An ọgbanje is a term in Odinani (Igbo: ọ̀dị̀nànị̀) for what was thought to be an evil spirit that would deliberately plague a family with misfortune.
[2][3][4] It was believed that within a certain amount of time from birth (usually not past puberty), the ọgbanje would deliberately die and then be reborn into the next child of the family and repeat the cycle, causing much grief.
The iyi-uwa serves to permit the ọgbanje to return to the human world and to find its targeted family.
The child is confirmed to no longer be an ọgbanje after the destruction of the stone, or after the mother successfully gives birth to another baby.
Families paid a lot of attention to these types of characteristics, and most of the time would go to an oracle to confirm that the child was an ọgbanje.