"Now that we know, what do we do?"
Divination among the Birifor of northwest Ghana
A story of five cowries

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1. Introduction

"Within any cultural domain more or less demarcated in time and space, and endowed with meaning within that domain, divination might be defined as the entire set of procedures intended to acquire knowledge which is of a supernatural nature or which is otherwise not available through everyday means such as are based upon direct sensory perception" (van Binsbergen 1995:114).

This thesis is about divination practices among the Birifor of northwest Ghana. I will seek to show how the Birifor use divination as a way of obtaining understanding of their world and consequently how they seek to acquire strategies for action, often in the face of adversity and uncertainty. I want to address divination as a system of knowledge and as a method for deciphering the symbolic cosmic system, which is personified in the spiritual pantheon of their religion. Consequently, as regards the discussion of Birifor society and culture, the main focus will be on the religious universe because the divination practice is deeply embedded in the symbolic background of the various spirits and shrines. I will discuss the main theoretical aspects of divination studies and especially those presented by R. Devisch and then I will try and combine them with my ethnographic data on Birifor divination as a quest for an emergence of meaning in a world that sometimes seems to be devoid of that. By focusing on the practical method of divination, which can be called the protocol, I will address the emergence and by looking at the etiological context, I want to address the meaning of the revelations of the diviners. In addition, it will become apparent that Birifor divination plays a significant role in articulating the cultural values of Birifor society as well as emphasising its core idioms and norms. But now I will discuss divination in general terms and by that try to cast some light on what divination is.

1 Divination

Divination as it is and as it has been practiced across the world through time takes countless forms. Almost everything that can register change, movement and patterning is applied in a way where randomised procedures and chance generating operations are utilised together with some form of "interpretative catalogue" (van Binsbergen 1995:115). Intuitive ('non-rational') modes of accessing information are combined with logical/rational/analytical procedures, which differ methodologically from the Western scientific tradition, which seeks to maintain the separation between these two modes of inquiry (Peek 1991:3). Everything from natural objects (e.g. stones, cowries, leaves, movement of animals or clouds, etc.) to cards (e.g. the Tarot), books (e.g. the Koran, I Ching) or celestial bodies (astrology), is used in the endlessly varied divinatory practices around the world, whereby humans seek answers to the infinite mysteries of their existence. This practice is known to have taken place in most cultures since pre-historic times in one form or another, and it does not seem to be on the decrease.

An example of a widespread method of divination in present day Western society is astrology, which is a very old model of inquiry, with its roots reaching at least back to ancient Mesopotamia, and which can be said to be the distant predecessor of modern science (such as mathematics and astronomy). In its modern form, it combines computer technology (with the empirical data used, the positions of the planets, calculated with the utmost scientific exactitude) with intuitive interpretations (based, however, on "bookknowledge" as well as on experience), and the modern astrologer's clients are from all walks of life, not least middle class and educated people. This shows, among other things, that humans continue to experience their world as uncertain and unpredictable despite the scientific and technical (so-called) certainties of modern industrial/informational society and that they still need (if not more than ever) counselling, whether from a psychiatrist or an astrologer or a financial adviser. Even the stock markets use astrologers when making decisions about important investments or other moves. This shows that to claim divination to be an expression of the 'primitive mind' or a vestige of times past is thoroughly redundant. Man's need to inquire, to probe beneath appearances and to obtain order and certainty (however illusory that might or might not be) in an ultimately chaotic world has not diminished with increased technological and scientific knowledge and 'certitude'. I dare claim that we do not know more about the workings of our life-patterns - call it 'fate' if you like - than did our remote ancestors. These patterns are just as mysterious and frightening for 'modern' man as ever before. One thing that modernity has bred is excessive increase in the complexities of life, not merely the material aspects, but more importantly the sphere of human relations, what we call society. Therefore, divination offers not only an interesting study in connection with preliterate or so-called 'primitive' societies and cultures, but it can also provide interesting insight into the workings of the so-called 'modern mind', if such a distinction makes sense at all. But that will not be the focus here; instead I will try to look at divination as an act rather than fact and as a ritual in its own right rather than as a means to an end. Having said that, divination, like other activities of ritual nature, is inevitably tied up with the social and cultural matrix of a given society as a regulative and socially reproductive practice, which should not need to overshadow the divinatory ritual itself as a meaningful and purposeful act in its own right (De Boeck and Devisch 1994).

1.2. The focus
As the title of this thesis indicates, the main themes that I will try to focus on are how people extract meaning from situations of misfortune and uncertainty. This entails the initial enquiry and the understanding of situations as well as meaningful responses to adversity, contingency and crisis. This can be put forth in a two-fold manner: the divinatory protocol (Devisch 1999), and the etiology of affliction (Devisch 1991; Fortes 1987; Goody 1962; Jackson 1989; Whyte 1997). The "emergence" is linked to the divinatory protocol, i.e. the performance of the divination itself and how it brings about a transformation in the awareness of the client of his/her situation. This constitutes the method and the technique of drawing hidden information to the surface. It includes questions of communication, between diviner and client, between diviner and the various spirits (who can be seen as constituting symbolic systems or idioms), and finally, the communication between diviner and client on the one hand and the occult agencies on the other. The divinatory protocol is concerned with the various processual aspects of divination: the basic method, how the communication takes place, how the diviner shifts from one agency to another in his search for meaningful clues, and how the cosmic world-view of the Birifor provides an explanatory background onto which the problems at hand can be referred to and clarified by. In addition, the divinatory protocol is concerned with the structure of the oracular process, and its different phases (this can be seen as a three-fold sequence a la van Gennep (1960) and Turner (1967, 1969)). The "meaning" relates to the etiology of misfortune and affliction, which entails questions of fate or destiny in relation to free will and room for action. The "emergence" is concerned with the "how" of the problem, while the "meaning" is concerned with the "why", as well as the "how to", or "what to do" (a common expression during Birifor divination sessions is: "now that we know, what do we do?"). It has to do with the purpose and outcome of the divination - what it is that people seek from it, i.e. the meaning of the affliction causing trouble and consequently what meaningful action to take as a response. It looks at questions concerning the workings of irrepressible forces influencing peoples' lives, forces usually labelled fate or destiny and how people intend to deal with these forces (Fortes 1959, 1987; Jackson 1989: chapter three). People frequently experience situations beyond their power to control or change, but it is in their power to react in a meaningful way, provided they are aware of what the situation is telling them. To do so, the experience of affliction must be seen as meaningful - painful as it can be - and the divination session is where that meaning is contextualised. One important factor emerging from the divination sessions is that in order to counteract misfortune, people have to be conscious of their overall situation. They have to possess awareness of self and others and pay attention to their web of relations in a general sense - personal, social and not least extra-social, or occult relations. If the household head is not aware of what is going on in his house, he is more liable to misfortunes; the same applies if one is unaware of ones own affairs and actions. Thus ignorance and lack of awareness tend to invite unfortunate events. In this field of causes and consequences, the religious system of the Birifor constitutes a conceptual framework and a symbolic system, which helps people to orient themselves by acting as an explanatory paradigm. This framework also aids people in organising and simplifying complex situations and structure the flow of life in a chaotic world. In the divination sessions, this symbolic framework is "de-coded" and comes to life and paves the way for a strategy for understanding and action. Importantly, it is underlined by past experience - tradition and custom, and thus it embraces past, present and future.

According to Tengan (2000:75), the Dagara (and the Birifor) … "view the ordering of the cosmos as a concrete process of ordering the environment in terms of locations consisting of farms, homesteads, village stead, the bush, hills, rivers etc., and of dealing concretely with atmospheric conditions as personified agencies", agencies that are seen to share their space with humans. The tangible focal points in this cosmic ordering are the various shrines that are seen as personifications of this order - with a clear correspondence between the mundane, natural world and the cosmic, occult one. In a similar manner, Devisch (1991:112 ff.) shows how people refer problematic situations to a "higher-order system of values and norms" during divination sessions and thus open up ways for a meaningful interpretation of the situation, or as he puts it: "By referring to a higher-order axiological principle or axiomatic etiological model, the oracle brings about the meaning that surpasses conventional conceptualisation and popular cause-effect reasoning. It gives way to a structural causality instead of a linear one" (124). In Birifor divination, the shrines/spirits can be seen as parts of an "axiomatic etiological model", or explanatory background. Certain types of problems in particular areas of life are referred to certain shrines and in that way mundane complications are projected upon the screen of cosmic order and thus obtaining clearer perspective. Seen in this way, the divination process is an abstraction or extrapolation of mundane problems into a cosmic scheme, or order. Problems concerning the matriclan are referred to the "spirits beneath" (tibe) and "house" (yir) problems (i.e. patrilineal problems) are referred to the ancestral shrines (san), which are personifications of a complex web of issues. By offering sacrifices and performing other rituals, such as divination, people show that they are actively engaged in influencing their lives (fates/destinies) in a creative way by dialogic exchange with the powers that be (shrines/spirits). By entering into active negotiations with the occult agencies - some of who represent the working of fate/destiny - as well as by "living the good life" (i.e. by proper conduct, according to ancestral codes), the Birifor belief that they can influence their life to some extent. This indicates pro-active as well as protective attitude to the flow of life. Misfortune continues to afflict people and explanations must be sought and questioning is constantly pursued. Explanatory models exist and they are put into practice in the divinatory protocol, from the initial enquiry to the conclusive sacrifice, and this process is endowed with meaning - latent and patent. This has wide ranging and deep implications that must be seen in the context of the environmental, social and religious predicament of Birifor society and culture, since the meaning of both the cause of affliction and the solution are to be found in that context. Framed in occult and mystical notions, the cause and the outcome are ultimately rooted in the harsh conditions of the life-world of the Birifor and have to be related to that fact.

1.3. Theories
I want to begin by presenting a short overview of the main divination studies since Evans- Pritchard's work on the Azande (1937) and up till today. Divination studies during the few decades after that groundbreaking work emphasised the role and function of divination in the maintenance of the social system and its values. The focus was on the role of divination in the socio-religious system (Fortes 1987), underlining the legal, legitimating, judicial and moral aspects. This angle was expressed by a number of writers (Fortes 1987; Goody 1962; Mendonsa 1982; Meyer 1991; Park 1963; Turner 1975), with Fortes, Goody and Turner also focusing on the psychological and therapeutical properties of divination and its ability to help decision-making. Turner can be seen as connecting the traditional functionalist view to later approaches emphasising the meaning-making aspect of divination and its "internal-semantic" side (Devisch 1985). Turner addressed the power of divination to bring symbolic interpretations of hidden tensions and unconscious motives, yet he saw it primarily as a phase in the social process and as a form of social analysis and redress.

Eventually, the focus began to shift towards the communicative and cognitive side of divination, stressing the subjective, phenomenological and performative aspects of the divination itself and the diviners, and especially the diviner-client dialogic interaction (Werbner 1973, 1989; Parkin 1991; Peek et al. 1991). This approach looked at the semantics and the ambiguity of divination performances and led to focusing on the transforming power of the diviner-client dialogue and the negotiations of social realities implicated. Communication also entailed the question of the relationship of knowledge and power, as between generations and between the sexes. Fortes (1987: chapter one) and Mendonsa (1982) had addressed the dimension of power in divination practices and Shaw (1985, 1991) together with Whyte (1991, 1997) focused on the construction of social identities and strategies in gender relations. Jackson (1989: chapter four) underlined the role of the diviner as mediator between different fields of relationships (involving humans, spirits, ancestors, animals, etc.). From this position, the diviner ritualises the passage from inaction to action by objectifying the situation of the client. Here, the focus is on the subjectivity and experiential aspect of divination and its meaningful problemsolving property.

In a similar way, Devisch (1985, 1991, 1994, 1999) advocates what he calls the semantic-praxiological approach, which is concerned with the transformational and performative side of ritual praxis. Like Turner, he addressed the process of revealing social, moral and physical forces underlying afflictions but he wanted to shift the balance from the idea of divination as social engineering toward its "world-making" aspect (1994). Thus, Devisch emphasised divination as an act, rather than fact. Also, he stressed the importance of liminality in the divination practice, a state where decisions are made by re-viewing the problem in light of new objectified knowledge.

Devisch (1985:51 ff.) talks about three main categories: 'interpretative', 'mediumistic', and 'oracular interpretative' types of divination. Accordingly, the interpretative type has an external (visible) form and can be seen to resemble formal logic as a rational method. Applying this method, the diviner uses standardised vehicles, such as natural or artificial objects (cowries, coins, stones, nuts, etc.) and the fall of the objects produces configurations, which the diviner then can interpret according to more or less standardised rules. An example of this is the Ifa system of the Yoruba (Bascom 1969), the I Ching, the Pa divination system of Nigeria (Danfulani 1995) and assorted tablet divination systems (van Binsbergen 1995). This type is an integral part of the Birifor method (casting cowries).

Mediumistic divination is less clear-cut and 'logical', because it refers to 'mystical' agencies and is thus to be seen as based on subjective value judgements and therefore 'irrational' as well as having the propensity to exploit the gullibility of the client. What is essential in mediumistic divination is the change in consciousness of the diviner/medium during the session. An example of this type of divination is the method of the Atout of Sudan (Burton 1991:41-52), the Yaka of Zaire (Devisch 1991:112-132) and the Nyole of Uganda (Whyte 1991:151-172, 1997), who also use "Arabic book divination".

The third category, according to Devisch, is oracular-interpretative divination, which is often seen as irrational, esoteric and superstitious. In this type of divination, oracular mediums intervene without possessing the diviner with a specialist using standardised procedures to interpret them. The diviner then manipulates the divinatory apparatus by asking yes or no questions, whereby he attains univocal answers. Ndembu basket divination (Turner 1975) and the Zande poison oracle (Evans-Pritchard 1937) are examples of this type. The divination method of the Birifor can easily be placed in this category, since one of two main procedures applied is the moving of the held hands (the diviner's left and the client's right) as they respond to the questions put forward by the diviner, with the answers being mostly of the yes/no type. When information has been received in this manner, they are confirmed by the tossing of a various number of cowries, a procedure akin to Devisch's interpretative type and thus demonstrating the combination of different categories of divination in one method.

Thus Devisch (1985:54) positions and compares (two) different approaches, the external structural-functionalist and the internal semantic. The former approach addresses the effect of divination on the social-cultural order, not least relations of power within that order. It also focuses on the effect of communication and cognitive processes on this social-cultural order and its relationships. The latter approach looks at the dynamics of the creative performances of the divination sessions, where the participants negotiate the meaning of the situation and re-define it, while they look for new possibilities for action. According to Devisch, these two approaches (structural-functionalist and semantic, semiotic) need not necessarily be seen as mutually exclusive. By seeking to unify these different views, he defines divination as: "…psychodrama; an instrument of control and social integration; a rational handling of the mysteries of life and a dramaturgical reinforcing of the social and cultural norms and values of the group; a performative creation of a significant reality in its own right, not seen primarily as functionally linked to a problem or a need" (54). Thus, Devisch seeks to integrate these different approaches, and by doing so, he introduces his concept of the praxeological approach.

Despite seeking to unite, or synthesise, the external and the subjective, Devisch's approach is essentially subject-oriented, with emphasis on the diviner(s), the client(s) and their interaction in the divinatory process. Thus central to this approach is the "… purposeful articulation of meaning…more precisely the praxis" (Devisch 1985:77). What is important is the ability of divination to bring forth change and transition from one condition to another - of individuals and groups. Divination, seen is this way, gives new meaning and content to relationships that have been troubled by conflicts, and through the divinatory performance the relationship and its contents are regenerated and transformed by the interaction of the actors involved (De Boeck and Devisch 1994:128).

The microcosm and the macrocosm; the particular and the universal; the above and the below; the world of humans and the world of spirits - they are brought together by the divination ritual. The complex network of interrelations between different worlds - of spirits, ancestors, humans, and beings of the wild - that ultimately share the same world - is mediated by the practice of the diviner. Thus the diviner is 'caught' (cf. Birifor diviners initially being 'caught' by the bush spirits, the kontome, to become diviners) in the middle of this network - like a spider weaving multiple threads of destinies and solutions - the spider often being an incarnation of the trickster figure, who is almost an universal attribute of divination (Pelton 1980). It can be said that at the center of this web lies the main focus of divination and the diviner, whose role it is to sort out the different threads and tie them into a meaningful knot or pattern. Like the trickster, perpetually trespassing boundaries between center and periphery, disturbing settled order - like a weaver operating on a cosmic loom, he ties together disparate threads and connects different worlds, and creates unifying meaning, insight and knowledge.

1.4. Method
Getting there - into the unknown

The manner of journeying to my location of research was in many ways akin to divination practices - with unknown destination, much questioning and searching leading in the end to a definite outcome with the help of powers beyond my control. Before I arrived in Ghana, the only contact I had in by bag was the people (Dr. Jon Kirby et. al) at TICCS (Tamale Institute of Cross Cultural Studies) in Tamale, the regional capital of Northern Region of Ghana. I had contacted them by e-mail several times from Copenhagen and they had promised to help me with local contacts. Other than that, the only thing I knew was that I was going to travel somewhere to the northwest of Ghana to find a people called Lobi. I had no contacts in "Lobiland" and I was not sure exactly where I was heading - the only thing I knew was that I was just going to follow my nose. As fate would have it, I was introduced to a Birifor linguist who happened to be at the TICCS at that time, who provided me with contacts to two men in "Birifor country" - one in the roadside town of Tuna and another in the big hinterland village of Kalba, places I had never heard of. After a week's stay I took a bumpy bus ride from Tamale to the northwest and eventually met the two men, who ended up being my friends and the one in Kalba became my host and companion as well as my assistant/interpreter. When I had been provided with a place to stay and been introduced to most of the prominent persons in Kalba I could begin putting my head to the "how" and "why" of the Birifor world and set out to do some fieldwork.

The main fieldwork method was the traditional anthropological one of participantobservation - in itself a mystical notion - since it seems to be rather difficult to observe (an objective act) and participate (a subjective act) at the same time - assuming that the observer/participant/anthropologist will have to shift between observing and participating. Another method was interviewing local people about various subjects, sometimes in English, but often through an interpreter, using a notebook or a small recorder - since my knowledge of the Birifor language did not reach much beyond the regular greetings, mostly due to the short period of time among the Birifor. Finally, I have tried to fill in unavoidable gaps from diverse literary sources, written by people who stayed for longer periods in the area than I did.

There were of course a few practical and methodological problems, which were not easy to overcome. To begin with (besides the obvious one of the language barrier), at the time of my arrival, the wet season was culminating - the Black Volta had flooded much of the area, and the day before I left Tuna for Kalba, the river had completely demolished the road - and since the wet season is also the farming season, most people were on the farms from dawn to dusk, and the villages were almost empty of people. A similar situation is recorded by Barley (1983:51) and Jackson (1989:159), where the latter writes that "…with the coming of the rains, when roads in northern Sierra Leone become impassable and the demands of farm work leave villagers no time for talking to an anthropologist…". I could write northern Ghana instead of northern Sierra Leone - it was exactly the same situation. Consequently, the people I had first and foremost come to find, the diviners, were totally absent, since they are ordinary farmers like everyone else, and they had left their houses before dawn. Also, as I soon found out, they initially viewed me and my intentions with suspicion - they found it unlikely that a white man coming from Europe would find their practice interesting, they were convinced that I was bound to see it as superstition and "primitive" activity. Only after some time could I convince them that it would be unlikely that I had travelled several thousand kilometres, used much money and been ready to endure the hardship of this environment (I had quickly become quite ill), only to study something I found silly - in the beginning, they just laughed when I mentioned divination. But after accepting my explanations and pleas, they finally opened up to me, so that I could witness their divination sessions, record them and take photographs, but they were very reluctant to inform me about the rules of their art or how they learned it. But now I want to discuss some facets of the method applied.

Observation and/or participation

According to Evans-Pritchard (1976:243), participant-observation should not be considered a simple matter. He writes that even though he lived like his Azande hosts and took part in most of their activities; like hunting, making pots, consulting oracles, etc., he recognised a certain degree of pretence in these attempts: "One cannot really become a Zande or a Nuer or a Bedouin Arab…In any case one always remains oneself…a member of one's own society…". He also emphasised the importance of "sufficient mastery" of the local language as an important prerequisite for any effective participation in the life of the hosts (251). Consequently, if that is not the case, everything will be more or less filtered through the eyes, ears, mouths and minds of others, which will certainly distort important aspects of many activities, especially religious and/or occult rituals, such as divination, which in many cases are put forward in a more or less cryptic manner (even for many of the local people).

The objectivity of the observer is unavoidably based on his/her pre-programmed knowledge and pre-conceived attitudes and prejudices, and his/her pre-conditioned structures of thought and perception based on where he/she comes from (Bourdieu's habitus, if you like). The subjectivity of the participant, participating in activities of an alien culture, is still embedded in the conditions of his/her objectivity, in the historical and conceptual structures of his/hers own cultural background, thus this subjectivity can never be entirely subjective, and as Evans-Pritchard put it, it will always have some degree of pretence about it.

Michael Jackson (1989:51-52) discusses this problem in relation to his thoughts on the divinatory practices of the Kuranko of Sierra Leone, where he points to the contradictory nature of the methodology of participant-observation, stating that observing and participating can only be done separately or successively, since the two produce different kinds of data; objective and subjective, respectively. Consequently, the presumed objectivity has no objective status, "it is as much a performed, socially constituted attitude as the notion of pure subjectivity" (51), and then he goes on to liken this methodology to the practice of divination, wherein the aspect of indeterminacy and ambiguity are always present, but where the anthropologist or the diviner seek to reduce this factor by finding the experiential basis of their respective search.

In my own case, I did considerable more observing than participating, at least participating in any serious and meaningful way, as said earlier, mainly because of language barriers. I participated in the more mundane activities of the people, especially of the men, and I hung out with them in the evening, drinking pito, the ever-present guinea corn beer, eating and sharing the food with them, talking about the ways of the world, attending the (five-days-interval) market in Kalba, attending funerals, and so on. I also collected detailed recipes of the main meals, as well as of brewing pito, both activities entirely in the hands of women - accompanied by photos of every step on the way of making a meal and brewing beer. But I seldom participated in their rituals, and when I did - I was, as an example, once initiated into the patrilineage of my host, the Daryirdeme lineage (an example of "fictive kinship") and its totemic sect, that of the snail - I did not understand much of what was going on or said during the performance. Trying to participate - like sacrificing fowls, breaking their legs and wings for symbolic protection, drinking special ritual pito mixed with blood from the fowls I sacrificed, and eating specially prepared meal (containing ash and cooked liver from "my" sacrificial fowls) for the newly initiated - I found myself mostly observing and trying to get the heads and tails of what was going on - yet participating in this way made me feel like I was literally incorporating some aspects of this ritual of Birifor culture.

Interviews and interpreters

During my stay among the Birifor, I conducted many interviews, formal as well as informal, on a vide variety of subjects, the majority on matters pertaining to divination and the religious aspects of Birifor culture. Some were conducted in English, especially when talking to the young, most of who are reasonable educated and fluent in English. Most of them are Catholics and some of the things they told me about were something they had heard from their parents or grandparents, i.e., they did not have a direct, or emic, relationship with the subject, yet some of these individuals had been initiated into some of the traditional cults. Being Catholics certainly influenced their view on the traditional deities and other aspects of the religion of their ancestors, especially the creator god, and his importance in the scheme of things. But when talking to the older people, many of who did not speak or understand English, I had to rely on my assistant/interpreter (who's English was excellent), and when inquiring about traditional religious or spiritual matters, I often had the feeling that there was quite a long line from my source to my notebook or recorder, i.e., I often suspected the person I was asking (e.g., the Earth priest, whom I often talked to) did not quite understand the finer aspects of my questions, presumably because my interpreter did not do that either - which was probably just as much my own fault. It is also possible that my western bias towards systematising the traditional pantheon created some misunderstandings in the way things were presented. These are educated guesses, but I often strongly had the feeling that this was the case.

Recording alien divinatory language and making sense of it all

When translating the recordings of the divination sessions it was unavoidable that some of the nuances of what was being said would become blurred - due to the fact that the diviners frequently used specialised language and metaphors, and because there were some conceptual barriers between the "theological" views of the diviners (who were all traditionalists, or "pagan") and my interpreter who is a Catholic (yet he had been initiated in most traditional cults as a young boy). Translating the sessions was a difficult and long process - translating an hour and a half session could take more than a day or two, sometimes longer (trying to keep the noisy pigs, goats and guinea fowls at bay while listening to the tapes). Since these transcriptions are the main data of my study, this obviously poses a methodological problem, which I will have to live with.

In short, the main methodological hurdles and limiting factors were the language barrier, the wet season and the limited time of my stay among the Birifor, all somewhat connected to one another. Also, one thing that affected my work (although hardly directly classifiable as a "methodological problem") was periods of severe health problems, where I was virtually unable to do anything. I can imagine that this is not an uncommon condition among field working anthropologists in similar environments. In addition, I often wondered if the fact that my assistant/interpreter was the assemblyman (an elected political office accountable to the government in Accra) in Kalba, where I stayed, and that his position possibly might have influenced the course of some of the divination sessions, especially if the client's problem was of a sensitive nature. It must be remembered that the lives of most of the people are tightly interwoven, since most of them have kinship ties and since many of the problems were "house problems", either between members of a household or between households or lineages in the area. Another problem was that I often had to wait for the diviners to receive clients, like a hunter waiting for his prey, because clients would often visit them without a warning, i.e., without having made arrangement for the consultation, making all that business highly unpredictable, and this often forced me to ignore other things.

So, to summarise, the methodological factors are a mixture of the objective/subjective dilemma of participant-observation, language barriers and limitations, uncontrollable factors like unfavourable seasonal climate, health problems, as well as limited time span of my fieldwork, the length of fieldwork time probably having considerable effect on most of these factors. The "non-pretence" element of participation is most likely proportional to increased time span of fieldwork, which also should improve linguistic competence and general practical social and cultural skills in living (and participating) in a given alien culture, thus enabling one to become a bit more subjective.

1.5. Outline of the chapters

After the Introduction (1), the focus will be on the Birifor as people and the territory that they inhabit (2). This chapter is concerned with the geographical and ethnic landscape of Birifor area in Ghana, the latter being a bit complex, as well as the general history. I present the social organisation of the Birifor: the kinship system, the political organisation, and most importantly the traditional religious ideas and practices, since the cosmological ideas of the Birifor have an all-encompassing role in the practice of divination - one aspect being impossible to address without the other. Next, the divination practice itself will be addressed (3). This chapter looks at the interplay between the Birifor and their environment and the difficulties that this relationship creates - production and reproduction problems, diseases, etc. - and the causal explanations people pursue in their quest for assurance and security. Here I will look at some etiological models presented by Devisch (1991), Goody (1962) and Whyte (1997) concerned with the 'why' and 'how' of the testing predicament of life. I will present in some details the practical and technical aspects of Birifor divination from the point of view of the Birifor in the area of research. I will present the diviner, his position and the nature of his practice. The divination process will be analysed, its form, phases and content, and this will be done with references to the divination sessions. I will venture to analyse the divination process in some detail and depth. In doing so, will try to use some of the theoretical ideas of Devisch as well as others to shed some light on the deeper aspects of the divinatory procedure. In doing so I will want to focus on the interplay, or mirroring, of mundane and occult, or cosmological factors, or on what Devisch calls 'structural causality', by which he means the extrapolation of mundane, everyday afflictions upon the 'screen' of a supernatural system - being the shrines and spirits. This is a system that acts as an ordering and clarifying frame of reference and thus it helps people to understand their situation and lay out plans for action. In the sessions, there are constant references to the various shrines and spirits and they will be addressed as 'personified agencies' (Tengan 2000) and as focal interfaces between the parallel worlds of humans and occult forces - this interface being a liminal space where the negotiations over fate and destiny can take place - liminality being the sphere of change and transformation. In trying to illuminate this I will refer extensively to the transcripts of the divination sessions. Underlying all of this seems to be the (necessity of the) awareness and realisation of the interconnectedness and unity of all aspects of life - patent and latent - and the necessity of this awareness for being better equipped to deal with that which the 'fates' throw at us. Finally, I will collect the main threads of this thesis in the concluding chapter (4), where I will try to draw a picture of the divination practices of the Birifor in a wholesome way.

2. The Birifor

2.1. The place and the people

The area of my fieldwork was in the northwest corner of Ghana, where the borders of Burkina Faso, Cote d´Ivoire and Ghana meet, with the Black Volta River defining this border. The village of Kalba, where I stayed during my fieldwork, is in the Bole district, also called Western Gonja. It is in the northwest corner of the Northern Region of Ghana, with the town of Bole as its administrative centre. This area is grassland savannah, with high grass and scattered fire resistant trees - the most characteristic being the baobab tree.

In the wet season (saasong), which is from April/May to October/November, the high grass of the bush alternates with the green farms, where crops - mainly maize, guinea corn, millet, yam, groundnuts, beans, and a few others are grown. In the dry season (uon), from October/November to April/May, the grass withers and the bush is burned, leaving the landscape bare and desolate. The appearance of the land changes dramatically with this seasonal change: in the wet season, the rain pours down heavily and the Black Volta floods much of its surrounding area, whereas in the dry season - which is heralded by the Harmattan (sesebe song), a hot, dry and dusty wind from the Sahara - most of the smaller waterways dry up and the land becomes barren and dusty. This seasonal rhythm determines the social and economic activities of the population to a great extent. During the wet season, people are busy farming from dawn to dusk, whereas the dry season is a period of increased social and ritual activities. At the start of the dry season, men can be seen repairing the houses that were damaged by the rains, an activity heralding the harvest of the guinea corn, and the end of the farming season. When the guinea corn has been stored in the granaries, social intercourse steadily gains momentum throughout the region with its rituals and festivals.

2.2. History

The West African savannah has for long been occupied by loosely organised segmentary, state-less groups like the Dagara/Birifor, as well as by more centralised chiefdoms based on conquest and involvement with the trans-Sahara trade routes, not least slave trading. The less organised societies never had the military ability to counter these chiefdoms, so they had mainly two options: to become integrated as "commoners" (especially through inter-marriage), or seek to avoid the power of these chiefdom states (Evans 1983:78 ff.). Some of the acephalous groups in the area became integrated into the state systems of the Dagbon, Mamprusi, Wa, Mossi or Gonja, but some, like the Tallensi and the Dagara/Birifor have resisted and tried to maintain their independence. The Birifor have tried - and not entirely unsuccessfully - to avoid the domination of both indigenous state powers such as Wa, and especially Gonja, as well as the rule of European colonisers. According to Rattray (1932: xii), the peoples of the (then called) Northern Territories of the Gold Coast (present day Ghana) belonged to two groups: those who claimed to be the autochthonous inhabitants and those who claimed to be descendants of invaders from outside the area, notably from the north east of the region. The invaders were more organised and better armed than the autochthonous peoples, and they were familiar with the idea of kingship and/or chieftainship, and many of them were Muslims. The newcomers imposed their political system upon the segmentary societies they were conquering, but as a rule (the Dagomba to the east being an exception), they allowed the indigenous institution of the custodian of the earth to continue as a religious-ritual office, while the invaders had the secular ruling in their hands. In most cases, the invaders came to adopt the language of the aborigines, as well as many of their customs.

This is the most common story. The migration history of the Dagare-speakers is mostly shrouded in obscurity. One theory is that their ancestors were a splinter group from either the Mossi or the Dagomba (or both), who moved into the present area and assimilated (or became assimilated by) earlier settlers and/or new arrivals. Another theory postulates that they, along with the Mossi, the Dagomba, the Kusasi, the Frafra, the Mamprusi, and others, are directly descended from a common ancestor ethnolinguistic group, the Mabia (Bodomo 1997). Thus the ancestry, or migration history of the Dagarespeakers is rather elusive, and as pointed out by Lentz (1994), this history is to a great extend based on (mythic) stories of migration, made as charters of (and claims to) land and/or office, and thus concerned with boundaries and political rights, as well as identifying relations between neighbours, and between "landowners" and "late-comers". This can clearly been seen in the relationship between the Gonja (landowners) and the Birifor (late-comers) in Western Gonja (Evans 1983). This ethnic history has thus often been made on the background of unclear and shifting boundaries, culturally and linguistically, as well as on a fluid sense of being homogeneous "tribes" (Lenz 1994:468- 9). In the same vein, Bodomo (1997) points out that the various Dagare dialects gradually shade into one another, making it almost impossible to draw clear lines between the different dialects or cultural characteristics.

However this might have been, the Voltaic peoples have been migrating across the region for a long time, mainly because of ecological and social pressure: slave-raids, inter- and intra-warfare or shortage or exhaustion of farmland (Goody 1993:51-55). The slave trade had considerable effect on the demography, as did the trade between the coast and the north of Africa. The traders were mainly Muslims and they established special trading quarters in towns along the trade routes. The contact between these centres and the surrounding hinterland was for the most part limited to commercial exchange (and still is). The population of the hinterland was predominantly "pagan", or traditionalist, with Christianity first having made inroads in the wake of the European colonisers. According to Der (1980:178), Christianity arrived in this area in 1929 with father McCoy, who opened a mission in Jirapa.

As one of these hinterland peoples, the Birifor have to some extent adopted Christianity - and to a far lesser extent Islam, though in most cases without abandoning 18 their traditional beliefs, and even today many Birifor communities seem surprisingly little touched by western influence. Traditional religion is still practiced in most of the more isolated settlements, as are the "old" ways of life, social and technological. Whether this is due to lack of material resources or poverty, or to "cultural conservatism" and resistance to change will be left open to question. People seem to be pragmatic and eclectic in their attitude towards Christianity (or Islam), and many link Christianity and the church with money and material gain, schools and education, and so on, and rightly so. One example of the religious eclecticism is the earth priest (tingaansuo) in the village of Saru, which is on the bank of the Volta. He is a Catholic as well as the custodian of the river shrine (naaman) in Saru, which is the main river shrine in the area. Nobody seemed to have any problems with that.

Thus despite long-time contact to, and interaction with "foreign" peoples, both regional and European, through trade and religion, the majority of the Birifor have stayed surprisingly "traditional" and Evans (1983) has suggested that one reason might be the strong spirit of independence and anti-authoritarianism, which seems to be a continuing factor in the make up of the Birifor.

2.3. Ethnics

This region is populated by a number of ethnic groups, having, as already said, more or less two types of socio-political organisations. First, there are the so called stateless, or acephalous tribes, whose social organisation is based primarily on descent and gerontocracy, and who do not traditionally have any definite institutions of central authority; and second, there are the state-like, hierarchically organised chiefdoms, with a system of paramount chiefs and sub-chiefs. The chiefdoms, in this region, those of Gonja and Wa, consider themselves to be the rulers and owners of their respective territories, a view not easily shared with the acephalous peoples, who co-habit the land with the former. One of the stateless peoples in the region is the Birifor, with whom we will be concerned here. The Birifor belong to a linguistic and ethnic continuity of rather loosely definable groups - Dagara, Dagaba, Wala, Wiili, Birifor and the non-Dagare-speaking Lobi - who live on either side of the Black Volta, in the north west of Ghana, Cote d ´Ivoire and Burkina Faso. These groups are very similar, ethnically and culturally, as well as linguistically (they all speak closely related dialects of Dagare, except the Lobi, who speak Lobiri, an unrelated language). These groups are similar enough to be regarded as one ethnic group consisting of a few sub-groups.

To the south and south east of the Birifor in Ghana are the Gonja, who, like the Wala to the north (around the town of Wa), have a state-like system of chiefs, and who have had, and still have a very tense relationship with the Birifor (Evans 1983). One small group, the Batige, who are considered the autochthonous population of the Kalba area, live in two small settlements close to Kalba.

According to Bodomo, Dagare has been classified as member of the Oti-Volta group of the Gur branch of the Niger-Congo language family (Oti-Volta has also been called Mossi and Mole-Dagbane). The total number of Dagare speakers in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cote d´Ivoire is estimated to be more than one million and the Birifor speakers in Ghana are between 65,000 and 70,000. The Birifor dialect has been classified by Bodomo as Western Dagare, since the people speaking it originated (recently) west of the Black Volta. There is definitely no general agreement upon Bodomo´s theory, a situation, which only perpetuates the discussion (or "academic term-creation") of what to call this people and the attempts at "homogenisation" of the ethno-linguistic complexity of the region.

2.4. Kalba

Kalba was established as a settlement at the end of World War I by a group of Birifor crossing the Black Volta from the west bank in Burkina Faso, mainly from the village of Bonuba. Kalba lies about 30 km. west of Tuna, a roadside town situated on the main road leading from the south through Kumasi and north toward Wa and beyond. Kalba is the largest Birifor settlement in the area - today the population of Kalba and its satellite settlements is estimated to be somewhere between five and six thousand (it is often unclear where one settlement ends and another begins). It has an unofficial status as the Birifor "capital" in the region, a status partly due to its size and its market, and as its original focal point of Birifor migration into Western Gonja. Kalba market is held every five days, and attracts a large number of people from a wide area belonging to many different ethnic groups, who, on other occasions usually do not mix. For an excellent study of the Kalba market, see Evans (1983: chapter seven).

Kalba is the most "modernised" Birifor village in the area, despite the fact that it has no electricity, no telephone and only two water boreholes. By "modernised", I mean for example the increasing number of tin-roofed (mud-walled, cement-plastered) houses, which are slowly replacing, or should I say joining, the traditional mud houses (which dominate most of the other settlements), a few small shops, or stalls, run by some Wala traders, where a wide variety of western (eastern too - much of what is on sale is from China) goods can be found, and so on. There used to be a police station in Kalba, but there is none now - the closest one is in Tuna. Police officers can occasionally be seen on Kalba marked days together with tax collectors and sanitary inspectors - the two latter being regulars. Kalba is the primary focus of contact between the surrounding hinterland and the outside world. In addition, Kalba has the rarity (among Birifor settlements) of a clear spatial centre, the marketplace (with the market shrine, daa tii), an arrangement almost completely absent in other Birifor settlements. This absence of a spatial centre in Birifor settlements seems to reflect the similar absence of definite socio-political centre in Birifor society.

The great majority of the population in Kalba are Birifor, but a small number of other groups live in Kalba as well, mainly some Vagla (who are the indigenous people of the Tuna area), Wala and Safaliba, and a few Fulani as well, who specialise in cattle herding. These minority groups are predominantly Muslim, while the Birifor are either traditionalists or Christian (mainly Roman Catholic), or both - plus a small number of Muslims, religious praxis being pragmatic and eclectic among these people. The minority groups live mostly on the eastern edge of Kalba, close to the road, while the Birifor reside closer to the hinterland/bush toward the Black Volta, where a number of paths lead to the hinterland villages. This division comes to light on market days, where the Birifor have their stalls (mostly with raw materials and beer) on the western side of the market and the "strangers" sell their things (processed food, cooking utensils, and wide varieties of assorted 'imported' goods) closer to the road that leads from Kalba to Tuna (the only road from Kalba).

The presence in Kalba of the Catholic Church cannot be ignored. By far the largest building in the area belongs to it. Sunday services are well attended and some of the churchgoers can also be seen on other occasions participating in a traditional sacrifice or visiting a diviner (boorbro). There are two branches of Islam present in Kalba, one being the so-called "orthodox", which is traditional Islam - its members being equally eclectic and tolerant in their religious preferences as the Catholics. The other Islamic branch is the Ahmadyyah Muslims (cf. Mbiti 1989:238), who constitute a more fundamentalist attitude, not unlike the Protestants (i.e. Pentecostal, Apostolic and Evangelical). The relationship between these factions is more or less cordial, except for occasional tension between the Catholics and the Protestants, e.g., as to their relationship and attitude to the indigenous religious practices (and beer drinking) - similar tension, although more intense, exists between the two Muslim sections.

During my stay in Kalba, life in the village was very quiet, except on market days, when the place became transformed into a lively mosaic of colours, sounds and odours. Since it was the end of the wet season, most people were busy working on their farms, so there were very few people left in Kalba during the daytime, except for a few women preparing food and brewing the ever-present guinea corn beer, pito, which is the main source of independent income for the women. Pito was being brewed and drunk from dawn to dusk, and no social gathering took place without a calabash of pito or two.

2.5. Birifor life

The Birifor are agriculturalists, the main subsistence being cultivation of various crops, the most important being maize, millet, guinea corn, groundnuts, yam, beans and sweet potatoes. The cultivation of these crops takes place both on the farms or fields (farm: puo; farm in the bush: muo puo) which are situated some distance from the villages, and in gardens (s. samman puo) that surround every compound, and in the second half of the wet season these garden crops have grown well above the roofs of the houses, so in this period, the compounds are hidden behind these crops, and for a newcomer it is easy to become lost when every landmark is submerged by the crops. The planting and harvesting of these crops takes place in the wet season, from April/May to October/November. The division of labour according to gender is quite clear-cut. The men prepare the farms (still with traditional hoes), while the women do the planting at the start of the farming season as well as transporting the crops from the farms during harvesting. Men also build and repair houses, while all housework - cooking, washing, etc. is the domain of women. Women take care of children while breastfeeding, but later on, the men take their turns in looking after them to some extent. As soon as the boys are able, they start helping their fathers on the farms, and the girls learn soon enough from their mothers the sphere of their future work. The most important livestock is cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, fowls and guinea fowls.

The main stable food is maize, which is consumed in what is called TZ (tizet), which is a dish of vegetable and/or meat soup with a thick and sticky mass made of grinded and boiled maize corn. Another common dish is fufu, which is made of boiled and mashed yam eaten with spicy soup.

The traditional Birifor house (yir) has a very characteristic style, a style that is more or less uniform throughout the whole of Birifor/Dagara/Lobi territory. It is a robust and fort-like mud house, with thick walls and a strong, flat roof (gar), supported by crossbars and robust posts. The walls are built layer upon layer, and a special ceremony is performed after the completion of each layer - the houses do literally emerge from the earth on which they rest - with special food and beer being consumed after finishing each layer, combined with small offerings to a makeshift shrine in front of the entrance, which is made from twigs of a tree associated with the earth shrine (tingaan). Usually, there are no windows, but instead there are entrances (sulo) to each room from the roof, the roof being accessible by characteristic ladders made of specially cut wooden poles. The roof is used both as a workplace, where the women dry and process crops, and for social gatherings, especially in the evenings, when people often gather on the roofs to enjoy a calabash of pito or two and talk. In the dry season, it is not uncommon for people to sleep on the roofs. These traditional mud houses are still the most common ones, and in the more isolated settlements they are the only type. But tin-roofed houses are slowly becoming more common, especially in the bigger settlements and villages, like Kalba and the roadside town of Tuna. The Birifor compounds lie scattered throughout the landscape, being somewhat 50-100 metres apart from each other.

After this general introduction of the Birifor, we will now take a closer look at the various aspects of their society and culture, such as the kinship system, political organisation, and the traditional religion.

2.6. Birifor society and culture Kinship

The Birifor kinship organisation is a system of unilineal double descent with extended families; it is virilocal with inheritance being both matri- and patrilineal, and it is in every way identical to that of their western neighbours, the Lobi (Rouville 1987), and the Dagara to the north (Goody 1962, 1967). Every Birifor belongs to one of four matriclans (s. bala), and one of its sub-sections; and to one of many patriclans (s. do), and one of its sub-clans, or lineages (s. dondor, literally meaning door or doorway/gate). The matriclans are non-localised, and are scattered throughout the whole region of the Dagare-speaking congeries (and beyond), and they have no localised subdivisions. The patriclan subsections, or patrilineages, are localised, house based corporate units, grouped in "parishes" (Goody´s term), connected to an earth shrine (tingaan). Thus as opposed to the matriclans, there is a marked correspondence between residence and patriliniality, on which the household/farming group (yir) is based.

As to inheritance, what can be classified as "immovable" wealth is inherited through the patrilineage; immovable wealth being land, houses, standing crops, shrines (and ritual offices); whereas "movable" wealth - livestock, harvested crops, cash, cloths and tools - is inherited matrilineally. The children do not inherit their father but their mother's brother. Yet, ritual office and shrines (except the kontome shrines) pass from a man to his junior brother or his sons. As Goody (1967:108) points out, it could be said that patrilineal inheritance is connected to production, and matrilineal to reproduction, although that dividing line should not be drawn too definitely.

The patriclans are named corporations, tracing their descent to a founding ancestor. The patriclans and the patrilineages (or sub-sections) share a cult of ancestors (kpime, s. kpii). These cults are focused on the ancestor shrines (s. san, santii), which are kept in the entrance hall (jangpula) of the house. In addition, the patriclans and -lineages have certain protective medicine shrines (tibe, s. tii), which are connected to special clan and lineage taboos and ritual avoidance. They are especially connected to protection from witchcraft and other hostile influences, as well as having healing properties. The Mwayirdeme patrilineage of the Kankandeme patriclan has one such shrine at the house of the Kalba earth priest (tingaansuo) and this shrine is called kaa. The (traditionally) most important ritual office in Kalba (or any settlement) is the tingaansuo. This office is transmitted through the Mwayirdeme patrilineage, being the lineage of the first settlers in Kalba.

The four matriclans are called Da, Some, Hien, and Kambire. They are grouped into two pairs of joking partners (s. lorloro): Da/Some and Hien/Kambire. The Birifor share these four matriclans with all Dagara groups, as well as their western neighbours in Burkina Faso and the Cote d´Ivoire: the Lobi, the Gan, the Dorossie and the Dian, thus creating kinship ties across ethnic and national boundaries over a large area. This joking relationship is of a social, political and ritual nature, and is pacifying rather than aggressive, diffusing rather than supporting. In ritual context, this relationship can, as an example, operate in cancelling an oath or a curse; or at funerals, to diffuse the emotional tension of those grieving (of an opposing joking clan), often by acting in a bizarre manner, like ridiculing the bereaved or insulting the corps (Goody 1962, 1967:81-82). Joking partners sometimes make personal sacrifices for each other and they are especially important as intermediaries between people and the bush spirits (kontome, s. kontom). Both patri- and matriclans are non-exogamous, while the patrilineages are exogamous. The matriclans are divided into sub-clans, which do not always adhere to a common ancestor or shrines, nor do they hold ritual office. These sub-clans tend to be more localised than the matriclans themselves. Each matriclan is divided into two exogamous groups, who operate as corporate units, within which movable wealth devolves (Evans 1983:31-32). The Birifor prefer cross-cousin marriage for keeping wealth within the lineage. The preferred form of cross-cousin marriage is between a man and his father sister's daughter. This norm is, however, not as common as before, and it is likely that it has contributed to increased disputes over inheritance and bridewealth among the Birifor. Bridewealth payment is done in more than one stage, and is usually first completed when the wife has born one or more children. Elopement is mostly a thing of the past (it used to be a common source of disputes) but polygamy is still widely practiced.

Politics

According to Rattray (1932:429), the Birifor ("Lober") did not have territorial chiefs (s. naa) before the arrival of the Europeans. The only office of political/ritual nature was that of the custodian of the earth (tingaansuo) and social and political coherence was mostly based on spiritual and mystical references to the earth shrine and the ancestor shrines. The institution of headman (naa) was established by the colonial rulers, and today most settlements have a naa, who is usually a junior brother of the tingaansuo. The naa does not have any definite power, his role consisting mainly of being a link to the outside world, and to settle local disagreements, but he has no authority to enforce any form of sanctions or punishments. Nevertheless, his words have considerable weight, and the respect he commands is mostly based on his person. The decision making of these offices was/is shared with the lineage elders (tingaan deme) of the settlement.

As can be seen, the distribution of power in Birifor society is highly dispersed. Also, having double descent further underlines this distribution, and, as Evans (1983:41) points out, because of the strong bond between a man's children and their maternal uncle, a man is never even a master in his own house. Likewise, the authority of the tingaansuo is not vested in himself, but in the traditions and customs that he is the guardian of. In addition, he has to share his policy making with the lineage elders of the settlement, thus underlining the collective nature of the office. Elders, custodians of earth shrines, headmen, or other lineage elders do not possess individual powers, instead the nature of their offices is collective. In addition, and importantly, the main source of authority is not with the living, but instead it is embedded in the dead forbears, in the role of ancestors, or to a lesser degree to some other non-human agencies: spirits, deities, shrines, and so on, which will be discussed in more details later.

The office of the assemblyman in Kalba was established in 1988. He is accountable to the national government in Accra, via assemblies in Bole, the district administrative centre in western Gonja (Bole District), and Tamale, the administrative capital of Northern Region of Ghana. The community elects the assemblyman, and his 26 political weight, at least in theory, seems to be similar to that of the headman. This region seems to be quite deprived of any serious involvement from the state of Ghana, economically as well as politically. The influence of the national government is not very visible, nor is the participation of the Birifor in national politics, and generally it can be said that the presence of the state is minimal in this part of the country.

Cosmology

The traditional religion of the Birifor people is highly pragmatic and action-oriented, in that it finds expression in performing various rituals on a daily basis, be it an offering of sacrifice or consulting a diviner. It is connected to the problems of everyday life; illness and death, relational conflicts and disputes, crop failures, and other misfortunate events - it is pragmatic in the sense of seeking concrete, practical results. It is based on and directed to the immediate, practical problems of the group and the relationship of the individual with it. This relationship is not limited to the living members of the group, since its dead members, the ancestors, are ever-present and interacting with the living, as are other non-human entities, such as varieties of nature spirits. A boundary between these two worlds, the living and the dead, humans and spirits, is neither obvious nor important; they are constantly interwoven, and cannot be separated nor perceived as two, but as one.

Without being specially hierarchical or organised, and practised according to the need in hand, the Birifor spiritual universe can be seen as made up of the complementary concepts of heaven and earth in the form of the rain shrine (saa, saangmin) and the earth shrine (tingaan) as general principles, together with the ancestors (kpiime) and other shrines and spirits. Also, there is the creator god, or supreme being (naangmin), who is not obviously active in the affairs of men, but is thought to rest behind everything. And although there is no clear hierarchy, one shrine (or deity: ngmin, shrine: tii) is more encompassing for the community than others, and that is the earth shrine, tingaan. Also, the ancestors (kpiime) play an all-important role, especially in lineage/family matters. And it must be added, that for the diviners (boorbro), the bush spirits (kontome), play a major role, as will be shown in more details later.

As an agricultural people, living in a society based primarily on descent and residence, the importance of land and lineage for the Birifor is paramount. The connection to the earth - as a sustainer of life and as a place of belonging - is reflected in the adherence to the tingaan, which has both strong religious and political significance. The reverence to the ancestors is practised by sacrificing (sacrifice: boor) to the ancestor shrines (s. santii). Collective (seasonal) time of the settlement, as well as the well-being, prosperity and peaceful co-existence, is focused on the tingaan. The tingaan is also important as regards land rights and land distribution, which underlines the importance of the earth priest (tingaansuo). The guidance of past experience and the importance of kinrelations as passage of time and continuity of the lineage (and a charter of its history) are concentrated in the santii.

As already mentioned, the Birifor have a concept of a supreme being, which they call naangmin. In Birifor/Dagara mythology, he is the creator of the world and everything therein, but having created the world, he left it to man to take care of his creation. He is ethically neutral and he does not deal directly with the mundane world of men, and there are no shrines in his name, nor are sacrifices offered to him, yet in many ritual and sacrificial contexts, he is addressed along with other deities. As an example, diviners sometimes address naangmin at the beginning of a divination session along with other spirits. Naangmin is generally perceived as a passive entity, an otiose god, but yet he is thought to be present in the ongoing creation of the world, which is seen as a neverending process. According to myth (WB 6053-6076), he remains hidden and invisible, keeping out of the affairs of men, so that he can go on with his work, uninterrupted (see also Kuukure 1985:48). It is possible that the importance of naangmin became more apparent by the influence of Christianity (and colonialism) in the region. It has been suggested that the indigenous clergy tried to recreate the traditional religious past, as to bring together Catholicism and indigenous notions of a supreme god and according to Hawkins (1996), the idea of a single, absolute deity, existing before the arrival of missionaries, might as much be a historical invention as the existence of chiefs before colonial rule. He even suggests that without the invention of chiefs, the supreme god would probably not have been imaginable (ibid: 233).

This issue has never been put to rest and it is not clear whether a single "High God" was inherent in the indigenous religions or whether the idea had been imported by Christian missionaries or even earlier by Muslims. In case of West Africa, it has to be taken into account that Islam has been present and practiced in the region, especially the northern part, for more than a millennium. Therefore it is logical to presume that the monotheistic ideas of Islam might have influenced the people of the region long before Europeans sat their feet there. And of course, it is also a possibility that these ideas had been present before that. But the fact remains that the Birifor do not have shrines to naangmin, nor do they sacrifice directly to him, but they do address him along with other deities and he has an important role in the Bagre myth (Goody 1972). Having said that, I will now present the various deities, shrines and spirits populating the Birifor spiritual universe in more detail, since they form an all-important background for the divination practices of the Birifor.

The earth shrine (tingaan)
The tingaan (ting: earth; gaan: skin) is the most significant focus of traditional religious and socio-political activity, and the cult of this shrine, with its ritual importance, sacrifices and prohibitions, was and still is the most important unifying factor in any Birifor settlement. The tingaan connotes the spirit of the land, the earth, its attributes are feminine and it is primarily a protective shrine. It is said to help getting good harvest and plenty of food. In case of widespread crises (epidemic, warfare, etc.) in the ritual area of the tingaan, people gather at this shrine to offer sacrifices and ask for protection. Sacrifices are frequently made to the tingaan, or on a path leading to it - depending on the gravity of the case at hand, which is something a diviner has to find out. It has some serious prohibitions attached to it, and if these are broken (especially the shedding of blood of another resident of that ritual area), it is at the cost of heavy sacrifices and a fine of money, and it is an invitation to some terrible misfortune for the perpetrator and/or his/her kin. Women, who are pre-menopause, cannot sacrifice at the tingaan, and menstruating women are prohibited from the shrine. Lost property, such as stray livestock and lost children, belong to this shrine and in former times, slaves that had escaped came under the protection and ownership of this shrine.

Every year, at end of harvest, every household in a settlement brings guinea corn, fowls and guinea corn beer (pito = daa) to the tingaan for a thanksgiving sacrifice (tingaan daa), which is conducted by the earth shrine custodian (tingaansuo). At these sacrifices, representatives of every descent group in the settlement must participate, since this is the primary ritual of communal cohesion in the community. The tingaansuo has the responsibility to maintain good relations between the earth and the people and to see to that the welfare of the community is in tact. He has the ritual authority to interfere in local feuds and - together with the naa, the lineage elders (tingaan deme), and in recent times the assemblyman - to act as mediator in disputes (often, the local Gonja chief is also part of this equation). The tingaansuo also has the authority to allocate unused land for cultivation. A tingaansuo in any settlement is always a senior man of the patriclan of the first settlers. The Kalba tingaan is a rocky grove in the shade of a prominent tree close to the market place. There is another tingaan at the small Batige settlement on a hill overlooking Kalba, and the Gonja chief (Kalbawura), who is a Muslim, takes care of that shrine, which is located close to his palace (The Kalbawura used to reside in Kalba itself, but has moved to this settlement due to difficult relations with the Birifor in Kalba). This shrine is thus a focus for communal solidarity and collective sacrifices, as well as of religious/political sanctions against anti-social behaviour. The tingaan is usually located in an uncultivated rocky grove (which practically is the shrine), in the shade of a prominent tree near the centre (which is often hard to localise!) of the settlement. Usually, when people build new houses, a stone from the tingaan is buried in its base, often (especially in older times) along with faeces (bin) of children and domestic animals, which is meant to vend off evil spirits. The tingaan is always addressed in any sacrifice, since all shrines rest upon the earth.

The rain shrine (saa or saangmin, saa: rain, ngmin: god, deity)
This important shrine is connected to the earth shrine, especially as concerns the fertility of the land, the people and the animals, and is seen as complementary to the earth. It connotes the sphere of the sky and the firmament; the rain, thunder and lightning and as such it is connected to the sky god (naangmin) and has masculine attributes, and as such is seen as the complimentary opposite of the tingaan. In the Kalba area, the main saa is in the village of Uru (about three km. from Kalba), and it is under the custodianship of the Narkwoyirdeme patrilineage (the present rain priest is Daar). Many compounds have domestic rain shrines, either in front of the houses or on the roof.

Thus, the saa is both a protective (secures fertility) and punishing deity, properties it shares with the river shrine (naaman). Before the beginning of planting, the household head (yirsuo) makes sacrifices to the saa, asking for protection and fruitfulness for the land and the people. Likewise, thanksgiving sacrifices are made to the shrine at the end of the harvest, as in case of the tingaan. In case of draughts or too much rain, sacrifices are made to this shrine and rainmakers conduct special rituals at the Uru shrine when that is the case.

Ancestors (ancestor: s. kpii, pl. kpiime; father: san)
According to Fortes (1987:66 ff.), the concept of ancestors entails the extension of kinship and descent relations onto a supernatural sphere. He defined an ancestor as "…a named dead forbear, who has living descendants of a designated genealogical class representing his continued structural relevance" (68). The worship of the ancestors was seen by Fortes as a representation or extension of the authority component in the judicial relations of successive generations. Thus, it is the jural status as parent, vested with authority and responsibility, which is transformed into ancestorhood. The ancestors symbolise the continuity of the social structure and the proper allocation of the authority and rights they held and transmitted. The ancestors are seen as a projection of the authority system of society into the "supernatural" sphere, where they act as the guardians of the social and moral order, which in stateless, decentralised societies is mostly defined by the descent system. In this system, the ancestors are a vital focus of religious activity, they represent the most important moral and legal aspects of the group, and they are the guides of its norms and traditions.

The ancestral shrine (san, or san tii) which is the second most important shrine after the earth shrine (tingaan) is the main focus of ancestral worship among the Birifor. It is placed in the entrance hall (jangpula) of the house, which in earlier times was also the cattle byre. This shrine is the most important shrine in the house, and its custodianship is usually in the hands of the (male) household head (yirsuo) of the compound. It is him who addresses and communicates with the ancestor(s), which he usually does before any important decision is made on behalf of the family or lineage. Sacrifices to the ancestors are usually first made after some misfortune has occurred, like serious illness, crop failure, or death. The most common cause is seen to be unfulfilled obligations to the ancestors, and their consequent anger and withdrawal of protection, and the ancestors´ retribution is often quite out of proportions to the offence at hand. A diviner is consulted to reveal the cause of the misfortune and to prescribe the appropriate sacrifice. Ancestral sacrifices are also offered to ensure the success of some up and coming enterprise. The system of ancestral sacrificial giving/receiving operates within the propertyholding group, and the superior position of the property-holder extends death, it even strengthens at death, since after death, the ancestors are still members of the corporate group as well as remaining authority figures, maintaining norms of social conduct, and causing trouble if neglected or disobeyed. Among the Birifor, the authority of the mother's ancestors also is strong, which is embedded in her brother (mother's brother: arba). He is the holder of property, and as an ancestor, he has to be sacrificed to by his sister´s son (arbile). Thus, the ancestral sacrificial context reflects the manner of inheritance, and the relationship of holder and receiver of inherited property (Goody 1962). The maternal ancestral authority is in part embedded in the control over money and livestock, which are inherited martilineally among the Birifor.

To sum up, the ancestors play a pivotal role in this society. They act as foci of moral and jural obligations, underlining the authority structure of a society based primarily on descent and residence. The ancestors are symbolic of the passing of time and signify the sources of life and power, as expressed in the procreation and continuity of the lineage. The concept of the ancestors can be seen as a system of moral and social philosophy, based on the idea of the ideal life and proper conduct. They set the standards and examples, but they also punish those who disregard the accepted norms of the group. This norm is a life based on the continual process of human and social relationships, and of reciprocal obligations and rights, as well as on the idea of the unity of life and death, and the continuity from the living into the dead.

Fate and destiny

The notion of fate, or destiny is a characteristic feature of religious concepts of most cultures and among many West African peoples the belief that prenatal choices can influence a person´s destiny is common. According to Fortes (1959), the life of a person (cf. the Tallensi) is conceived as choices between right and wrong based on prenatal decisions. The Yoruba believe that each person makes a prenatal choice about his/her destiny and will have to live with that choice, for good or bad, but having the possibility of shaping this destiny in some ways, by living the "good life". According to Jackson (1989:36-49), the Kuranko addressed the given structure of the social world - not as ready made and unavoidable rules - but as a set of possibilities to be acted on in a selfconscious and purposeful way. Thus the interplay between formal predetermination (fate) and informed influence (learning) accounts for destiny. Also, the idea of divine justice, as some suprahuman agency, operating in the context of the morality of men, is seen as closely linked to the idea of fate/destiny (Fortes 1959:19). Another aspect, tightly bound up with this is the concept of luck, good or bad. A common idea is that luck is seated in the head (Birifor: good luck: wuo in ju nuo: "he is sweet head" = he is lucky/has good luck; bad luck: wuo in ju deer: "he is bad head" = he has bad/evil luck). The head is the home of thought, self-consciousness, the will, the ability to choose, and perception - indicating that by being conscious and perceptive, a person is better equipped to influence his/her destiny (or luck) in a creative and self-conscious way. This is also present in the worldview of, among others, the Kuranko, the Yoruba, the Edo, and the Tallensi (Jackson 1989:38 ff.), to name a few. This seating of luck in the head can also be seen in a metaphorical sense as "hanging over" the person like a shadow (Fortes 1987:148-149), like something entering from the outside, from above. Destiny is seen as an integral part of a person's identity, and the person has chosen it before being born into the present condition. So, at birth, the destiny/fate of a person is already there, and it has to be worked on and with, it has to be built and developed.

The Birifor belief in predestined fate, or destiny (manbinfo: pre-arranged, or mana: something measured), is strong. The idea of a free will does not seem to be immediately apparent, yet people perform all kinds of rituals to try to "tamper with" fate, appease the gods and spirits, and to offer sacrifices to make things good for themselves. They mostly believe that the spirits, especially those of the ancestors, direct their life. They also believe that the life lived now is conditioned by former life(s) and that the present fate is brought into this life from a pre-natal existence. Accordingly, some people are destined to become rich or poor, sick or healthy, and so on. The supreme being (naangmin) is not to blame for the misfortunes of man; instead it is the wrongdoings of humans themselves and the various spirits, and most importantly breaches in the relationship between man and spirits/gods, and between humans themselves, which is to blame. Although naangmin does not play a direct role in shaping the fate of men, he is in some way the embodiment of the notion of fate/destiny as the final explanation or ultimate reason for the state of the world.

I was told that when a person is being born, he/she is an ancestor being born again. When young children die, it is believed that their destiny was not ready for this life, so they have to try again, and through the same parents. Children who in this way are born "second time around" get a special facial scar (jine). Thus the worldview of the Birifor is apparently quite fatalistic - they believe in the eternal life of the soul, which reincarnates again and again as a forefather coming back, or rather as an aspect of the forefather. It seems that some individuals are connected through common destiny, which they have to endure and live through together. One person's destiny is interwoven with the destiny of the people he/she shares life with. They respond to what fate has allocated as moral trials by seeking to conduct themselves properly, individually and as a group. Thus the position and identity of the person in the context of fate/destiny/morality is seen as tied up with his/her social/historical/spiritual environment.

So, although fate/destiny is seen as irresistible, it is possible to influence it, if not control it, to a certain extent, striking the balance between fate and free will. Man is not seen as an entirely helpless victim of his condition; he has the possibility to take creative actions in facing the trials of life as fate has presented them to him. This he can do by proper conduct towards his fellow humans and by offering the appropriate sacrifices to the various mystical entities, especially the ancestors. Since the notions of fate/destiny/luck are strongly embedded in the moral life of a person and his/her group, it is inevitably closely linked to the ancestors and the moral authority they exert. So, improper behaviour brings the risk of retribution from the ancestors, which manifests itself as bad luck or evil destiny. To obtain knowledge of the complex workings of these matters, diviners are consulted again and again to reveal the nature of the problems at hand and to get instructions on what action to take to counter the influence of bad destiny. Thus divination is a central institution in this complex web of forces regulating the lives of people and guiding them to successful actions in dealing with the problems life presents, not least by enabling them to negotiate the situation they find themselves in and find a way out of it.

Soul, spirit and death

Another prominent aspect of the personality of an individual is the concept of the soul, or spirit (sie), and its relationship with the body (ingan). While the body disintegrates at death, the sie (sometimes also called nyangkpiin, meaning ghost) goes on to live an eternal life, progressing through a few phases, from ghost to spirit to ancestor. The soul is thought to have a quasi-material substance (flesh) like the body, and it is this substance, which is said to be devoured by attacking witches. This materiality of the soul is thought to prevail even after the soul becomes a spirit. Connected to the sie is the breath (vuor), likewise contained in the body, but the sie and the vuor are not the same. The sie can leave the body of the person during his/hers lifetime (in dreams, illness, etc.), whereas the vuor first leaves the body at the moment of death.

The religious view of the Birifor is in important ways directed towards ideas about death and the afterlife. Their eschatological view entails that the conduct in life has consequences for the afterlife and that they will receive judgement when having reached the other side. Accordingly Birifor/Dagara funerals are therefore quite elaborate ceremonies. A central part of the funeral proceedings is the discovery of the cause of death. This is done by consulting three different diviners, whose verdicts must be identical. If not, some of the former rituals must be performed again. This is done three days after death for a man, four days for a woman. In former times, a ritual called "carrying the corps" was performed to get clues about the cause of death. The deceased was wrapped in its sleeping mat and carried on a bier around the funeral stand by joking partners (lorloro) and if the corps fell off the bier, the person it fell in front of was thought to be linked to its death. This ritual is not performed any more, but today the clothes of the deceased person are sometimes carried around in this way. In addition, the deceased is sometimes asked to reveal the guilty part while visiting someone in a dream while sleeping. When the deceased is buried, he/she is provided with guinea corn and cowries (to pay for the fare across the river, but the cowries actually end up as payment for grave diggers).

The beliefs and practices of the Birifor and other Dagara groups surrounding mortuary rituals and ideas about death and the afterlife clearly reflect strong moral and ethical concerns. According to Goody (1962:376) these ideas appear to reflect the earthly system of social control and social and moral norms and codes of conduct. In the context of authority structures, this mirror image can be seen as three categories of relationships. First, the authority of the living over the living (authority of the father), then the authority of the dead over the living (authority of the ancestors), and thirdly the authority of the spiritual beings, or non-human agents, over the dead. The idea of reward and punishment in the land of the dead can be seen as a projection of the system of social control among the living. These are complementary mirror images, reflecting the authority structure (which is primarily embedded in the system of descent) of this society (Fortes 1959; Goody 1962,). For detailed and comprehensive study of the funeral rituals of the Dagaraspeaking peoples, I want to refer to Goody (1962).

Clan spirits (tibe)

These are spirits of the clans, especially the matriclans (they are frequently called "spirits beneath" - tibe is also the general term for spirits). They connote the unity and continuity of the clan, but not in any specific way like in the case of the ancestors. They are in a way connected to death and the afterlife (as is the river shrine, naaman) and they promote morality and decent conduct - they "make people know the difference between right and wrong". The Birifor see the tibe as a corrective voice from the past and are thus seen as guardian spirits of the clans. Marital and other reproductive issues, such as bridewealth and uterine inheritance come under these shrines. In March, the Birifor sacrifice guinea corn and fowls to these shrines and diviners address the tibe frequently during divinations.

The guardian spirit (siiraa)

Another important non-human entity is the guardian spirit (siiraa), which can be seen in one form as an integral part of the identity of an individual and in another as a guardian of the wider descent group, the clan. For an individual it is discovered at the time of "outdooring" (Kuukure 1985:81), which occurs three (for a boy) or four (for a girl) months after birth, or following serious illness, and sometimes during boor initiations. To discover the identity of a siiraa, a diviner must be consulted. The siiraa is often a grandfather or another deceased forbear of his generation. The relationship between the child and the siiraa is very close, and when a sacrifice has been made to it, the child can be called by the deceased person´s (i.e. the siiraa´s) name. Clan guardian spirits are not ancestors, yet they are closely connected to them in a similar way as totemic animals are. Medicine shrines (s. tii, pl. tibe, which is also general for shrines).

These are clan/lineage shrines, especially of the patriclans and their subdivisions. They possess healing and protective powers and medicines, and special lineage taboos and prohibitions are linked to them. Only those members of the lineage who have been initiated to these shrines, and learned their taboos, can expect to be protected by them. The tibe are usually made of wooden poles and sticks, stones, clay pots and calabashes, containing various medicines. The term tii as medicine here both means herbal medicine and medicine in form of some special spiritual power. The Kankandeme patriclan in Kalba area has such a shrine, called kaa, which is placed beside the entrance of the house of the tingaansuo. The most important property of the tii is to ward off witchcraft and other evil forces, strange diseases, and so on.

The river shrine (naaman; naa: chief, man: river)

This shrine possesses punitive properties like the saa. The naaman is especially identified with the Black Volta river (which is seen as a deity), as well as having strong connotations with the bush spirits (kontome). Often, when people cross the Black Volta, they confess their wrongdoings to the river because the naaman has a way of finding out and punishing wrongdoers by drowning. People often sacrifice at this shrine before crossing the Volta, as prevention against drowning or against being attacked by creatures of the river. These creatures, such as hippos, crocodiles and water snakes sometimes attack canoes carrying people across. These creatures belong to the spirit of the river (naaman tii), in the same way as wild animals belong to the kontome. The creatures of the river are called 'children of the river' (naa bibiir). Death by drowning (a bad death: kuon deer) is often considered a punishment for serious trespassing, especially theft. The land of the dead (kpiinsi ting) is considered to be on the other side of the river, yet only in a metaphorical sense, thus the naaman is associated with death. The main naaman shrine in the Kalba region is in the village of Saru (approx. six km. from Kalba), on the bank of the river, but as with the saa, many compounds have domestic naaman shrines, usually in front of the houses. These shrines are made of hollow mounds of mud, containing water from the river. The Saru naaman is situated in a small clearing overlooking the river and it consists of a small bush.

The naaman and the saa are considered "little brothers" of the tingaan in Birifor/Dagara mythology (BB 4410); together these shrines are connected to the powers of life and death, and they are considered being both protective and punishing, and being able to kill perpetrators.

The hill shrine (tong)

Like the tingaan, this is a protective deity, connected to business, farming and protection of life from evil forces like witchcraft, and so on. The tingaan is the "originator" of the settlement, a collective protective spirit. The first thing people do when founding a settlement is establishing a tingaan, and whereas that shrine is connected with the protection and well-being of the whole community, the tong shrine has more to do with personal affairs, and is consulted in private matters. There are five major tong shrines in Kalba area, but many compounds have domestic tong shrines, either in front of the house or inside. These shrines are often the focus for making "juju", i.e. sorcery and/or magic, either for personal gain or to get at someone else with harmful intend. Like the naaman the tong has important connotations with the kontome, since these beings inhabit the wild bush, the hills and the rivers and riverbanks. Which brings us to these capricious and tricky teachers of humanity.

The bush spirits, or the spirits of the wild (s. kontom, pl. kontome)

The shrines for the river (naaman) and the hill (tong) are both closely connected to the kontome, who are curious, uncanny and capricious creatures, and who have their own shrines made to them (kontome tii), and they can be seen as patrons of the diviners. They appear to men in dreams and visions, and when travelling in the bush, hunting or farming, often helping with the hunt. They can also appear to people when ill. They are said to be fairy-like and small, with long hair and beard (often red), and the male kontom has such an enormous penis that he has to sling it over his shoulders (cf. the Ashanti trickster Ananse and other trickster figures). They have a high-pitched nasal voice, which can only be heard by those whom they appear to, but they can also transform themselves into wild animals and even humans. When appearing in animal form, they often reveal secrets (especially about healing power of wild plants) to the person they appear to and that animal often becomes a totem for the patrilineage of the person.

A typical story is of a man who goes into the bush, for hunting or farming, and returns with something that he has been compelled to pick up. This something is a token of the kontome, who want to "live with" that person. Once, a young man was returning from the bush with his skin bag. When home, he opened the bag and out came a chameleon. The father of this young man had died in Accra and his son was supposed to inherit his father´s shrines, among them his kontome shrine (which was attributed to a chameleon, one very characteristic kontome animal, being elusive and changeable). But the son ignored the shrines and traveled to the south, eventually to return again. One day when returning from the bush, he found another chameleon in his bag, and two chameleons were sitting on each of his shoulders. This he took as a clear indication to revive his father´s kontome shrine and make regular sacrifices to it. He knew that implicit in this message from the kontome was imminent danger if he chose to ignore it further. The kontome can be seen as a bridge between the known world of men and the hidden world of gods and spirits, between society and wild nature, the known and the unknown. They have to be taken very seriously, since they are a vital source of cultural and magical knowledge connected to the hidden and healing powers of nature (the bush) and as they know the ways of other spiritual agencies they are especially important for diviners, who seek to reveal the hidden and unknown. The kontome are the only non-human beings who multiply themselves, hence their shrines are composed of wooden effigies representing a male (or males), a female (or females) and children. They are the only non-human agents who can be seen by men, or described in any way. They are said to be the children of the creator sky god (naangmin), and their main purpose is to reveal hidden knowledge to men, as well as to teach them all that can be termed culture: hunting, farming, cooking, house-building, playing the xylophone, divining, and so on. They also possess knowledge of the secret healing powers of wild plants, and thus are connected to healing. The kontome are also connected to hunting and wild animals, which are their livestock, and they sometimes help hunters in the bush.

The Birifor divination sessions that I witnessed always took place in the room where the shrine to the kontome was placed, and the diviner and the client sat on the floor facing the shrine. This room is usually the innermost room of the house, usually the room of the senior wife, even if the shrine belonged to the husband (however, it is not uncommon for a woman to have a kontome shrine). Placing the shrine to the wilds in this innermost room suggests that this is an effort to 'domesticate the wild'. Alternatively, these shrines are placed on top of special kontome huts, usually in front of the house. These shrines are composed of small statues, bones and skulls of wild animals. Also, the kontome shrines often contain a characteristic walking stick, made of iron, which can also be used as a weapon when travelling in the bush. Another characteristic item at kontome shrines are small bells of metal (s. gbelinma, pl. gbelin) used for summoning the spirits. The occult knowledge transferred by the kontome does not come for free. They crave sacrifices and shrines, and they demand that the people they appear to and choose make shrines in their name and offer them regular sacrifices. This is especially important for diviners, who are frequently "caught" (nyo) by the kontome to become diviners. This "profession" is not much sought after, since it confers no special social status (other than the reputation of being a good diviner), diviners cannot charge fee for their service, instead the practice can take valuable time from farming and other important work, especially in the wet season. The saying goes that if a man repeatedly ignores the call of the kontome to become a diviner he becomes ill (baal) or mad (gele), or can even be killed by the spirits.

The kontome as tricksters

In the context of the relationship between humans and non-humans the major intermediary role befalls the diviner, who in many West African societies is thought to have special links to the trickster figure (Shaw 1991:140). In Yoruba (Nigeria) myth, the god Eshu is an archetypal trickster figure (Bascom 1969). He is the mediator between men and the sky god Olodumare, and is therefore highly regarded by diviners. Eshu is seen as a close associate of Ifa, the Yoruba god of divination, and some Yoruba accounts refer to Eshu as the one who taught divination to Ifa. Eshu is a messenger between men and gods, and he sees to it that sacrifices and other forms of reverence to the deities are being properly executed. If not, he is capable of a considerable degree of maliciousness as he is notorious for his role as an effective troublemaker. In acting out his roles, Eshu frequently transforms himself into a variety of forms.

In Dogon (Mali) myth, the pale fox (Ogo-Yurugu) wanders restlessly along the margins of parallel worlds, outlawed by his creator, Amma (Pelton 1980). By principal transgression (incest), he gained special knowledge and insight, which enabled him to see into the unknown, hence he has special importance for Dogon diviners, who interpret the tracks of foxes over patterns the diviners have drawn in the sand at the limits of the village and the bush. Like the fox criss-crossing over the margins of village and bush, the trickster is an ambiguous and transgressing figure, being simultaneously in this world and the "other". He disregards accepted social and cosmic rules and he frequently challenges his creator, such as claiming to be the creator of men, like the kontome do in the Bagre myth (cf. BB 3736 ff.). Thus like many other West African peoples the Dagara/Birifor have their trickster figure, in the bush spirits, kontome, and as elsewhere this figure is intimately linked to the practice of divination. Like Eshu of the Yoruba and the pale fox of the Dogon the kontom (sing.) is, as a trickster, a messenger between the supreme being, gods/spirits and men, with the diviner operating as a central figure in this interaction. In this section I have offered an overview of Birifor society and culture, history and so on. I have emphasised the cosmological aspects and the religious outlook, since they have an all-important role as a background for the divination practices of the Birifor. In the next chapter I will turn my attention to the practical and theoretical sides of Birifor divination.

3. Divination

3.1. The context
"…man is never identical with the conditions that bear upon him; human existence is a vital relationship with such conditions, and it is the character of this relationship (which it is our task to fathom".) (Jackson 1989:37).
The relationship of man with his environment, in the widest sense - material, social and extra-social - is the matrix of his joys and sorrows. It is a relationship of conflicting interests and intents, engendering struggle and disharmony. A great deal of time and energy goes in adjusting to and overcoming the predicament this entails. It seems inherent in man's "nature" to try to change and master his situation to some degree or at least fight it. Eventually, man comes to realise that he cannot win this battle, but he feels he must at least try to influence it so as to experience himself as co-creator of his own destiny and not as a powerless pawn stuck in the web of fate. This struggle inevitably creates more questions than answers, inclining him to keep inquiring. From Job and onwards questions have been asked without receiving satisfactory answers, and the Birifor are no exception to that. Due to manifold conditions, their life-world provides them with countless challenges - physical, material, social and mystical - many of them being beyond their control. Thus they spend much time enquiring about causes and effects, reasons and solutions - in the face of an uncertain, ambiguous and dangerous world - and in doing so they move from one level to another in search for "insurance despite lack of assurance" (Whyte 1997:18). The general life conditions of the Birifor are harsh, with food production, reproduction, natural diseases, and relational factors - posing enduring problems and constantly making them aware of the terminal nature of mundane life. To deal with the uncertainty of this predicament they put questions before the powers of destiny by consulting a diviner. Here I will discuss some of the most common conditions for this enquiry.

The most common reasons for consulting a diviner are health problems and/or death; disagreements over bridewealth or inheritance -because of the double descent system are often complex affairs, easily creating tensions and disputes - and problems related to economy (e.g., farming, beer brewing, etc.). Susan Whyte (ibid. 16-18) has categorised divinatory reasons among the Nyole in Uganda and she has come up with a fourfold categorisation, which seems to make good sense for the present purpose. First, she lists failure of health, which in Birifor area is most often related to malaria (especially among children) and dietary and intestinal problems (e.g. severe diarrhoea), mostly caused by infected drinking water, with AIDS still being comparatively rare due to the relative isolation of this area; second, failure of prosperity, which concerns problems linked to farming and pursuing livelihood in general: crop failures, livestock problems, etc.; thirdly, failure of gender, which is problems concerning marriage and reproduction, bridewealth and inheritance; and finally failure of personal safety, which is related to conflicts and violent confrontations, accidents (e.g. snake or scorpion bites), sorcery and/or witchcraft, death, etc. In addition to this, diviners are sometimes consulted before an enterprise, or, e.g. to know if a boy will get a certain girl, or to find fortunate lotto numbers. These can be labelled as casual or trivial cases but the more serious ones mentioned before are the most common.

It is not possible to separate the various immediate problems of the "real" world of appearances (health/death, economy, marriage/reproduction, inheritance/bridewealth, etc.), from the hidden world of occult forces: ancestral and other, who are seen to be both the cause of and solution to most unfortunate events (the occult world is perceived just as "real" as the world of appearances). There is a deeper reason to everything and to reveal that reason and uncover the motive(s) a diviner has to be consulted. Most motives are seen to have their sources in social and extra-social frictions and to mend matters, these frictions have to be addressed and repaired. Most serious afflictions are perceived as social phenomena and are related to tensions in the area of relationships with persons, ancestral spirits or other occult agents (shrines). What is vital is that for some reason or another, the protection by the occult agents/shrines is withdrawn, which in turn is "caused" by some social or mystical neglect or breach, angering the spirits/shrines and opening the stage for the action of negative occult forces.

Thus the source of affliction is traced to mystical troubles (boor) (Goody 1962, 1972) and has to be undone by referring to mystical powers (shrines). The etiology of affliction manifests itself through a more or less standardised protocol of enquiry. As can be seen from the divination sessions, this protocol begins by finding the shrines/spirits that are connected to and/or are responsible for the ensuing affliction of the client. The different shrines are personifications of different spheres of the life-world (cf. Tengan 2000: chapter three) while as a whole they constitute a wider symbolic and cosmic explanatory system.

The initial phase of the protocol is to localise the persons and shrines connected to the case in hand - more exactly the relationship between persons and between persons and spirits, who can be seen as some kind of moral guardians constituting the etiological background of the case. When these factors have been localised - and not necessarily confronted - the standard redressive action prescribed is the offering of sacrifices to the shrines that for one reason or another withdrew their protection and "caused" the affliction to take place. As the Birifor say, this is to "cool" the situation and make peace possible again. Thus the etiological protocol consists of localising the actors (persons and shrines/spirits) involved; investigating the relationships between people and shrines; and finally to prescribe the redressive measure (sacrifice).

Now I will refer to the divination sessions to illustrate what makes the Birifor consult diviners and what strategies are obtained and applied for understanding affliction and what action might be taken in response to the knowledge and understanding unveiled by the oracle. The subjects from some of the divination sessions I recorded are listed as this: a certain sacrifice did not bring desired results; bad dreams; a sick child; death of a child; another sick child; a stolen bicycle; the progress of my work; crop failure; a sick person in the house; death of a junior brother; serious illness of a blacksmith and diviner; a woman, whose children all die in infancy; someone making "juju" against my assistant and host; beer-brewing business going bad; and a collapse of business. As can be seen, these cases reflect the harshness of the environment of the Birifor and the perpetual battle against diseases and other difficult environmental factors, yet the "real causes" must be found in the relational sphere of occult forces in the divination session. Peace must be made with the invisible powers that be so that the right path toward resolution and action can be sensibly pursued. Here is one example of why one should pay a diviner a visit. It is from a session conducted on the 13th of November 1999. The diviner was Ver.

The diviner shakes and rattles his leather divination bottle rhythmically, touches his legs, shakes the bottle alternating between slow and fast, does this for some time, and then he presents this introduction:

"Here I sit, something is wrong. That is why I am sitting here. Divination does not kill, but finds out somebody's problem. It is an old system.
I am not the one having started it. It is inherited, from generation to generation. The procedure is the same, but each diviner has his own way of saying it. If the cause is death, we always ask you, Chabbara, to find out the cause for us (I was told that Chabbara was the originator of the boor festival. He is seen as some kind of an ancestral godfather of diviners). Here the client sits, with five cowries for me to give it to the earth god and the ancestors. To find out why he has come to me. And you, Chabbara, you said you know, and when somebody comes with a problem like this, we should always cry to you. And we should mention all the names of the ancestors before permission is obtained to divine. You always say it is from dreams, from illness, death, destruction of farm crops, problems with business, and that you should be able to answer these questions. If it is so, about bad dreams, touch on that. If it concerns illness, touch on that. If it is crop failure, touch on that. Everybody is created by God. You see in front, but you do not see behind [?]…"

In this introduction - having common themes, the diviner names some of the reasons why people consult diviners. These are the immediate causes, but people believe in the existence of occult reasons behind the apparent ones. That is why they consult diviners. Goody (1962:210) outlined a general three-fold causal process and its agents in connection to misfortunate events. First, he mentions members of the social environment of the victim (witches/sorcerers), who act mainly out of envy or jealousy; secondly the ancestors (former members of the descent group), who have become enraged due to a wrongdoing in the 'house' (yir); and third, some other occult agents (spirits/shrines). He also points to three levels of causes: the immediate, the means (direct agents like snakebites, disease, etc.); the efficient (the person responsible for the death); and the final cause: ancestors (kpiime), the earth shrine (tingaan) or a medicine shrine (tii), having withdrawn their protection. The most common reasons for visiting a diviner are problems concerning family or kin matters, e.g. unpaid (or stolen) bridewealth, health problems, farming problems, like crop failure; accidents and injuries; death in the house or some other serious misfortune (yelbier). As a rule, someone is thought to be causing the misfortune, by using witchcraft/sorcery, and the reason for the success of the negative act is importantly the withdrawal of protection from the shrines. This withdrawal has taken place because the person(s) concerned (i.e. the victim(s) of the misfortune) have neglected some of the shrines, most commonly the shrines to the ancestors (santii) and the kontome, by not offering satisfactory sacrifices. When the person who has caused the problem has been identified, only the diviner and the client know his or her identity. If 45 witchcraft/sorcery is thought to be the cause (which is most often the case), the victim - the witch does not even know that the victim knows his or her identity - does usually not confront the witch but the victim only tries to avoid the witch as much as possible. I was told that among the Birifor, witches were not found out and punished in any way, they were only to be avoided, but on the other hand they were going to be severely punished in the afterlife. But, however, I was informed of a case where a woman was accused of being a witch, she was captured and her hands were tied together and she was strung up by her hands in a tree for several hours. The Birifor were, however, generally reluctant to discuss witchcraft openly and I had the impression that it was not very important to them. In most cases it is the victim of misfortune who has to make sacrifices to a shrine or two, in order to re-establish their protection. The most common sacrifices are fowls - in cases of women it is most often guinea fowls - and/or cowries, sometimes goats, but only in serious cases, such as funerals, are cattle being sacrificed. Also, guinea corn and guinea corn flour, often mixed with water, are common sacrifices. In some important sacrifices to the tingaan, when the earth has been defiled in some way (e.g. by spilling of blood) dogs are sacrificed in a purification ritual ("sweeping the earth") and afterwards their carcasses are thrown into the bush (everyone belonging to the ritual area of this shrine is prohibited from eating the flesh of this sacrificial dog). Pigs are never used as sacrificial animals. Sometimes the sacrifice is of a magical character, as a sign drawn on the floor or on the path to a shrine. This kind of sacrifice signifies peaceful intent and forgiveness.

The Birifor sacrifice to every shrine/spirit except to the supreme being (naangmin), because he is the only deity that man cannot negotiate with or influence, since his power is absolute and abstract, and beyond the grasp of humans. But despite being distant and otiose, man's destiny is thought to rest in his hands and thus he represents the final and ultimate explanation of the workings of fate. With the other shrines/spirits, man is in constant interaction and reciprocal exchange, so to speak, but when it comes to the naangmin, he finished his work long ago, at the beginning of time, and left it to man and his associates (the spirits) to take care of things. However, according to myth (Goody 1972), he still keeps creating the world behind the scenes. When the Birifor talk about sacrificing, they say that they are 'eating with' or 'sitting with' this or that spirit, the sacrifice being seen as a meal where the spirits are present and taking part. Hence in this sense, sacrifice is a ritual of union, both as union of the group with the spirits as well as in opposition to them, or to put it differently, a ritual of separation as well as of union (Evans-Pritchard 1954:24). Within this communication, or communion, sacrifice can also be seen as an offering of a gift and an act of exchange and thus as a reciprocal ritual aimed at establishing and maintaining a relationship or repairing relationships that have come out of balance and caused 'mystical trouble' (boor). As to the idea of sacrifice as a gift, Goody (1962) has said that (in connection to the ancestors) it should be seen not as a gift but as of giving the ancestors their due (and thus restore a certain balance concerning production and property holding in case of death). This might be sensible of sacrifices to the ancestors in Dagara/Birifor society, where the sacrificial (domestic) animals and/or cereals offered in sacrifices belong (like all 'movable property') to the matriclan. But this does not necessarily apply to other sacrifices, since in a sense, man seems to benefit (in a practical sense, at least) from the sacrifices he offers, because food (the sacrificial meat) and beer is distributed among a group of people, thus sacrifice is also a feast where resources are redistributed among kin and of course among the relevant 'spiritual beneficiaries', i.e. the relevant shrines. During funeral ceremonies among the Dagara/Birifor, a cow (the 'cow of the rooftop') is sacrificed and the meat is divided and distributed among kinsmen of the deceased according to strict rules. This division and distribution corresponds to the social composition of the group, where different parts of the slain cow are distributed to different lineage members according to set rules, which mirrors both the cohesion of the group as well as the differentiation between its parts. This is a reciprocal exchange, where the two parts, the donors and the receivers benefit, while uniting them at the same time. Man eats and receives protection and the spirits eat too and receive veneration and a balance is struck among men and between men and spirits. The sacrifice is the final, closing phase of the divination process and it is the act that makes it whole.

3.2.The local perspective

Birifor divination (tii maalfuo/boorbro) shares most characteristics with the divinatory practices of their closely related neighbours, the Dagara and Lobi (see Goody 1962: 208 ff.; Meyer 1991: 91-100). Tii maalfuo means "spirit/shrine-fixing/making"; boorbro (boor = "mystical trouble", i.e. the shrine/spirit, which sacrifices are to be made at (cf. Goody 1962:210-211); bro = locate, look for) means "he who locates mystical trouble". The word boor has a cluster of meanings: sacrifice, hidden problems, festival, problem taken to a diviner and diviner's answer. According to Tengan (1999:569), boor can also mean the path (path: sor), whereon man seeks his purpose in life. It can roughly be classified as a combination of mediumistic and interpretative divination (Devisch 1985), with more emphasis on the interpretative side. It is mediumistic in the sense that the diviners enter into communication with the spirits (talk to them), who express themselves through his body (and also partly the client's body). The most obvious part of the process is the interpretation of the bodily movements as well as the way the cowries fall when tossed on the floor. The bodily movements consist mainly of the (horizontal and vertical) movements of the joined hands of diviner and client, in conjunction with vocal expressions when answering the questions put before the oracle. The movements of hands and the falling of cowries (together with the use of other objects) take place according to a reasonably well-defined system, which will be described in more details later. Other methods are also used, such as delineating which way fowls turn (belly up or down) after the slitting of their throats during sacrifices. If they land on their back, the verdict is positive, if on their belly it is negative, which indicates that the spirits do not accept the sacrifice, which in turn means that the ritual has not been done correctly (or there is some 'mystical trouble' involved) and has to be performed again, often after having consulted a diviner to find out why the sacrifice was not accepted.

Generally, there are two main types of Birifor divination using hand-movements and cowrie casting. One is the so-called kontome divination, which is mostly used in (trivial) personal matters, like finding favourable lotto numbers, on personal business problems, youthful love complications and so on, i.e. in connection with personal mundane matters. This type of divination can be learned from an experienced diviner without undergoing the boor initiation, which, on the other hand is necessary to learn the more serious boor type of divination. This type is used in the more urgent matters of ill health and death, accidents and injuries, crop failure or serious family/kin problems or in other critical cases, i.e. more in connection with pressing collective problems. I was not able to obtain detailed information on how learning to become a diviner takes place, as it is not permitted to pass such knowledge to the uninitiated, and it was not easy to get the information on the system of hand-movements and cowrie casting described below. As said earlier, the diviner keeps his twenty divination cowries in a special bottleshaped skin container (kpo), which is made of skin from a cow that has been sacrificed at a funeral of a kinsman, who was a diviner. The twenty divination cowries, as well as the kpo have been acquired from the diviner's teacher at the boor initiation, when the divination tests have been passed successfully. The first five cowries a diviner receives must be kept for the next ten years and after that time he has to give these cowries to the man who taught and trained him. That man keeps these cowries and then gives them to new diviners. Thus the cowries that the first client brings are brought into circulation of divination cowries, to be distributed to the newcomers in the practice.

Another implement used in divination is a L-shaped stick (daagwol), which in Birifor practice is only used to gather cowries that have fallen too far from the diviner for him to reach them with his hands, whereas among some other Dagara groups (and the Sisala and Tallensi of northern Ghana) this stick has a more prominent role. In those cases, one end of the stick is held by the client and the other by the diviner, and the movements of the stick determine the answers to the questions, in the same way as the movements of the hands do in Birifor divination. Sometimes the diviner uses pieces of limestone of different colours to draw symbols on the floor as indications of types of "symbolic" sacrifices, which sometimes replace the more regular offerings of either guinea corn porridge or animals.

The diviner (boorbro)

Throughout Africa, becoming a diviner is commonly connected to being called, or 'caught' by some extra-human power or agent. These agents can be ancestors, special divinatory spirits or frequently the spirits of the wild bush (like the kontome of the Birifor). This calling often brings with it the occurrences of strange behaviour, illness or 49 misfortune, and if the pull of these occult agents is seriously resisted, it can even bring insanity or death (Peek 1991:25). Sometimes would-be diviners undergo special initiation and training, but that is not always the case.

A few examples illustrate this point. Among the Atout (Burton 1991:45-6), possession of malignant powers and illness precedes becoming a diviner, but it is a matter of personal choice whether the person involved becomes a diviner or not. If he/she chooses to do so, a special initiation rite de passage and training follows after which it is assumed that the novice has been able to connect to the occult world. According to Meyer (1991:93-94), would-be diviners among the Lobi are forced by the spirits of the wild bush to become diviners, much in the same way as among the Birifor, their close cousins. Refusing to heed the call can easily result in all kinds of serious misfortune, even death. Among the Ndembu, a would-be diviner is 'caught' by a special divination spirit (Kayong'u) and becomes possessed followed by violent trembling and convulsion. Commonly, these persons are marginal in some way, physically deformed or mentally 'strange' and are seen as outsiders (Turner 1975). Similarly, Whyte (1997:61-2) writes that diviners are not taught, but caught by an afflicting spirit, who by affliction is telling the coming diviner that it wants to work with him/her. During initiation ritual, the divination spirit seems to be domesticated by being brought from the wild bush to the house (cf. placing the kontome shrines in the senior wife's bedroom among the Birifor). In similar fashion, the Birifor diviner, the boorbro, becomes such after being 'caught' by the kontome, either in dreams or while in the bush. He might be wandering through the bush and meet a wild animal, which would start speaking to him, or a strange thing would mysteriously be placed at his feet, or he might see the kontome as they most often appear to humans, which is as small, dwarf-like creatures with long red hair and beard, a high-pitched nasal voice and huge genitals. This being (or beings) would address the man and insist that he 'work with him'. This would entail making a shrine for him and become a diviner. There is a belief among the Birifor that people - especially children - who see a kontom (singular), possess special intuitive qualities, which makes them 'see' beyond appearances. These people are thought to have special talents: as diviners, xylophone players, seers, healers, and so on. It is preferable that these talents are nurtured, otherwise the children can become 'strange' and wander into the bush and get lost. The spirits of the wild can also 'catch' people by possessing them ('beat them'), or make them have bad dreams (which is a common incentive for seeing a diviner). No special status comes with being a diviner in Birifor society and neither can he charge for his services, although he receives five cowries from every client before the session begins (these cowries 'contain' the question that the client brings, and which the diviner does not know beforehand). If his clients are happy with his service they usually give him some token of gratitude and a good diviner enjoys reputation and respect as such, but no more than that. Because of this, would-be diviners (caught by the kontome) often try to resist the calling, but at their own peril. If stubbornly resisting, the person is likely to become a victim of some serious misfortune, to become ill (baal) or insane (gele) and might possibly die. Thus being a diviner can be seen as some sort of social obligation, thrust upon the would-be diviner without any concrete rewards. A diviner cannot refuse to receive clients - regardless of the time of day or of who the client is, where he is from, and so on - so it is obvious that being a diviner in Birifor can even be a handicap, especially in the farming season, when it can take up valuable time from farming. In most cases diviners get their training and initiation in the second phase of the three-day boor/bagre initiation ceremony, this phase being called the Black Bagre or bosolaa (Goody 1972). In the Bagre myth there are countless references to divination, especially in the bosolaa, which recounts the relationship between the supreme being (naangmin) and man and between them and the kontome, who taught man the art of divination among most other things of culture.

It is not unusual for diviners to present a short description of their practice at the outset of divination sessions, where they outline the nature and purpose of their craft. I want to quote a few examples of this, in the diviners' own words. This should give some ideas about how they perceive themselves and their mission and also how so-called traditional cultures are not static entities but changing and flowing with time while expressing themselves through oral performances such as divination and - for the Dagare speaking peoples - through the ever changing recitations of the Bagre/boor myth (Goody 2002). The first passage is from a session conducted by Ver, which concerned the progress of my work in Kalba.

Q:…There is something wrong. You (i.e. the spirits) are touching the skin (the calfskin, the diviner is sitting on; skin = book = gan). I have given everything to the Earth god, to the Ancestor god (shrine), to find out the problem with me; because you have touched the skin. I have given to God (supreme God) and you have directed me to do this work. There is an oath not to refuse any client, who comes to divine, being white or black, I have no right to refuse that person. We should hold hands, put it/them on the leg/thigh, and find out the truth, as directed by you (i.e. the spirit).
If somebody is sick in your house, if you have bad dreams, if you make sacrifice that was not properly accepted, if you have ill health; then the spirit should proof it to me, why this person has come to me to find out these problems. If it is that somebody is working against you with evil spirits or you sleep badly. If that is the problem, get up (addresses the spirit) and touch where the problem is (i.e. make the hands touch). If none, proof me negative…throws cowries…
A:…outcome negative…no (that is not the problem)…
Q:…Now it is negative, what is the problem? I do not stay in your house. I do not know the problem your neighbour (i.e. Jormah, my host) has brought to me. You (i.e. the spirit) should be able to tell me the problem of the client (which turned out to be me, without may wishes or knowledge), so that we will be happy and smile together. Divination is not something learned. It is an old custom for the tribe. If I am finding difficulties to proof, proof it to me. I am not using my physical strength to find out problems, it is you (the spirits) who are directing me to prove things to any client that comes to me. If the problem is concerning death, where did you go wrong? …he mentions names of some dead ancestors, among them Chabbara (who is a prominent ancestor, said to be originator of the Boore festival(?)), he also mentions some of Chabbara´s brothers, descendants; some tribes, etc…while mentioning these names, diviner knocks the skin bottle to the floor every time he mentions a name. After mentioning the last name, he knocks the bottle three times to the floor and says:…
I have greeted all of you, 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down, to permit me to go on…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…outcome is positive…go on…
In this short monologue, the diviner underlines his unconditional duty to help people to solve their problems ("so that we will be happy and smile together"). He also points to the normative aspect of divination in upholding the "old customs of the tribe". In emphasising that he does not use physical strength, he underlines that it is the spirits that transmit the information he receives, with him only as a medium…"we should hold hands…and find out the truth, as directed by you (i.e. the spirits)".
The next one is also an introduction by Ver, this time he is about to divine for the mother of my host, with the earth shrine custodian "sitting in" for her.
…diviner shakes skin bottle, touches legs, and so on for some time…shaking alternates between slow and soft, and fast and almost violent…Here I sit, there is something wrong. That is why I am sitting here.
Divination does not kill, but to find out somebody´s problem. It is an old system. I am not the one starting it. It is inherited, from generation to generation. The procedure is the same, but each diviner has his own way of saying it. If the cause is about death, we always ask you, Chabbara, to find out the cause for us (I was told that Chabbara was the originator of the Boore-festival). Here the client sits, with five cowries for me to give it to the Earth god and the Ancestors. To find out why he has come to me. And you, Chabbara, you said you know, and when somebody comes with a problem like this, we should always cry to you. And we should mention all the names of the ancestors before permission is obtained to divine. You always say it is from dreams, from illness, death, destruction of farm crops, problems with business, and that you should be able to answer these questions. If it is that, about bad dreams, touch on that. If it is destruction of business, touch on that. If it concerns death, touch on that. If it concerns illness, touch on that. If it is crop failure, touch on that. Everybody is created by god. You see in front, but you do not see behind…shakes skin bottle…I am greeting you, Spirit beneath…shakes more…I am greeting you, Earth god….shakes bottle…I am greeting you, Ancestors…shakes bottle…mentions names of many ancestors, of various tribes and "chiefs". After all this name-calling, the diviner comes to the Earth god and Ancestors again for final permission to begin the divination…for confirmation, he throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…permission granted…
This is a similar invocation, describing the most common reasons for consulting a diviner as well as underlining the role of the spirits in conveying the message. Interestingly, in this passage, the diviner addresses the fact that every diviner has his own unique "style" of divining: "The procedure is the same, but each diviner has his own way of saying it". The general form of the divinations practice is more or less standardised but through creative contributions of individual diviners the tradition is kept alive and progressing. The practice of Birifor divination, in this respect, is an example of the interplay of continuity and change, the fixed and the fluid. The divination practice is embedded in history and common values, or idioms, of the community, but at the same time there is a creative flow within the cosmological framework of Birifor culture, with the performance of the diviners enhancing change through creative momentum while guarding and confirming traditional values at the same time. In fact, a great deal of the fundamental values and norms (or idioms) of Birifor culture is encoded in the divinatory narrative, which enfolds through most of the divination sessions. Therefore - considering the importance of the diviner as a cultural medium and formulator - it is quite remarkable that the Birifor diviner does not hold any position of prominence in his society or that he does not gain anything from it, at least not materially. A good diviner gains the respect of his community, but this lack of prominent status must be seen in the context of the egalitarian (acephalous) nature of Birifor society.
The next excerpt is from a divination conducted by Youser for himself (with a member of his household "sitting in"). It is very rare for diviners to divine for themselves, but obviously it can happen.
Q:…I have called you (the Spirits beneath) again. One client has gone and I am beginning with another. I greet Toka (an ancestor). I greet Soriba (an ancestor) and the drums. I greet the white man and the literates. I greet the white chief. If you are deaf, the spirit is able to reveal your problem, weather you understand the dialect or not, he will be able to reveal your problem (knocks skin bottle on the floor). I do not know this person, but he has come to me, asking me to divine for him…shakes skin bottle…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
Later… Q:…is that what you are saying? If that is correct, white stomach (plain person) gets something to eat, wicket persons suffer. Wicket person will never get anything to eat before his death. If you are in the world, pray that somebody gets something. I grew up in Kalba, and my prayer is that nobody should have problems. Be you a woman or a man, to get money. But people envy me because of my kindness, by taking me to the River god, the Earth god, the Hill god. They are saying that Youser should have problems. Earth god, if that is true, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
Still later…
Q:…Was I wrong? I am a happy person, I do not know why people hate me. I am here for everybody, all people of Kalba. I have never refused helping anybody with their problems. I am always with the person until the problem is solved. I know I am doing good to people. But I realise that my good is bad, or can cause harm. It is a human being who knows who is bad. And they always tell lies that they are praying. That is you Christians and Muslims. And they are always going to "juju, asking to punish Youser. But it is God (supreme God) that is guiding me…throws 4 cowries, 2 up 2 down:

Here, the diviner states that the divinatory message from the spirits transcends material reality and ordinary sense perception ("If you are deaf, the spirit is able to reveal your problem, whether you understand the dialect or not, he will be able to reveal your problem"). Implicit in this is that the diviners are special people, having the talent and ability to act as mediums between the mundane and the occult, but also that such ability and knowledge is often a two-edged sword ("But I realise that my good is bad, or can cause harm"). But because of this there are always people who nurture envy and fear and who want to hurt the diviner, who only wants to help people. The diviner (Youser) accuses Christians and Muslims of hypocrisy, since they "…always tell lies that they are praying…[but] they are always going to "juju" against Youser". But he is not afraid, because God (naangmin) guides him in his work. Usually, Birifor diviners do not set themselves apart from others in this way, like Youser seems to be doing here, but then again he is a very proud and "hot-headed" man - proud of being a Birifor and of being a diviner (he is also quite fashion-conscious and "cool"). He is also very popular as a diviner and has clients over a large area and travels frequently on his scooter through Birifor country to solve people's problems. This session will be visited again later in more detail in relation to self-reflection of a diviner.

It is clear that divination plays an important part in Birifor/Dagara/Lobi society, and Meyer (1991:92) argues that the various spirits maintain the political, social and moral order, even, as he states, ensure the survival of the Lobi (who are in most respects culturally identical to the Birifor). Meyer argues that this role is especially important in a society without central political, administrative or legal institutions, like that of these peoples. Many of the most important moral prohibitions and commands and the general moral code are embedded in the various occult powers, especially the ancestors (cf. chapter on ancestors). For humans to be able to communicate with these powers, or agents, they have to rely on the diviners, their findings and their sacrificial prescriptions, hence the importance of these 'social servants'.

The divination session (nuu nyofuo)
People can consult diviners at all times during the day (or if urgent, in the night), yet the majority of visits take place in the early hours of the morning, before the diviner leaves for the farm (at least in the wet season). When a person wants to consult a diviner (divination client: boorbro, same as diviner, indicating the common purpose of diviner and client and their dialectical relationship), he or she brings five cowries to the diviner after having put them before the relevant shrine and presented the problem at hand to the five cowries with the shrine as a witness and a guide (a woman usually has a male kinsman to "sit-in" for her, I never saw a woman sitting with the diviner when she brought her questions, but she was usually present in the room.) The client(s) and diviner go straight to the innermost room where the shrines to the kontome are kept and close the door. They sit down on a cowhide (ganaa), join their hands (diviner's left and client's right hand) and the proceedings start without any discussion. The diviner does not know the problem (boor) beforehand and has to begin the session by finding out what it is (divination session: nuu nyofuo: nuu = hand; nyo = hold tight, learn, catch; fuo = -ing; thus "nuu nyofuo" means literally "hand holding").

The five cowries that the client brings are put on the ganaa between the diviner and the client and remain there throughout the session. When the session is over, the diviner keeps these cowries. A divination session usually lasts between one and two hours, during which time the diviner (and, towards the end, also the client) asks yes/no questions (digital questions) non-stop while at the same time alternating between handmovements and cowrie-casting as well as drawing signs on the floor with pieces of limestone of different colours. In addition to the vertical and horizontal movements of hands, they frequently touch various parts of the diviner's body and head. It is a dramatic and energetic process and the diviner is often exhausted after the session. In most cases when the session is over, the client(s) leaves without a word. Private divination sessions (most of them are) always take place in the room where the kontome shrine is kept. Public sessions, usually to find out the cause of death of someone in the house, are frequently conducted in front of the house, in the shade of a tree. In these sessions, several members of the family or lineage take part, taking turns in asking and commenting. I only witnessed such outdoor divination once, which was about the death of a young child. Technically, Birifor divination appears to be relatively simple. The tools of the practice are few, most important being cowrie shells (libie pila = white money), which together with a complex system of movements of the joined hands of diviner and client - where the client's right hand holds the left hand of the diviner (one of few cases where left hand plays a prominent role, other than for sanitary purposes). These two factors constitute the backbone of the divinatory method. Another important object is the diviner's skin bottle (kpo), where he keeps his divination cowries. He uses this bottle as a rattle when summoning the spirits by shaking it rhythmically. He also uses a small bell (gbelinma), which is mainly used when calling the kontome, the beings of the wild. Every diviner has a diviner's bag made of goatskin, where he keeps his divinatory tools and which hangs from the ceiling of the 'kontome room' when not in use. In most cases the diviner has received this bag at the boor festival after having been initiated as a diviner, with the bag made from the skin of the goat that was sacrificed for that occasion. During the divination session the diviner and client sit with out-stretched legs, side by side on the cowhide (ganaa), used specially for the occasion, the client to the left side of the diviner. As to the cowhide, using it in this manner seems to be one of several ways in which the divination session is set apart from other everyday activities (divining often occurs unexpectedly in the course of daily work). Traditionally, using cowhide to sit on is an attribute of chiefs (Gonja or Wala), in the same way as their staff and the red fez (at funerals, the Birifor place a red fez on the head of the corps). When divining, the diviners take off their shoes or sandals (if they are wearing one) or maybe move a necklace from the neck upon the head (once during a session, the diviner's digital watch, which he had laid by his side, started beeping, creating a strange atmosphere. Whether this was interpreted as an omen of something, I never could tell). This seems to be ways of underlining the importance of the event and to create a special liminal space for the occasion and to separate it from the mundane world of everyday activities. Regarding the mundane aspect of the divination session itself, here I outline some of the basic technical aspects of the practice, as reluctantly told to me by Nombro and Yuser, two of the more prominent Birifor diviners in Kalba.

The technicalities
The language of the joined hands and cowries in divination:

Touching the legs and thighs at the beginning of the session means asking for permission to divine.

The initial raising of the hands signals that permission has been granted from the spirits to divine.

When touching the floor lightly the diviner is asking for guidance from the "spirits beneath", or clan spirits (tii). Sometimes a small amount of local gin (apetache) is poured on the floor for this purpose as libation.

Vertical movement (up and down) signifies a positive answer.

Horizontal movement (from side to side) signifies a negative answer (the palm of the hand(s) is turned up when slapping the thigh, both in positive and negative answering). When the hands imitate walking on the floor, they indicate a direction to a place. Stroking (sweeping) the legs outwards from the body indicates that the soul is slipping from the body: someone is in danger of dying.

Touching an ear signifies a warning against an enemy, a warning to the client to be careful and watchful.

Touching the mouth means that the mouth will reveal the problem or that somebody is talking against someone, depending on the context.

Touching the (central) chest signifies courage, it is telling the client to be brave - or that the problem is concealed in the heart (i.e. hidden), depending on the context. Touching the breast means that the matter in question is concerned with a woman or women.
Pointing over the shoulders indicates a problem that is behind the person (and cannot be seen), i.e. a hidden and unknown danger.

A cutting movement across the thigh means a fowl has to be sacrificed.
Touching the calf hide the diviner and client are sitting on means that an animal (goat, cow, etc.) has to be sacrificed.

Making signs on the floor (either with the fingers or with coloured pieces of limestone) signify different types of outcome (or sacrifice). The two most common signs (or symbols) signify 1) a peaceful outcome (and intent) of the problem, 2) a magical evocation of positive protective forces to counter evil influences. These signs are usually made on the path to some shrine some time after the divination.

There are most likely some further versions and refinements of these movements, but I was told this was the general method of receiving answers from the various spiritual agencies. The other important element in Birifor divining is, as has been become clear, the casting of cowries. They are cast in different numbers, each number signifying a reference to a particular shrine and a particular type of problem. I was told that this system could be applied with a certain amount of flexibility. In all cases, with one exception, if only one of the cowries is turned upside (i.e., with its opening turned up) the confirmation is positive. The only exception is when four cowries are cast; then, if two turn up and two turn down it is a positive confirmation. Here are the main numerical configurations of cowries cast:

Two cowries refer to the earth shrine (tingaan), and as a rule every session starts with the asking for permission to divine from the tingaan, as well as getting permission to close the divination at the end. It has to be remembered that all other shrines rest on the tingaan. Casting of two cowries is most often connected to important stages and crucial confirmations in the divination process.

Three cowries are connected to the ancestor shrine (san/santii) and to problems that come under its domain (lineage problems, "house problems").

Four cowries are connected to the clan spirits (or "spirits beneath", tii), and have reference to both matri- and patriclan affairs, depending on the context.

Five cowries are connected to the supreme being (naangmin), who is not consulted directly in any way, but is sometimes included in the initial procedure when asking for permission. The naangmin is generally connected to the notion of fate.

Six cowries are connected to the "beings", kontome, as these spirits are vital to the divination process - divination being performed in the room containing the shrine to the kontome.

A divination session can be roughly divided into three main phases (asking for permission - divination proper - summary and closure), which correspond roughly to the threefold division formulated by van Gennep (1960) and Turner (1969), where the first phase is characterised by shifting from the outer, mundane space to a more private and closed one (separation). The second phase is the divination proper, which is a liminal phase where communication and consultation with the spirits takes place. The last phase is summing up and confirming the findings, closing the session and returning back to 'normal' (integration). The first phase consists of introductory formalities, where various spiritual entities are asked for permission to divine, as well as identifying the relevant shrine, or "mystical trouble" (boor) connected to the problem at hand. At the outset of the session, the diviner shakes his bottle-like skin container (kpo), containing the divination cowries, or knocks it rhythmically against the floor, while summoning the spirits. To confirm the presence of the spirits he tosses a few cowries on the floor. Often this introductory phase includes a formal speech on the nature of divination and the general reasons for divining, as well as an overview of the main aspects and rules of the practice. Usually this phase is straightforward but it happens that the spirits implicated do not grant permission until after some persistent questioning. Then the diviner goes on to probe the oracle (i.e., the various spirits) for the problem at hand, a process that can last well over an hour and a half, where the asking/talking goes on non-stop. He asks what appears to be endless yes/no questions, with the hands giving indications and the cowries confirming the answers. This is repeated several times over as to be sure of the findings, with the client sometimes joining in.

Thus when permission has been granted and the most important shrine (sphere of problem) has been identified, the second (and main) part commences. This is the "divination proper", consisting of the long series of yes/no questions (with some direct questions thrown in when needed) put to the various shrines (gods, spirits), with - as has already been indicated - hands indicating the answers and the casting of cowries confirming those answers. The combination of hand movements and casting of cowries is quite complex, and the action is fast (sometimes this action is very rhythmic and sounds like drumming). Different movements of the joined hands indicate different things and the different numbers of cowries cast point to different shrines being involved in the problem. This middle part is by far the longest of the three. Here I will show an example of a divination session from 6th November 1999 in its entirety to demonstrate the process. The reason for the consultation was the death of a brother and the client was one of his three brothers. The diviner was Nombro, the son of the then earth shrine custodian (tingansuo) in Kalba. This was the third (and final) divination concerning this matter (in matters of death, there are always at least three consultations with different diviners). Q signifies a question, A signifies an answer. The oval forms signify cowrie shells - one with a line through signifies a cowrie with its opening facing up.

Q:…shakes skin bottle…Binian (an ancestor)…greets that spirit…I do not know…addresses the Spirits beneath…There is something hanging on the top there…points to the goat skin hanging on the wall behind him…and you (the spirit) said, when there is a problem, I bring you down to the floor for you to find the answer to the problem for me. This is exactly what I am going to do now. It is a patrilineal god, I am directed by you to address the various members of the patriclan (ancestors)…he mentions some names of patrilineal ancestors as well as the gods and spirits, for permission to divine…this process takes some time, it is an important procedure. These formalities take a long time!…After finishing addressing the ancestors and spirits/gods, the diviner knocks on the calf skin he and the client are sitting on. Again, he summons all (?) his patrilineal forbears (diviners?) to assist him in finding the solution to the current problem. He also summons the gods/spirits again - a long process. All the time, while going through this procedure, the diviner sits still with his eyes closed, covering his face with his right hand…I do not know, talking too much is not the answer. You know, 2 cowries thrown, 1 up 1 down, to get permission to go on… casts 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…permission granted…
Q:…What is wrong with the man who has brought me 5 cowries to find out?…hands moving, point to a direction…I have seen where you are touching, but what is wrong with what you are touching? Is that what is causing the problem? Is that the problem?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…If that is the problem, should I tell it to the man, that this is the problem? A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…So, if I know this, do I (i.e. the client) need to make sacrifice? If I sacrifice, what is it…hands search, make signs signifying pito brewing…are they stirring (the beer in the pots)?
A….hands indicate…no (not brew pito as sacrifice)…
Q:…Are they cutting throats…hands move like cutting…animal sacrifice?
A:…hands vertical…yes…
Q:…If the answer is yes, what is the real problem, that we are to make a sacrifice?…in this case, the diviner is finding out the sacrifice before localising the problem, which is unusual…If I know the answer now, where do I make the sacrifice…hands "walk" along the floor…Should I make a sacrifice on the path?
A:…hands indicate…yes (on the path)…
Q:…Yes, I know the answer is yes, but there are many paths. Is it on the path to the Earth shrine?
A:…hands answer…no (not to the Earth god)…
Q:…Should I find out from the Ancestors?
A:…hands answer…no (not from the Ancestors)…
Q:…Should I go ahead to find out? Should I find it from the shrines in front of the house? From the shrine on the top of the roof? From the River god? The Rock god? From the Bush-spirits?
A:…hands indicate negative response to all questions…no (none of these)…
Q:…Is it from the Spirits beneath (the Clan gods = maternal spirits)?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…Should I look at this problem with the Spirits beneath? Are these the ones causing the problem? If they are causing the problem, give me the answer: 5 cowries, 1 up 4 down…throws 5 cowries, outcome negative, has to ask again…hands are working, pointing back behind the diviner, in a "walking" movement, returns and knocks on the calf skin several times…is there a problem with an animal (a cow)? Is that where the problem is?
A:….hands move vertically and slap thigh…yes…
Q:…The problem is with this one?…knocks on calf skin with the hands…
A:…hands indicate…yes (the problem is with this skin, i.e. an animal)…
Q:…If the problem is with the skin (animal), then 4 cowries, 2 up 2 down to confirm…throws 4 cowries, but outcome negative…
A:…there are more problems (or, another problem)…hands move and touch various spots and point to various directions…
Q:…There is a problem with an animal? Is it with the Earth god?
A:…hands: no…
Q:…Is it with the Ancestor shrine?
A:…hands: no…
Q:…is it with the Spirits beneath (clan spirits)?
A:…hands: yes…
Q:…If this is the cause, and this is disturbing the house, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down, to confirm the answer…throws 2 cowries, outcome negative…
A:…hands search…there is more to the problem…
Q:…diviner touches his left ear (indicating a warning)…we know the problem, but you are warning. Who should be careful?…mentions of relatives and family members: mother, father, senior brothers, senior sisters, junior brothers, junior sisters…
A:…hands respond positively to…the senior brother (the one who is holding hands with the diviner)… hands pointed at him.
clan spirit
Q:…Why should he be careful? Is he the cause of the problem? If so, 5 cowries 1 up 4 down…throws 5 cowries, outcome negative:
A:…no (he is not the cause)…
Q:…Who is the cause? Is it his father?
A:…hands: no
Q:…is it his mother?
A:…hands: no
Q:…is it his brother?
A:…hands: yes (it is the brother)
Q:…How does he cause the problem (about the cow)? …hands search…should I find it out from the Earth god? If so, 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, outcome negative…
A:…no (the problem is not from the Earth god)…
Q:…Should I find out about the shrines in front of the house?…mentions various gods as before…
A:…hands: the problem is with the Ancestor gods… Q:…what is the problem that the Ancestors have seen?
A:…hands indicate a hoe (= farming)…Ancestor god has seen a problem concerning farming
Q:…If there is a problem with the hoe (farming)…if I am finding out, where do I find out?…hands search…"walk" along the floor…you are walking, to where, what is the problem?
A:…hands point to….the Rock god…hands indicate…somebody has "jujued" to the Rock god to spoil the farming activities of the man…
Q:…This is what you, the Ancestors have seen? And you are protecting (against the "juju"). If that is true, then 3 cowries thrown, 1 up, 2 down, to proof you are responsible…casts 3 cowries, 1 up, 2 down:
A:…it is true…
Q:…If the above is correct, 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down…casts 2 cowries, outcome negative:
A:…there is still a problem…
Q:…Who is the cause of the problem?…mentions many names… :
A:…hands: none of them…somebody else…
Q:…mentions names of the tribes in Kalba…(i.e. families, lineages)
A:…hands: none of them…hands indicate that the problem is within the house, with his own brothers (but not those who are present at the divination)…
Q:…If it is the brothers, is it the client´s brothers?
A:…hands: no…
Q:…Is it the father himself who is causing the problem with the hoe?
A:…hands: no…
Q:…Is it the father´s brothers?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…If I want to find out, should I find out from you, the Earth god?
A:…hands: no…
Q:…Is it the Ancestor shrine?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…Is it the Spirits beneath?
A:…hands: no…
Q:…is it the River god? Is it the Hill god (Rock god)?
A:…hands: no…it is not the Hill god, but the River god…
Q:…If you know that the cause is with the River god, if we know this, what do we do? …hands search and indicate (?)…If this is correct (?), 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down…throws 2 cowries, outcome negative…
A:…there is more to the problem…hands indicate that there are more problems with the Ancestors…
Q:…hands working a lot…There is a problem with the Ancestor shrine? If I know this, what do I do? … hands search for answer…If we know this, we should come before you (i.e. the Ancestor shrine). This is the problem that the Ancestors have seen. If this is the problem, then, 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…casts 2 cowries, outcome negative…
A….no (this is not the problem)…
Q:…If the hoe is spoiled, and you the father (Ancestors) are aware, and you the River god are aware, if we know this, are we to make sacrifices to you, the River god? Or to the Ancestors?…casts 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down, to both questions:
A:…yes, sacrifice to them both…
Note: sacrifice has to be made to the River god, because somebody has "jujued" to the River god to spoil the client´s farming. Client has to make a sacrifice to the same deity to counterbalance the "juju" and regain the protection of the shrine. Sacrifice has to be made to the Ancestor shrine because it is a protective god in the house; to make things good in the house (cf. my assistant).
Q:…hands are searching, asking…Ancestor shrine, where is it wrong again?…hands search…you said we were finished with your problem. And you, the Spirits beneath (maternal clan spirits), you said you were finished with your problem. I will address that problem. If your problem is finished, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down, to confirm that your problem is closed…casts 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down:
A:…yes (confirmed, Ancestors have finished with the problem)…
Q:…Diviner returns to the original problem concerning the animal: he touches the calf skin…is this the problem? If this is the problem, has the Ancestor god a say in this problem?
A:…hands indicate…no…and point to the Spirits beneath (maternal clan spirits)
Q:…If this is the cause, where do I find out?…mentions gods/shrines/spirits…
A:…hands: the Spirits beneath (are the cause)…
Q:…Why are the Spirits beneath (maternal spirits) responsible? …hands tap on the calf skin…why is the animal a problem? Is it that the animal is stolen?…
A:…hands…no…
Q:…Is it that they refused to kill the animal to the Ancestor god?…
A:…hands…no…
Q:…why is the animal the problem? Is it that the collected bridewealth of his niece and the sacrifice was not performed properly?
A:…hands: no (that is not the case)…
Q:…But why animal, why animal?
A:…hands point to the client…
Q:…what has the animal to do with the client? Is it that he inherited some animals from his dead brother?
A:…hands slap forcefully…yes, yes, yes!!
Q:…Is he (i.e. the client) the one who collected the animal himself?
A:…hands…no (not himself)…
Q:…Is it the client´s mother, sister or uncles?
A:…hands…no (none of them)…
Q:…The client has junior brothers?
A:…hands…yes…
Q:…Is it one of his brothers who inherited some animals from the dead brother?
A:…hands:…yes, yes, yes!
Q:…If he (i.e. the junior brother) inherited animals from his dead brother, then what is the problem?… hands search…
A….hands indicate…: he brought the animals home to Kalba, and did not hand them over to his senior brother (as custom demands)…hands respond to several names and several yes and no questions…
Q:…When he refused to hand the animal over to his senior brother, what happened?…hands search…did they quarrel?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…Is that what the Sprits beneath (maternal gods) have seen wrong?
A:…hands:…yes…
Q:…Is that what has caused the death of the junior brother?
A:…hands:…yes…
Q:…Is it because he did not follow proper procedure?
A:…hands:…yes…
Q:…So that is what has caused his death?
A:…hands slap thigh forcefully…yes, yes!
Q:…If we know this, what do we do (i.e. what sacrifice do we make)?
A:…hands indicate a symbolic sacrifice… on the path?…
Q:…I am told that we are to make a sacrifice, but to where? Is it on the path to the Earth god?
A:…hands indicate…no…
Q:…to the River god?
A:…hands:…no…
Q:…to the Rock god?
A:…hands: no…
Q:…to the Spirits beneath?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…if we are to make sacrifices to the maternal gods (the Spirits beneath), then what? Spirits, get up and tell me!!…hands are searching, tapping on the calf skin…is it with an animal?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…If it is with an animal, is it going to be killed?
A:…hands answer…no…
Q:…Should it be replaced?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…is that all you need?
A:…hands:…yes…
Q:…If this is done, will there be peace in the house?
A:…hands slap forcefully…yes!
Q:…If there will be peace in the house, then 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down, to confirm to me, and I will close my findings…casts 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down:
A:…yes (it is confirmed, case is closed).
Then, the diviner repeats the initial formalities, asking for permission to close, and thanking the spirits and ancestors for helping him. If final permission is granted, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…casts 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…
The client repeats the same formalities as the diviner, and the diviner confirms by "ahumm-ahummahumm" and "aha-aha-aha-". When that is finished, the divination session is over and completed.
The problem:
The death of a junior brother
The cause:
He wrongly inherited an animal that his senior brother should have had, he knew it was wrong, cf. the quarrel, which angered the matrilineal clan gods (cattle belong to the matriclan), who punished him with death.
Solution:
Make sacrifice to the Spirits beneath, on the path:
Also, replace the animal, and there will be peace in the house.
The last phase consists of closing in on the problem by concluding and establishing the cause responsible for the problem as well as prescribing relevant sacrifices (what to sacrifice at which shrine by whom) and finally the divination is brought to an end in a proper way and the diviner thanks the spirits for their assistance in solving the problem. This phase often constitutes the repetition of the whole questioning, where diviner and client take turns in asking and confirming the entire thing all over again. In this phase, the confirmation consists mainly of series of "uhumm", "ahaa", and the like, in a very rhythmic fashion. When the session is over, the client gets up and leaves without a comment.
It is very important for both diviner and client that they are confident that the diviner has made successful contact with the appropriate, 'right' spirits. This they assume to know when the diviner has managed to localise the sphere of the problem (i.e. the relevant spirits/shrines) and thus show that he is on the right path. This is important for the client, for he has to know that the sacrifices prescribed by the diviner are the right ones - otherwise the whole exercise is deemed to be futile and the problem unsolved. The relentless repetitions during the divination sessions are to ensure that the diviner has got the message right and has not strayed from the correct path. I have now discussed the general aspects of Birifor divination, its technicalities and tools; the making and practice of the diviner; the reasons for seeing a diviner and the general aspects of the final phase of divination, the sacrifice. I have addressed the relationship between humans and spirits and the play of (occult) powers this relationship is framed in (the moral authority of spirits; witchcraft/sorcery; and the punitive aspect of the spirits, due to human failings). In earlier chapters I have discussed in more details the spiritual, or occult worldview of the Birifor, and how the various shrines/spirits are connected to different spheres of the life-world and experience of the people. This aspect is linked to the general make-up of the society - its different institutions (kinship, politics, etc.) as well as its general history - unclear as it may be. These are all factors that feed into each other and in some ways it is possible to see divination as one of the most central practices tying many of the different threads together. All the factors I have mentioned are scrutinised to different degrees in the divination sessions, as will become evident - which leads to the divination sessions themselves. I will demonstrate further how Birifor divination takes place by giving more examples and I will try to make the participants themselves do some more talking.

3.3. Analysis of divination sessions
In this section I will try to analyse the Birifor divination process in some detail and depth. In doing so, I want to focus on the interplay, or mirroring, of mundane and occult, cosmological factors, or on what Devisch (1991:113) calls structural causality, by which he means the extrapolation of everyday situations upon the "screen" of a supernatural system - represented by the shrines and spirits. This system acts as an ordering and clarifying frame of reference and as such it helps people to understand their situation and to put forward a plan for action. In the sessions there are constant references to the various shrines and spirits and they will be looked at as personified agencies, or "personifications of cosmic order" (Tengan 2000: chapter three). They are also to be seen as focal interface between the parallel worlds of humans and of occult forces - this interface being a liminal space where the negotiations over fate and destiny can take place - liminality being the sphere of change and transformation. In trying to illuminate this I will refer extensively to the transcripts of the divination sessions, thus allowing the Birifor diviners to speak out for themselves. One factor which seems to underline the divinatory procedure is the importance of the awareness and realisation of the interconnectedness and unity of all aspects of life - patent and latent - this awareness being vital for being better equipped to deal with what the "fates" throw at us. This leads to one of the main ideas of this chapter, which is the extraction of meaning from the divination. This implies receiving sensible and meaningful answers from questions born from affliction and crisis, and acquiring some kind of mapping so as to be able to change the situation and act on the problem at hand. Engaging in divination is not an intellectual enterprise for the Birifor, but an attempt to gain some control of a difficult situation and find a way to continue with life. However, that does not diminish the importance of the interlocking of divination with the overall cosmological and religion system, which acts as an epistemological frame of reference, formulating the problem situation in a coherent manner. It has to do with the purposeful outcome of the session and the meaningful response to affliction. One important aspect is the dimension of fate and destiny and the response of people to these powers. It concerns vital questions of the causal factors involved and of how to undo the negative energy underlying the crisis at hand. This involves existential and philosophical questions about the position of man in the wider scheme of things (the "cosmic web") and his awareness - or lack of it - of his position and purpose as well as working out strategies of negotiations with the various occult powers. By doing this, the Birifor seek to influence their fate and destiny in a meaningful way and it shows that they do not entirely subscribe to the view of unbending or unavoidable fate. This task requires self-consciousness and awareness of one's situation.
Another important angle, addressed at the beginning of this chapter, is the correspondence between (mundane) problematic situations and "higher-order systems of values and norms" (Devisch 1991:112) - structural causality instead of linear causality (113). By extrapolating problem situations to "higher-order axiological principle or axiomatic etiological model" (112), it becomes possible to bring out a meaning, which surpasses ordinary concepts and reasoning about (linear) cause and effect. This postulates a higher or deeper meaning behind ordinary occurrences - with complex (a-causal) implications, tied up with the relationships of individuals with their wider social and extra-social networks. This structural causality can be seen to correspond in some respects to Jung's concept of synchronicity and the correspondence between planets and mundane affairs in astrology (Jung 1972). In the same way as there is a structural affect between, for example, the "spirits beneath" of the Birifor and the matriclan (and matters pertaining to it) and the ancestor shrines and the patrilineage, we find structural affect between the planet Venus and marriage and other interpersonal relationships and between Mercury and travel and trade - to present two examples from that form of divination. Thus, divination is seen here as a system and a process of deciphering hidden knowledge by referring to structurally causal (or a-causal, to paraphrase Jung) factors in a system of complementary correspondences, where the different factors are not seen as having linear causal relationships but rather as having mutual and synchronised affect, or sympathy, existing and operating simultaneously in the scheme of things.
In this way, divination is seen as a method of de-coding - as an interpretative mechanism of a symbolic system - where the religious and cosmic worldview is seen as a symbolic framework, acting as a backdrop for the divinatory process. The de-coding of this symbolic framework helps people to understand and simplify the chaotic complexities of life and to eye strategic solutions. This interpretative process unfolds during the divination session. Importantly, the reference to shrines and spirits also constitutes awareness of areas of neglect. By focusing on a particular shrine during the divination, what is addressed is the need for attending to the area corresponding to the shrine.
I will try to show what roles the factors addressed above have in the divinatory practices of the Birifor and how they emerge. I will use ethnographic examples from the divination sessions to try to cast some light on this. The first case presented here took place on the 9th of November 1999 in Kalba. The diviner was Jaamin and the client was Dayin, who is a diviner and a blacksmith. The reason for the session was Dayin's serious illness.
This was a long and painstaking session, concerned with several problems, all assumed to be responsible for the client's illness. The diviner's introduction is long and detailed, where the essentials of Birifor divination are covered. The session took place at Dayin's house, with the younger diviner Jaamin conducting the divination, with occasional active participation of the client. Usually, clients visit the diviners at the their house, but Dayin had been seriously ill, and still was very weak - which might be the reason for this arrangement. Dayin's house is a typical traditional Birifor house, a large fort-like mud structure, with several shrines in front of it, most notably a large rain shrine (saa) and an even larger river shrine (naaman), covered with dried blood from a sacrificial fowl with feathers from its tail stuck on top of the shrine. It could be seen that the fowl had recently been sacrificed. Jaamin, the younger diviner was an energetic and powerfully built man who smoked one homegrown cigarette after another, making this session something of a smoky affair. He threw himself into the divining in a forceful manner, tossing cowries relentlessly for some time before starting summoning the various spirits for permission and guidance in divining. He put the millet stalk lid from the divination bottle between the two biggest toes of his left leg, which he said gave him extra power during the divination. As he shook his leather bottle and cast the cowries together with hand movements, he reminded me of the black American jazz master drummer Elvin Jones, who was usually spotted with a cigarette dangling from his lips behind the drum kit. Thus this was a very rhythmic session, fast and forceful. In stark contrast to this bundle of energy, the client - himself a diviner and a blacksmith - was like a pale and ghostly shadow of himself, obviously drained of all energy due to his illness, which had almost brought him to death. Nevertheless, because of his status as a good diviner (he was also the mentor to the younger Jaamin), he participated actively in the divination, as they took turns asking the spirits for information. This session was difficult and revealed a complex set of "causes" of the problem. They were mostly related to domestic, "house" (yir) problems involving the wife and her lineage, especially her brothers, their daughter, and typically an (misplaced) inheritance was involved, as well as a conflict over material resources and division of labour in farming. And, importantly, mystical neglect was involved, with delayed, failed or forgotten sacrifices, with the inevitable mystical retribution as a consequence. I felt the two men thought that the session had been a success. It was concerned with serious and pressing matters and I felt they were trying to impress my companion and me as well as showing off for each other as mentor and former pupil.
The diviner began by shaking his divination bottle/rattle containing the twenty divination cowries for some time while he lit a huge home grown cigarette. He made contact with the ever-present spirits, communicated with them silently for a while and then cast two cowries to ask for permission to divine. The permission was granted: one up, one down (A = answer; Q = question):
A:…permission to start is granted…
Q:…Hold the hand and we will see…shakes skin bottle, throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
…and he repeated the cast, again with positive result. Before the divining began, the diviner presented an introductory prologue, which went like this:
"Open mouth cowries! I do not know, this is an old system, handed over from ancestor to ancestor, from generation to generation to find when something of this nature is happening. A cow does not leave its calf behind. The older people are all dead and gone, and we are the new generation. And we are told to continue with the work they were doing (i.e. divination). Here we are to continue with the work of the old. I am not lazy with the instructions that have been given to me when I was ordained as a diviner. I was told never to refuse to divine for a client, no matter what age, what sex, what nationality or whatever. When I was initiated at the boor (bagre) festival, when that was finished, we were permitted to go home. On the way we were called back and given this bottle containing the twenty divination cowries (note: when initiated at the boor festival, the initiation as a diviner takes place three years after the original boor initiation. At that initiation the diviners receive their divination skin bottles (kpo) containing the twenty divination cowries). I was told not to keep it in the hall, but in the bedroom (of the senior wife where the kontomo, or bush spirit shrine is kept), on the crossbars of the roof. And I shall bring it down any time there is a problem. And here we are to face that. And you (addresses the skin bottle) are brought down. With all these instructions, I do not refuse. I brought you home and you are hung on the crossbar. And I brought you, and you say the crossbar alone cannot handle you. I am told when I put you down, I should remove the cowries, toss them on the floor to find out the problem of the client. To find this out I should mention the names of the dead and names of people still living. You, the dead patriclan members (ancestors), and other members of the community, what is the problem? I want you to help me to find out.
Now he begins addressing names of many ancestors and living people as well as the names of the various shrines and spirits: the Earth shrine (tingaan), the River shrine (naaman), the Rock/hill shrine (tong), the Rain shrine (saa), the Clan shrine, or spirits beneath (tibe) and the Bush spirits (kontomo). Then the diviner gives reasons why people consult diviners:
"Nobody knows his own problems, somebody else has to find out for you. A pregnant woman does not see her private parts. The five cowries the client brings are not for nothing. He should have a problem. Problems could be bad dreams, unfulfilled sacrifices, and illness in the house, bad sleep, business troubles, and farming problems. So you, spirits, you know and I am prepared to ask you to help me to find out the problem of the man. You, spirits, get up and give me the problem! You know, I do not know. Come quick!" He starts searching by moving his hands and touching various spots on the floor.
"Come quick and direct me to the problem!"
After this introduction, the diviner begins by asking about illness and death:
Q:…hands search and touch various spots around the diviner…
A:…hands have indicated…yes, I have seen it…
Q:…but what is the problem?…hands touch more spots…
A:…yes, yes!…
Q:…Is that the problem? Is that why he has given me five cowries? Will I know the problem? When I know it, what do I do? What has caused the problem? Will I know what has caused the problem? If I know, is it sickness that causes death? Is it death that has caused the problem, that the man has brought me five cowries for? If it is death that has caused the problem, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…casts 2 cowries, but the outcome is negative…
A:…no (not death)…
Q:…I do not agree! The problem is with death!…diviner mentions many names…is it "nako" (to kill) that causes the problem?
A:…hands answer…no, not death…
Q:…If it is not with "nako", 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down: A:…no (it is not with "nako" = death)…
Q:…diviner mentions names of various gods and spirits to ask for information on where the problem lies, uses many yes/no questions and hand movements…
A:…hands have discovered…it is (in connection with) the Ancestor shrine…
Q:…is it that he has failed to make a sacrifice to the Ancestor shrine? A:…hands…yes…
Q:…in which way?…mentions some possibilities, and hands search for answers…
A:…hands indicate…he has made sacrifice to the Ancestors, that has not been accepted…
Q:…did he not divine again to find out why the sacrifice was not accepted?
A:…hands indicate…yes (he did not, that is why he has problems)…
Q:…If this finding is accepted, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down, for the Ancestor shrine to close the case… throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…hands searching…yes (the first finding is accepted, i.e. the client is guilty of not making proper sacrifice to the Ancestor shrine)…
Q:…There is a problem, and people are telling the client to divine, for people are working against him?…
A:…hands indicate…yes, people are telling him to find out…
Q:…People have told him to find out? He did not do it? If I know this problem, should I find out from the Earth god? It is the biggest god and we drink water from him…
A:…hands indicate…no (he is not the cause)…hands search…but the Earth god knows (of the problem)…
Q:…the Earth god has said he is not the cause of the problem, but he has seen the problem. The Earth god and the Ancestors are friends. If the Earth god has said that he is not the cause of the problem, then I find out from the Ancestor shrine. 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down, for the Earth god to have a rest…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…yes (the problem is not with the Earth god)…
Q:…Are the Ancestors part of the problem?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…If I know this, where do I find out if there is another problem?
A:…hands search…there is another problem…
Q:…If there is another problem, where do I find out?…hands search…is there a problem with the sky god?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…diviner mentions other gods, when he reaches the Spirits beneath (Clan spirits), the answer is positive…I throw 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down to confirm…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…yes (it is with the Clan spirits = the matriclan)…
Q:…If this answer is confirmed, can I go on?
A:…hands answer…yes…
Q:….I have got the third problem, is there another problem?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…If there is no problem, 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, outcome negative…
A:…there is still another problem…
Q:…But you have told me there is no problem. If there is still a problem, climb on my leg (= slap my thigh) and give me the fourth problem. I throw 5 cowries, 1 up 4 down, to confirm…throws 5 cowries, 1 up, 4 down:
A:…yes (there is still a problem)…the hands indicate that the problem is with Clan spirits, and it is because of neglected sacrifice…
Q:…The diviner asks the client (also a diviner) to take over and find out…Client talks, welcomes the spirits…spirits, you are welcome. When day breaks, those who have good health search for solutions to their problems. Here we are, if you do not have good health, you find out from a diviner. I did not sleep well, I give the problem to the Ancestor god, and a stone (the Earth god)…mentions and greets all the gods, lots of knocking of skin bottle against the floor…
Q:…Diviner takes over again…where was the mistake?…he mentions some places, hands search again…
A:…hands answer…with the Clan spirits (Spirits beneath: matriclan spirits)… Q:…Client takes over again, and mentions the various spirits, hands indicate yes or no…I made a sacrifice that was not correct?
A:…hands…yes (you did)…
Q:…where should I find out? from the Earth god?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…addresses other gods, gets negative answers until he reaches the Clan spirits…
A:…hands indicate…it is with the Clan spirits…
Q:…Now that I know this, where do I make sacrifice?…mentions names of gods/spirits again, all negative until he comes to the Earth god…
A:…at the Earth god…
Q:…have I wronged the Earth god?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…Am I the one who wronged the Earth god? A:…hands indicate…no (not you)… Q:…Is it somebody else who wronged the Earth god on my behalf?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…he mentions names of people in his family, as well as names of some enemies…if somebody is working against me through the Earth god, which we gather yearly around? Have I stolen the Earth god's cow (i.e. am I a thief)?…is there anything missing that I have taken for myself? Have I stolen any fowl? The Earth god has taboos. Have I not obeyed his taboos? If I have not offended you, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…no (you have not offended me = the Earth god)…

This sequence demonstrates how the diviner starts by localising the problem at one of the many shrines - the shrines functioning as "higher-order systems of values and norms" (Devisch 1991:112), whereby a correspondence between the problem brought about by the client can be referred to for meaningful interpretation. This is very important so that the divination will proceed in a coherent way. By doing this, the diviner has localised the main axis of the problem - in this case the tibe, or the "clan spirits beneath", who correspond to the matriclan. Now, the diviner has discovered this much, but he still has to find out what matriclan is involved, and in what way, as well as other facets of the problem brought by the five cowries. If this was an astrological counselling session and the astrologer had pinpointed Venus as the focal factor, he/she would know that the problem revolved around personal relationships, marriage or love matters. Thus the Birifor diviners use similar system-of-correspondence as the western astrologer (according to the "as above - so below" adage).
At the outset the diviner asks if death is the cause of the problem but the oracle denies that it so. Then the diviner argues with the oracle (as sometimes happens) and insists that illness and death are causing the problem. It is not uncommon for diviners to object to the oracle and argue with it - it seems to show that the diviners do not always accept the verdict at face value and also that they are having a dialogue with the spirits. Thus the divination is an interactive process, a conversation and two-way communication. This can of course be seen as a form of manipulation, but let that rest for the time being, since that is somehow beside the point. This dialogical relationship can also be seen in people's attitude to the question of fate and destiny and the way it is thought possible to negotiate with the shrines/spirits and thus to balance the power of the innate and the possible. By conducting themselves in a proper manner and honouring the spirits by offering regular sacrifices people seem to think that their fate is not altogether fixed and unchangeable and that man's destiny is to some extent in his/her hands and open to influence.
Despite the diviner's protestations, the oracle maintains that death is not the cause of the problem (but it almost became the outcome). After much probing the diviner finds that the problem is with the ancestral shrines ((santii); patrilineal matters: the "house" (yir), farming, and so on). A part of the problem is that the client had made a failed sacrifice to the ancestor shrine (the sacrifice had been rejected). The client had not divined the cause of the rejection, and the spirits became upset because of the neglect of the man toward them, and consequently they had withdrawn their protection. Then the oracle finds that "people" have been warning the client about someone who had been "working against" him (using sorcery/witchcraft), and that he should have consulted a diviner. The diviner asks if the problem is connected to the earth shrine (tingaan), he is told it is not, but that the Earth is aware of the problem (the Earth "sees the problem"). According to the oracle, the Earth and the Ancestors are friends. Having confirmed that the Earth is not the problem, but the Ancestors, the diviner finds that there is another problem, and that it is with the matriclan spirits beneath (tibe). Then the oracle reveals that there is still another problem (or more to the problem at hand). This is also connected to failed or neglected sacrifice. Diviner and client then receive further confirmation that the problem is connected to the clan spirits beneath and a sacrifice that was not performed correctly to their shrine.
The diviner finds that a sacrifice has to be made to the earth shrine, but it is not the client who has wronged the Earth, nor anyone on his behalf. The client wants to know if he has broken any "Earth taboos" (note: the client is a blacksmith and therefore he has strong obligatory links to the Earth shrine, in some way similar to the Earth custodian, and likewise he has to observe strict taboos in relation to the Earth). The oracle tells him that he has not violated any taboos. The diviner repeats the question about a possible braking of taboos or anything that might have angered the Earth, but the oracle denies that. Now the diviner proceeds to focus closer on what person(s) is primarily involved in the affliction of the client and the next sequence is a good example of the probing technique that the diviners use with its repetitive and rhythmic emphasis.

Q:…The diviner takes over…Why have you rejected? Has he stolen a cow (from the Earth god)? Has he cheated? Something was missing and he got it and he refused to give it to the Earth priest?…
A:…hands indicate…no (he did not do any of these)…
Q:…Is it a problem from the house?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…hands touch the chest (meaning a woman) of the client…is it a problem with a female in the house?
A….hands…yes…
Q:…If it is a female, is it my daughter
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it my brother's wife?
A….hands…no
Q:…is it my late mother?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it with her sister?
A:…hands indicate…no
Q:…is it with my wife?
A:…hands indicate…yes, yes. yes!
Q:…the Earth god has told me that the problem is with the wife? Is it a problem with farming land? Is it that my wife has stolen some crops on the farm? Is it that she refuses to work on the farm?…
A:…hands answer…no (to all these questions)…
Q: if this is negative, then our fathers tell us, that if there is something wrong with us, we should find out from you, the Earth god. Is it that I eat without giving you something (i.e. I do not sacrifice to you at the end of harvest)?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…is it with yam-mound raising?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…You, the Earth god, if the above is negative, where else do I find out?…is it that I have taken a vow before you? Concerning birth? Farm production? To seek riches? And I have not fulfilled that?…
A:…hands indicate…no (to all these questions)…
Q:…is it that enemies are working against me? Is it I, the client, that is working against myself?
A:…hands answers…no (to both questions)…
Q:…Is it something else?
A:…hands indicate…yes…
Q:…Has the Earth god seen something wrong with this?
A:…hands…yes…
Q:…Do you, the Earth god, want to draw the attention to the client about the evil attention of whoever is acting against him?
A:…hands…yes…
Q:…Is it somebody who has done something wrong against the client?
A:…hands…yes…
Q:…What should happen to him (the client)?…hands search and point to various directions…should he die? Should he become crazy?
A:…hands indicate…no (to both questions)…
Q:…should he have no property?
A:…hands…yes (he should not)…i.e. farm produce…
Q:…is that what is happening? Is it his father who has caused it?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…is it his brother who has caused it?
A:…hands…no…hands touch chest (i.e. a woman)…somebody has…
Q:…The client takes over…if it is somebody working against me, then, concerning what? Is it his children? Or prosperity? Or death? Or madness? …
A:…hands indicate…none of these…
Q:…Then, who has done it? My brothers?
A:…hands…no…
Q:…Is it a woman that has done it?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…If it is a woman, 4 cowries, 2 up, 2 down…throws 4 cowries, outcome negative…
I am saying, give me 2 up, 2 down, not 1 up 3 down!…throws 4 cowries again, 2 up 2 down:
A:…you are saying it is a woman…
Q:…Is it a woman that is causing the problems with me?…If it is a woman, I want to know the type of woman…throws 3 cowries, 1 up 2 down, to confirm it is a woman:
A:…yes (it is a woman)…
Q:…Should I agree it is a woman?
A:…hands…yes…
Q:…mentions names…is it my daughter?
A:…hands…no Q:…is it my mother?
A:…hands…no…
Q… is it my wife?
A:…hands…yes!
Q:…So, this is what the Earth god has seen wrong?
A….hands…yes…
Q:…If I know this, that the Earth god is protecting, what kind of sacrifice shall I make to the Earth god, since my woman is working against me?…hands search…
A:…hands make a cutting sign across the diviner's thigh…kill a fowl…
Q:…if this is the end for you, the Earth god, then 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down, for you to rest, and I go on to ask the Ancestor gods, for you are friends, and you move together…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…positive… The diviner has found out that the problem has to do with "the house" (yir), and by touching his chest, indicates that the problem has to do with a woman. The diviner probes and tries to find out who the woman is (he mentions mothers, sisters, daughters) until he comes to the wife of the client. Having found that out, the diviner can now concentrate on the role of the wife in connection with the problem. The diviner now tries to find out in which way the wife is a part of the problem. He mentions several factors: farming land, crop theft, refusal to work on the farm, yammound- raising, enemies "working against" him (i.e. using sorcery/witchcraft), etc. The oracle tells that it is something else, and that the Earth shrine has seen something wrong with it. The Earth wants to draw the client's attention to the fact that someone is "working against" him. Several possibilities are mentioned, but they are all denied. But the oracle repeatedly insists that a woman is central to the problem. The client asks the oracle if the sorcery is concerned with his children, his prosperity, with death or madness. It is all being denied. He asks if his brothers are involved, but no. Again, it is revealed that it is a woman.
Now the diviner has put his finger on the focal point of the problem (the wife) after having hovered around it for some time. He keeps using this technique for a while, after which he finally starts repeating and double-checking everything to get solid confirmation of his findings.
Interestingly, when he throws the cowries to confirm the verdict, he gets a negative response. He repeats the cast, as he did not agree with the outcome, and gets the result that he wants (this cast was of four cowries, indicating it as a matrilineal matter).
Again the diviner repeats the procedure and again the oracle reveals that the wife is at the centre of the problem. And the Earth has seen it, and seen that it is wrong. The client has to sacrifice a fowl to the Earth for protection from the wrongdoing of the woman.
Q:…You, the Earth god, you are coming with the Ancestor god, you the Earth god said that you will stay outside (under a tree, the Earth shrine is always in the shade of a tree) and protect the outside world. The Ancestor shrine said it would stay inside and protect the lives of the people where they stay. If you, the Earth god see any problems with the outside world, you inform the Ancestor shrine, because both of you offer protection for life. To finish with the Earth god, throw 3 cowries, 1 up 2 down…throws 3 cowries, outcome negative…
A:…Earth god not satisfied yet…
Q:…You, the Earth god, discovered the problem and gave it to the Ancestors?
A:…hands…yes…
Q:…Client takes over…where do I wrong you (i.e. the Ancestors)?
A:…hands answer…you have wronged your father…to confirm this, 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
The diviner and client proceed to contact the Ancestors, since they and the Earth are friends and "move together". The diviner addresses the Earth god and the Ancestors and says that the Earth is "coming with the Ancestor gods", and that the Earth god stays outside, under a tree, to protect the outside world (society and community), and that the Ancestors stay inside the house and protect those living there (the household). He also comments that when the Earth sees problems in the outside world she tells the Ancestors, because both of them offer protection of life. This shows the all-around importance of these two shrines in Birifor cosmology (cf. chapter on religion/shrines), especially as the basis of residence and settlement (Earth) and as the concept of time and continuity (Ancestors) of the people, as well as the fundamental protective properties of these shrines and their importance for the general well being and prosperity of the group. The diviner consolidates the vital cultural values represented by these two shrines in this way and emphasises their normative importance.
The Earth god saw the problem and "gave it" to the Ancestors (note: all shrines rest on the earth shrine). Now, the Ancestors tell the client that he has wronged his father through "farming problems". Yet it is not the client himself that is causing the discontent of the father, it is rather his house (or someone of the household), which is his responsibility. The oracle reveals that the father has been happy with his son's work (on the farm). The client wants to know if there has been a breach in the traditional division of labour on the farm, since, as he says: "and yet there is a problem with my hoe, caused by my woman", i.e., his wife is not behaving as she is supposed to do, and he wants to know if that is correct, but the oracle refutes it.
More possible problems, or breaches of conduct are investigated, none of them particularly relevant (most having to do with everyday mundane chores). The blame points again at the wife (the diviner and client have gone over the same ground repeatedly). The diviner keeps probing, and loudly tells the spirits to get up and reveal the problem and tell him the truth.
He finds that the wife travelled to her father's village, and that she "said something" (cursed him or used sorcery) about the husband (the client). This took place behind the man's back, as the wife had been slandering and complaining about her husband to her father and brothers (the diviner points behind his back, indicating doublecrossing).
The wife had talked about their farming problems to her brothers and she had been expressing her unhappiness.
Q:…The client takes over…you pointed your hands to this place (points behind himself). I want to know the particular place she went to…he mentions many villages, hands indicate no, until…
A:…hands indicate…it is the father's village
Q:…she went to talk to her brother about me?
A:…hands…yes…
Q:…why has the woman said something against me?
A:…hands search for answer…(she has talked) of farming (hoe)…
Q:…why do you have to punish me? You should rather punish the woman who is the cause…
Note: the divination was initially because of the client's serious illness…have I wronged the Father god (Ancestor shrine)?
A:…hands…no
Q:…Have I wronged the Earth god?
A:…hands…no
Q:…Have I wronged the Clan sprits (beneath)?
A:…hands…no
Q:…if this is correct (i.e. no), then 3 cowries, 1 up 2 down…throws 3 cowries 1 up 2 down:
A:…none of these…
Q:…you have refused the answer. What is the problem that you have refused?
A:…the hands point to the Ancestor shrine in the outer hall (entrance)…
Q:…why do you point to that? Is it because my woman has said something against me? You, the Ancestor shrine has seen this? And you caution me? And I did not heed it? Is that why you are punishing me?
A:…hands slap repeatedly…yes, yes, yes!
Q:…Is it that I beat my wife?
A:…hands…no
Q:…If that is negative, then 3 cowries, 1 up 2 down…throws 3 cowries, 1 up 2 down:
A:…it is negative (i.e. it is not because of that)…
Q:…That is not the problem, get up and touch where the problem is!…there is yet a problem…hands touch thigh, try to identify the problem…is that where the problem is? Is that where the problem is?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…should we reach for the problem there? We have known the problem before, but we did not pay attention to it, is that the problem?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…when we know this, we should make sacrifice. When we make sacrifice, will there be peace? A:…hands…yes…
Q:…On what should we be making the sacrifice (for what reasons)?
A:…hands are stroking the thigh…somebody's soul is slipping away?…(the client had been very ill, perhaps in danger of loosing his life)…
Q:…If I make the sacrifice, will the soul come back? And will there be peace? The xylophonist, the undertaker, will they have no job to do? Will there be peace? Is this the problem? If I sacrifice this, will there be total peace? And if there will be peace, then confirm the above by 2 cowries thrown, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…yes (there will be peace)…
Now the client asks the spirits why they have to punish him when it is the wife who has done him wrong. This is an important point in relation to where and why guilt is to be placed - focusing on the mysterious working of fate - of taking responsibility not only for ones own actions (or inaction), but importantly for not being aware of what is going on under ones nose, in ones own "house", thus inviting troubles without knowing it until it is too late. It should also be noted that the wife's brothers have a stake in her household due to the double descent system of inheritance. Thus people are punished by the spirits for being unaware and unconscious of their personal, social and mystical situation. Lack of awareness leads to negligence - toward self and others and the spirits (especially the ancestors), and vitally, this unawareness leads to the withdrawal of occult protection, leaving the person vulnerable and open for occult attacks (usually through sorcery/witchcraft).
The divination continues, and again it is being asked which spirits are connected to the problem at hand, and after some time the diviner finds out that the Ancestors are unhappy and therefore they have punished the client for not heeding their warnings. In other words, the man got what was coming to him because he was not aware of the mounting problems in his household. He should, for example have registered his wife's growing dissatisfaction. Thus the oracle reveals that the client should have been aware of the problem, but he did not pay attention - and therefore he was guilty of ignorance and neglect, and consequently he was punished.
This being revealed, a sacrifice is prescribed ("when we sacrifice, there will be peace"). The oracle also points to the danger that he had been facing during his illness; his soul had been "slipping away" (he had been near fatally ill). He must sacrifice a fowl, provided by his wife, because she went to her father's village and "talked against the man". The sacrifice must be offered to the Earth and the Ancestors, since these two have been "talking together" about the problem. But the problems are not over; there is more to come. The diviner finds that there is a problem connected to the client's senior daughter. That problem is caused by the failure of the client to make certain sacrifices to the Ancestors. He will have to make the "sign-drawing" sacrifice as a peace offering to the Ancestors, together with a sacrifice of a fowl, supplied by his wife. The fowl is to be sacrificed to the Ancestors in the evening, after which there will be "peace in the house". The sacrificial sequence is like this: the client has to sacrifice a fowl; his wife is to be the donor of the fowl; it has to be sacrificed at the ancestor shrine; it should take place in the evening (and the household should presumably share the meat). If this is done correctly, death will be averted ("the xylophone players and the gravediggers will have a rest"), and there will be peace in the house.
The diviner continues to pinpoint factors involved in the problematic of the affliction.
Q:…if the problem is with the woman's Clan spirit, when I know this, where do I find out?…is it with the bridewealth?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it with the inheritance?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…is it that the mother died, and she inherited the property? A:…hands…no Q:…but the problem is with inheritance? If so, 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…yes (problem is with inheritance)
Q:…is it that somebody has died in my wife's family?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…and has somebody wrongly inherited the property?
A:…hands…yes
Q :…the person who died, is it that he inherited his children wrongly?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it his bow and arrow?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it his house?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it an animal that is the problem?
A:…hands…yes, yes, yes
Q:…if it is an animal that is the problem, is it the sister that has caused the problem?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it one of the relatives?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…is it a brother?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it a sister?
A:…hands…no
Q:…is it a mother?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…did the mother die?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…and left property behind?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…and somebody has collected the property?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…which was not due for her?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…so, is that the problem?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…is it the senior sister who collected the animal wrongly?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…mentions names of many relatives, and finally comes to the person who collected the animal wrongly…did they argue among themselves?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…is my wife part of the argument?
A:…hands…no
Q:…are her brothers the problems?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…mentions the names of the wife's brothers, until he comes to one of them, who is the cause of the problem…now that we know this, what do we do?
A:…hands indicate…make a sacrifice
Q:…make sacrifice to what?…and with what?
A:…hands search, touch the calf skin…sacrifice a cow… the woman's brothers have to contribute the cow for the sacrifice, and the junior brother of the dead mother is to receive it…
Q:…when that is done, is there yet another problem?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…and you want us to know the problem?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…when we know this, do we refer it to the senior brother of the wife?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…when that is done, where do we make sacrifice?
A:…hands…on the path to the Clan spirits…hands make the circular symbol…and water:
Q:…is this one finished?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…is there another problem?
A:…hands…yes
Q:…if there is another problem, tell me what it is, tell me the problem, Chabbara!…hands point to directions…

This sequence is illustrative of a common bone of contention in the double-descent system of the Birifor - the "misplaced" inheritance. The oracle is not yet finished with the problem. Now, it focuses on the matriclan spirits beneath (tibe). Having ascertained the importance of the matriclan spirit in the case, the diviner wants to know now if it is the husband's or the wife's clan spirits. In this sequence he finds out that it is the matriclan spirits of the wife. Looking closer into it, it is revealed that the problem is linked to (misplaced) inheritance, the inheritance being an animal (a cow). The wife's mother had died and someone wrongly collected the property (this someone was said to be the senior sister of the wife - but the animal belonged rightly to the mother's brother). There had been an argument involving the brothers. The oracle now prescribed a sacrifice of a cow (it is not clear who should sacrifice the cow or where…). In the sequence there are questions about, on the one hand, houses and bows and arrows (belonging to the patrilineage of the husband), and on the other hand, animals (belonging to the matriclan). By knowing the answers to that, the diviner is able to place the problem within the matriclan of the wife.
But there is yet another problem, which has to do with the wife's senior brother. It seems to be clear that there is a problem within the wife's family about the misplaced inheritance. But the diviner turns his attention now from this part of the problem to another one. He now focuses on the client's "personal gods" in his house (which is either the guardian spirit (siiraa) or more likely the bush spirits (kontomo)). Some of these spirits are also involved in the problematic of the client. Part of it is sacrificial neglect. The diviner finds that the "personal god in the house" wants something (a sacrifice) and that the client has not paid any attention to it. He must sacrifice to this shrine. But the problematic goes on.
As before, an important cause is a failed sacrifice - not correctly performed or not offered at all - most likely to the ancestors. The whole miser is tied up with the unhappiness of the wife in relation to farm work, which is a domain of the Ancestors (the patriline - the ownership of land/farms comes under the patrilineage (ancestor shrine), while the productivity of the land comes under the Earth and the Rain shrine). Now diviner and client repeat most of the proceedings as to confirm the verdict of the oracle as it stands now. This is often done more than twice, as to ascertain the validity and truthfulness of the oracle's findings. They find that central to the problem is the fact that the client did not give his wife her fair share of the crops. Therefore she had refused to work on the farm and he complained about that. That (that the wife did not get her share? or that she refused to work? or that he complained?) angered the spirits, especially the Ancestors. In addition to the other prescribed sacrifices, the wife must sacrifice to the earth shrine. As a result of this "hoe problem", i.e., the intra-house conflict, the wife travelled to her village and complained about her husband to her brothers. The Earth did not like this; therefore she must sacrifice to that shrine. The husband also has to sacrifice a fowl to the earth shrine (i.e. they both have to pay).
There is still another problem. But before that is revealed, the diviner repeats most of the former verdict and summarises it up to now. Then he turns the focus to the wife again. He wants to know what the problem is now, and mentions several possibilities, all refuted until he finds that someone has "jujued" against the client to damage his business (farming and blacksmithing). They find out that this someone is the wife, and she has done it through the Earth and the Ancestors (note: the most common shrine for making sorcery is a hill shrine - usually the Earth or the Ancestors are not connected to sorcery or witchcraft, other than providing protection against it).
Then, one more side of the problem turns up, which is that the senior sister of the wife (who has no children) wants to hurt (or kill) her sister (the wife) and take away her children. This is the last part of the problematic but it is not dwelled on for long. Finally, the diviner repeats the sacrificial protocol all over again and brings the session to an end by casting two cowries (to the earth shrine): one up, one down - case closed. The client wronged (neglected) the Earth, the Ancestors, the matriclan spirits and his personal god in the house. He wronged these gods because his wife caused "hoe problems" - because he neglected the shrines and his wife. He should have seen it coming as being the household head and being responsible for the well being of the household. He was punished for neglect and irresponsibility. There were likewise problems with misplaced inheritance as well as with reproductive problems of the senior sister of the wife, which made her jealous of her younger sister, so much that she wanted to kill her and take away the children. The client has also failed to give his wife her fair share of the crops, so she became lazy on the farm. This is a complex case of neglect and ignorance, jealousy and dispute over property, production and reproduction, inevitably bringing on retribution from the occult powers that be, especially the Earth and the Ancestors, along with the personal god of the client and the matrilineal clan spirits beneath. Because of her dissatisfaction, the wife went to her father's house and complained to her father and her brothers about her husband, the gods saw it and cautioned the husband for losing control of his household by making him seriously ill. To make things good again, a series of sacrifices were to be made to the shrines involved. This divination session brings together a number of factors, or threads. It aims at connecting and creating correspondence between various mundane problems and "higherorder axiological principle or axiomatic dialogical mode" (Devisch 1991:124). The diviner creates a path from the initial five cowries that the client brought to him - a path leading into and through the personified agencies, acting as a prism, where the uncertainty connected to the affliction at hand gains form and clarity - enabling the client and the group involved to move forward in a practical and useful way. The divination, anchored in the cosmic epistemology of the Birifor provides a useable and sensible way in the "…transition from inertia to activity" (Jackson 1989:61). It also helps defining and redefining the identities of persons and personal relations. In Jackson's words, the divination allows "…externalisation, objectification, and systematisation" (Jackson 1989:60). During the divination session, the diviner paints a picture of the client's situation by referring to the various shrines/spirits and using them as colours - blending them in composing the picture. He objectifies the situation for the client and activates the correspondences between occult agencies and mundane factors. He simplifies the complex and casts light on the potential path for the client to explore.
Self-reflection of a diviner
As a rule, the Birifor diviner works as a servant to his community, assisting people in dealing with their problems. But there are exceptions. I want to present a case where the diviner divines for himself and uses the session for self-reflection. The diviner, Youser, uses the theft of his bicycle to reflect on his position as a diviner, as a man - in relation to others and in relation to spirits and gods. He transcends the bicycle case and uses it as a platform - extrapolating onto cosmological and philosophical perspectives. First, I present the transcript of this session and then a commentary. Transcription of divination session, session took place 29.10.99. Diviner: Youser, divining for himself about the stolen bicycle. Client: Youser himself, with a man from his household "sitting-in".
Q:…shakes skin bottle, throws 2 cowries for permission to start, 1 up 1 down: A:…permission granted…
Q:…I have called you (the Spirits beneath) again. One client has gone and I am beginning with another. I greet Toka (an ancestor). I greet Soriba (an ancestor) and the drums. I greet the white man and the literates. I greet the white chief. If you are deaf, the spirit is able to reveal your problem, weather you understand the dialect or not, he will be able to reveal your problem (knocks skin bottle on the floor). I do not know this person, but he has come to me, asking me to divine for him…shakes skin bottle…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down: …1 up 1 down, to find the problem…raises hands and points in a direction…I have seen where you are pointing to, so what is the problem? …who makes walking sign on the floor…is walking the problem? … who is walking? …is it I, myself? …is walking the problem? …he throws 3 cowries, 1 up, 2 down:
A:…yes…
Q:…somebody has made a promise (i.e. performed juju, or sorcery) to a god to punish him (the diviner)…is it made to the tree god (kontome?), or the River god? …throws cowries…
A:…outcome negative…
Q:…is it to the Rock god? …throws cowries…
A:…outcome positive…yes…
Q:…the promise is about what? …hands move and point in various directions…is it about a bicycle? :
A…hands indicate…yes
Q:…the promise that is made is about a bicycle…the person who made the promise, is he from Kalba? … throws cowries…
A:…outcome positive…yes…
Q:…no, you are telling lies, the person is not from Kalba! …argues with the spirit
…the person is not from Kalba, he is from a different place?
A:…hands signify…move horizontally…no…
Q:…if you are still saying that the person is from Kalba, 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…outcome positive…yes (he is from Kalba)
Q:…I know the matter is finished, if so what do I do? …Earth god, now that the problem is known, do I sacrifice to you, Earth god? …throws cowries…
A:…outcome negative…no (not to the Earth god)
Q:…if I do not make sacrifice to you, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…confirmed…no sacrifice to the Earth god…
Q:…the house is mine, and somebody has made a promise for my bicycle to be stolen…and god has helped me to get my bicycle back (god = the supreme God)…and you are still saying there is a problem… addresses the Earth god. What wrong have I done to that person? Have I stolen that persons money? I swear to my father, that I never steal anyone´s money. Have I stolen somebody´s money? And why is it that I throw the cowries and you refuse? …throws 3 cowries, 1 up 2 down:
A …outcome positive…no (to the questions)
Q:…is it that the bicycle is completely lost? …hands moving and slapping…
A:…no (it is not lost)
Q:…yes, if I have wicked ideas about anybody in Kalba, maybe I have done something wrong to the Earth god, maybe I have stolen something from somebody? …Should I come to you, Earth god, should I come to the Ancestor shrine? …or should I consult you, the supreme God? Should I store it in my stomach and walk about with it? …I am happy I know nothing about it. The person who knows something about it will know what has to happen. Now, if we know this, is that the end of it? …diviner says "wa!" (come!), moves hands and slaps his thigh as confirmation.
A:…yes!
Q:…I throw 2 cowries, 1 up, 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down,… give me the answer and I will ask more questions…hands are working…there is yet another problem. Is that where they made a promise? … hands point to a direction…so, should I go there and make a sacrifice? …come! …throws 6 cowries, 1 up 5 down:
A:…yes (you should)…
Q:…is that what you are saying? If that is correct, white stomach (plain person) gets something to eat, wicket persons suffer. Wicket person will never get anything to eat before his death. If you are in the world, pray that somebody gets something. I grew up in Kalba, and my prayer is that nobody should have problems. Be you a woman or a man, to get money. But people envy me because of my kindness, by taking me to the River god, the Earth god, the Hill god. They are saying that Youser should have problems. Earth god, if that is true, then 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…yes (that is true)…
Q:…have I done wrong? …and that is what has come to worry me. If I were wicket, and what god is saying, I have nothing against anybody (?). I love all people, Kambire, Da, Some, Hien (the four matriclans). Three days ago, I said, Hien should look for this bicycle for me. And they thought I was telling lies. It is true that the bicycle is found…knocks skin bottle repeatedly on the floor as confirmation…this proofs that I have nothing against anybody in Kalba. If this is true, 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…yes (it is true)
Q:…3 more cowries thrown, 1 up 2 down, to Pakhur (a spirit). If that is correct, allow me to close, quick, quick! …throws 3 cowries, outcome negative…
A:…no (you can not close, i.e. there is yet another problem)…
Q:…is it human beings? …Is there a problem with money? …Does the money belong to anybody? …Is it my money? …Have I picked the money? …Do I have any problems with money? …Money has been sent to somewhere. Should I look for money and go somewhere? …To do what, to do what, to do what? …Should I give it to somebody? …hands indicate positive confirmations to the questions… Should I send it somewhere? …Is there a problem? …throws 7 cowries, 1 up 6 down:
A: …yes (there is a problem)…
Q:…Was I wrong? I am a happy person, I do not know why people hate me. I am here for everybody, all people of Kalba. I have never refused helping anybody with their problems. I am always with the person until the problem is solved. I know I am doing good to people. But I realise that my good is bad, or can cause harm. It is a human being who knows who is bad. And they always tell lies that they are praying. That is you Christians and Muslims. And they are always going to "juju, asking to punish Youser. But it is God (supreme God) that is guiding me…throws 4 cowries, 2 up 2 down: …I have finished…If I know this, shall I make sacrifice to the Earth god or the Ancestor shrine? Or shall I make sacrifice on the road (to the Earth shrine)? Should I say I am wrong or that somebody is wrong? When I am making this sacrifice, should I say it is because of money, because my bicycle is stolen? …hands indicate a positive answer to the stolen bicycle…
A:…yes (sacrifice because of the bicycle)…hands indicate…to the Spirits beneath: one fowl, a calabash of guinea-corn flour…
Q:…Is it that they want me to die? …hands work and indicate answer…
A:…yes (a person wants you to die, but God is with you)…
Q:…After I make sacrifice to the Spirits beneath, should I make sacrifice to the Earth god, the Ancestors, the Rock god, the god on top of the roof (a special "personal" kontome shrine) ….hands indicate…
A:…to the Earth god and the Rock god…
Q:…Nobody enters the river and comes out unclean, you wash yourself in the River, i.e. the Black Volta ("I have cleared the problem"). Nobody uses fibre to tie his throat…hands point to a direction…Where are you touching now? Is there any problem with that? This you touch, what is the problem? Somebody has made a promise to "juju" against this boy, you are touching (the man sitting besides the diviner). Why did you touch him? Is it because of money? They call this boy´s name before making the promise (to "juju"). I thought it was me, but it was both me and this boy. If it is true that they called this boy´s name, , give me 10 cowries, 1 up 1 down…throws 10 cowries, 1 up 9 down!!
A:…yes (it is true)…
Q:…I have not seen, I have not seen…throws 2 more cowries, 1 up 1 down…I did not know, but you are telling me why that promise is made (to "juju")? I am not guessing, is it here?…he is referring to the bush shrine on the roof…Is it my fathers sons who have made the "juju"? If so, have they done that against me? …hands indicate…
A:…indication negative…no…more handwork…but against the boy…
Q:…is it Some that has done that? Is it Da, is it Hien, or is it Kambire? …hand-movements indicate answer…
A:…it is Da (i.e. someone from the Da matriclan, that has made the "juju" against the boy.
Q:…so, it is we, the Da people who are punishing each other? Is that what they are doing? I am not arguing with you (i.e. the Spirits beneath)…throws 4 cowries, 2 up 2 down:
A:…yes…
Q:…I see you smiling…talks to the cowries…Somebody has made bad "juju" on me and this boy, but don´t hit anybody. So, why this wicket plan? Is it my father (i.e. the Ancestor god) who is giving people the chance to hate me? Or is it the Earth god?
A:…hands give negative answers…no (it is an ordinary human being)…
Q:…If I know this, where do I make sacrifices? To the Ancestors? …throws 5 cowries, 1 up 4 down:
A:…yes…
Q:…If I am to make sacrifice to the Ancestor shrine, shall I use a fowl?…hands indicate…
A:…no…
Q:…is it guinea-corn flour? …hands indicate…
A:…no…
Q:…is it "jelbul" (a special sign sometimes used as "symbolic" sacrifice)? A:…no…hands indicate…but white ash…
Q:…So, how do I do it?
A:…hands show how…
Q:…I like people. I follow people. When I make this sacrifice, shall I make it against any of them, or should I be careful to people? If that is correct, then 5 cowries, 1 up 4 down, and I close…throws 5 cowries, 1 up 4 down:
A:…yes (it is correct)…
Q:…shakes skin bottle, and mentions names of spirits (shakes bottle after every name)…Chabbara, Spirits Beneath, Earth god, River god, Bush spirit, Ancestors…if that is all, give me a dish with cover (lid)… throws 2 cowries, 1 up 1 down:
A:…yes (divination closed)…the lid referred to is the wooden lid on the diviners skin bag. The Problem: Who stole the bicycle, and why?
Conclusion: a man called Hakim, out of jealousy
Solution: Sacrifice: white ash and this sign: The white ash is to be put in front of Youser´s Ancestor shrine. The diviner (Youser) has been somewhat upset lately because his bicycle had been stolen. He wants to find out who stole it, but there is another side of the problem, which did not surface here, which is that his wife had an affair with the bicycle thief. It is not unlikely that the diviner knows who the culprit is. For a diviner to divine for himself is quite rare, since, as another diviner said: "a pregnant woman can not see her private parts". Before divining, the diviner paces up and down his courtyard, seemingly upset, and whispers something into the five cowries he is holding in his palms. He addresses some spirits, especially his private bush spirit/boor shrine on the roof of the old mud house of the compound. This he does for some time. Then he asks a man from his household to sit beside him as a "sit-in" for himself, which is rather unusual.
At the outset, the diviner makes a short preliminary speech, which goes like this: "I have called you, spirits beneath, again. One client has gone and I am beginning with another. I greet Toka and I greet Soriba (ancestors) and the drums. I greet the white man and the literates. I greet the white chief. If you are deaf, the spirit is able to reveal your problem, whether you understand the dialect or not, he will be able to reveal your problem" (slaps his skin bottle against the floor). In other words, the power of the spirits and the oracle transcend "normal" sensation and understanding. The wisdom of the divination can be open to anyone and does not discriminate between people. As the diviner is divining for himself, he focuses quickly on the problem, i.e., the theft of his bicycle and he wants to know who performed sorcery/witchcraft against him ("made a promise") and at what shrine. He mentions the "tree god" (Earth god or bush spirits?) and the rock/hill god. The first is confirmed negative, the latter positive. He wants to know if the perpetrator is from Kalba, the oracle confirms that it is so, but the diviner insists that it is NOT so, and he argues with the oracle! This indicates that people do think that they can influence occult forces and the workings of fate, that not everything in life is fixed and pre-conditioned, but can be negotiated. This diviner, Youser, is also quick-tempered and strong willed, and he does not easily take no as an answer.
The diviner asks the Earth if the matter is finished and if he should conclude by sacrificing to the Earth, but that is denied. He continues to probe and asks what he has done wrong to that person (the bicycle thief). He wants to know from various spirits if he has "wicked ideas" about anybody in Kalba and if he should contact them about that (this does resemble the ideas of the Azande about the inherent and unconscious existence of witchcraft (or occult) powers in certain people (Evans-Pritchard 1937)). He does not think he has wronged anybody and he claims he is "happy to know nothing about it". Those who know about it (i.e., the spirits) should know what to do (and reveal it to him). The diviner asks if this is the end of it, the oracle is positive.
While pondering the morality of people he continues: "…white stomach (plain person) gets something to eat, wicket persons suffer. A wicket person will never get anything to eat before his death. If you are in the world, pray that somebody gets something. I grew up in Kalba, and my prayer is that nobody should have problems. Be you a woman or a man, [I want you] to get money (i.e. be successful). But people envy me because of my kindness, by taking me to the River god (associated with death), the Earth god, the Hill god (associated with sorcery). They are saying that Youser should have problems…". He casts two cowries to have this confirmed.
The diviner tells the oracle that he wants to ask more questions (there is more to the problem). He wants to know where (at what shrine) the sorcery was made; he is told it was made at a bush spirit shrine. He argues that anyone should get what they deserve: bad persons should suffer, good persons should "get something to eat". He wants no one to have problems, but if they have, he can help them by bringing their problems before the shrines. But some people say he (Youser) should have problems (they are jealous?). He wants the Earth to confirm this, which she does. The diviner insists that he has not wronged anyone and that he loves all people ("Kambire, Da, Some, Hien": the four matriclans). He insists that he does not deserve this misfortune because he is always helping others).
The diviner asks an ancestor (Pakhur) for permission to close the divination, but is denied, i.e., there is more to the problem. He asks if the problem is concerned with people or with money. It is concerned with money and it is revealed that he should give money to someone. The diviner continues to emphasise his good intentions and his good work in helping others: "I am a happy person, I do not know why people hate me. I am here for everybody, all people of Kalba. I have never refused to help anybody with his or her problems. I am always with the person until the problem is solved. I know I am doing good to people. But I realise that my good is [or can be] bad, or can cause harm. It is a human being who knows who is bad. And they always tell lies [pretend] that they are praying. That is you Christians and Muslims. And they are always going to "juju", asking to punish Youser. But it is God (naangmin) who is guiding me". He knows that his powers can harm (another hint at the unconscious/uncontrolled use of witchcraft, or other occult powers). The cause of evil is ultimately human, it is revealed, humans wrong each other, especially the Christians and the Muslims. The diviner thinks that they (Christian and Muslims) often "juju" against him (since he is a powerful pagan diviner), but the Supreme God (naangmin) guides him in his work (as it turned out, the man who stole the bicycle and had an affair with his wife is a Wala and a Muslim). Youser also seems to be hinting at people's hypocrisy, especially that of the adherents to the two "world religions", who tend to moralise and preach certain values while often failing to live up to them.
The diviner wants to know if he is to sacrifice to the Earth and the Ancestors, and he is told to do so. He asks if the sacrifice is concerned with money or the stolen bicycle. He is told it is the bicycle. Also, he must sacrifice one fowl, a calabash of guinea corn flour to the Spirits beneath (tibe). Diviner asks if someone wishes him dead, the answer is yes, but God protects him. After sacrificing to the spirits beneath he has to sacrifice to the Earth, the Ancestors, the Rock/hill shrines, "the god on the roof" (the kontomo/boore shrine). He continues to ask about who "jujued" him and if it was about money, as well as to what shrine the offering was made. He casts ten cowries, with one up, nine down!! (it is like he is trying to impress me by this spectacular cast - no one does this, he said - and I have to say I was impressed). He wants to know which matriclan the wrongdoer belongs to, the one who "made the promise". It turns out that he is a Da, like the diviner himself (cf. Goody 1962:59, where he writes that witchcraft - among the Dagare speakers - is often practiced by one matriclan member against another, for various practical reasons). The diviner continues probing and asks if the spirits of the Earth or the Ancestors are working against him. He is told that it is not so, it is humans who wrong each other. Now that the diviner knows this, he has to sacrifice a "jelbul", a special symbolic drawing on the floor in front of a shrine or on the path to a shrine, as well as some white ash (to "make hot things cool"). It is revealed that although the diviner likes and loves people, he should be careful. Finally he asks the Earth, the Ancestors, the Spirits beneath, the River shrine, the Bush spirits for permission to close ("give me a dish with a cover"). Permission granted, divination ends. But the problem was far from over; it involved other things as well (e.g., a wife's adultery) and Youser continued to be quite upset about this case, but unfortunately I did not have time to follow it up.
This divination session illuminates what seems to be a focal aspect of Birifor thinking in relation to the question of fate and destiny and of the "why" and "how" of life's mysterious workings. Youser emphasises more than once the concept of selfawareness and the responsibility for ones actions and situations. He accepts that he can possibly harm others unintentionally with his powers, despite his (according to himself) essentially positive nature and willingness to help others. But he maintains that the causes of evil are human, that it is humans who wrong each other and therefore it is vital to be careful, i.e. conscious of the situation and aware of the wider social (and mystical) network. In other words, Yuser, like Job in the Old Testament, asks the occult powers that be why misfortune afflicts him, when he only wants to be a power for good and help others in a harsh world. This case, about an apparently simple bicycle theft (there were others more personal and emotional sides to the case) became a platform for philosophical speculations concerning man's position in the wider scheme of things and as so often shows the role of Birifor divination in formulating the cosmological world view of this people and its propensity to clarify and simplify the uncertain and aleatory aspects of life. It has become clear that Birifor divination is a system of knowledge - a theory, so to speak - and a type of praxis, on several levels. They are constituted by examining correspondences between the mundane and the occult; articulating cultural norms and values; examining and establishing identities (of clients, diviners, spirits); and restoring damaged relationships on different levels: personal, social and spiritual. Different problems - personal, social, environmental - refer to different shrines, later to be worked on through divination.
Birifor diviners can be considered as guardians of cultural values of the community (together with the custodians of the major shrines, especially the tingaansuo, custodian of the earth shrine). Frequently, they address these values at the beginning of divining. They express these values and refer to them in their communication with the spirits and shrines, and they receive authoritative instructions from them through their practice. In this way, the shrines and spirits both guide and instruct. By focusing, for example, on the earth shrine, the emphasis is on the basic values of unity and peaceful prosperity of the community. This acts as confirmation and maintenance of normative values, while at the same time pointing to the potential negative and destructive effects of neglecting these issues by the members of the community. During divination sessions the diviner puts the problems of the client into the wider context of the cultural values of Birifor society. In this way, the "personifications of occult forces" (Tengan 2000) act as reflections for understanding and evaluation. The cultural system of knowledge, stored in the idiom of divination and revealed by the diviner, is confirmed and activated. The mirroring and the complementary affect between the mundane and the occult is thus tied up with the fundamental values and norms of Birifor culture while being based on them as well as expressing them. Or as Devisch (1991:131) puts it: "…the particular problem is incipiently subsumed into the much wider context of the etiological and axiological tradition adopted by the society".

4. Conclusion
In these pages I have tried to shed some light on the divination practices of the Birifor people of northwest Ghana. The main weight has been on the interplay between parallel worlds of 'here' and 'there' - on the 'mirroring' of complementary, but not necessarily opposite levels of reference, perception and experience - of the worlds of humans (mundane) and 'extra-humans' (occult), worlds, or spheres of mutuality and intersubjectivity (Jackson 1998). This entails a kind of consciousness-expanding practice, where the practitioners (in this case the diviners, and to a lesser extent the clients) engage in incorporating occult powers and wisdom into the conscious sphere of their mind and being. They reach out toward the different occult agencies (ancestors, bush spirits and other entities) in an attempt to empower their own perception so that they can aid their clients in finding "paths toward a clearing". The diviners tap into the collective life stream of the culture of their society - at the same time affirming and expressing its values - to help people to get on with their life.
The life world of the Birifor is not limited to isolated individual subjects or experiences; instead it is embedded and submerged in an encompassing relational field, 94 where the boundary between subject and object is non-existent. As Jackson (1998:55) notes, "this intersubjective field incorporates persons, ancestors, bush spirits, God, animals, and sometimes inanimate objects". Taken in its entirety, Birifor divination is a practice and a concept embracing all this: the problems involved have to do with persons and their interpersonal and social relations in all their complexities; the guidelines are found with the ancestors and other spiritual agents; the bush spirits act as intermediaries between the different levels (and thus they reside at the centre of the whole procedure) and animals act as a conciliatory link between humans and spirits by being sacrificed in the conclusive phase of the divinatory ritual and shared by all involved.
In a problem solving enterprise like divination, the question of causation is a central theme. I have addressed this by using Devisch's concept of "structural causality", whereby people in problem situations refer to "higher-order system of values and norms" (Devisch 1991:112 ff.). In that way people extrapolate between different levels of cause and effect that seem to 'work' simultaneously in a perceived, mystical space governed by the concept of destiny and fate, where the relations involving people and spirits seem to determine, to some extent at least, the flow of positive or negative energy, influencing the course of people's lives. And, as has become clear in these pages, the role of the diviner consists mainly in bringing these forces into focus to enable people to take a practical and sensible action in attempting to move on.
I have presented excerpts from a number of divination sessions to enable the Birifor diviners to express themselves in their own words (and the words of the spirits). This I have done to show the structure, or form, of the practice as well as to open up the conceptual and cosmological universe of Birifor culture, which is expressed to a great extent in the divination sessions. I have drawn my own conclusions and made my own interpretations and I hope that the reader will be able to do the same. These 'occult' practices do not take place in some mysterious vacuum - they are an integral part of the everyday mundane life-world of the Birifor, which, from the physical point of view is a rough one with ever present natural and environmental dangers constituting the 'base' for many of the problems brought with the five cowries to the diviner. The material culture of the Birifor is relatively simple, but this simplicity is more than outweighed by the sophistication of their intellectual and spiritual life (Goody 1972). Therefore I have used some space for addressing the spiritual and religious aspects of their culture (the different shrines and so on), and especially because these factors are fundamental to the whole business of divination as can be seen by looking into the excerpts from the sessions. I have also addressed other aspects of Birifor society (kinship, politics, etc.) as they play important roles in the subject matter of the sessions.
The importance of divination in societies like that of the Birifor should not be underestimated (Peek 1991:69-71). Because of the absence of a definite centre of authority and power, the diviner (together with the ancestors and other occult 'players') has a pivotal role as a stabilising and focalising force - crystallising (for a moment) the (apparently) confusing and disorienting flow of life. I hope that I have succeeded to some extent to shed light on the nature and importance of this practice, on the practitioners, and on the ultimate objectives of the divination as 'ways of knowing' and 'paths toward a clearing'. In Birifor divination, this path is taken by the five cowries the client brings to the diviner, wherein the boor, or the 'mystical trouble' is contained, this path leading from a shrine to a diviner who is positioned before the shrine of the kontome, the spirits of the wild bush. This shrine is in the most domesticated (innermost) room of the house, that of the senior wife, indicating an attempt at 'domesticating the wild', of bringing the knowledge and wisdom of the (unconscious) occult level into the light of consciousness and reflection. Wisdom and occult knowledge comes from the 'bush' but thought and will resides in the head, which is also the seat of luck and destiny. The path of the five cowries leads from the assumed shrine of concern to the diviner to the powers that be and back again - transformed and hopefully put to practical and purposeful use. Thus in essence, Birifor divination is a story of five cowries and their path towards realisation.

5. Appendix
The spirits of the wild bush, hills and rivers are an integral part of many West African cosmologies. They are usually depicted as unpredictable and capricious, but also as mediators between humans and the occult world, as well as frequently thought to have taught men their basic cultural skills. In many cases they are connected to divination. Goody (1962, 1972) underlines the kontome's connection to diviners among the Dagara people, of whom the Birifor are a part. Meyer (1991) likewise emphasises the importance of the thila/kontuorse in Lobi divinatory practice, and how the tend to 'catch' persons that they want to become diviners, for them to be able to communicate with humans. The bush spirits of the Birifor/Dagara/Lobi are identical as these peoples belong to the same ethnic group. They can be seen and heard and form families and herd wild animals. Fortes (1987) talks of the kolkpaares among the Tallensi, these spirits, in contrast to the spirits mentioned above, are not to be personified in any way. They are bodiless and are not ritually mystical beings (i.e. not a part of the cosmological system, but standing outside of it) and have no shrines made to them. They negate anything human, are lawless and without any sense of morality, and are malicious. Kirby (1989) addresses the jinn of the Anufo as being non-localised and free roaming, but acting in many ways like humans. They are assumed as having a corporeal substance, being small, and they are thought to have families. They are capricious and wise in equal measures and reveal all kinds of knowledge to men but are also capable of inducing madness in people. Men try to 'domesticate' them by making shrines to them in their homes, these shrines being connected to divination (cf. Birifor). These beings are thought to bridge the worlds of humans and spirits and reveal the workings of the occult world to men through the mediation of the diviner. Mendonsa (1982), on writing about the Sisala, encounters the kangtongo, the bush fairies, who are peripheral beings, and like the sprites of the Tallensi, are seen as being outside the mystical and moral system. They are unpredictable and dangerous, but are connected to diviners through a special cult of fairy-callers, who are diviners who have been 'caught' by these spirits in the bush, usually through some form of temporary madness or other illnesses. They have shrines erected to their name. Shaw (1991) mentions the Konkomusa, who among the Temne is a diviner-ancestor spirit who gives diviners the power to divine (to 'see'), and is associated with several other similar spirits. Jackson (1977) talks of the wild bush spirits, nyenne/kome of the Kuranko, but he does not associate them directly with divination, rather they are connected to secret cults, especially the kome, and like other kindred spirits they are mysterious and malicious. Whyte (1997), writing of the Nyole, mentions divination spirits who 'catch' diviners and possess them, inducing temporary illness, mental and/or physical. People try to 'domesticate' these spirits by bringing them home from the bush and make shrines for them. The most important of these spirits is ehifumu. On discussing the Pa divination of the Chadic speaking people of Nigeria, Danfulani (1995) looks at the riin-mo, who are wandering free spirits, the spirits of the unknown, who are without any kin/family ties with humans. They are unpredictable and dangerous, and an attack from them requires an immediate consultation with a diviner. The pebbles used in Pa divination belong to 'spirits of the river', nyem dung-mo, and the 'spirits of a place', and they induce strange feelings in the diviner, but otherwise, Pa divination does not require supernatural experience. As can be seen, the ideas and beliefs concerning the spirits of the wild bush are extremely similar among a wide variety of peoples, and more often than not are they connected with the practice of divination, as a bridge between the world of humans and the occult world, between the 'bush' and the 'village/town', between nature and culture, the known and the unknown.

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