African Divination Systems

African Divination Systems
Author: Philip M. Peek
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 1991
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780253343093

"This volume of finely crafted case studies is also the vehicle for an important general theory of divination.... this is a book overflowing with ideas that will powerfully stimulate further research." -- Journal of Ritual Studies "The essays in this collection provide a very useful overview of both the diversity of African divination systems and of recent approaches to their study." -- Choice This unique collection of essays by an exceptional international group of Africanists demonstrates the central role that divination continues to play throughout Africa in maintaining cultural systems and in guiding human action. African Divination Systems offers insights for current discussions in comparative epistemology, cross-cultural psychology, cognition studies, semiotics, ethnoscience, religious studies, and anthropology.

Reviewing Reality

Reviewing Reality
Author: W. E. A. van Beek
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2013
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 3643903359

From crab divination in the Cameroon to friction oracles in the Congo Basin, from reading cast objects in Mozambique to spirit possession in Cote d'Ivoire, from Sudanese ebony diviners to South African Xhosa healers, divination systems throughout Africa serve their communities by answering questions and resolving problems. Divination helps people chart a course in their lives through a deeper understanding of past and present. This important book reveals the extraordinary diversity and complexity of African divination systems, focusing on self-knowledge, social reality, and intercultural and historical relations. (Series: African Studies / Afrikanische Studien - Vol. 50)

Art and Oracle

Art and Oracle
Author: Alisa LaGamma
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2000
Genre: Art, Black
ISBN: 0870999338

Twenty-eight African cultures are represented here by artifacts created to communicate with ancestors, spirits, and gods, about such issues as health, conception, and determination of guilt or innocence. Issued in conjunction with an April-July 2000 exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, this catalog contains extensive ethnographic, descriptive, and interpretive text in connection with each of 50 pictured pieces, as well as a 13-page essay about divination in Sub-Saharan Africa (by John Pemberton III) and an introductory essay by LaGamma. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

African Religions

African Religions
Author: Jacob K. Olupona
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2014
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199790582

This book connects traditional religions to the thriving religious activity in Africa today.

Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance

Ifá Divination, Knowledge, Power, and Performance
Author: Jacob K. Olupona
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2016-02-29
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 025301896X

This landmark volume compiled by Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun brings readers into the diverse world of Ifá—its discourse, ways of thinking, and artistic expression as manifested throughout the Afro-Atlantic. Firmly rooting Ifá within African religious traditions, the essays consider Ifá and Ifá divination from the perspectives of philosophy, performance studies, and cultural studies. They also examine the sacred context, verbal art, and the interpretation of Ifá texts and philosophy. With essays from the most respected scholars in the field, the book makes a substantial contribution toward understanding Ifá and its role in contemporary Yoruba and diaspora cultures.

African Cowrie Shells Divination

African Cowrie Shells Divination
Author: Zolrak
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2019-04-08
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0738758590

Discover the Cowrie Shells and Learn How to Read the Messages of Ifá and the Higher Spiritual Planes Divination with cowrie shells is one of the oldest known spiritual practices in the world. Originated by the Yoruba people of West Africa, cowrie shell divination is a powerful technique for connecting to the wisdom of ancestors, spirits, and deities. This book shares the history of cowrie shell divination and shows you how to open the portals of spiritual communication with the shells and related divination systems, such as cola nuts and coconuts. Written by a long-time practitioner, African Cowrie Shells Divination provides the meaning of the sixteen shell combinations as well as tips and variations for readings based on the specific question being asked. Discover the powerful messages of the Orishas and the mystical divination techniques of Candomblé, Santería, and other traditions of the African diaspora. Explore the instructive stories known as patakkís and apply their guidance to your life. The cowrie shells are sacred magical tools. With the history, theories, and hands-on instructions in this guide, you will learn how the shells can be used to answer your most important questions and achieve your true destiny.

Mambila Divination

Mambila Divination
Author: David Zeitlyn
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2020-02-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 100004078X

This book offers a major contribution to the study and analysis of divination, based on continuing fieldwork with the Mambila in Cameroon. It seeks to return attention to the details of divinatory practice, using the questions asked and life histories to help understand the perspective of the clients rather than that of the diviners. Drawing on a corpus of more than 600 cases, David Zeitlyn reconsiders theories of divination and compares Mambila spider divination with similar systems in the area. A detailed case study is examined and analysed using conversational analytic principles. The regional comparison considers different kinds of explanation for different features of social organization, leading to a discussion of the continuing utility of moderated functionalism. The book will be of interest to area specialists and scholars concerned with religion, rationality, and decision-making from disciplines including anthropology, African studies, and philosophy.

Divination and Healing

Divination and Healing
Author: Michael Winkelman
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2004-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780816523771

Divination is an important feature of cultures all over the world. While some may still question the efficacy of divination systems, they continue to serve their communities by diagnosing ailments, prescribing healing treatments, and solving problems. Yet despite their universality, there are relatively few comprehensive studies of divination systems. This volume seeks to fill this gap regarding the use of divination in healing. Here some of the worldÕs leading authorities draw on their own fieldwork and participation in ritual to present detailed case studies, demonstrating that divination rituals can have therapeutic effects. As the contributors examine the systems of knowledge that divination articulates and survey the varieties of divinatory experience, they seek to analyze divination as an epistemological system, as a social process, and as a therapeutic endeavor. While some of their findings reinforce traditional assumptions about the importance of social control, spirit relations, and community support in the divination process, the authors place these considerations within new epistemological frameworks that emphasize the use of alternative modes of knowing. In this wide-ranging volume, readers will find coverage of classic Ifa systems; Buddhist-influenced shamanic practices in the former Soviet Union; the reconciliation of Muslim beliefs and divinatory practices in Thailand; Native American divination used in diagnosis; Maya calendrical divination in Guatemala; mediumistic and chicken oracle divination among the Sukuma of Tanzania; Ndembu divination, focusing on the process of collective healing; and divination among the Samburu (Maasai) of Kenya, featuring dialogues from actual healing sessions. Together, these contributions argue for new perspectives on the study of divination that emphasize not only the epistemological roots of these systems but also their multifaceted therapeutic functions. Divination and Healing is a rich source of both data and insight for scholars of ritual, religion, medical anthropology, and the psychology of altered states of consciousness.

Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba

Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba
Author: John David Yeadon Peel
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2003-02-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780253215888

"Peel is by training an anthropologist, but one possessed of an acute historical sensibility. Indeed, this magnificent book achieves a degree of analytical verve rare in either discipline." —History Today "[T]his is scholarship of the highest quality. . . . Peel lifts the Yoruba past to a dimension of comparative seriousness that no one else has managed. . . . The book teems with ideas . . . about big and compelling matters of very wide interest." —T. C. McCaskie In this magisterial book, J. D. Y. Peel contends that it is through their encounter with Christian missions in the mid-19th century that the Yoruba came to know themselves as a distinctive people. Peel's detailed study of the encounter is based on the rich archives of the Anglican Church Missionary Society, which contain the journals written by the African agents of mission, who, as the first generation of literate Yoruba, played a key role in shaping modern Yoruba consciousness. This distinguished book pays special attention to the experiences of ordinary men and women and shows how the process of Christian conversion transformed Christianity into something more deeply Yoruba.

The Book of African Divination

The Book of African Divination
Author: Raymond Buckland
Publisher: Destiny Books
Total Pages: 144
Release: 1992-09-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9780892813643

Drawing on diverse African traditions, the authors take us on a fascinating journey of magical divination practices--from Venda tablets and divining bowls to Zulu "bone" casting, Yoruba seashell casting, and Tikar spider cards. • Comes complete with an eighty-card divination deck based on the Tikar spider cards • Illustrates in detail how to make and use many different traditional tools of African divination • Explains the history and myths behind the methods • Includes sample readings to help the reader evaluate results • Interest continues to build in the ways and wisdom of tribal people