Among the Yaka shamanistic divination is a highly sensory practice, one that focuses on the awakening of a power from within and on soliciting communal adherence to that power. It requires one to become awakened to an entire world that is alive, interacting, open-ended, and self-regulating. Yaka divination includes a belief that ecstatic communication or exchange is possible between humans, spirits, and the animated life world that reinforces connections of “other-worldly” and “this-worldly.” The Yaka people are located in southwestern Congo and are part of the Bantu ethnocultural group. They trace their origins to the institution known as Ngoombwa weefwa, which is derived from one of the major cults of spirit possession and healing responsible for the Yaka mediumistic style of divination. They initiate the visionary contact with the spirits with a self-induced altered state of consciousness. It is common in rural areas that there is only one diviner for a population of two thousand people. Yaka diviners play a large role in both rural and urban settings. In the city, people are more likely to visit with the diviner one-on-one as opposed to a family event. The materials used for divination are usually kept in a bag or a cup of some sort in order to get messages from the spirits about the misfortune or illness brought upon a person. These items include animal remains, birds, insects, shells, bones, and fur among other things.
Members of the Yaka Community
There is great importance about how a person is to become a diviner in this society. Becoming a diviner begins with getting a chronic illness that reveals the innate gift of clear-sightedness in the afflicted person. Then the body is put through a sort of physical trial and if the candidate is able to divine in the wake of this crisis, then she is pronounced ready for initiation. Diviners communicate between the worlds of the living and the spirits. Some Yaka diviners have been converted by members of churches and have changed their methods to address troubles and illnesses in the name of the Holy Spirit.
