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Cleromancy, divination by the casting of lots, is formally linked to three religions in this atlas, all three descended from or standing within one West African source tradition: Candomble, Santeria (Lucumi) and the Yoruba religion whose divination system is Ifa. Each one names a genuinely different method.

Three Different Lots, One Family

"Candomble consults the jogo de buzios, the casting of cowrie shells, to identify which orixa owns a person's head and what offerings are due; the reading is done by an initiated priest and its detail is kept within the terreiro." "Lucumi uses dilogun, the casting of sixteen cowrie shells by an initiated priest, for most consultation, reserving the fuller Ifa system to babalawos." "Ifa divination is the central institution of the religion: the babalawo casts sixteen palm nuts or a divining chain to produce one of two hundred and fifty-six odu, each carrying a body of memorised verse from which the answer and the offering required are read."

What the Atlas Withholds, and What It Does Not

All three religion pages anchored here carry a live restricted-tradition fact on this atlas, and each one, in its own words, withholds only the closed initiation itself: the Yoruba religion "states that the initiation is closed and does not publish what is transmitted within it," Santeria "describes the tradition without setting out the initiation itself," Candomble "names these rites without describing their procedure." None of the three withholds the divination method, which each religion's own page and Cleromancy's own links already publish at exactly the level quoted above.

Where To Read More

• CleromancyDivinatory DisciplinesThe craft itself; three religions counted, each with a distinct lot-casting method
• Yorùbá Religion (Ifá)Polytheistic (Animist)Ifa, palm nuts or a divining chain, two hundred fifty six odu; carries a live restricted-tradition fact limited to the closed initiation
• Santería (Lucumí)Syncretic (Afro-Caribbean)Dilogun, sixteen cowrie shells; carries a live restricted-tradition fact limited to the closed initiation
• CandombléSyncretic (Afro-Caribbean)Jogo de buzios, cowrie shells cast within the terreiro; carries a live restricted-tradition fact limited to the closed initiation