Sixteen Cowries

William W. Bascom

Description

" . . . a landmark in research of African oral traditions." —African Arts

" . . . a significant contribution to the understanding of Yoruba religious belief, magic, and art." —Journal of Religion in Africa

Yoruba texts and English translations of a divination system that originated in Nigeria and is widely practiced today by male and female diviners in the diaspora. A landmark edition.

Preface

Part One: Sixteen Cowries

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. The Divination Verses
Chapter 3 The System of Belief

Part Two: The Verses of Sixteen Cowries
Chapter 4 Eji Ogbe 8 cowries
Chapter 5 Ofun 10 cowries
Chapter 6 Osa 9 cowries
Chapter 7 Okanran 1 cowrey
Chapter 8 Eji Oko 2 cowries
Chapter 9 Irosun 4 cowries
Chapter 10 Ose 5 cowries
Chapter 11 Ogunda 3 cowries
Chapter 12 Obara 6 cowries
Chapter 13 Odi 7 cowries
Chapter 14 Owonrin 11 cowries
Chapter 15 Ejila Sebora 12 cowries
Chapter 16 Ika 13 cowries
Chapter 17 Oturupon 14 cowries
Chapter 18 Ofun Kanran 15 cowries
Chapter 19 Irete 16 cowries
Chapter 20 Opira 0 cowries

Appendix
References Citeds

Sujets

• HISTORY
• Histoire
• África
• General officer
• History of Africa
• General
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 22 mai 1980
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• EAN13: 9780253013675
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 42 Mo

Extrait

Sixteen Cowries Sixteen cowries, in the configuration known as Eji
Ogbe, eight mouth up, eight down. Sixteen
Cowries
Yoruba Divination from
Africa to the New World
William Bascom
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Bloomington & Indianapolis First Midland Book Edition 1993
Copyright© 1980 by William Bascom
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any other
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The Association of American University Presses' Resolution of Permissions constitutes
the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanance of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
@)™
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bascom, William Russell, date.
Sixteen cowries.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Yorubas-Religion. 2. Divination-Nigeria.
3. Blacks-Latin America-Religion. 4. Cowries.
I. Title.
BL2480.Y6B37 299'.6 78-3239
ISBN 0-253-35280-0
ISBN 0-253-20847-5 (pbk.)
4 5 6 7 8 04 03 02 0 I 00 99 Contents
Preface vii
Part One: Sixteen Cowries
Introduction Chapter I. 3
The Divination Verses II. 15
The System of Belief Chapter III. 32
Part Two: The Verses of Sixteen Cowries
Chapter IV. Eji Ogbe 8 cowries 54 (A1-49) V. Ofun (B1-14) 10 186
Chapter VI. Qsa (C1-19) 9 cowries 224 VII. Qkanran (D1-7) 1 cowry 278
Chapter VIII. Eji Oko (E 1-7) 2 cowries 296 IX. Irosun (F1-22) 4 318
Chapter X. (G1-15) 5 cowries 388 9~~ XI. Ogunda (H1-12) 3 448
Chapter XII. Qbara (Il-19) 6 cowries 494 XIII. Odi (J1-18) 7 582
(K1-13) Chapter XIV. Qwqnrin 11 cowries 666
(Ll-8) XV. Ejila ~~b9ra 12 718
(M1-2) Chapter XVI. Ika 13 cowries 742
(N1-2) XVII. Oturupqn 14 cowries 750
(01) Chapter XVIII. Ofun Kaman 15 764 XIX. (P1) 16 cowries 768 Ir~t~
(Q1) Chapter XX. Opira 0 772
Appendix 774
References Cited 787 To the memory of Salak9 Preface
Divination with six teen cowries is related in mythology, perhaps historically,
and certainly morphologically, to I fa divination. For a full understanding of
what is reported here, readers should consult !fa Divination: Communication
Between Gods and Men in West Africa (Bascom 1969), and the references to
this work are made to enable them to find the relevant passages more readily.
My acknowledgments to colonial officials and Nigerians in this and other
earlier works still stand, and I am grateful to the Social Science Research
Council of New York for supporting my first fieldwork among the Yoruba in
1937-3 8. But the principal support for the research for this book was provided
by a Fulbright grant in 1950-51 when the divination verses of sixteen cowries
were tape recorded. Grants from the University of California's Institute of
International Studies in 1960 and the Social Science Research Council in
1965 made possible briefer visits to Nigeria for further research.
My acknowledgments to M.O. Oyawoye, who did the initial translation
and most of the transcription, to the two other Y oruba men who helped in
transcribing, and to my wife, Berta, who did the recording, are expressed in
Chapter I. There also, and in the dedication of this book, I express my great
indebtedness to SalakQ, the diviner who dictated the divination verses of six­
teen cowries which are presented here. This page intentionally left blankPart One
Sixteen Cowries This page intentionally left blankIntroduction
"Sixteen cowries" (~rindin16g(ln, ow6 m~rindin16g(ln) is a form of
divination employed by the Yoruba of Nigeria and by their descendants in
the New World. It is simpler than Ifa divination and is held in less esteem
in Nigeria, but in the Americas it is more important than Ifa because it is
more widely known and more frequently employed. This may be due to
its relative simplicity; to the popularity of Shango, Yem<;>ja, Qshun, and
other Yoruba gods with whom sixteen cowries is associated; and to the fact
that it can be practiced by both men and women, who outnumber men in
these cults, whereas only men can practice lfa.
3 4 Sixteen Cowries
The differing importance of these two systems of divination in Africa
and the Americas probably explains the neglect of sixteen cowries by students
of Yoruba culture compared to students of Afro-Cuban culture. There are a
great many studies oflfa divination among the Yoruba (see the bibliographies
in Bascom 1961 and 1969, plus important subsequent publications), but I
know of only two that discuss sixteen cowries in Africa. One devotes only
seventeen pages to the topic (Ogunbiyi 1952: 65-81) and the other less than
three pages (Maupoil 1943: 265-268). In contrast a number of publications
about sixteen cowries in Cuba, where it is known as dilogun or los caracoles,
have appeared (Lachatafiere 1942, Hing 1971, Rogers 1973, Cabrera 1974,
Elizondo n.d., Suarez n.d., Anonymous n.d.). Although Ifa divination is also
practiced and highly regarded in Cuba, sixteen cowries is probably the most
important system of divination in the Afro-Cuban cults. In Brazil it is known
as 'dologum, edilogum, endilogum (Alvarenga 1950: 157-158), merindilogum,
or Exu (Bastide and Verger, 1953: 378).
Whereas Ifa divination is employed by the Ewe and Fan to the west of
the Yoruba and by the Benin Edo to the east, and perhaps by other neigh­
boring peoples, I know of only one report of sixteen cowry divination in
Africa which may not refer to the Yoruba. This is Maupoil's brief note from
Dahomey. He says that it is of Nago (Yoruba) origin and that it is known as
4gba-kika. An Qshun worshiper at If~, Nigeria, also called the divination
~:I~gba, another name for Eshu, or Exu, as he is known in Brazil. The names
of the deities associated with the figures, as given by Maupoil, are predom­
inantly, but not exclusively, Yoruba, suggesting that his informants were
Nago rather than Fan. Provisionally, at least, sixteen cowries may be taken
as a specifically Yoruba form of divination. The Yoruba, who number some
thirteen million, live in the West and Lagos States and the southern portion
of Kwarra State in southwestern Nigeria and in eastern Dahomey, with
enclaves farther west in central Dahomey and along the Dahomey-Togo
boundary.
Divination with sixteen cowries is employed in the cults of Orishala
and other "white deities," and in the cults of Eshu, Shango, Qya, Qshun,
Qba, Yemqja, Yewa, Nana Buruku, and, in some towns, Qshqsi and Shqpqna.
Yewa is the Goddess of the Yewa River, Qba the Goddess of the Qba River,
and Nana Buruku is a goddess associated with a kind of snake that is said
to live in the water; the nature of these other deities will be discussed in
Chapter III.
The present study is based on information supplied by Salakq (Sahikq),
a diviner in the cult of Orishala at Qyq, Nigeria, who was born, initiated, and
trained in Igana, a town some fifty miles to the west that was subject to the Introduction 5
Alafin, king of 9Y9· To my knowledge it is the first serious study of sixteen
cowries among the Yoruba and the first collection of its divination verses to
be published. Moreover it reputedly represents the total body of divination
verses known to a single, knowledgeable diviner.
Compared to Ifa divination with its manipulation of sixteen palm nuts
or even the casting of its divining chain, sixteen cowry divination is simple.
The cowries are cast on a basketry tray and the number of shells facing
mouth up are counted. There are only seventeen positions or figures- n + 1,
or zero to sixteen. However, memorizing the verses is as difficult and time
consuming as learning those of Ifa. The cowry shells that are used in divina­
tion are not the ones (ow6 yYQ) that were formerly used as money, but a
smaller cowry ( ow6 ~r9 ). The basketry tray (aty) is flat and of the type that
is used in displaying beads, salt, and other small materials for sale in the
market (see verse A40).
The seventeen figures of sixteen cowry divination have names, many of
which are cognates of names of the Ifa figures. In Table 1 the initial numeral
indicates the number of cowries facing mouth up, and this followed by the
name of that figure. Because the order of the figures in Table 1 differs from
that in which their verses were recited by SalakQ, the latter order has been
identified in alphabetical sequence for ease of reference to individual verses.
For example, A40 indicates the fortieth verse of Eji Ogbe, the figure which
has eight shells with their mouths facing up. Following the letters are the
names of the deities or other superhuman entities associated with the figures,
as given by SalakQ. The fmal column of numerals indicates the number of
verses recorded for each figure.
All these names also apply to figures in Ifa divination {Bascom 1966)
except Eji Oko {2), Ejila ~~bQra {12), and Opira {0). As in Ifa, there are
alternative names for a number of the figures, some of which are given in the
Appendix. Also in the Appendix, Table 2 presents the names of the figures
given by other Yoruba sources, and for Dahomey, Brazil, and Cuba; Table 3
presents the deities and other superhuman entities associated with the figures
by some of the same sources.
When the figure {odu) has been determined by the first toss of the
cowries, the diviner begins to recite the verses {~s~) that are associated with
it. The verses contain the predictions and the sacrifices to be made, based on
the case of a mythological client which serves as a precedent. Unless he is
stopped by the client, the diviner recites all the verses that he has learned for
that figure. As in lfa divination, it is the client who selects the verse that is
applicable to his own case. And as in lfa, more