Understanding The Igbo f Stick and Its Potency

I am Igbo, from Awka (ka) in Anambra State where I live. This write-up is on our famous f
Stick (our magic wand): preparation and consecration of the stick, why the stick is potent, etc.
Please join me to figure out what the f Stick is and why it was potent in the hands of our
forebears and remains potent today in the hand of whoever understands it.
My intention is to offer useful insight on what I think the f Stick is and the source of its
potency. Nature has two sides: a visible side, whose study we call Natural Science; and a
hidden side, whose study is called Occult or Hidden Science. The book "The Hidden Side of
Things" by C.W. Leadbeater is a good read to see where I am going.
f-b-Ike (f is strength), says the Igbo adage! If f-b-Ike, how can we rationally explain
that? By resorting to miracle and super-naturalism? But nothing is above Nature and a miracle
is the manifestation of a hidden law of Nature. Let's put on our thinking caps and see what we
can extract from the enigmas bequeathed to us by our forebears.
My take is that the f stick is a consecrated Wooden Wand! It is actually this consecration that
transforms the Wooden Wand into a Wooden Magic Wand. It is the consecration of Bread that
transforms it into Sacramental Bread or Host. It is the consecration of any object that transforms
the object into a talisman. It is the consecration of any place or building that transforms them
into a shrine, etc.
Consecration involves the use of the spoken word to awaken or reinforce the latent magic
power in objects; this is the hidden side of things I spoke of earlier. We shall have more on this
later.
The following write-up taken from Ozo Barr Amanke Okafors book The Awka People Book 1
forms the basis of my insight into what the f stick is and why such an object will remain
effective in the hand of its informed holder. Read and ponder:
In the worship of the gods one ever-present tool was the Ovbo. Ovbo was nothing but a
movable altar for sacrifice, but it differed from all other altars by being universal, that is to say,
it could be used for sacrifice to any god. Any god for which there was no special altar could be
sacrificed to on the Ovbo.
Every god in Oka, every Alushi, had an altar made for him. No sacrifice was made to a god
except on his particular altar. Ovbo was an exception, it was used for all gods.
This was how an Ovbo (f) was made: You get a branch of the Ovbo tree. If you cannot get a
branch from the Ovbo tree itself, because the tree is rare, you use some other sacred tree, such
as the ogilisi, a tree favoured by the gods. You cut the stem of an ogilisi tree. You also dig up
the roots of the tree. You get a wooden bowl, called Okwa. You scrape the bark of the ogilisi
stem into the okwa, you also put the roots into the receptacle. You get a bit of a plant, called
'f-ishi' (not the same as the Ovbo tree). You get ose-ora plant (alligator pepper) and scrape
the back of the stem into the okwa, you also add its leaves. Then you get a quantity of chalk
(nzu) and add to the contents of the wooden bowl. You pound all the ingredients together with
a pestle until the mixture is drawn. When the mixture is drawn, you get akwala rope (rope
procured from the raffia palm tree).

You begin to paste the mixture onto the ogilisi stem, which is already shaped. Round and
round you put the paste. As you paste round the ogilisi stem, you hold the paste in place by
tying it with the akwala rope. You go on doing this until you have the layers to the size you
want. A part of the wood is left as a handle. You then leave to dry.
On the day of sanctification, people assemble in the Obu. You get an ose-ora fruit (alligator
pepper) and tie it to a palm frond. You then cleanse the Ovbo with it, saying: "Ivbe a shil ya
bulu, ka o ga-abu". All those present will answer, "e-o-o!" What you've said is "let it be what we
say it should be", that is, an Ovbo (f). The response of those present "e-o-o!" means, "so be it".
Then you say, "Emeghene, esughene, bu ishi ovbo", and the people respond, "e-o-o!" What
you've said is, "not to do wrong, not to leave the guilty and attack the innocent is the quality of
the Ovbo"', and the same response "so be it" is given.
Finally, you say, "Mgbologwu (root) mal ile, ma gu amana nso"; the same response is given "eo-o!" It means, "Root! be effective, and powerful, but not partial!"
After this ceremony it becomes Ovbo, and could be used for sacrifice to all gods, as their altar.
Thereafter, blood of animals and fowls killed in sacrifice would be smeared on it, which acted
as a preservative against insects, and saved it from decay for generations; blood helped to
preserve wood. Feathers of fowls killed in sacrifice would, for the same purpose, be pasted on it
after smearing it with the blood of the fowls. That was why an Ovbo that had seen many
generations was big in size.
Ovbo meant truth. Because it was the altar of all gods it was a very holy instrument, and
anybody holding it must act rightly. There was a saying: "Onye ukwu shil nia ji Ovbo, onye nta
shi nia ji Ovbo, Ovbo mazi kwal onye jie ni", meaning, "Both the high and the low claim to be
upright, but only the gods will know who is upright". Ovbo was a witness of the agreement of
man with the gods to act righteously at all times. One broke the agreement at one's peril.
Ovbo was passed down from father to son; and one Ovbo could last for many lives.
The above is what z Barr Amanke Okafor left for us on the f stick. I would gladly supply
the Igbo-Izugbe (Standard Igbo) equivalents for the Igbo-ka expressions (Awka-Igbo dialect),
to provide some mental comfort for intellectual mind-rubbing. We need not be deterred by
words. The reader is requested to read what is presented in this write-up, think about its logic,
investigate the assertions and then decide on their probability and possibility.
Lets now see what we have on The Hidden or Occult Side of Things.
1. What do we know about the Earths Atmosphere?
The Earths Atmosphere is the pocket of air around the Earth, which reaches up about 60 miles.
It weighs an incredible five million billion tons. This is equivalent to 33 feet of water flowing
over the surface of the Earth.
This atmosphere has enveloped the Earth from the first. As the Ancient of Days (recall the Old
Testament Hebrew Deity?), it is the electro-magnetic storehouse of what is, was, and shall be. It
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is solar matter adapted by the Earth for its use. It is the space in which we live, move and have
our being.
Our atmosphere is part of what we ignorantly term Empty Space. To see that space cannot be
empty, lets note that: the so-called vacuum tubes have been shown to contain electrons; the
atmosphere contains all manner of electro-magnetic waves and currents, like the radio and TV
signals in the air we breathe; our mental images or thought-forms and those of our forebears all
reside in the atmosphere and may be called back to life at will through invocation or
consecration; the phenomena of thought transmission, mutual influence, etc., all take place via
the atmosphere; the atmosphere is a subset of the Universal Mind or Mind of Nature (Godhead)
in which we live, move and have our being. So, Space may be empty of objects, but It is not
empty. The term empty space has no meaning.
2. Thought Forms
A mental image is called a thought-form. Mental imagery = imagination = creative thinking
generates thought-forms that go into the atmosphere to join the storehouse of similar electromagnetic entities. The spoken word is just the mantle with which we clothe our mental images.
When people band together to visualize the same mental object, they create a collective
thought-form. This collective thought-form is evidently more potent than the thought-form
created by one person. This is the idea behind prayer-groups. To be effective, the prayer-group
must be trained in the art of mental imagery and projection before it can succeed in creating the
required collective thought-form. Religious revivals and retreats have no other goal than the
creation and projection of a group thought-form. And the success of such meetings depends
greatly on the knowledge and application of the required art by the organizers and participants.
3. Consecration
Consecration is a willful and mental act. As a consecrator you must mentally see what you are
saying in words; you must mentally see the attributes you are ascribing to the consecrated
object. The attributes exist in the atmosphere as thought-forms generated by other minds in the
past they are the spirits and angels of the Most High (Ancient of Days!). Consecration or
invocation connects your thought-form to an existing group of like-minded thought-forms to
generate more powerful thought-forms; in the same manner that electrons band together in a
unidirectional movement to create electricity or a tornado. This is the secret!
We hear about the power of the spoken word. But we should rather talk about the power of the
unspoken word or thought!
4. Consecration of a wooden wand transforms it into a wooden magic wand f.
We noted above that:
On the day of consecration, people assemble in the Obu (to create a group thought-form). You
verbally empower the wooden wand by showing it to all present and solemnly declaring: "Ihe a
sr ya br, ka ga-ab". All those present will answer, "eeyi-o-o!" What you've said is "let it be
what we say it should be", that is, an f. The response of those present "eeyi-o-o!" means, "so
be it".
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Then you say, "Emeghala, esughala, b isi f", and the people respond, "eeyi-o-o!" What you've
said is, "not to do wrong, not to leave the guilty and attack the innocent is the quality of the
f"', and the same response "so be it" is given.
Finally, you say, "f mara ire, ma g amala ns"; the same response is given "eeyi-o-o!" It
means, "f! be effective, and powerful, but not partial!"
After this ceremony the wooden wand becomes f the wooden magic wand, and could be
used for sacrifice to all gods, as their altar.
5. Conclusion
My take is that the spoken word is used to infuse magic power into objects, thereby
transforming them into talismans. The f stick is a consecrated Magic Wand! It is actually this
consecration that inducts the Magic Power latent in the surrounding atmosphere into the
Wooden Wand. For an old f stick, a re-consecration simply re-charges the stick already
endowed with magical power but neglected by ignorant inheritors. A cleansing suffices to reestablish the potency of a neglected f. This cleansing involves telling the Nd Ichie regarding
the f:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

Aka ochie p maka na aka hr abatala;

Aka ah mara mee, nabatan ya;
magh mee, unu nara ya dozie
Ihe any s ka br ka ga-ab

The above translates roughly into:

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

Let the old hand depart, because a new hand is taking over;
If that hand performs correctly, accept the offerings;
If it does not perform correctly, accept the offerings and rectify accordingly;
Let it be what we say it should be. (So be it.)

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word consecration
literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated. A
synonym for to consecrate is to sanctify; a distinct antonym is to desecrate.
If you have a ready-made f prepared by some powerful fellow, you should do your
personal consecration of the object just in case the fabricator of the ready-made talisman failed
to do the needful. Remember that:
(1) Aha onye bara nkta ya ka nkta ah na-aza. (Your dog responds to the name that you
gave it).
(2) Ihe sr f g br ka f g ga-ab. (Your f will be exactly what you tell it to be).
So, mnnaa, the magic power we dream of and spend fortunes to acquire is already here, now
and cheap too. How and where? Just the very cheap air we breathe and use for speech!
Think right (in images) and speak right by clothing your mental images in appropriate words;
then a rabbit will magically come out of your empty hat.
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My obligation to posterity would have been fulfilled if the above write-up provided a better
understanding of what the Igbo f Stick is; why it was potent in the hands of our forebears;
and why it remains potent today in the hand of whoever understands it.
Im done, lets hear from others.
Anizoba Emma (aka Ezeana)