Time in Igbo cosmology: the ritual and its values

Abstract

In this paper, the researcher has studied the Igbo idea of lunar time which is reckoned by events and activities as against the linear dimension of Euro-American time. Regrettably the European especially in the colonial era who did not grasp the Igbo calculation of time concluded that the Igbo have no idea of time. This work investigated this claim by the European and therefore argues that such expression may be erroneous because the Igbo have idea of time. Time in the Igbo cosmology is beyond clocks and watches with calibrations from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm, it is more than Monday to Saturday or January to December, it is cyclic which influences and is influenced by visible and invisible beings calculated in day and night, market days, moon, season and weather and are marked with rituals. The study revealed that time is highly priced and like any other thing in Igboland has religious overtone.