Divination As A Moral Compass And Physical Imagery Of God In African Traditional Religion
Elizabeth Akpanke Odey, Peter Akpo Adams, Osmond Agbor Otora, Louis Ajom Edet, Akak Ekanem Etim, Emmanuel E. Etta, James Ajang Aboh, Ikike I. Ufford, Columba Apeh, Godwin Michael Effiom, Essien Udoaka Edem, Alex Abang Ebu, E. E. Alobo, Miebaka Nabiebu, Gabriel Etim-ben Inyang
Architecture Image Studies January 6, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.62754/ais.v7i1.851 via OpenAlex
Summary
Divination in African Traditional Religion serves as a communication channel between the divine and humans, offering insight, guidance, and solutions to personal and community problems. It performs prophetic, diagnostic, and therapeutic roles, identifying hidden causes of tragedies, illnesses, and social strife. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, the research finds that divination rituals act as rites of passage, helping individuals through crises and self-discovery, while diviners mediate conflicts and promote community harmony. The study recommends collaboration between diviners and modern medicine for holistic care.
Study at a glance
| Design | qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Divination rituals function as rites of passage that help individuals navigate personal crises and self-discovery, while diviners mediate conflicts and foster community harmony. |
Abstract
Divination is a pivotal aspect of African Traditional Religion (ATR). In African indigenous cosmologies and spiritual systems, divination is the means through which the Divine to speak with humans, offering insight, guidance, and solutions to community and individual. This communicative role is what is referred to as prophetic role of divination. Divination also performs diagnostic and therapeutic role, aiming to identify the hidden causes of tragedies, illnesses, and social strife and proposing solutions. Oracles, spirit possession, and symbolic items help diviners communicate with the spiritual world. Divination is examined as a religious activity, epistemic framework, and moral compass in African world view. It emphasizes its responsibilities in justice, leadership, health, and ethics, highlighting its relevance in current African spiritual life and its similarities to prophetic traditions in global religion. This research adapts a qualitative methodology, using ethnographic fieldwork, practitioner and community interviews, and historical text analysis for its data analysis. Kleinhempel's African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) and Mezirow's Transformational Theory underpin this work. These theories suggest that divination as a cultural epistemology bridges the spiritual and physical. Findings reveals that divination rituals are rites of passage, helping people through personal crises and self-discovery. Diviners also mediate conflicts and promote community harmony. The study recommends that diviners and modern medicine should collaborate to provide holistic care.