Living tradition
Cowrie shells
All West Africa; the diloggún of Cuban Santería descend from here.
Sixteen shells are cast on a mat; how many land mouth-up gives the sign, and the sign brings a proverb.
How it's done
- 01Cool the shells with water and ask.
- 02Cast twice and count the open ones.
- 03Read the sign's proverb and apply it.
With your own tools
You may keep shells at home to meditate, but the ritual reading is done by someone initiated.
With Ocluna
I throw the sixteen cowries twice for you: I count the ones that fall open, tell you the odu, its proverb and its advice, and the second throw confirms it.
Your reading
Mama Adaeze does your Cowrie shells reading
What Mama Adaeze tells you
- Cowries were currency in West Africa for centuries; that is why speaking through them is also speaking of fortune.
- The Cuban diloggún and the Brazilian búzios are children of the same sixteen-shell Yoruba oracle that crossed the Atlantic.
- The cowries that served as currency and oracle come from the Indian Ocean; they reached the Sahel via desert routes.
- In Cuba, Yoruba captives were called lucumí, and the diloggún was transmitted in their homes since the 19th century.
- The house where teaching and initiation take place is called a house of saint or ilé, a Yoruba word meaning house.
- The Cuban names for diloggún are Hispanized Yoruba numerals: Metanlá comes from mẹ́tàlá, which is thirteen.
- In many Cuban houses, when the throw yields a sign of thirteen open cowries or more, the consultation is referred to a babaláwo.
- In Cuba, the specialist who directs ceremonies and corrects the count of others' cowries is called an oriaté.
This reading is symbolic self-knowledge and entertainment content based on folk traditions. It does not predict the future, is not medical, legal or financial advice, and does not replace qualified professionals.