Ijemmiri

Chapter 1 - Dance of healing

"papa, I told you that you should stay home, I will finish making mounds for the cassava!" said Ijemmiri as she drops her hoe sighting her ailing father. Mazi Okeke was a man driven by determination and sheer will. He was favoured by the gods since his youth days and had unbelievable harvests. "my daughter, what kind of a father would I be if I let you do this strenuous work alone?" "And besides, the skies are pregnant with the first rains of the season..." he justified. She always thanked the gods for blessing her with such a compassionate father. "ooo nnam, you know you are supposed to be resting so you can get better." Stubborn as her father has always been, he rested the gourd jar containing water under a bush shade on the edge of the farm and started mounding with his hoe. He knew Ije would persist as she did the previous day which to him was a wasted day as he sat under the mango tree in front of their hut all day.

Days went by and mazi was getting weaker. He thought it was a result of ageing, but Ije saw beyond that. He had eaten poisonous berries unknowingly, which looked and tasted like wild gooseberries, when he went hunting few market days ago. Starting out as a fever, he prepared herbs as he was familiar with medicinal herbs – a skill he acquired from his mother who was a healer. One evening, she tried telling him about what she saw in a vision but withheld it as her father always warned her not to entertain such. Despite this, she held on to the believe her mother had in her. "my father, do you notice that the medicine you prepared for this fever isn't effective? She asked.

Immediately mazi exclaimed, "thaaa! Mechionu! What do you know about herbs? Do you want to spoil their efficacy by such utterances? Ije now knew that the help of a healer was needed urgently. At the first cockcrow she rushed to Njideka the herbalist's home. With panic in her voice "nne..., nne? Is anybody home? The herbalist stepped out with annoyance in her face. "Ijemmiri, ogini? Why do you look like you have been chased by a masquerade this early?" she asked. "mama ada, there is something troubling me" she stated. Njideka became like a foster mother to Ije when her mother died. She was her confidant, especially with the visions she has regularly. "is it about the visions again? She asked. "I'm afraid yes." "I recently had a vision in which I saw papa eating poisonous wild berries while he was hunting... and a couple of days after he started having fever." The herbalist quickly rushed inside to fetch some herbal antidotes.

Arriving at Ije's home, the herbalist immediately began to administer some concoctions to Mazi Okeke and ordered him to rest a while longer. She stepped outside to meet Ije trying to make sense of why her impulsive decision. Njideka knew Ije must have questions so she explained, "my child, your vision was accurate. Mazi is showing symptoms of food poisoning so I gave him some herbs which will discharge any trace of it in his system." "I had an unsettling dream last night in which I saw an owl roaming around the kingdom. I woke up and made incantations against it. Hence when you told me about that..." Ije exhaled a sigh of relief as she thanked the gods for sparing her father. An owl was associated with death and darkness. A dream about it was believed to be a sign that something is wrong, whilst a sighting announced the demise of a member of the kingdom. The herbalist continued "if I may ask, where did your father hunt that day?" Ije told her that he went hunting at the forest of Aniocha. "if you are sure of that, then the herbs will be effective for a short while but the illness will be recurrent. For it is forbidden to consume anything from an evil forest" said the herbalist. "but what will remedy papa for it to be completely cured?" she asked. Njideka told her that it is beyond her because she has never dealt with such a case before.

Mazi's health condition declined rapidly and the hopelessness got to Ije. She once heard a story of how sojourners from a far away land who took a short path through Aniocha forest soon met their death upon arrival in the kingdom. Their fate reached the palace of the then Igwe who summoned the chief priest to find out why that happened. Ezemmuo revealed that they had drank from the 'well of hosts' in the middle of the forest because they had ran out of water. This well was thought to be the source of water for the restless spirits that roam the forest. She then asked herself why her father would consume berries from the forest with knowledge of its forbidden nature. But that was the least of her worries. The only hope she had was a pardon of the deity. The pardon was for those who committed abominable crimes like stealing. "If ikukuike can have pity on those who commit atrocities knowingly, why wouldn't the deity her father who mistakenly must have ate the berries..." she thought to herself. But she also knew that consulting the Ezemmuo who is the only link to the deity, can only be done by Ozo titled men every Eke market day.

Her father had the title but he was weak to go anywhere. Ijemmiri became frustrated and she stood from the log outside their hut and took the path to the shrine. She came to the sacred stream of purity whenever she felt lonely, to dance and sing. Unlike her fellow maidens, she had a male friend Obinna. In fact, many maidens thought they were betrothed since they spend most of their time together. He would even take Ije hunting in the forest or to check his traps. Whenever she would accompany him anywhere, Obinna would notice that he was favored by her presence and so he partitioned every catch with her. Arriving at the stream brought freedom and peace, she then began to dance her worries out. She waved her hands like the bamboo foliage being swept by the wind. Her feet embracing the ground with vibrations unseen like the ripple effect. Her waist was as fluid as okra soup. The sound of the ogene in her head suddenly ceased. She was like one commanded by the heavens – her eyes like chalk...

Arriving home, she saw a palm front at the door step. Leaping over it with confusion, she saw her father upright on the mud bed. "Nwam, I feel like amadioha himself has visited me. I feel freed from the curse of the unknown" her father said with so much life in his voice. "papa you speak in parables" replying with worry. "my daughter, a while ago in an unbearable headache that I got used to, I suddenly felt its throbbing transition into the beat of a drum being played by a youthful hand. It's like I never fell ill." Ije then asked, "are you saying that you no longer have the fever?" her father replied "it seems so my child... I give thanks to the gods!" "Ese!" they both said with joy.

Although Ije was still unsettled by this mysterious and sudden healing her father got despite the what the herbalist said. The next day Mazi's vitals were stable. He even looked more energetic as Ije realised during farm work, which he insisted to do. Later the same day, Obinna came to fetch Ije. He met her father reclined under his usual shade. "Mazi I greet you" the young man said. Mazi Okeke answered "Obinna you are welcome my son. How are your people?" "thank you nnam, they are okay! We thank the gods." "Is Ijemmiri around?" he asked. "ah ahh, she has been waiting for you since we got back from the farm." "Ije! your friend is here!" "I'm coming o" she replied with excitation. "Obinna you must greet your father for me, he hasn't visited me since I recovered" said mazi. "I'll do so nnam" he replied as they hurried away to check on his traps. Mazi thought to himself as they vanished from his compound border "My daughter is quite strange. She doesn't mingle with her fellow maids nor fetch firewood with them. Rather she passes most of her free time at the stream if she isn't out hunting with Obinna. But what matter most is that she is cheered by him...!" Just in time to make supper, she returned with a grasscutter. "Now that's a big catch" mazi rejoiced, as her daughter waltzed towards the back to prepare food.

Translation of Igbo words

· Mazi – mr/sir/male figure

· Nnam – my/our father

· Thaaa – reprimand

· Mechionu – shut your mouth

· Nne – mother/ma/female figure

· Ogini – what is it

· Ezemmuo – representative of the gods

· Ikukuike – wind of power (deity)

· Ozo – title given to men who offspring

· Nwam – my child

· Amadioha – god of thunder recognised by the igbo

· Ese – so be it