Sisala Divination: The Mystic Tradition was shot in 1998 among the Sisala of Northern Ghana. It shows three forms of divination as practiced by the Sisala people. The form of divination indigenous to the Sisala is called vuguh and is a way of contacting the ancestral spirits to ascertain the cause and remedy for misfortunes that have befallen the consulting client and his family. The other two forms of divination, fairy-calling and cowrie-throwing, are recent intrusive oracular methods of contacting the High God, Wia. In cowrie-throwing it is thought that God directly forms a pattern in the cowries that the diviner has tossed on the ground. He then reads the pattern and interprets it for the client. In fairy-calling, the diviner calls the bush fairies who are thought to act as messengers from God. In the dead of night and in total darkness, it is thought that the fairies come to the diviner's call and answer the questions of the living. These forms of divination have never been filmed before. This film is an excellent teaching tool for classes in anthropology, religion, African Studies and any class dealing with non-Western institutions.

VC 5240

1998