Etymology and definition

- Dibia = Di + Abia — Master/Adept (Di) of Knowledge and Wisdom (Abia). As Chukwu is Abia-Ama (the Knowledge that reveals itself), the Dibia is its human adept. No English equivalent exists: "traditional doctor" straitjackets it; "herbalist" is "a drop from the ocean called the ocean" (paraphrase).

- The governing axiom and book title: Chukwu welu, O lu Dibia — After God, Dibia comes next.

- Society divides into Dibia and Ofeke (non-Dibia, the uninitiated) — the fundamental epistemic duality, regardless of any other expertise an Ofeke may hold.

- Afa name of the Dibia: Obala Otule na-ebu Obala Akwu — Mouthpiece of the God of Light who commands the elements, whose pronouncements come to pass.

- Definitions by Dibias quoted in T1: Dibia is the wind/air whose head and tail none can fathom (Madam Onuegbuna Maduka); Dibia is a masquerade — unmask it and you find the Spirit inside: a spirit masquerading in human flesh (Ugodibia of Oraeri).

- A na-esi n'anya Dibia afu Mmuo — one sees the Spirit through the Dibia's eyes. Onu Dibia bu Onu Mmuo — the mouth of the Dibia is the mouth of the Spirit ("Vox Dibia, Vox Dei").