An obanje is a term used in Igbo culture to describe a malevolent spirit or reincarnating being that is believed to repeatedly die and be reborn within the same family. It is often associated with bringing misfortune and death to its family members.
She was an obanje
1. Okonkwo commits a great sin when he beats his wife during Peace Week (Chap.4); it is believed that evil will fall upon the whole clan, so he must repent. 2. If a child is stillborn, it is an ogbanje, a wicked child who when it died, would enter the mother's womb again to be reborn (Chap.9). 3. Since Ezinma is thought to be obanje, even though she has lived, she is always sick, so another superstition is to dig up her iya-wa, the stone which is the link between Ezinma and the spirit world. 4. They also believe in Ogbu-agali-odu, an evil essence loosed upon the world through secret medicines (Chap.11).5. The tribe believed in evil spirits. "Their clan is full of evil spirits of these unburied dead, hungry to do harm to the living." 6. Members of the tribe that suffered from infirmities were seen as unclean. These people would not be buried, but be cast into the Evil Forest.