Ozikoro
OzikoroArchive

Subject

African animal totems

1 record filed under this subject

Were-Leopards and Spiritual Bonding in Southern Nigeria

The belief in shape-shifting, or the ability to spiritually or physically transform into an animal, is deeply embedded in the cosmologies of various ethnic groups in Southern Nigeria. Among the Igbo, Ibibio, and other Cross River peoples, special bonds exist between individuals or entire lineages and specific animals, plants, or trees. This phenomenon, sometimes…