Four-Tablet Divination as Trans-Regional Medical Technology in Southern Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3932122 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Wim Van Binsbergen (EarthTech International (United States), corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 114 |
| Publication date | 1995-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Religion in Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-4200 • E-ISSN: 1570-0666 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1581270 |
| OpenAlex | W4252613243 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
n\tThe forms of African divination which revolve around the use of a material apparatus, whose construction and application are more or less institutionalized and professionalized, constitute an important field of medical technology. This paper examines a system of divination revolving around four tablets, to which the author was introduced during fieldwork carried out in Francistown in northeast Botswana since 1988. First, it presents the main analytical characteristics of the Francistown divination system. Since the system is a combination of a random generator and an interpretative catalogue, the paper discusses its mathematical properties as well as the high degree of standardization, the classificatory vagaries, and the selective societal referents of its interpretative catalogue. Next, the paper discusses the origin and distribution of the four-tablet system. It emerged in the middle of the second millennium AD in the highlands of Zimbabwe from the interaction between pre-existing local divination systems and Arabian geomancy. After a slow spread over a limited part of southern Africa, the 20th century saw the rapid spread of the system over the entire subcontinent, where it is now the hallmark of noncosmopolitan practitioners. Bibliogr., notes, ref \n
African studies · Anthropology of religion · Archaeology · Divination · Ethnology · Geography · History of religions · Sociology · Theology · Traditional medicine · Anthropology · History · Legal Issues in South Africa · Medicine · Philosophy
Zulu Thought-Patterns and Symbolism
African Therapeutic Systems
The Medicines and Practice of a Sotho Doctor
The Art of Divination as Practised by the Bamasemola
A Handbook of Tswana Law and Custom
Native Witchcraft and Superstition in South Africa
Becoming a Sangoma
The Land of Zinj
Magic, Divination and Witch-Craft among the Barotse of Northern Rhodesia
Ritual healing and political acquiescence
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |