Ikenga Shrine Figure
The ikenga is the carved wooden shrine figure of Igbo men, a seated human form with curving horns, a sword and a carved knife held in its hands, standing on the family altar as the image of its owner's achievement and strength. The figure represents the owner's chi, his personal spirit of accomplishment, and the horned head recalls the ram and the aggressive power of the ancestor-hero; when a man prospered, his ikenga was washed, oiled and given offerings, and when he failed or fell, the figure might be cast away. The right hand, in Igbo thought the hand of action, is honored in the ikenga's u