Editing Odinala (section)

== Etymology ==
''Ọdịnala'' in central Igbo dialect is the compound of the words ''ọ̀ dị̀'' ('located') + ''n'' (''nà'', 'within') + ''àla'' (the one god) [consisting of Elu above (the heavens) and Ala, below (the earth)].<ref name="kwenu-odinani">M. O. Ené [https://web.archive.org/web/20020819010001/http://www.kwenu.com/odinani/odinani.htm "The fundamentals of Odinani"], ''KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future'', April 03, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Chigekwu G. |last=Ogbuene |title=The concept of man in Igbo myths |publisher=Peter Lang |page=207 |year=1999 |isbn=0820447048}}</ref><ref name="echema2010">{{cite book |first=Austin |last=Echema |title=Igbo Funeral Rites Today: Anthropological and Theological Perspectives |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=21, 48 |location=footnotes |year=2010 |isbn=978-3643104199 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbhrqpWxRI4C&pg=PA48 |access-date=2015-04-04}}</ref> Other dialectal variants include ''ọdịnanị'', ''ọdịnana'', ''omenala'', ''omenana'', and ''omenanị''.<ref name="echema2010"/><ref>{{cite book |first=Sylvester |last=Okwunodu Ogbechie |title=Ben Enwonwu: the making of an African modernist |page=161 |publisher=University Rochester Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1580462358}}</ref> The word ọdịnala and all its variations is also associated with the culture and customary laws of the Igbo people. Many of the laws and culture were counterparts with religion such as taboos and laws concerning sacred spaces like a deity's sacred forest. Since customary law is recognised in Nigeria, many in Igbo society find themselves syncretising these beliefs with other beliefs and religions.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}