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Figure 1.
Plan of a Malagasy house with locations of the vintana ("destiny")
and days of the month indicated, beginning in the northeast corner.
From Ruud 1960; used by permission. |
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28 is negativeif it constitutes a bad omenthe diviner picks up the necessary objects connoting the sacrifice to be performed (Vig 1977:13). |
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The correspondences, positive and negative, for these movable days are myriad, but all are described in the ombiasy's sacred texts, written in Arabico-Malagasy. Although the ombiasy is bound by the recipes given in the texts, interpretations are adjusted to specific situations. To offer some idea of the complexity of the calculations and correlations performed by the Antemoro diviner, we reproduce an illustration obtained by Vig (fig.3). |
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This sketch of a house interior, with north at top, depicts the intricate relationships of the months and days, the associated vintana, and the appropriate offerings |
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