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for each person's soul. This sign is also given if there is need for a special gathering for the soul of one's wife. Such a sign would be followed by indicating the breast, which stands for one's maternal relatives, and the direction of her community. In addition, her deceased elder sponsors are identified. A gathering intended solely to renew the deceased elder's habitation is indicated by positioning the stick in the back of the stone (the back here referring to the past). |
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The need to visit a critical care practitioner is indicated by rubbing the stick up and down on the adviser's body, signifying the need for a special type of cleansing therapy. Pointing in the appropraite direction indicates the type of treatment suggested and its associated practitioner. |
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If deities are seen to be involved in problems or treatments, they too will be noted. Kuiye, a solar manifestation, is indicated by holding the stick up vertically, toward the sky. Butan is suggested by digging with the stick in the earth and tossing up some soil. Fawafa, the serpentine deity of men's initiation, is designated by using the stick to make dots around the stone, suggesting a serpent's mottled skin. Treatments associated with Litakon, the deity of fertility, twins, and infants, is noted by pointing to the area in front of the neck where related necklaces are placed. Critical care treatments associated with the god of war and death, Fayenfe, are designated by pointing to the adviser's middle finger, where an associated ring-bracelet is sometimes secured. |
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Grave cases that offer no hope of treatment through any means are indicated in several ways. Pushing the stick under the stone is one way, for the stone symbolizes the stone in the center of the house terrace that serves as the deceased elder's tombstone. Another such sign is made by touching both of the adviser's ears with the stick, which means that the adviser should no longer run around trying to find (hear) a solution but should stay at home and await the inevitable, since the person will soon die. |
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The Structure of Questions in the Consultation Format |
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The types of questions raised during the consultation frequently follow a set format and structure. Generally, the adviser begins by suggesting the most catastrophic possibilities, often that Kuiye and Butan have abandoned him: "Is it God that has rejected me? Has the earth deity rejected me? Is it this suffering that we are talking about?" (10:552). If this suggestion were accepted by the consultant, it would be a sign that the situation was hopeless, that death was near, for there can be no life without the solar and earth deities. But it almost always is rejected. |
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When the suggestion is refused, the adviser goes on to less grave but equally negative statements. Often he suggests that the whole family is dead or that the house will be destroyed: "Has the house fallen on us? You should know. If the house falls and kills all the people inside, would one be happy? . . . Has my house fallen and have my crosspieces been burnt? . . . There where I built should I leave there?" (4:62). These catastrophic suggestions are usually rejected as well |
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