Ekwensu was a Trickster God

Trickster

In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...

 (Alusi

Alusi

Alusi, also known as Arusi or Arushi, are deities that are worshiped and served in the religion of the Igbo people. There are a list of many different Alusi and each has its own purpose...

) of the Igbo people

Igbo people

Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...

 who served as the Alusi

Alusi

Alusi, also known as Arusi or Arushi, are deities that are worshiped and served in the religion of the Igbo people. There are a list of many different Alusi and each has its own purpose...

 or God of Bargain

Bargain

Bargain could mean some of the following:* The process whereby buyer and seller agree the price of goods or services. See bargaining.* An agreement to exchange goods at a price.* Such an agreement where one of the parties thinks the price is very favourable....

s and the tortoise. Crafty at trade and negotiations, he was often invoked for guidance in difficult mercantile situations. Like most Trickster Gods, the deity was a force of Chaos

Chaos (cosmogony)

Chaos refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth....

 and Change, thus in his more violent aspects, Ekwensu was also revered as a God of War and Victory who ruled over the wicked spirits and the chaotic forces of nature. His companion was Death

Ogbunabali

Ogbunabali is the traditional Igbo Death deity. His name is considered to be a literal description of his character as he is said to kill his victims in the night, these usually being criminals or those who have committed an unspeakable taboo....

. With the advent of Christianity, the more beneficent aspects of the deity were supplanted by missionaries who came to misrepresent Ekwensu as Satan

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

.

He was the testing force of Chukwu

Chukwu

Chukwu is the infinitely powerful, undefinable, indefinable, absolute supreme deity encompassing everything in space and space itself, in traditional Igbo spiritual belief system and Igbo mythology. Linguistic studies suggest that the name "Chukwu" is a portmanteau of the Igbo words "Chi" and "Ukwu"...

, and along with Ani

Ala (mythology)

Ala is the female Alusi of the earth, morality, death, and fertility in Odinani. She is the most important Alusi in the Igbo pantheon. In Odinani, Ala rules over the underworld which holds the deceased ancestors in her womb...

 the Earth goddess, and Igwe, the Sky God, make up the three highest Alusi's of the ancient Igbo people. Ekwensu is also the Igbo

Igbo language

Igbo , or Igbo proper, is a native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group primarily located in southeastern Nigeria. There are approximately 20 million speakers that are mostly in Nigeria and are primarily of Igbo descent. Igbo is a national language of Nigeria. It is written in the Latin...

 word for the Tester.

Further reading

• Opata, Damian U. Ekwensu In the Igbo Imagination : a Heroic Deity Or Christian Devil, Nsukka, Nigeria : Great AP Express, 2005.
• Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (New York: Doubleday, 1993).
• Opata, Damian U. Haunted Ontologies: Translation and Trauma in Postcolonial Igbo Society of Southeastern Nigeria.