Dr. Augustine Echezona is of the Department of Religion and Human Relations, Faculty of Arts, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. He teaches African Traditional Religion (ATR). He was a Catholic priest for 17 years before resigning to embrace traditional African religion.
In this interview by Titus Eleweke after defending his PhD Dissertation titled “Rainmaking and Control in Igbo African Medicine,” Dr Echezona said that Africa possesses enormous resources and value which have been eroded by colonial powers.
Excerpt:
You just defended your doctoral research. Why did you choose this topic?
The topic of my research is Rainmaking and Control in Igbo African Medicine: A Case Study of Isieke in Ihiala Local Government Area, Anambra State.
What actually informed your choice of the topic?
I partly lived with my maternal grandfather, who was a traditionalist, while my father was a Christian before he passed away. Though he was a Christian, he still believed in traditional materials. He was an agriculturist with trees around the compound and always brought in new ones, some of which he said were medicinal. So, I learned from him to appreciate nature. My background is also significant. I was once a Catholic priest—Rev. Father. I began this research as a priest five years ago and then left the priesthood, so now I am married. Everything about this research stems from my curiosity about nature and God. The research reflects my curiosity about spirituality and the nature of God. As a priest, I had the opportunity to work in health sectors, and I understand what health is all about. I conducted this research with the intention of recovering our lost African values. There was one of my father’s friends, and when I was in the seminary, I founded a school called the Society for African Culture. During that period, we invited my father’s friend to demonstrate that rainmaking was possible. He came and made it rain. This experience led me to investigate it in an academic way. My research in rainmaking and control is rooted in finding the truth and understanding how native doctors contribute to preserving African values. I discovered that it is indeed a reality and done by debia (native doctors). In Africa, we have different types of native doctors. Different authors have various descriptions of native doctors as a profession. According to some researchers, we have debia afa (divination), debia aja (forecasting native doctors), and debia ogwu (those who prepare medicine), with rainmakers falling under debia ogwu. As debia ogwu, they use herbs and roots, as natural phenomena, to make rain. What they do is use natural materials and engage in a relationship with God.
In my research, I found that there are three types of rainmaking. The first involves using a clay tripod, typically used for cooking, with a calabash and some concoction. It’s a costly material, and every debia has it, depending on their specialty. On the tripod, there is a hydroscopic stone (okwute mmirri) placed underneath. They put fire and then place roots and herbs on the stone. The fire beneath the tripod activates the material, allowing them to communicate with the atmosphere to make or stop the rain.
The second method involves rainmakers who build coldrones, large pots that can be made with plastic or cement. When they want to make rain, they pour water into it and add herbs and roots. These are natural materials, and I demonstrated this during my defense. I showed them that it is possible for a debia to make and control rain. The herbs and roots are placed on the hydroscopic stone, which has male and female parts. When performing rituals, certain incantations are made. Sadly, when we mention rituals, people often think it’s all about sacrificing to gods, but we’re talking about processes here—not fetishism as many might assume. When you have the stone, the right roots and herbs, and everything is ready, it works. When the coldrone is cemented, and the herbs and roots are fermented, it will communicate with the atmosphere to bring down rain. If someone wants to make rain tomorrow, he starts the preparations today. Once cemented, the coldrone can interact with the atmosphere and bring rain when the herbs, roots, and stone are properly activated.
The final method involves psycho-spiritual rainmakers who use their minds to communicate with the atmosphere. The human mind is incredibly powerful, and we often neglect its potential. I find the human mind fascinating, even as a Catholic priest. If we fully utilized our God-given talents and mental capacity, we could achieve so much more. We don’t explore the mind enough, which is why the Bible tells us that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. There is nothing the human mind cannot do. Some authors explain the power of the human mind, and those who focus on the psycho-spiritual aspect of rainmaking maximize this power. However, there are prerequisites that are not disclosed here. Rainmakers have many secrets to protect, as revealing them could allow miscreants to use them for harmful purposes. Those secrets are kept because of the danger in having them misused. Sometimes, I have been in emergency situations where I stopped the rain. As I mentioned, anyone can cause rain to fall at the psycho-spiritual level.
In theology, we talk about forms and matter. The form is the word we use to communicate; even someone who brings in medicinal substances still makes proclamations to make it happen. In my rainmaking research, I believe God is the owner of everything. Rainmakers also admit that sometimes, despite all the rituals and proclamations, rain doesn’t come down. That’s where God’s control is evident. We must reserve those areas to God, but as far as humans are concerned, I have seen people make these medicinal substances work and use their words to communicate with the spirit to make rain fall. Rainmaking involves using magical substances and spiritual communication.
The world you see is not empty; it is full of energy. There’s no empty space in the world. The air is full of energy, and by communicating with the atmosphere, rain will fall. There are artificial and natural rainfalls. Natural rain falls by itself, while artificial rain is caused by humans. However, both follow what is called the hydrological cycle. The cycle involves rain falling, evaporating into the air, and repeating the process. When rain falls, it evaporates again, and this cycle is called the hydrological cycle. Sunlight picks up the rain from the ground. In fact, every rainmaker believes that rain is essentially air. When rain moves through evaporation, billions of water particles hang in the air on what is called condensation nuclei, forming clouds. These clouds remain until they are made to fall, either naturally or artificially. When it rains, evaporation happens again, completing the hydrological cycle.
Honestly, I just want to prove through this research that Africans have enormous value. We are blessed by God, and we still have a virgin natural environment to explore. Many things are being lost in Africa because of a lack of interest in digging deeper. My research field is medicine, and I’ve discovered that no tree or resource is useless. We are wasting a lot in Africa. Everything in nature has value, but we’ve been unable to discover those values. God has placed everything in nature for a purpose, and we need to explore it. There’s a concept called magnetism in physics, and rainmaking has a lot to do with magnetism because it involves magnetic fields. I believe that if we explore our potential, Africa has a lot to show the world.
You mean humans can cause rain to fall?
Perfectly yes, humans can make rain fall.
Why is it that sometimes they find it difficult to make rain fall?
I had hoped to defend this research during the rainy season because I was ready to demonstrate it practically. Unfortunately, the university system has its processes, so this wasn’t possible. I was really anxious to defend during the rainy season to demonstrate that rainmaking is possible.
Are you saying that if it were during the rainy season, you could have made rain?
Absolutely correct. I would have made rain fall if it were during the rainy season. During the harmattan, it’s difficult to make rain, but some rainmakers can still do it during that time. One of the rainmakers I interviewed, Nze Raphael Akubuike, told me a story about the former Igwe, A.N. Osakwe Eze Oha I of Isieke. He said that there was a serious drought in the town, with crops dying and trees shrinking due to the heat. The Igwe called all the rainmakers to address the situation. They returned and made the rain fall, but it was so intense that it caused destruction—trees were pulled down, and many valuables were washed away. So, yes, it is possible to make rain during the dry season, but it’s dangerous. In a book written by someone named Ume, it is said that after God, a debia is the one who can control rain. Some rainmakers can make rain during the dry season, but it is risky.
As a former Catholic priest, with full knowledge of Christianity, which abhors these traditional practices, how do you describe what you are talking about now?
Some of the early missionaries were grossly uninformed about the realities of African religions. They came here and believed that only the Western world existed, but the reality is different everywhere. The white men came and called our religion “fetish,” which was absolutely wrong because they were not informed. Africa is in an emerging situation to recover a lot. We’ve lost so much, and if you go through my research, you’ll see the level at which we have lost our African values. Christianity is a good thing, but due to a lack of understanding and miscommunication, many things were tagged as “fetish.” I can sincerely tell you that there is nothing evil in Africa. Even African worship has nothing wrong with it. There is no devil involved. The white man came and saw our religion as idolatry. But what is an idol? Every religion has an idol. Christianity, Islam, and African religion all have their own sacramental elements, which are symbols of culture. Some of the rainmakers I interacted with during my research told me there are no shrines in their places, and I investigated and found out that there are no shrines. Rainmaking is all about herbs, roots, and some concoctions—natural things. Though some rainmakers try to mystify their practices, there’s nothing dangerous involved. It’s just science. It’s like normal science that anyone can practice. If someone does it here and another person does it elsewhere, it becomes approved and recognized.
Our African sciences are not documented, and as a result, they are not recognized. What is your take on this?
Of course, that is part of why I went into this research. Our practices and research are being lost because we are not documenting them for posterity. I’ve always challenged my students to look deeper into African values and give them assignments to encourage them to explore African reality because no one else will do it for us. If we wait for outsiders to do it, it won’t happen. I want to tell you that rainmaking is legitimate. It’s time for our researchers, academics, students, and others to begin researching African values. I can tell you that African culture, esoteric practices, spirituality, magic—whatever you call it—are all 100% good. In fact, there’s nothing evil in nature. Nature is good; it’s just semantics. Just as the white man questioned how an untutored African can conceive of God, Africans can certainly conceive of God too. If Africans are not ready to claim who they are, then outsiders will speak on their behalf.
This brings me to the issue that some white men say Africans are anti-thesis, and have no philosophy. What is your take?
They are always condemning. Africans are not anti-thesis, and Africans do have philosophy. This work is one example of that. We have our philosophy, and it is seen in our ideology, cosmology, worldview, proverbs, and other aspects. The way we reason in our world is our own brand of philosophy. You can say they are not documented like those of the white men, but that can be conceded. We have them, and they must be documented. It’s about patterns of thought, the creation of reality, the conception of reality, and the wisdom we apply in managing those realities.
What really forced you out of the priesthood?
(He laughs) That is a story for another day. In fact, no comment on that for now.
What do you intend to achieve with this work?
What I want to achieve with this work is to make a statement that African culture, medicine, and rainmaking are valuable. There is nothing wrong with them, and we must begin to patronize what is ours. Christian, non-Christian, or whatever your religion may be, we must begin to embrace what we have in our world. Everything is from God, and He made them good. The point now is that we must document these things for posterity. Institutions like Nnamdi Azikiwe University’s Botany Department, Biological Department, Geological Department, and others can make use of this knowledge. The next level of my research will involve inter-departmental collaboration to consolidate all the facts already established. These herbs and roots we have identified need to be analyzed for their chemical content. Again, if this rainmaking is purely magnetism, we need to understand how it is done. We also need to know the active ingredients in those plants. From now on, we should work on these processes and improve them through documentation. We need to extract the chemical components of these plants. In cases where a particular tree in one area cannot be found in another location, I should be able to identify a similar tree with the same chemical content to make rain. I am also looking to the government to begin to support and patronize the activities of rainmakers. Sometimes we call them devilish people, but they are not. These people cannot not be ignored or neglected during our community ceremonies. Often, we see fire outbreaks in our markets, and we have rainmakers everywhere, yet we are losing billions due to our lack of recognition of them. If we assign a market to two or three rainmakers with specific mandates to monitor and ensure rain during fire outbreaks, those markets could be protected. Our fire services are inadequate to handle fire outbreaks, but rainmakers can help us save resources in the markets if engaged.
Can one rightly say you have joined the league of native doctors?
Yes, you have said it already. I am one of the rainmakers now. I’m one of the native doctors.
You mean you can make rain?
Yes, I can perfectly make rain.
Most government officials and clergies are lamenting that Igbo youths are leaving Christianity for African religions, or what they call idol worship. What is your take?
I have a problem with the nomenclature being used by these people, whether they are government officials or from Christian institutions. What is actually religion? If you understand religion, everything one does to access divinity and communicate with God is genuine and acceptable. The only thing that is wrong is what society condemns. Society has become the judge, and it can say, “We don’t want this.” Beyond that, everything one does to access God, spirituality, and metaphysical reality is acceptable. My only concern is that miscreants may use these practices to cause havoc in society. As I mentioned earlier, many rainmakers have secrets because they want to keep them away from miscreants who might misuse them. An African traditional person who is able to access God through his means is perfect for him. The Christian or the Muslim who accesses divinity and communicates with God is perfect as well; there is nothing wrong with that. So, whether it is traditional people or Christians, what society say is wrong should be the deciding factor. The authority should be able to say, “We don’t want this.”
Are you calling for regulation of these practices?
Yes, you have the right word—everything in society should be regulated. The society should be able to regulate what people do because there is a lot that can be done with nature. Our dibia (traditional healers), in the old days—though I don’t know about now—were able to travel in the air and reach distant places. That is nature at work. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. They could harness the power of nature and make such extraordinary movements. It is right for society to say so. The only area I am against is using these powers for negative purposes. That is where it becomes bad. Beyond that, these powers are inherent in nature, given by God for mankind’s use. We should explore them for our good. Today, we have aircraft flying in the sky. What is the mechanism? They are just exploring nature. Some of the things they do are magical. There was one reverend father whose father was a deep-rooted native doctor. His father could tell his children that he was going to Onitsha Market, and then disappear into his backyard. In the evening, he would return through the same route with a goat. This was the father of a reverend father. They were able to do such things, flying through the air by exploring natural laws, which could be called magic. Authors like Ume and my good friend Father Okpalalike will tell you that modern science is what was once magic. So, human civilizations began with magic, moved to religion, and today we are talking about nanoscience and other fields. The white man was able to explore these magical laws, codified them, and called them science. So, science is essentially what was once magic. We can also access these magical laws, which we call African magic or religion. It is not the African magic of Nollywood. The African magic of Nollywood is one of the tools used to destroy our culture and values. African magic is actually African science, which remains unexplored. We must begin to modify, codify, and document it for posterity.
How many years were you in the Catholic priesthood?
The information I have provided about my priesthood is enough for now. Maybe next time we can talk about it. I was a priest for 17 years.
When did you realize you were in the wrong place?
No, I wouldn’t say I was in the wrong place, but you and I know that life is a process. Things happen, and people begin to look left and right. One important thing is for the person to know themselves. If you understand yourself and remain open to reality, you will begin to make decisions for your life.
Maybe you left just to marry?
Why are you so inquisitive about this? I have said that this question should not come up now. I would prefer not to discuss it. In fact, it wasn’t about marriage, nor about a woman. It was far from that. It was all about personal conviction.
– Culled from Inside Out News, aside headline
