Source

Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World

William Bascom's study works from his own documented ethnographic fieldwork on the sixteen cowrie, merindilogun, divination system within Yoruba religion, tracing its odu and associated deities and its transmission to the Americas from that direct fieldwork basis rather than secondhand description. That firsthand grounding, checkable against the specific verses and practices the book documents, is the study's real evidentiary strength. This record has not independently traced further scholarly revision of Bascom's specific transcriptions since 1980. Use it for established scholarly facts about this divination system and its odu and its documented transmission; a foundational academic ethnographic study, not the tradition's own practitioner instruction, which needs a source produced from within the tradition for that voice.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

William Bascom's study working from his own documented ethnographic fieldwork on the sixteen-cowrie merindilogun divination system within Yoruba religion, tracing its odu and associated deities and its transmission to the Americas from that direct fieldwork basis.

Notes

William Bascom's scholarly study of the sixteen-cowrie (merindilogun) divination system in Yoruba religion and its transmission to the Americas, covering the odu and associated deities. Use for established scholarly facts about this divination system and its odu; a foundational academic ethnographic study, not the tradition's own practitioner instruction.

Citation

Author

William Bascom

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Publication Year

1980

Source Type

Book (scholarly)

Connections

Associated With

Americas

This source names Americas directly: "deities and its transmission to the Americas from that direct fieldwork basis rather than secondhand description."

Source Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New WorldWilliam Bascom

Claims Backed By This Source (172 claims)

This source backs 172 claims across the atlas. As facts: 108 well-attested. As cited relationships: 34 holds. Plus 30 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Diloggun Signs, 71 claims: 32 well-attested, 23 holds, 16 general references.
Articles, 50 claims: 48 well-attested, 2 general references.
Open Questions, 16 claims: 14 well-attested, 2 general references.
Deities, 11 claims: 1 well-attested, 5 holds, 5 general references.
Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
Sacred Objects & Ritual Items, 7 claims: 2 well-attested, 3 holds, 2 general references.
Cultures, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Practices, 2 claims: 1 holds, 1 general references.
Regions, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Categories, 1 claims: 1 well-attested.