ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with two methods of divination, both of which are known throughout the country and applied on all occasions, trivial as well as serious. The first, called eba, consists in throwing strings of shells and resembles in technique the ifa divination of Yoruba; the second, hatí, is of Mohammedan origin and involves drawing mystic patterns in the sand. The chapter shows that the system of divination is in fact taught, learned, and handed on in a purely practical and often fortuitous fashion, with none of the sacred or ritual sanctions which would make for strict adherence to given rules. It also shows that the rules of divination are far from static, having been successfully adapted even to recent conditions and to political problems only some forty years old. The chapter highlights that the diviner's role offers a congenial niche to individuals of that religious bias or, more generally, of that temperament and intellectual predisposition.
