Nggam () is a type of

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

found among many groups in western

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. Among the best documented is its practice by the

Mambila people The Mambilla or Mambila people of Nigeria live on the Mambilla Plateau (in 'Sardauna' local government area of Taraba State in Nigeria). A small fraction of Mambilla migrants left the Mambilla Plateau for the Ndom Plain (also known as northern Tik ...

of Cameroon and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, in which the actions of

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s or

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

s are interpreted by the diviner. The form used by the neighbouring

Yamba people Yamba may refer to: * Yamba, New South Wales, a port town in Australia * Yamba, South Australia, a locality in the Riverland * Yamba Department, one of the six departments of Gourma Province, Burkina Faso ** Yamba, Burkina Faso, a town in Yamba D ...

was described by Gebauer in 1964 based on experience in Mbem going back to before 1939, and more recently by Hermann Gufler (1996 and 2003). Good documentation of Nggam has been also published for the Bekpak (

Bafia Bafia () is a Cameroonian town and commune in the Centre Province region. It is the capital of the Mbam-et-Inoubou department. It lies north of the country's capital Yaoundé. Bafia has approximately 55,700 inhabitants, making it the third lar ...

) people by Dugast and for

Bamileke people The Bamileke are a Central African people who inhabit the Western High Plateau of Cameroon. Languages The Bamileke languages belong to the Grassfields branch of the Niger-Congo language family, which is sometimes labeled as a " Bantuoid lang ...

by Pradeles de Latour. The crab form has been studied in north Cameroon by Walter van Beek (2013, 2015). The comparative linguistics of spider divination in Cameroon was surveyed by Blench and Zeitlyn in 1989/1990.Blench, Roger, and David Zeitlyn. 1989/1990. A Web of Words. SUGIA (Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika) 10/11:171-186 In 2021, Argentinian

Tomás Saraceno Tomás Saraceno (San Miguel de Tucumán, 1973) is an Argentine contemporary artist whose projects, consisting of floating sculptures, international collaborations, and interactive installations, propose and dialogue with forms of inhabiting and ...

artist developed a durational community project as part of the

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German for Berlin Festivals) are a series of festivals, art exhibitions, and other cultural events organized all year long by a common organization in Berlin. Events are held at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a pre-ex ...

’s Immersion programme. Described as “a web portal by, with and for the spider diviners of Somié, Cameroon”, the project invites audiences to learn about the practice.

References

External links

Mambila spider divination

Nggàm dù - Spider divination with Somié, Cameroon
Divination {{Nigeria-stub

See also

References

External links