agere Ifa

ahianmwen-oro

Term for "bird of prophecy" in Edo culture (kingdom of Benin); also known as "messenger of god." Benin King Esigie overcame its predictions of disaster to vanquish his enemies in the sixteenth century. See cat. no. 50.

ancestral spirit

The spirit of a deceased ancestor that may be called upon to inspire and guide divinatory inquiries. For "ancestral spirit" in Barambo culture (atolo), see cat. no. 34; in Luba culture (bafu), see cat. no. 11; in Baule culture (ancestral world, blolo), see cat. no. 1; in Chokwe culture (mahamba [which is also a nature spirit] or ngombo), see cat. no. 23; in Yaka culture (n-kooku), see cat. no. 27.

apo Ifa

Brilliantly decorated beaded bag in which Yoruba diviners carry their divination implements. See cat. no. 29.

ase

In Yoruba culture, the essential ingredient necessary to spark existence—the authority, power, and life force that makes a person or thing what it is, the component of a person’s or thing’s nature that represents its inherent authority, stemming from his, her, or its character, position, or function. Every human being, ancestor, deity, and animal has its ase; so do forests, rivers, rain, lightning, and other manifestations of nature. See cat. no. 12 and Pemberton essay part 4.

asye usu

In Baule culture, a nature spirit or bush spirit, often the object of a cult. Asye usu are conceived of as grotesque beings whose demeanor is erratic and unpredictable; diviners commission idealized sculptures of male or female figures in their prime as a means of attracting their attention and bringing them out of the bush and into the village. The term may refer to the spirits or to the shrine figures in which they temporarily reside. See cat. no. 1 and introductory section of Pemberton essay.

aye

In Yoruba culture, the visible, tangible world of the living. See cat. no. 12 and Pemberton essay part 4.

babalawo

Yoruba Ifa divination specialist (literally, "father of ancient wisdom"), whose skills enable him to cast Ifa and interpret the significance of the verses associated with the patterns created by the cast objects. See cat. nos. 29, 30 and Pemberton essay part 4.

banganga

plural of nganga

bateba

Lobi figural sculpture that may be owned by a diviner and used during a consultation, or prescribed to a client as a result of a consultation. During a divination session, the bateba serve as witnesses to the divination, in which diviner and client join hands and address questions to the figures; the rising or falling motion of their clasped hands indicates positive or negative responses from the spirits (thila) represented in the sculptures. See cat. no. 37 and introductory section of Pemberton essay.

bavidye

Luba nature spirits, which inhabit the landscape and may affect the welfare of entire regions and chieftancies. Because of the scope of their influence, bavidye are considered vital to effective governance and are closely linked to royalty by Bilumbu diviners through spirit possession. See cat. no. 11.

Bilumbu

An elite form of Luba divination associated with the introduction of Luba sacred kingship during the seventeenth century. See cat. nos. 11, 35, 46, and Pemberton essay part 2.

bishimba

Term used throughout central Africa (in Songye, Luluwa, Luba cultures) for powerful "medicines" used by diviners to invoke the spirit world. The unique combination of ingredients contained in a bishimba’s sacred formula ultimately determines a work’s potential to spiritually fortify its patrons. See cat. nos. 10, 43.

blolo

The otherworld in Baule culture, where gods and ancestral spirits reside; the place one comes from before birth and returns to after death. Referred to as "the village of truth." See cat. no. 1.

Bo

A form of divination developed and widely practiced in Fon culture before the eighteenth century. Referred to as "oracle of the ancestors" because it is the earliest remembered divination method in that culture. See cat. no. 40.

bocio

(plural, bocio) A Fon figure sculpture carved of wood, created as a power object able to repel danger and attract well-being. Empowering materials inserted into the work or applied to the surface give them their potency. See cat. nos. 40, 49.

bokonon

Fon diviners or geomancers, empowered by Fa, the source of all divinatory insight.

bush

The untamed wilderness area beyond the edges of any populated area.

bwanga bwa cibola

In Luluwa culture, a wooden maternity figure prescribed to cure infertility; also the name of a Luluwa fertility cult prevalent throughout the region. See cat. no. 42.

cicatrization

The process of inscribing decorative patterns on the skin as a permanent means of enhancing the body. See cat. nos. 1, 2, 7, 11, 17, 42.

Creator god

The Creator god or Supreme Being is known by different names in various cultures: Kalunga or Nzambi (in Chokwe culture); Kolocolo (in Senufo culture); Mfidi Mukulu (in Luluwa culture); thangba yu (in Lobi culture).

daliluw

In Mande culture, highly restricted knowledge that may take the form of recipes for creating power objects to control the successful completion of an endless array of activities. See cat. no. 31.

divination

The term for a variety of practices developed in many cultures around the world to discover hidden knowledge or to foresee or foretell future events, usually through the interpretation of signs or through the agency of spiritual forces.

diviner

The term for "diviner" (as well as his or her training and divination methods) varies from culture to culture. In some cultures, diviners are exclusively male; in others, they are mostly female; but in still other cultures, there are both male and female diviners. In Bamana culture, donnikelaw; in Chokwe culture, tahi; in Fon culture, bokonon; in Hungaan, Pende, Shona, Songye, Vili, Yombe cultures, nganga, nganga ngombo, or nganga diphomba; in Lobi culture, buor; in Lumbo culture, nganga kosi; in Senufo culture, Sando; in Sherbro culture, theng no; in Yoruba culture, babalawo.

du

In Fon culture, term for a sacred personal Fa divination sign. See cat. nos. 49.

Esu

A Yoruba god who acts as a divine messenger and ritual activator; as the mediator between gods, ancestors, spirits, and humankind, Esu presides over the Ifa divination process. In Fon culture, Esu is known as Elegba. See cat. nos. 12, 13, 44.

Fa

The predominant contemporary method of divination in Fon culture, derived from Yoruba Ifa divination; see cat. nos. 13, 40, 48, 49. Also, the name of the Fon deity of geomancy.

friction oracle

A handheld divination device carved in the form of any of various figurative or zoomorphic representations that allude to beings endowed with especially acute sensory powers; used by either diviners or ordinary individuals. See itombwa, iwa, kashekesheke, and katatora.

hakata

Shona divination dice carved of ivory or wood, inscribed with four standardized signs which, when the dice are shaken or cast, fall into configurations that are regarded as a visual commentary arranged by spiritual forces, and interpreted by the diviner in terms of their relevance to an individual’s concerns. See cat. no. 24.

hamba

(plural, mahamba) Ancestral or nature spirit that facilitates communication and acts as intermediary between the Creator and humankind in Chokwe, Pende, and other cultures. See cat. nos. 18, 23.

Ifa

Yoruba god sometimes identified as Orunmila, the deified mythic founder of the Yoruba system of divination, also known as Ifa. Ifa ritual instruments and materials include agere Ifa; ikin Ifa (sixteen palm nuts for "casting Ifa"); iroke Ifa; opele Ifa (divining chain); opon Ifa. See cat. nos. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 29, 30, 44, and Pemberton essay part 4.

iroke Ifa

Divination tapper made of ivory, copper alloy, or wood, used to initiate an Ifa divination ritual by gently tapping it against the surface of an opon Ifa, thus invoking Orunmila, the Yoruba god of fate, and opening the channels of communication with the spirit world. See cat. no. 14.

itombwa

A type of friction oracle in Kuba, Luluwa, and several other cultures. See cat. no. 21 and introductory section of Pemberton essay.

iwa

A type of friction oracle in Azande culture. See Pemberton essay part 1, fig. 1.

kafigeledjo

In Senufo culture, the term for a divination ritual practice employed to uncover misdeeds, false testimony, and culpability, and for the figurative divination device used in that ritual; literally translated, it means "he who speaks the truth." See cat. no. 4.

Kalala Ilunga

A seventeenth-century prince credited with establishing the Luba system of divine kingship introduced by his father, Mbidi Kiluwe. Aided by Mijibu wa Kalenga, the first Luba spirit medium, Kalala fought and defeated his maternal uncle, established a royal court at Manza, and implemented a new political system of enlightened leadership. See cat. nos. 11, 46, and Pemberton essay part 2.

kashekesheke

A Luba method of divination utilizing a friction oracle in the form of a small wood sculpture held jointly by the diviner and client and whose movements (influenced by spirits) provide answers to the client’s questions; a means for addressing ancestral spirits when an individual is faced with a personal crisis or great uncertainty regarding a future course of action. Kashekesheke is called katatora by northern Luba people and their Songye neighbors. See Pemberton essay part 2, including cat. no. 20.

katatora

A Songye divination method utilizing a friction oracle. See kashekesheke and cat. no. 20.

komien

A Baule trance diviner (male or female) who divines while in trance, possessed by an asye usu. See cat. nos. 1, 25, 47.

Komo

In Mande culture, a powerful secret initiation association led by blacksmiths. See cat. no. 31.

kosi

(plural, kosi) An investigative force, often in the form of a figurative sculpture (portraying a spirit contained within the sculpture), used to help a victim of mystical aggression who is suffering from a chronic ailment determine the perpetrator’s identity and exact retribution. It is employed by diviners (banganga kosi) in central Africa, primarily in southern Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. See cat. no. 7.

lawle

An elaborately carved gong striker used by Baule diviners before a divination ritual to trigger the state of awareness that enables them to serve as mediums. See cat. no. 25.

madebele

Senufo bush spirits believed to inhabit the forests, fields, and waterways surrounding Senufo communities. Diviners act as intermediaries with the potentially hostile madebele, cultivating a relationship of mutual respect and seeking to induce them to impart insights from the spirit world. See cat. nos. 2, 26.

Mbidi Kiluwe

Luba culture hero and hunter prince who, according to Luba oral history, came from the east to the region of Shaba and initiated the political system of sacred kingship there. See Kalala Ilunga.

mboko

In Luba and Songye cultures, a sacred vessel or gourd employed by diviners; the term also refers to a sculptural representation of a female figure holding a bowl, owned by a Luba Bilumbu diviner. Diviners use the mboko as a divination instrument by filling it with an assortment of natural and manufactured objects, shaking it, and then, while possessed by a guiding spirit, interpreting the configuration of the objects that end up on top—regarded as a visual code used by the spirit world to reveal and communicate insight into human experiences and future events. See cat. nos. 11, 22.

"medicine"

Power based on knowledge derived from a spiritual agent and usually employed to protect individuals (or an entire community) through sacred formulas of natural ingredients, which are often applied to the surface of a divination figure or inserted into a cavity within such a figure. For "medicine" in Banyang culture (njom), see cat. no. 33; in Barambo culture (neo), see cat. no. 34; in Luluwa culture, see cat. no. 42; in Pende culture, see cat. no. 18; in Sherbro culture, see cat. no. 5; in Songye culture (bishimba), see cat. nos. 10, 43; in Vili culture (nsiba), see cat. no. 28; in Yombe culture, see cat. no. 9.

Mijibu wa Kalenga

First mythical Luba diviner, who facilitated contact with the spirit world and is credited with having invented Bilumbu divination; according to Luba oral history, he served as mentor and guardian to the prince Kalala Ilunga and saved the prince’s life at a critical moment. See cat. nos. 11, 46.

minkondi

plural of nkondi.

nature spirits

Omniscient powers not readily seen, which influence the course of human affairs; diviners attract nature spirits with desirable forms for them to inhabit and thereby entice them into divulging insights into the human condition, interpreting and resolving conflicts, exposing dishonesty and crime, identifying malevolent forces, revealing cures for illnesses, and so on. For nature spirits in Baule culture (asye usu), see cat. no. 1; in Chokwe culture (mahamba, which are also ancestral spirits), see cat. no. 23; in Kuba culture (ngesh), see cat. no. 21; in Luba culture (bavidye), see cat. no. 11; in Senufo culture (madebele), see cat. no. 2.

nganga

(plural, banganga) A central African ritual specialist (healer or diviner) in Pende, Shona, Songye, Vili, and Yombe cultures. See cat. nos. 8, 9, 10, 18, 22, 24, 28, 32, 43.

ngombo

The term for a wide range of divination instruments developed in Chokwe, Pende, Yaka, and other central African societies, used to safeguard against sorcery and other dangers, or to consult spirits in order to determine the cause of illness, death, or other serious problems; see cat. nos. 18, 19, 23. Also, in Chokwe culture, a term for the ancestral spirit that inspires and guides divinatory inquiries; see cat. no. 23.

Ngoombu

Yaka healing cult whose initiates undergo seclusion, apprenticeship, and training in ritual procedures to gain powers of insight necessary to become professional diviners. Also, ngoombu is a term for the "primordial womb of the world" in Yaka cosmology. See cat. no. 27 and Pemberton essay part 3.

nkishi

(plural, mankishi) A Songye or Luba power figure—the joint effort of a diviner (nganga) and a sculptor—which, through prophetic visions, conveys the insights of ancestral spirits to the diviner in order to enhance or protect a community’s well-being, or addresses the personal needs of individuals; it may consist of an assemblage of various materials added to a sculpted form by the diviner. The term nkishi also refers to a spirit personality that controls a particular activity or function, such as procreation, protection against illness, witchcraft, or war; or a material composite through which such a spirit can be approached. See cat. nos. 10, 43.

nkisi

(plural, minkisi) Kongo term for nkishi; see cat. nos. 9, 27. In Vili culture, a spirit addressed by a diviner in a divination ritual; see cat. no. 28.

n-kooku

In Yaka culture, an ancestral diviner who serves as an oracle through the medium of a slitdrum (n-kookwa). See cat. no. 27 and Pemberton essay part 3, including fig. 4.

n-kookwa Ngoombu

A Yaka divination instrument in the form of a wooden slitdrum. See cat. no. 27 and Pemberton essay part 3, including fig. 4.

nyama

Mande term for the basic energy that animates the universe, the essential force that fuels all activities, whether natural or mystical. See cat. no. 31.

odu

A Yoruba sign associated with a specific section of the Odu Ifa, a vast body of oral literature in prose and poetry that contains the wisdom of the Yoruba; each configuration of marks that results from casting Ifa represents one of the 256 odu signs; see cat. nos. 12, 13 and Pemberton essay part 4, including fig. 5. Also, Odu is the name of Orunmila’s wife.

Olodumare

Yoruba god of creation and wisdom. See cat. nos. 12, 14 and Pemberton essay part 4.

opon Ifa

Yoruba Ifa divination tray. See cat. nos. 13, 44 and Pemberton essay part 4.

ori

In Yoruba culture, a person’s "destiny," comprising his or her past, present, and future; ori ode (literally, one’s visible head) refers to one’s actual being, while ori inu (one’s inner head) is one’s personal destiny. See cat. nos. 12, 14 and Pemberton essay part 4.

orisa

Yoruba deities that are deified ancestors and/or personified natural forces.

orun

The Yoruba otherworld, comprising the invisible spiritual realm of the ancestors (ara orun, literally "the living dead"), deities (orisa), and other spirits.

Orunmila

Yoruba deity of wisdom (also known as Ifa); according to Yoruba oral tradition, his presence at Creation endowed him with knowledge of every human being’s destiny, and he originated the method of casting Ifa, using sixteen palm nuts (ikin Ifa). This method is still used today in various parts of the world by practitioners of Yoruba religions (and related religions) who seek to clarify their destiny; see cat. no. 12 and Pemberton essay part 4. Orunmila is also the name of an Edo method of divination closely related to Yoruba Ifa divination; see cat. no. 50.

osun

The term for a Yoruba diviner’s staff; see cat. no. 30. Also, an Edo concept of healing based on the therapeutic spiritual power contained in leaves and herbs; see cat. no. 50.

Sando

(plural, Sandobele) Any member of a Senufo initiation society known as Sandogo, but especially one who functions as a diviner. Sando diviners use male and female sculpted figures to communicate with the powerful bush spirits and/or ancestors (madebele). See cat. no. 2.

Sandogo

A powerful Senufo women’s association whose membership represents every matrilineal segment and house in a community, and consists of female diviners (known as Sandobele) and other community leaders. Its counterpart is Poro, the Senufo men’s association. The authority structure of a Senufo village is composed of the leadership of its Poro and Sandogo societies, which function as systems of government, education, economic controls, and as channels for the worship of bush spirits and ancestors. See cat. no. 2.

"sixteen signs"

Along Africa’s upper west and southeastern coasts, there are several types of divination based on "sixteen signs," the most widely practiced form of which is Ifa; many of these involve the casting of sixteen palm nuts or cowrie shells, a method that continues to be widely practiced today by Caribbean and Brazilian people of West African descent in the U.S. See cat. nos. 12, 15, 24 and Pemberton essay part 4. Sikidy is another form of divination based on "sixteen signs," practiced among the Malagasy of Madagascar; see Pemberton essay part 5.

thila

In Lobi culture, invisible, bodiless beings endowed with superhuman powers who regulate human behavior, punishing transgressors with misfortune and protecting people who respect Lobi moral codes against witchcraft and sorcery. See cat. no. 37.

tugubele

Senufo figurines made of copper alloy or wood, commissioned and owned by diviners; used for communication with bush spirits (madebele), who inhabit these desirable forms during divination rituals and serve as messengers from the spirit world. See cat. no. 2.

tyeli

Senufo divination system or technique practiced by Sandobele (Sando diviners). See cat. no. 2.

wanga

Chokwe and Pende term usually translated as "sorcery," referring to criminal actions and/or the misdirection of physical or metaphysical power by personal agents among the living or dead for personal advantage. See cat. no. 18.

yawiige

Senufo term (literally "something that follows you" or "thing worn as medicine charm") for problems discerned through divination and the measures recommended for their resolution—usually objects worn as a protective charm to appease or neutralize the malevolent actions of a spirit that attaches itself to a person; includes a wide range of miniature brass animals and symbols worn in accordance with the advice of a Sando diviner. See cat. no. 2.