SOURCE : Congo basket divination
One of the best known types of divination practiced by Chokwe, Lunda, Lwena/Luvale, Luchazi and others, includes the use of a basket containing numerous symbolic objects, called tupele… Such a divination basket is called ngombo ya kusekula or ya chisuka, and the tupele comprise both natural items, such as rocks, shells, parts of animals, and vegetal remains, and manufactured objects… The diviner tosses the tupele in the basket a number of times (Fig. 2) and interprets the configuration of the pieces that settle near the front rim.(Fig. 3) The interpretation acquires its authority from the diviner’s reputation and the… the diviner’s tutelary spirit (a venerable ancestor)…
Symbolically, a divination basket is considered a microcosm of life and it may be further empowered by means of applied or attached substances and materials (earths, animal pelts, supernatural medicines, etc.), meant to enhance the diviner’s abilities to “see” the hidden truth/s of cases brought to him…
