How is Cowrie shells done?

Cool the shells with water and ask. Cast twice and count the open ones. Read the sign's proverb and apply it.

Mama Adaeze

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.

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Your reading

Mama Adaeze does your Cowrie shells reading

Your question for Mama Adaeze (optional)

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.
In South Africa sangomas are legally recognised as traditional healers; there are estimated to be around 200,000.
Each sangoma assembles their own set of bones, shells, dice and coins over the years; no two are alike.
Ethiopia is the cradle of coffee; the jebena ceremony is held three times a day and the grounds of the last round are the ones read.
Legend says a goatherd named Kaldi discovered coffee when he saw his goats dance after eating the red berries.
The 36 decans appear painted in tombs 4,000 years old; the Egyptians used them as a night clock by watching which star rose.
The ten-day week and the 360-day year plus five feast days come from the decans; the Dendera zodiac already blends them with the Greek signs.
Khatt al-raml, the line in the sand, travelled from North Africa to medieval Europe as geomancy and to Madagascar as sikidy.
The sixteen figures combine by adding lines odd or even: the same logic a computer uses to compare bits.

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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.

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.

In South Africa sangomas are legally recognised as traditional healers; there are estimated to be around 200,000.

Each sangoma assembles their own set of bones, shells, dice and coins over the years; no two are alike.

Ethiopia is the cradle of coffee; the jebena ceremony is held three times a day and the grounds of the last round are the ones read.

Legend says a goatherd named Kaldi discovered coffee when he saw his goats dance after eating the red berries.

The 36 decans appear painted in tombs 4,000 years old; the Egyptians used them as a night clock by watching which star rose.

The ten-day week and the 360-day year plus five feast days come from the decans; the Dendera zodiac already blends them with the Greek signs.

Khatt al-raml, the line in the sand, travelled from North Africa to medieval Europe as geomancy and to Madagascar as sikidy.

The sixteen figures combine by adding lines odd or even: the same logic a computer uses to compare bits.