Insight and Artistry in African Divination

"Focusing on the role of artistry in African divination rituals, this book's fifteen essays by leading scholars reveal the similarities and differences in the practices of a wide range of sub-Saharan cultures. While suggesting that a shared tradition underlies the religious and artistic expressions of the Yoruba, Luba, Chokwe, Yaka, Pende, Punu, Guro, and other peoples of the region, the contributors also document variation in words, sounds, and gestures as well as in the ritual artifacts themselves - not only from one divination system to another but also within individual communities."--BOOK JACKET.