Anthropological
Studies of Divination: Spider Divination
from http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Fdtl/Spider/
This page
presents a simulation of the Mambila system of nggàm
'spider divination'. This allows readers to try
out for themselves the principles of
interpretation set out below and to see how it
can be a practical and useful means of helping
one make one's mind up.
All decisions have to be made in
a climate of uncertainty. For example, 'What is
the best course of treatment for my sick child?'
An expert bases their decisions on the results of
technical procedures (often called 'tests').
Sometimes these are unambiguous and clear-cut but
sometimes they are not and the expert must rely
on their experience to interpret the results in a
meaningful way. Many people round the world would
claim that the techniques they use (such as
spider divination) are no different in type from
those used by doctors trained in the western
tradition. To see where the similarities and
differences may lie takes us straight into the
complex heart of modern social anthropology. This
example raises more issues than it can answer.
The reader must read further to help make their
own mind up about whether any difference exists,
and if so where it lies.
A Quick Introduction to Mambila
The Mambila people of Nigeria and
Cameroon lie at the northern extreme of the
South, and at the southern limits of the North,
speaking in cultural terms. They form part of the
middle belt and although resemblances can be
found with groups to the north and to the south
they belong to neither region. They earn a living
as farmers growing crops for their own
subsistence and as cash crops.
Link
to map and short bibliography on Mambila
Basic techniques of Mambila Spider Divination
An inhabited spider-hole is
located and the area immediately around it
cleared of vegetation. Alternatively the spider
can be dug out of its hole and taken to a more
conveniently-sited abandoned hole. Over the hole
is placed an old pot (c. 40cm. diameter), the
up-turned base of which is knocked out. This is
covered with a shard or piece of tin to act as a
lid which can be removed to inspect the entrance
to the burrow and its immediate surroundings. To
begin divination a stone is rubbed around the top
of the pot as the diviner blows into it saying yuo
yuo (come out, come out). The procedure for
asking a question involves placing a stick and a
stone inside the pot, one either side and
slightly in front of the hole, usually the stick
to the left, the stone to the right. Opposite the
hole, about 10 cm. away, the divination
leaf-cards are neatly stacked, pointing at the
hole.
DIAGRAM 1 Nggam Dù
set-up
Two cards are placed over the
hole. These are usually those meaning
"End" and "Male" although
"Walk" is also used. Their meanings
however, are not usually referred to during
interpretation. Some diviners put a stone on the
stack in the early stages of divination so that
only the two cards over the hole can be moved.
This stone is only removed when further details
are needed. These are then obtained by allowing
the crab to disturb the stack. However, the stack
is often undisturbed even when unweighted.
The question is posed: a small stone in the right
hand is tapped on the pot following the rhythm of
the speech which is often muttered. I was told
that actual vocalization is unnecessary.
Moreover, when I stumbled over the phrases in Jù
Bà I was told that I could speak English, and
divination would understand. Questions follow a
fixed schema allowing two possible responses, one
associated with the stick and one with the stone,
no matter what question is at issue. The general
form for a question is as follows:
My divination, you shape-changer, you
witch, if XXXXX then take the stick, my
divination.
No, it is not that, not-XXXXX / YYYYY /
divine further, then take/bite the stone,
my divination.
The choice is between one option
(XXXXX) and either its direct negation (NOT
XXXXX) or an element from its contrast set
(YYYYY) which may be more or less precisely
specified. Commonly the vague alternative mbo
mbo, (divine further) is offered which always
has a negative connotation: further divination is
about something evil.
The opening phrase can be
extended to include other sorts of witches and
idioms for witchcraft, thus becoming a list of
possible sources of danger. The crab is described
as being a witch since "it must be one
otherwise it would not know about
witchcraft." When enquiring further about
this I was told that "it takes one to know
one," and reminded that people who have
inherited witchcraft have "open eyes,"
and can detect witches without necessarily practicing witchcraft themselves.
Once the question has been put,
the pot is re-covered and the diviner(s) retire
for ten to fifteen minutes to allow the crab to
emerge and disturb the cards, thus giving its
answer. Often another pot is inspected and
further questions put while the answer from the
first pot is awaited, so a set of parallel
questions may be operated. This provides a
consistency check on the veracity of the
divination. (Truth-telling is considered
separately below.)
A new line of questioning is
marked by breaking a twig and the fragments
thrown away as the diviner states that he will
adopt a fresh approach, and the divination is to
follow suit.
Principles of Interpretation
When the diviners return, if the
crab has emerged and disturbed the cards, the
resulting pattern is read. Often an abbreviated
version of the original question is spoken over
the pot immediately prior to removing the lid and
inspecting the results. This section outlines the
general rules by which the pattern is
interpreted.
Expertise in reading the patterns
is acquired firstly by divining with elders
expert in divination, and especially with one's
teacher. Although the stereotypical cases can be
recounted (see below) the proper interpretation
of an equivocal response can only be learnt
through seeing a similar response and being
taught its interpretation. The success of a
particular interpretation can only be evaluated
in the light of subsequent events. While learning
to divine, use is made of truth-testing questions
whose answers are easily verified for example:
"Will I eat maize porridge today?"
Controlling the question not only tests the
veracity of the crab but also exercises the skill
of the diviner. Later one begins to divine alone,
but always refining the technique by induction
from past cases. Thus I suspect that more
experienced diviners rarely reject a response as
"saying nothing," while this is more
common among beginners.
It should be stressed that these
rules were presented to me as such. In general
conversation about divination a circle would
spontaneously be drawn on the ground to represent
the spider hole, and a stick, a stone and scraps
of leaf positioned to illustrate examples. I
asked how the divination gave its answers, how it
could respond to the questions asked of it. (The
responses to further questions about
truth-telling are discussed below). The cases
illustrated below were presented to me through
the use of the diagrams as paradigm cases.
The simplest responses do not involve the stack
of cards but only the two (usually
"End" and "Male") which are
placed over the hole. If a card is moved towards
or onto the stick then the stick has been chosen
(sie); similarly, the stone may be chosen.
The position of each card is interpreted firstly
on its own according to these rules, and secondly
with reference to the positions of the other
cards. Thus the two cards left over the hole may
contradict one another.
The first complication of this
simple system is the possibility of the cards
"looking," which is illustrated below.
A card may be viewed as an arrowhead due to the
symmetry of its shape : then if, when on the
stick, it points at the stone it is the stone
which has been chosen and vice versa. However,
one diviner did not use this interpretation. He
disregarded the "pointed-ness" of the
cards, concentrating instead on whether the cards
had been turned over; this distinction is also
covered below.
Thus far we have considered the
four following possibilities:
DIAGRAM 3.4. Nggam dù basic
responses
The idea of a card
"looking" can be used to elaborate on
the basic answer which is read from the
alternatives attached to the stick and the stone.
If a card on the stone "looks" outside
the pot as in a) and b) above, this can be used
to give more information about the evil which
threatens. For example, when trouble in a
compound is at issue, a card "looking"
outwards directs the diviners to consider a cause
outside the compound. This sort of detail is
often ignored when the answer selected is the
alternative which the client prefers.
In principle these four basic
possibilities may be doubled by further
distinguishing whether the cards are upside down
(maplim). Normally the cards are viewed with the
rib uppermost, and this is how they are laid over
the hole. In abstract discussion of
interpretation I was told that an inverted card
was "bad", possibly warning of
unforeseen problems, so a card on the stick as in
a) above, but inverted, is similar to one
"looking" at the stone... It is
possible to use this principle to aid difficult
interpretations, although, in observed divination
Wajiri Bi ignored this feature. Bebeh, who does
not refer to "looking," equated "maplim
on stick" to "stone" but said that
all cards near the stone were bad. Despite these
variations between diviners there is far more
consensus than is reported among Bamiléké
diviners (Pradelles 1986(Pradelles
1986):311-313).
Some responses are portents of
death: the pulling of cards down into the hole,
the balancing of cards against the pot wall so
that they point (or "look") down into
the ground, or the pushing of the cards outside
underneath the pot. B\b\ made the distinction
between the simple pulling of cards which remain
flat into the hole, signifying a "bad"
situation which must be corrected, and the cards
being folded over in so doing, which tells of a
death to come.
DIAGRAM 3.5. Nggam dù Further
responses
Further rules of Interpretation
1) If the card(s) placed over the hole are
inserted into the stack then the divination is
taken to have selected the card above the place
of entry. The meaning of this card is referred to
in the result, usually in the context of the
positions of other cards. This is the only
instance in which the meaning of the cards is
invoked in Mambila divination.
2) A card balanced on its base
against the pot wall augurs well, whereas
balanced on its point it portends death.
These basic rules are sufficient
to interpret the simple cases. The skill in
divination lies in the ability to interpret
equivocal results, for example when one card is
on the stick and another on the stone. Most
often, however, such a result will be rejected as
saying nothing.
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