This page leads to links about the anthropological study of divination hosted
at UKC that have been prepared as part of the HEFCE funded FDTL
(The Fund for the Development of Teaching
and Learning) project Experience Rich Anthroplogy.
There are many WWW pages about divination and oracles (see link below). Here we concentrate
on anthropological studies of two different sorts of divination.
The simulations allow students to gain some impression of the process of actually doing divination which can be used to help their understanding of the online readings. This provides means of appproaching anthropological classics such as Evans-Pritchard, E. 1937. Witchcraft Oracles and Magic among the Azande. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Venda Divining Dice
(or bones) based on Stayt (1931)- a simulation coded
by Michael D. Fischer
On-line reading on similar sorts of divination (coming soon)
Filip de Boeck and Renee Devisch 1994 Ndembu, Luunda and Yaka Divination Compared: from Representation and Social Engineering to Embodiment and Worldmaking. Journal of Religion in Africa 22(2):98-128.
Werbner, R.P. 1973. The Superabundance of Understanding: Kalanga Rhetoric and Domestic Divination. American Anthropologist 75(5), 1414-1440.
Werbner, R.P. 1989. Tswapong Wisdom Divination. In Ritual Passage, Sacred Journey. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
On-line reading on Mambila divination:
Search the CSAC online anthropology bibliography for published sources on divination or oracles
Perform an Internet search on divination (note that searching for "oracle" tends to throw up misleading hits because of the computer company with that name).