The arrival of a new child - igbo's culture

Cha cha Cha Igbo kwenu!!!

Errrrrrrrrr, enough of the greeting... hehehehe 😆

It's contest time and I'm glad that I will be having the opportunity to participate in this contest, it's a contest organized by #hivecrossculture, in which I'm invited by @princessbusayo , I promise that I will be participating in the contest but oh my GWAD!!! I've been stuck-up up with different kinds of schedules and yes! Today I made it... hehehehe

It's all about how a new child is being welcomed to the world and the naming ceremony.

I'm proud to be an Igbo girl, that's an Eastern part of Nigeria, the Igbo's are being surrounded with different valued cultures even though civilization has taken over some things but there are still some cultures that civilization can not take away no matter what, one of this culture is ....

The mode of a naming ceremony

A naming ceremony is one of the cultures that cannot be toyed with. There's are different parts in Igbo land and there might be a little difference in the way the naming celebration is being done, but still going to arrive at the same thing, some do wait for 10 days, some 7days, but the most popular one is 8days. I've always been privileged to grace this celebration.

Just a little additional before digging in

There's is a great significance for a name in Igbo land because they believe that all names have their meaning, a newborn child can be named after a person, they believe even though the person is no more, the child arrival represents the person, sounds somehow right???

A name is more than just an appellation because an individual name serves as a message, not only that it also serves as a history of what happened in the past, and can be a life experience and a prayer too.

Our names shape us to whom we are and mind you, a culture can only survive depending on the capacity of people to learn thereby transmitting to the next generation, that just the fact, when culture is better neglected it will die off.

Now to the main point.

NAMING CELEBRATION

Nnwa Nwaaa Nwaaaa!!! The child cried out immediately after they are born and the father of the child with families rejoices for the arrival of the newborn baby.

It's always fun.....🤩

The husband or the wife friends brings out a white powder to rub on their faces to celebrate the arrival of a new child, even if you were not around when the child is being born, once you see that white power, without telling you, you'll understand what's is happening, you have no choice than to join them to celebrate. That's all for the first day.

8 days later...(Igu Afa)

This ceremony known as Igu Afa, is celebrated in a big way, this is the day that the child will be brought outside to see the light that surrounds the world, even though the baby will not open eyes because of the radiance from the light....

The naming ceremony is generally officiated by paternal grandparents, which begins with the divination and recognition of the ancestors..

The child is given a name after that and the pour dry gin on the floor in reference to the ancestors for them to be notified about the name .. (this amuse me though 😉)

The braking of cola.
They break the cola to make prayers for the new child born, and after that, the ceremony lasts an entire day.

At this stage, the mother of the newborn child might have taken the child inside since the important things have been done. After the whole celebration, the winning, the dining, and the dancing, it ends with a family procession.

That's how naming ceremony is better celebrated in my own culture.

Less I forget, let me give you some of the names here with their meaning.

Nonyelem - stay with me
Nkiruka - the future is greater than the past
Nneamaka - mother is good.
Ugonma - beautiful eagle
Oluchi - God's work

This is my beautiful name 🙈

Chioma - Good God.

Every name has a meaning and always cherish your name.

Yeah, you can also try to participate in the contest with a limited time, just explain how naming ceremony is being done in your culture, this is the link to the contest HERE, will be inviting @esther-emmanuel and @davidbright to participate in this contest, you can try

Thanks for taking your time to read

All image designed by me on canva Apk.