Object Name: Divination Tray
Place of Origin: Nigeria
Cultural Group: Yoruba peoples
Materials Used: Wood
Date: 19th century
Dimensions: D: 38 cm (D: 14.9 in)
Credit line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Ralph B. Lloyd Foundation. X70.646

When faced with misfortune or uncertainty, Yoruba individuals consult diviners for guidance and advice. The diviner will cast sixteen sacred palm nuts or manipulate a chain and record the numerical combinations in the wood dust on the surface of an Ifa divination tray, which will direct the diviner to particular verses (odu). The client must reflect upon these verses and take appropriate action. The cosmological motifs on the perimeter of the tray include four faces of Esu (messenger of the gods), divination equipment, a man on horseback with an entourage, and humans making love-suggesting fertility.