Health
It was believed that Abassi and Atai lived in the Sun. Abassi was thought to be the god of health. The tribesmen would often chant aloud to the sun in hopes that Abassi would hear their cries and heal them. It is believed that Abassi gave certain tribemen the ability to heal the sick through necromancy. Whenever someone in the tribe was ill, the chief would summon the witchdoctor. If the witchdoctor was unable to heal the ill person, the ill person was to be immediately killed because Abassi did not want them to be healed. Within a healing ceremony, the tribesmen would start a fire. All the people of the tribe were required to gather around as they sang songs of worship to Abassi. If the witchdoctor was unable to heal the sick person, the ill person would immediately be thrown into the fire.
Read more about this topic: Efik Mythology
Famous quotes containing the word health:
“All climates agree with brave Chanticleer. He is more indigenous even than the natives. His health is ever good, his lungs are sound, his spirits never flag.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The ideal of men and women sharing equally in parenting and working is a vision still. What would it be like if women and men were less different from each other, if our worlds were not so foreign? A male friend who shares daily parenting told me that he knows at his very core what his wife’s loving for their daughter feels like, and that this knowing creates a stronger bond between them.”
—Anonymous Mother. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 6 (1978)
“Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)