A concrete psychological investigation of Ifá divination (Packer & Tibaduiza, 2012) (original) (raw)
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A concrete psychological investigation of ifá divination
Divination —the consultation of an oracle in or- der to determine a course for future action— has long been considered a practice characteristic of “primitive mentality.” We describe research with the babalawo of Santería, who are expert in the divinatory system of Ifá. Our first goal is to offer an example of what Vygotsky called “concrete psychology”: the study of particular systems of psychological functions in the concrete circum- stances of specific professional complexes. Our second goal is to explore the character of divina- tion as psychological and social process, given the somewhat negative views of divination expressed by many social scientists, including Lévy-Bruhl and Vygotsky himself. Analysis of a recorded consultation identified features characteristic of institutional discourse. We argue that the ins- titutional facts of divination may constitute an unfamiliar ontology, but the epistemology —the appeal to logic and to empirical evidence— is a familiar one.
Divination —the consultation of an oracle in order to determine a course for future action— has long been considered a practice characteristic of “primitive mentality.” We describe research with the babalawo of Santería, who are expert in the divinatory system of Ifá. Our first goal is to offer an example of what Vygotsky called “concrete psychology”: the study of particular systems of psychological functions in the concrete circumstances of specific professional complexes. Our second goal is to explore the character of divination as psychological and social process, given the somewhat negative views of divination expressed by many social scientists, including Lévy-Bruhl and Vygotsky himself. Analysis of a recorded consultation identified features characteristic of institutional discourse. We argue that the institutional facts of divination may constitute an unfamiliar ontology, but the epistemology —the appeal to logic and to empirical evidence— is a familiar one.
The present paper aims at analyzing the experiential quality of what I will refer to as the hermeneutic dimension of the divinatory encounter. The analysis will consist of three parts: The first part concentrates on the relation between the content of divinatory enunciations and the way this content is understood by the person seeking out divinatory consultation. In the second part, it will be demonstrated how in most cases the enunciation evolves not in a strictly monologic way but in a relatively open, dialogic fashion. In the third and last part of the paper, it will be asked how exactly the hermeneutic and dialogic dimensions of the divinatory encounter relate to each other and why this relation may be considered crucial for the understanding of the full significance of the consultational character of divinatory praxis. Each part of the analysis will start from a close reading of an excerpt of a divinatory consultation or extra-consultational explanations offered by one of my interlocutors. 1 While the text does not explicitly address the question of the precise relation between visionary and prophetic practices, on the one hand, and divinatory practices on the other, in its emphasis on the dialogical constitution of the divinatory encounter, it points to the usefulness of examining these practices in their existential, intersubjective and social dimensions, both synchronically and diachronically, rather than solely in terms of individual cognition.
Seeking Voices and Finding Meaning: An Analysis of Portuguese Verbal Divination
Incantatio , 2017
Among the numerous charms and incantations collected by late 19th and early 20th-century Portuguese folklorists and ethnographers, there are a small number which are intended to be used in verbal divination. These procedures, at times referred to as andar às vozes (seeking voices), while being words of power in themselves, are effectively meant to attribute power and significance to whatever random words or sounds are heard immediately after being recited. Being divination procedures, they present a question and answer structure between a performer and a supernatural entity. In these processes, certain cues or 'mani-festation avenues' are offered for the called upon supernatural entity to manifest and provide an answer to the performer. As such, the analysis of these (and other) divination procedures can help map the relationships between performers and supernatural entities. Particularly, these can help discern what the accepted manifestations of spirits are during any such divination for a performer, and what implications this may have for other aspects of folk magic.
Taking Divination Seriously: From Mumbo Jumbo to Worldviews and Ways of Life
Religions, 2018
The peripheral role of divination in religious studies reflects centuries of misrepresentation and depreciation in the textual record. This long history dates back to the travel literature of early modern times, particularly in West Africa, where two stereotypical themes took form: divination as mumbo jumbo, and the diviners as charlatans who shamelessly deceive their credulous clients. These two stereotypical themes persisted through the anthropological discourse about African divination until the 1970s. To undo this long history of misrepresentation and depreciation, a change of analytical focus from reified differences to similar engagement with broad ideas and big questions is in order. By considering a particular case study—basket divination in northwest Zambia—through the theoretical lens of worldviews and ways of life, it becomes possible to take divination seriously and grant it a more central place in religious studies. Four broad, inclusive ideas or big questions emerge from the ethnography of basket divination in northwest Zambia: ontology, epistemology, praxeology, and the place of suffering in human existence.
Divination and Religion as a Cultural System
Pp. 147- 166 in Divination as Science: A Workshop Conducted during the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Warsaw, 2014. Ed. Jeanette C. Fincke. Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, Indiana. 2016
Psychological Assessment and Divination: Some Parallels of Process
Psychological assessment is a complex process aimed at contributing to helping the client. The information gained about the person in his or her situational context should facilitate guiding intervention. The basic data are derived from the clinical interview, testing, and collateral information from third parties. Contemporary Paganism makes use of the ancient practice of divination for a similar process of assessment in the context of personal guidance. This article examines the parallels between the process of divination and psychological assessment. Both activities serve a similar purpose to facilitate better client decision-making of life choices. Script theory informs the process parallels between those 2 forms of assessment. The generic helping script finds grounding in principles of humanistic psychology. Divination can be seen as a psycho-spiritual technique for personal growth through gnosis. Assessment can take similar forms in both a secular and spiritual context. Thus, practitioners in both domains share the common ground of the assumptions of human science. Finally, in both domains, elements of the assessment are encoded in signs (implying semiotic theory) that need to be interpreted (implying a hermeneutic process) and then findings are communicated back to the client (implying a rhetoric of healing and growth). Those disciplines help guide the communication process between participants across any differences in world view.
Is Ifá Divination Girded by Logic? A Case for Ezumezu Logic
International Journal of African Renaissance Studies - Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinarity, 2023
Several criteria for what constitutes African philosophy have been offered by different African and non-African scholars. For Jonathan Chimakonam (Ezumezu: A System of Logic for African Philosophy and Studies. Cham: Switzerland, 2019), a philosophy is either African, Western, or Asian because of the logic that fortifies it. Chimakonam, following this conviction, foregrounds Ezumezu logic as a prototypical African logic which mediates thought, theory, and method within the African sphere, yet is also applicable in non-African contexts. To interrogate its stance as a prototypical African logic, this study examines Ezumezu logic apart from its Igbo inspiration, via the traditional Yorùbá ritual archive. We embark on a foray into the Ifá divination procedure for this exploration. Through critical analysis and hermeneutics, this study finds that in most cases, Ifá divination, through employing ìbò in its procedures, conforms to the classical laws of thought. However, when further reflection is given to the method through which the truths and insights of O ̣ ruńmilà are sought during divination, one may easily discern the presence of a trivalent logic therein. This understanding is demonstrated side by side with Chimakonam's description of the ways in which his logic functions. Hence, this article submits that the logic criterion for African philosophy is apt and that, when it is applied to an African ritual archive in Ifá divination, there is no doubt that Chimakonam's attempt to prove the originality of the African way of thought, theory, and method is well articulated.