Art and Oracle: A Scholarly Resource of African and Rituals of Divination | Explore & Learn

Sets of Divination Signs

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he dynamic nature of the divination process is further illustrated through the works featured in catalogue numbers 22 through 24. Each of these consists of a collection of elemental signs compiled by a diviner to create a microcosm of the universe. The extensive range of substances in such divination instruments owned by Songye and Chokwe diviners includes bits of mineral, plant, and animal matter as well as miniature figurative elements carved by sculptors in a series of standardized motifs, contained in a gourd or basket. A comparable Shona system uses ivory or wooden dice (hakata) inscribed with a series of four standardized signs that resonate with that culture's larger social and spiritual precepts. When shaken or cast, the components of these divination sets fall into configurations that are regarded as a visual commentary arranged by spiritual forces, and are interpreted by the diviner in terms of their relevance to an individual's concerns. The same elemental ingredients whose significance is deciphered by Songye diviners may also be integrated into the sculptural form of a power figure (nkishi), the joint effort of a diviner and a sculptor, which functions as an object of symbolic interaction between the diviner and the ancestral realm (see cat. nos. 10, 43). So it is too with Shona artists and diviners, who are powerfully linked by their common quest for inspiration from the spirit world.

22. Divination Kit: Gourd and Elements
Songye, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gourd, wood, metal, fiber, leather, other materials; Diam. 21.6 cm (8 1/2 in.)
19th–20th century
Private collection

23. Divination Basket (Ngombo Ya Cisuka) and Miniature Divination Figurines (Tuphele)
Chokwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola
Basket: fiber, organic material; Diam. 28 cm (11 in.)
Figurines: wood; H. 5.5 x 9 cm (2 1/8 x 3 1/2 in.)
19th–20th century
Musée d'Ethnographie, Neuchâtel

24. Divination Dice (Hakata)
Shona, Zimbabwe
Wood; 12 x 4 cm (4 3/4 x 1 5/8 in.)
19th–20th century
The Horstmann Collection, Zug, Switzerland