About The North Of Ghana Tamale Dagbon Baɣsi-Soothsayers and Diviners Soothsaying is the act of foreseeing the future or seeing spiritual aspect of problems of people. Soothsaying is inherited in different ways and is mostly through the mother’s lineage. When your maternal uncle, is a soothsayer, it is possible for you to inherit the Baɣa kolgu a kind of bag that contains the materials the Baɣsi use. When a soothsayer dies, and after the funeral is performed the family gather the past soothsayers maternal nephews in the midst of four or more different soothsayers to help pick a new soothsayer. If one of them is not present the family will use a stone to represent him, the family head will then tell the intention of their gathering is to pick a new soothsayer to replace their uncle and to continue the family tradition. Then the soothsayers about four will start to consult separately if they all pick the same stone or person, different set soothsayers will be brought again to consult again if they also picked the same person then that means the person is the next soothsayer and the bag would be handed over to him, sometimes none of the boys will inherit it and a girl will inherit it instead. One can a soothsayer by killing a Bushbuck [saŋkpaliŋ] or the Hyena. These animals which Dagombas believe that they all have the soothsaying bags. Someone who kills a bushbuck or a hyena might die. And after his children or his family have consulted a soothsayer to know the cause of his death(something Dagombas usually do) the soothsayer will tell them that their father has at one time killed a bushbuck or a hyena, and if none of them takes up the skin of a bushbuck, then they will also die. They will prepare and get the skin of a bushbuck, and one among them will become a soothsayer. But we don’t take them to be real soothsayers, and truly, no one can refuse the soothsaying bag if you don’t want to be a practicing soothsayer you can just hang the bad in your room. When performing the funeral of a soothsayer they get a hundred hens and a male goat, and prepare food in a hundred bowls. After preparing the food the family members do not eat all the food they leaves some for their ancestors, they believe that when they eat all the food the new soothsayer will not be able to fore see the future and problems of his clients. A female will be picked to be his assistants but she can’t fore see the future or spiritual problems. After this is done, grinded pepper will put into their nose to tell them how difficult their work will be. The two will be made to sit on a chair and a long stick will be fix between them with a very old bag on it. They are also made to wear a calabash on their head. Then the family dance around them singing a song titled, “Baɣ’ bila di malimali ti paai tↄm.” without beating drums. Then they will slaughter the male goat and make a bag from its hide. The soothsayer chief, the Baɣ’ Naa Will take the new soothsayer into the room and teach him how to read the cowries when he is going to teach him, they get a ring of tied grass which we call kalnli, and they put a calabash on it. The things they have in the bag are many. They have cowrie shells, money, sticks, and pieces of iron, all in small pieces. And they have small white stones from the river bank; we call nyolinsi (pebbles) all this are called Baɣabihi. They get all these things and mix them together. When a soothsayer is going to tell fore see, he throws them inside the calabash and see how they fall. Sometimes he will pour the things and collect them back again. When he looks inside, he uses the quill of a porcupine. He doesn’t use his finger this and many other things will the chief teach him. When you visit a soothsayer you won’t tell him what’s wrong with directly you will say it your heart or on the money you will give it to him. After you will put the money in the calabash containing the baɣabihi, soothsayers don’t charge you can give him any amount you want, as for drummers they only give cola to them
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 22:15:51 +0000
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