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do not leave their house without consulting them. In short, there is no nation which is more superstitious than this one. It is especially the case in Manghabai, where they do not do any business, buy, plant, build anything or travel without first consulting the diviner. (1661:172) |
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The technique has been described many times since then. Among more recent contributions are those by the Grandidiers (1917), Berthier (1933:89100), Decary (1970), and Rabedimy (1976). Hébert (1961) compared Malagasy geomancy to that of the Comoro Islands and Africa. There are also some good regional analyses, including Linton (1933:20310) on the Tanala and Deschemaeker (1969:20812) on the Betsimisaraka. Lahady (1976:17484) gathered some interesting data on the Betsimisaraka that Rahatoka (1985:5560) completed. Other sources on sikidy are Callet (1974:82104) for the Merina, Vig (1977:3943) for the Vakinankaratra, and Dubois (1938:91748) for the Betsileo. On Western Sakalava, Rabedimy (1976) is particularly up-to-date. Dandouau's article (1914), covering the northwestern part of the country, and Faublée's analysis (1954) of the divinatory techniques of the Bara are still useful. |
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A sikidy divination session has three phases. First comes the awakening of the sikidy (mamoha sikidy), during which the masters of sikidy and the great ancestors are invoked by incantations so that they will help the ombiasy interpret the data properly. Then the figures (monoko sikidy) are set up by interpreting even and odd piles of grain. Single or double dots are arranged by fours in sixteen columns, each of which has a name. (fig. 4)17 In the third phase the figures are read, starting with the tale, the most important column. Several scholars, including Decary (1970), Rabedimy (1976), and Sussman and Sussman (1977), have attempted to describe this complex process of computing and reading the sikidy s, which vary by name, value, and association in different areas of Madagascar. |
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Ethnologist have been so anxious to describe the workings of sikidy divination that they often forget that divination with grain or seeds is just another way of approaching the vintana and that it is only used when the vintana is not clear. This last resort is all the more necessary when ordinary divination has not given the expected results and the ombiasy decides that something has to be done. The mpanandro diviner identifies the taboo (fady) that has been violated, but the mpisikidy diviner prescribes the sacrifices (sadaka or ala-fatidra) to offer and the medicines to take. That is why astrological predictions, sikidy figures, and recipes for medicines are sometimes presented together in the diviners' books. The names of figures (volontsikidy) sometimes correspond to days, sometimes to months of the vintana (see fig. 5), which further demonstrates that sikidy was built upon an existing system. With correlations provided for sikidy figures, it is then relatively easy to find the astrological date of an unlocated event and thereby reveal the appropriate vintana. |
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The book of the Ihosy ombiasy, given to Hébert (1961), consists mostly of prescriptions of this type: "If Alohomora [the figure formed by two, one, two, and two dots] is in the tale column, it means that he suffers from backache and that he needs a red or a white-necked ox." The sikidy here reveals the location |
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