Kuba divination

According to historian John Mack, divination is used to gain access to the knowledge which only the spirits, called ngesh, possess about the source of social and physical ills which may affect a community.

[1] Kuba diviners (ngwoom) maintain the proper relationship between ngesh and humans.

Even with the establishment of Christian church congregations in many Kuba communities during the 20th Century, ngwoom and other specialists whose expertise derives from ngesh continue to practice.

[2] Rubbing oracles (itoom) were used by Kuba ngwoom during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries.

The most common animals represented, such as the crocodile, warthog, lizard, and dog, were associated with the forest and surrounding natural habitat.