A large number of different forms of divination are used in Cameroon in West Africa. A widely used form involves tarantula-like spiders (e.g., Hysterocrates robustus Pocock, 1899) or land-crabs (e.g., Sudanonautes Bott, 1955) in a system called Ŋgàm, which is discussed below. Other forms include casting lots, reading the patterns made by seeds floating on water and observing the way a delicately balanced horn may turn one way or another. These methods are used to answer many different sorts of questions, from who has stolen their motorcycle to who has bewitched their children. How seriously such divining methods are taken varies but one of the most respected methods, which is trusted for the more serious enquiries, is spider divination. Part of the reason for this is that it is seen as being immune from manipulation and, in addition, it is tested on a regular basis; diviners draw a parallel between this method and the calibration of medical devices used in hospitals.

A large number of different forms of divination are used in Cameroon in West Africa. A widely used form involves tarantula-like spiders (e.g., Hysterocrates robustus Pocock, 1899) or land-crabs (e.g., Sudanonautes Bott, 1955) in a system called Ŋgàm, which is discussed below. Other forms include casting lots, reading the patterns made by seeds floating on water and observing the way a delicately balanced horn may turn one way or another. These methods are used to answer many different sorts of questions, from who has stolen their motorcycle to who has bewitched their children. How seriously such divining methods are taken varies but one of the most respected methods, which is trusted for the more serious enquiries, is spider divination. Part of the reason for this is that it is seen as being immune from manipulation and, in addition, it is tested on a regular basis; diviners draw a parallel between this method and the calibration of medical devices used in hospitals.

How does it work? The spiders in question live in holes in the ground. It should also be noted that the Mambila people see both spiders and crabs as similar creatures since they live in the same sorts of holes and behave identically in the divinatory process, although only spiders are used by groups to the south of them. In the version practised by the Mambila people, a stick and a stone are placed near a spider’s hole, which is covered with some marked leaf cards. When the spider emerges from the hole it moves these cards and the resulting pattern is interpreted by the diviners as providing the answer to the question at stake. Questions are posed in a binary form, one option being associated with the stick and the other with the stone. For example, a very common starting point is the question ‘My child is ill. Should I take them to the dispensary or to a traditional healer? If the dispensary then Ŋgàm, choose the stick; if a traditional healer then Ŋgàm, choose the stone.’

This may seem to be restrictive, but in practice it isn’t. Sometimes both alternatives may be chosen or the cards may be placed between them. There is great flexibility in how such ambiguous results are interpreted. Sometimes it is interpreted as saying that the question should be reframed. On other occasions the pattern of the cards in relation to the stick and stone is seen as giving a qualified result, predominantly one option with elements from the other (‘It will come out this way but it will not be easy’). One way of framing the question is to associate one specific option with the stone, while the stick is associated simply with the response ‘Divine further’. A single consultation may therefore consist of a sequence of many questions, sometimes asked of different spiders at once.

(Excerpted with permission from Divination, Oracles & Omens edited by Michelle Aroney & David Zeitlyn, published by Bodleian; 2024)