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===Cosmology=== The community of visible interacting beings and the cosmos is referred to as ''ụ̀wà'', which includes all living things ''íhẹ́ ndi dị́ ńdụ̀'', including animals and vegetation and their mineral elements which possess a vital force and are regarded as counterparts to invisible forces in the spirit world.<ref name="agbadiere"/> These living things and geomorphological features of the world therefore possess a guardian deity. Igbo cosmology presents a balance between the feminine and masculine, perhaps, with a preponderance of female representation in Igbo lore.<ref name="agbadiere"/> In Igbo cosmology, the world was divided into four corners by the high god corresponding to ''èké'' ''órìè'' ''àfọ̀'' ''ǹkwọ́'' which are the days of the week in the [[Igbo calendar]] regarded as market days.<ref name="ukaegbu">{{cite journal |first=Jọn Ọfọegbu |last=Ụkaegbu |title=Igbo Identity and Personality Vis-à-vis Igbo Cultural Symbols |publisher=Pontifical University of Salamanca |page=60 |year=1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Israel |last1=Anyahuru |first2=Tom |last2=Ohiaraumunna |title=Musical Sense and Musical Meaning: An Indigenous African Perception |publisher=Rozenberg Publishers |page=56 |year=2009}}</ref> The universe is regarded as a composite of bounded spaces in an overlapping hemispherical structure, the total spaces are referred to as ''élú nà àlà''.<ref name="agbadiere"/> In one Igbo cosmological theory reported by W.R.G. Morton in the 1950s from an elder in Ibagwa Nike in northern Igboland, Chukwu sees that the sun travels across the world in the day time and then cuts into two in order for the moon to pass on a perpendicular route, and so the world is divided into four parts and four days.<ref name="ukaegbu"/> The quarterly division of the earth and the days makes the number four sacred (''ńsọ́'') to the Igbo.<ref name="ukaegbu"/><ref name="morton">{{cite journal |first=W. R. G. |last=Morton |title=God, man and the land in a Northern Ibo village-group |journal=African Abstracts |volume=7-9 |publisher=International African Institute |page=15 |year=1956}}</ref> The ''élú nà àlà'' space is defined by two boundaries: ''élú ígwé'', 'sky's limit' composed of heavenly bodies under the main forces of the 'masculine' sun and 'feminine' moon, and ''élú àlà'', 'earth or lands limit' consisting of the four material elements of fire and air (masculine), and earth and water (feminine).<ref name="agbadiere"/> [[File:Ogbo Obodo.jpg|thumb|left|200px|alt=Picture of figures drawn in chalk on the ground|Ogbo Obodo figures for the cult of Nkpetime, near [[Asaba, Delta|Asaba]], 1900s]] The pattern of two and four recur in Chukwu's creations.<ref name="morton"/> The days correspond to the four cardinal points and are its names in Igbo, èké east, órìè west, àfọ̀ north, ǹkwọ́ south.<ref>{{cite book |author=Isichei, Elizabeth Allo |title=A History of African Societies to 1870 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofafrican00isic/page/247 247] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-521-45599-5}}</ref> The Nri-Igbo claim the market days to have been introduced to the Igbo by their divine progenitor and king [[Eri (king)|Eri]] in the 9th century after encountering the days as deities.<ref name="chigere2001">{{cite book |first=Nkem Hyginus M. V. |last=Chigere |title=Foreign Missionary Background and Indigenous Evangelization in Igboland |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=20, 56 |year=2001 |isbn= 3825849643}}</ref> These Arusi are venerated as the primary or as a major deity under Chineke in parts of Igboland. In terms of hierarchy, some communities recognise èké as the head of these Arusi, while others prioritise órìè and ǹkwọ́ first after the high god.<ref name="chigere2001"/> Market days may have local deities representing the spirits in some places, in many southern Igbo towns Agwu is the patron of Eke, Ogwugwu the patron of Orie, Amadioha the patron of Afọ and Ala for Nkwọ.<ref name="ukaegbu"/> The Cosmos itself is divided into "four constituent complexes" known as ''Okike'', ''Alusi'', ''Mmuo'', and ''Uwa''. Okike is the event of "Creation", the Alusi are the lesser deities, Mmụọ are the spirits of the Ancestors and all other beings, and Uwa is the World.<ref>Onwuejeogwu, 1975: The Igbo Culture Area in "Igbo Language and Culture," F. Chidozie Ogbalu & E Nolue Emenanjo</ref>
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