, not such a good person; but was no looked at as the devil as they do not believe in him. Ekwensu was the god of tricking, mischief and also looked at as the god of war. Later Ekwensu was then looked at as the devil in the Christian belief.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odinani#Alusi

The pantheon had many things going on, magick was everywhere and so was the ability to control the elements. They had 'rain makers' who would make something that would trigger the rain in that certain village or community. This may seem impossible, but they simply burnt certain materials or woods.

They believed in things called 'Chi' which were spirits that were anointed to certain people for a particular reason. For example;

• Mbatuku: spirit of wealth
• Ikoro: drum spirit
• Ekwu: heart spirit or spirit of the home
• Imo miri: river spirit^[11]
• Okwara-afo: god of mercantile activities
• Aju-mmiri: goddess of prosperity, fertility and general well-being.
• Ogbuide: goddess of the water
• Urashi and Enyija: god of the river
• Ezenwaanyi/Owummiri: Female Water Spirit, Mermaid, Seductress

This belief is still held in some places, but it is no longer the mainstream and was dying just like ordinary paganism.

On my fathers side, he had ancestors from Celtic paganism (as he is part irish) but his ancestors as far as he could remember were all missionaries, people who travelled about preaching the word of God. This is mainly how my family from my fathers side are so diverse.