Reviewing Reality Dynamics of African Divination

From crab divination in the Cameroon (front cover) to friction oracles in the Congo Basin, from reading cast objects in Mozambique to spirit possession in Cote d'Ivoire, from Sudanese ebony diviners to South African Xhosa healers (below), divination systems throughout Africa serve their communities by resolving problems and answering questions. Divination helps people chart a course in life by a deeper under­standing of past and present. This important collection reveals the extraordinary diversity and complexity of African divination systems, focusing on self-knowledge, social reality, and on intercultural and historical relations. Walter E.A. van Beek is Professor of Anthropology of Religion at Tilburg University, Netherlands. Philip M. Peek is Professor Emeritus at Drew University, USA.