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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. 5.5–9 cm (2 1/8–3 1/2 in.)
19th–20th century
Musée d'Ethnographie, Neuchâtel

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23. Divination Basket (Ngombo Ya Cisuka) and Miniature Divination Figurines (Tuphele)

he most ambitious and highly regarded diviners in Chokwe society strive to attain omniscience by constantly mining the world around them, seeking the ingredients necessary to create a microcosm of the universe. Housed within a woven basketry structure, this chaotic jumble of seemingly eclectic debris is continually reconfigured in visual combinations that yield insight into the human condition.

In this method of divination, the ngombo ya cisuka specialist analyzes a basket's contents, consisting of a collection of signs (tuphele) associated with a fixed set of meanings. These are assembled or created by the diviner and include carved wooden miniature figurines, an assortment of animal matter (horns, hooves, claws, feathers, and bones), and mineral and vegetal ingredients (wood particles, pods, and nuts). Ultimately, the basket is conceived of as an exhaustive and comprehensive representation of social situations, problems, and animate life encountered in the Chokwe universe.1

A Chokwe diviner's analytic instruments are known as ngombo (see cat. nos. 18, 19). There is an extensive range of ngombo divination techniques, but professionals usually specialize in the practice of a single one of these. A form of friction oracle of Lunda origin, ngombo ya kakuka, is considered to be the earliest of these devices to be used by Chokwe diviners. However, the most important and highly regarded method is basket divination (ngombo ya cisuka), also practiced by Lucazi, Lunda, Lwena, Lwimbi, Ndembu, Ngangela, Nyemba, Ovimbundu, and Rotse peoples.2

Although a diviner's diagnosis of a client's problem depends equally on interpreting the organic matter as well as the figurative elements in the basket, Western viewers have been especially drawn to the aesthetic qualities of figurative tuphele.3 Approximately twenty of these standardized motifs exist, conceived in diverse styles ranging from highly reductive and abstract to the most exacting naturalism. Isolated from the context of the basket, these tiny elements have no real significance but possess a lyrical beauty. When interpreted in the course of a consultation, each of them conveys a very precise meaning, but as independent images they simply portray the human form in a series of postures and attitudes that suggest universal emotions.

Among the key protagonists depicted are figures that simultaneously allude to essential ancestral forces, embody human foibles, and presage potential hardships. These allegorical images include the following personifications:

"Kalamba kuku wa lunga" is a silhouette-like representation of a crouching figure. His knees are bent and raised so that his elbows rest on them, and his hands are held to either side of the head. The form creates an especially striking series of negative spaces. Its design suggests a sense of lonely desolation associated with an ancestral being who, though essential to the well-being of his former community, is occasionally forgotten and neglected by his descendants.4 His female counterpart, "Kalamba kuku wa pwo," is a standing figure who has one arm raised and a hand held to her mouth or chin, while her other arm hangs at her side. This tentatively apprehensive gesture may signal the approach of death, an attitude of reflection, or the recognition of a potential threat.5 Another female protagonist, "Katwambimbi," holds both hands to her head, covering her face, and sometimes carries an infant clinging to her back. Her lament and mournful stance anticipate her imminent death.6

The symmetrically interlaced limbs of a male and female couple, "Mbate," create a fluid, gracefully balanced form. Their arms cross one another and become fused with their partner's side, and their legs are often crossed as well. In many versions of this motif, the sexual nature of their entanglement is especially explicit. This primordial coupling is often associated with tensions in a marriage, which may result from socially condemned deviations in sexual behavior, such as adultery.7 Another representation that depicts a series of interrelated figures is that of "Jinga hamba," in which "Cikunza," a Chokwe masquerade personage wearing a tall conical headdress associated with male initiation and fertility, is flanked by twin figures. The three are depicted as a contiguous line of identical bodies that hold their hands to their abdomens. Their appearance evokes the spirit of fertility and the hunt, and they may be prescribed as an amulet worn by hunters.8

Two distinct teleological forces are invoked in prayer by members of Chokwe society. They are the Supreme Creator (known as Kalunga or Nzambi) and the spirits of the ancestral founders of the Lunda empire.9 These two primal forces are reflected in the contents of a divination basket, in which raw materials are balanced with figural elements that metaphorically refer to human behavior. According to the Chokwe belief system that governs ngombo ya cisuka, all experiences are quantifiable. Much as a Western physicist comprehends the laws that govern matter, energy, motion, and force, this system may objectively be applied to reveal the underlying cause of any distressing development.

Chokwe diviners interpret signs provided by the mahamba, ancestor and nature spirits that act as intermediaries between the Creator and humankind. Mahamba may reveal the circumstances responsible for precipitating certain crises and at the same time may be the catalysts responsible for such developments. They become dissatisfied and unhappy when they fail to receive the respect and attention considered to be their due, and inflict harsh punishments on those guilty of showing disrespect. These take the form of a variety of misfortunes, including illness, accidents, death, sterility, impotence, poor hunting, spirit possession, and loss of property. Such troubles are also caused by wanga, evil activated by malevolent enemies (see cat. no. 18). The principal course of action taken in response to these problems is to consult a diviner in order to obtain a diagnosis and advice on how to alleviate the situation.10

Because of their ability to resolve these conflicts, diviners (tahi) play a role of exceptional importance. They are eminently respected and make indispensable contributions to the social and spiritual well-being of their communities. As a consequence, they invariably attain the status of notables in their village and occupy a position of leadership second in importance only to the chief.11 Diviners are granted their supernatural abilities by powerful ancestors. After undergoing an extensive and demanding course of study and initiation, candidates are possessed by ngombo, the ancestral spirit that inspires and guides divinatory inquiries.12

To prepare for a consultation, the diviner enhances his or her clairvoyance by applying ritual white and red clay to the corners of his/her eyes and to the basket's rim, and invokes a tutelary ancestor by shaking a rattle. With the client seated opposite the diviner, the session is initiated by shaking the basket and its contents. Tuphele that come to rest at the side facing the petitioner constitute a response to the inquiry, a portent that is interpreted by analyzing the symbolic significance of the tuphele and their relative positioning.13 Although the accuracy of the diviner's reading is dependent upon spiritual possession and guidance, this technique inspires the clients' confidence because the visual evidence is openly accessible to them as well.14 Theoretically, the basket and its contents represent a catalogue of all the potential variables in an individual's lived experience. However, although the particular interpretive possibilities for each item are finite, the components are like atoms or words, which can be linked in combination. These combinations define meaning, and such meanings have the potential to inspire an almost infinite range of narratives.

1. Marie-Louise Bastin, La sculpture Tshokwe (Meudon, France: Alain and Françoise Chaffin, 1982), p. 55; Lima 1971, cited in Areia 1985, p. 21.

2. Areia 1985, p. 54.

3. Ibid., p. 175.

4. Ibid., pp. 185–89.

5. Ibid., pp. 189–92.

6. Ibid., pp. 206–8.

7. Ibid., pp. 204–6.

8. Ibid., pp. 181–83.

9. Bastin in Chokwe! 1998, p. 16; Bastin, La sculpture Tshokwe, p. 53.

10. Bastin, La sculpture Tshokwe, p. 55; Areia 1985.

11. Baumann 1935, cited in Areia 1985, p. 19; Bastin, La sculpture Tshokwe, p. 53.

12. Bastin, La sculpture Tshokwe, p. 55; Lima 1971, cited in Areia 1985, p. 53. The term ngombo is used to refer to both the spirit force and the various divination techniques and apparatus employed by diviners in Chokwe and related cultures.

13. Bastin La sculpture Tshokwe, 1982, p. 57.

14. Areia 1985, p. 77.