When we hear the phrase "Ara Agwu" which can be loosely translated as spiritual or psychic disturbances related to Agwu, it’s easy to default to the image of a single individual navigating intense mental dissonance, or unusual sensitivities. And while it's true that Agwu, as the force of divine intelligence and spiritual sensitivity, is deeply personal, it’s not entirely correct to see Ara Agwu as only an individual experience.

To answer the question meaningfully, let’s consider two important factors:

1. Agwu and Collective Consciousness

When Agwu is considered on a collective scale, it cannot be separated from Aja Ana (or Aja Ani); the earth’s spiritual field that represents the collective energetic consciousness of both humanity and nature.

Think of Aja Ana as a living network, the energetic soil in which our personal and communal experiences grow. Each person’s Agwu is like a root plugged into this vast earth grid. Just as individual thoughts contribute to group mindsets, so too do personal alignments or misalignments with Agwu affect the whole field.

This is why the ritual of "Ilu Agwu" is a grounding process, a conscious anchoring of one's Agwu into the field of Aja Ana. Without this grounding, one’s channeling of divine intelligence may become unstable or even harmful, leading to symptoms commonly associated with Ara Agwu.

So, when many people are collectively ungrounded or misaligned, the resulting dissonance is not isolated, it reverberates. This is Ara Agwu on a communal scale.

2. Agwu as Universal Intelligence

Agwu is the divine intelligence in all things. Just as every living being has Chi as a lifeforce, everything also contains Agwu, the blueprint of wisdom, creativity, and cosmic order.

If Agwu can exist on the micro level (as in individual people, plants, rivers, communities), it is only because it already exists on the macro level, as the spiritual DNA of the universe. In this way, our individual experience of Agwu is a localized expression of a greater cosmic intelligence.

This perspective helps us understand historical shifts like Uga Azi, the age of disconnection or spiritual blindness. Such an era could not have unfolded unless there had been a collective misalignment with both Aja Ana (earth consciousness) and Agwu (divine intelligence), beginning at the communal level and spreading to the universal level.

To Sum It Up

Absolutely, Ara Agwu can and is being experienced collectively. When large groups of people or entire communities stray from alignment with their unique divine intelligence, we see spiritual confusion, societal dysfunction, and cultural erosion, all signs of collective Ara Agwu.

We don’t need to look far: the fragmentation within modern Igbo communities, the loss of spiritual coherence, and even global crises reflect this collective dissonance.

But there is hope, and it starts at the root.

The way out is through the micro level: one person, one community at a time. Each individual who grounds their Agwu through self-awareness, ritual, and service contributes to the healing of the larger field. As more align, the collective harmony strengthens. To realign with Agwu is to realign with the intelligence of creation itself.

So, while Ara Agwu might feel deeply personal, it is also a communal and universal mirror. Healing it requires both inner listening and collective intention. And the time to begin is now.

Special shout out to Chinue Igwe for raising this question.