"This volume of finely crafted case studies is also the vehicle for an important general theory of divination.... this is a book overflowing with ideas that will powerfully stimulate further research." -- Journal of Ritual Studies "The essays in this collection provide a very useful overview of both the diversity of African divination systems and of recent approaches to their study." -- Choice This unique collection of essays by an exceptional international group of Africanists demonstrates the central role that divination continues to play throughout Africa in maintaining cultural systems and in guiding human action. African Divination Systems offers insights for current discussions in comparative epistemology, cross-cultural psychology, cognition studies, semiotics, ethnoscience, religious studies, and anthropology.

This book engages the theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI in dialogue with African Catholic theological concerns and challenges. After an Introduction by Matthew Levering arguing that African Catholic theology is an important resource for the whole Church, the book contains ten chapters by African and non-African Catholic theologians. Paulinus Odozor investigates whether and, if so, how the God of Jesus Christ stands in continuity with the God known to African Traditional Religions. Paul Ọlátúbọsún Àdajà addresses faith and reason in light of the current African anthropological crisis. Tegha Nji and Valery Akoh connect Ratzinger’s idea of “pro-existence” with traditional African understandings of solidarity. Jacob Phillips compares the theologies of Robert Cardinal Sarah and Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Dennis Kasule examines the requirements of a New Evangelization for Africa, in light of the case of Uganda. Joseph Lugalambi proposes that the Catholic liturgies of Africa are in need of reform. Mary-Reginald N. Anibueze explores the Eucharist as a socio-communitarian event. Emery de Gaál reflects upon Ratzinger/Benedict’s theology of inculturation. Joseph Ogbonnaya treats Caritas in Veritate with a focus upon the case of Nigeria. Maurice Ashley Agbaw-Ebai meditates upon Ratzinger’s understanding of political power.

In "The Mystical Connection," explore the ancient arts of astrology, witchcraft, and divination, and learn how to apply their wisdom in today's world. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or a curious beginner, this comprehensive guide offers a wealth of knowledge and practical advice to help you deepen your spiritual practice. Discover the fascinating history and principles behind astrology, witchcraft, and divination, and learn how to incorporate them into your daily life. From understanding your birth chart to casting spells and interpreting tarot cards, this book covers it all with clarity and insight. With step-by-step instructions, helpful tips, and personal stories, "The Mystical Connection" empowers you to embrace these mystical arts and use them to enhance your intuition, manifest your desires, and navigate life's challenges with wisdom and grace. Key Features: Comprehensive guide to astrology, witchcraft, and divination Practical tips and step-by-step instructions for beginners Insightful explanations of complex concepts Personal stories and anecdotes to illustrate key points Beautifully designed with illustrations and diagrams "Astrology, Witchcraft, and Divination" covers a wide range of topics related to these practices. It begins with an introduction to astrology, witchcraft, and divination, exploring their history and origins. The book then delves into understanding moon phases in astrology witchcraft, including the meanings of different moon phases and how to harness the power of the new moon and full moon. The following chapters discuss various divination tools, such as tarot cards, runes, and crystal ball gazing, providing a beginner's guide to using them for insights and answers. It also explores the connection between astrology and numerology, offering guidance on incorporating numerology into spellwork. The book further delves into incorporating astrology into witchcraft practice, including creating astrological charts for spellwork and using planetary correspondences in magick. It also emphasizes timing rituals with astrological events. The book then explores different divination methods for modern practitioners, such as pendulum divination, tea leaf reading, and palmistry. It progresses to advanced astrology witchcraft techniques, including the use of astrological talismans and amulets, lunar rituals for manifestation, and astrological timing for success. The ethical considerations of astrology, witchcraft, and divination are discussed, focusing on respecting free will, avoiding manipulative practices, and using astrology for personal growth and healing. The book concludes by emphasizing the mystical connection and the importance of connecting with intuition, building a spiritual practice with astrology witchcraft, and embracing the magic of the universe. It encourages further exploration in the subject matter and provides a guide for continuing studies in astrology, witchcraft, and divination.

This Handbook provides in one volume rich, comprehensive and rigorous coverage of specific subject areas and thematic concerns in the ever-evolving academic discipline of African philosophy. This Handbook is unique in its focus on central and emerging areas within African philosophy such as Afro-communitarian philosophy, ethics, epistemology, social and political philosophy, existentialism, philosophy of religion, gender philosophy, philosophy of education, phenomenology, transhumanism, African philosophy futures, and philosophy of the non-human. The thirty-two chapters in this Handbook explore the rich textual and non-textual forms of philosophical knowledge in Africa and adequately represent the broad and diverse scope of African philosophy, showing the richness and depth of the philosophical tradition. This reference work is indispensable to students and researchers in African philosophy, comparative philosophy and world philosophies.

Scrying the Secrets of the Future offers practical, hands-on guidance to using a wide variety of methods from many cultures and ages-from Ancient Egypt, the Aztecs and Mayans, and Classical Greece and Rome to Medieval European magicians, village wise women and 21st century coffee-shop divination. Discussion of each method includes its history and cultural background, traditional practices, and how to adapt these techniques to the needs of the modern world and everyday decision-making.

Exploring the cultural lives of African slaves in the early colonial Portuguese world, with an emphasis on the more than one million Central Africans who survived the journey to Brazil, James Sweet lifts a curtain on their lives as Africans rather than as incipient Brazilians. Focusing first on the cultures of Central Africa from which the slaves came--Ndembu, Imbangala, Kongo, and others--Sweet identifies specific cultural rites and beliefs that survived their transplantation to the African-Portuguese diaspora, arguing that they did not give way to immediate creolization in the New World but remained distinctly African for some time. Slaves transferred many cultural practices from their homelands to Brazil, including kinship structures, divination rituals, judicial ordeals, ritual burials, dietary restrictions, and secret societies. Sweet demonstrates that the structures of many of these practices remained constant during this early period, although the meanings of the rituals were often transformed as slaves coped with their new environment and status. Religious rituals in particular became potent forms of protest against the institution of slavery and its hardships. In addition, Sweet examines how certain African beliefs and customs challenged and ultimately influenced Brazilian Catholicism. Sweet's analysis sheds new light on African culture in Brazil's slave society while also enriching our understanding of the complex process of creolization and cultural survival.

Divination was an important and distinctive aspect of religion in both ancient China and ancient Greece, and this book will provide the first systematic account and analysis of the two side by side. Who practised divination in these cultures and who consulted it? What kind of questions did they ask, and what methods were used to answer those questions? As well as these practical aspects, Lisa Raphals also examines divination as a subject of rhetorical and political narratives, and its role in the development of systematic philosophical and scientific inquiry. She explores too the important similarities, differences and synergies between Greek and Chinese divinatory systems, providing important comparative evidence to reassess Greek oracular divination.

In the Dogon funeral proceedings, a major song cycle called baja ni is performed in a session of at least seven hours. The texts of the chants are attributed to a legendary figure called Abirɛ, who as a blind singer in the nineteenth century roamed the heartland of the Dogon. The baja ni songs have escaped scholarly attention thus far. Singing with the Dogon Prophet by Walter E.A. van Beek, Oumarou S. Ongoiba, and Atimε D. Saye provides their first publication in English as well as an analysis of these songs. These texts deal with the relations between man and woman, man’s ambivalent dependency on the otherworld, and with life and death; the whole night performance is one of the high points of the funeral. Additionally, Abirɛ is a prophet, and during his life has uttered a great number of prophecies on a wide range of topics, from local issues to the relation of the Dogon with the Fulbe herdsmen, and from the arrival of the colonials to ecological transformation. This book examines how these prophecies with these songs offer an inside view of the way the Dogon construct the present in a continuous dialogue with their past and their projected future.

Black Magic looks at the origins, meaning, and uses of Conjure—the African American tradition of healing and harming that evolved from African, European, and American elements—from the slavery period to well into the twentieth century. Illuminating a world that is dimly understood by both scholars and the general public, Yvonne P. Chireau describes Conjure and other related traditions, such as Hoodoo and Rootworking, in a beautifully written, richly detailed history that presents the voices and experiences of African Americans and shows how magic has informed their culture. Focusing on the relationship between Conjure and Christianity, Chireau shows how these seemingly contradictory traditions have worked together in a complex and complementary fashion to provide spiritual empowerment for African Americans, both slave and free, living in white America. As she explores the role of Conjure for African Americans and looks at the transformations of Conjure over time, Chireau also rewrites the dichotomy between magic and religion. With its groundbreaking analysis of an often misunderstood tradition, this book adds an important perspective to our understanding of the myriad dimensions of human spirituality.

MMARA NE KYI - Divine Law/Love and Divine Hate Afurakani/Afuraitkaitnit (African) Ancestral Religion is defined in essence as the ritual incorporation of Divine Law and the ritual restoration of Divine Balance. Through ritual we incorporate those things, objects, deeds and entities we need to harmonize with Divine Order and through ritual we reject those things, objects, deeds and entities we need to in order to restore balance to our lives. Afurakani/Afuraitkaitnit (African) Ancestral Religion animates our culture, our way of life, for Afurakani/Afuraitkaitnit (African) Ancestral Culture is the Divine acceptance (Love/Law) of Order and the Divine rejection (Hate) of disorder. The phrase mmara ne kyi is Akan for law and hate. These terms derive from the same terms in Kamit: maa hna kht. Divine Law and Divine Hate are the Expansive and Contractive Poles of Divine Order. In this work we properly define these concepts inclusive of the fact that there are Deities (Abosom, Orisha, Vodou, Ntorou/Ntorotu [Neteru/Netertu-Ntrw/Ntrwt]) who embody these concepts: Maa and Maat (Law) and Heru Behdety and Sekhmet (Hate). We demonstrate that Law and Love have always been the same concept in Afurakani/Afuraitkaitnit (African) culture and that Hate has been and always will be Divine. Just as there are Deities of Law/Love, there are Deities of Hate. Moreover, and most critically, without an understanding of the Divinity of Hate one has absolutely no understanding of authentic Afurakani/Afuraitkaitnit (African) cosmology, culture, religion, philosophy and its infrastructure: Divine Order.