Ogbanje

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Ogbanje is an Igbo (or Ibo) religious term. Its literal translation is "children who come and go". Traditional Igbo religion defines ogbanje as the spirits of children who were stillborn or died young. These spirits are believed to be possessed by malicious spirits and return to torment their mothers.

Ogbanje spirits are bound to an iyi-uwa, which is a buried object that ties the Ogbanje to the spirit world. If the iyi-uwa is not found, the child will constantly be reborn by the mother, and will either be stillborn or die young. The iyi-uwa must be found and destroyed in order to stop this cycle.

The novel Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe contains a detailed subplot involving an ogbanje child and her iyi-uwa.