1. An Assembly of Humans, Shells and Godsde Aquino
Inthecandomblé,aBrazilianritualofAfricanori-
gin,thevoicesofthegodsaremadetocarryby
meansofshells.TheAfro-Braziliandivinitiesmake
theirpresencefeltintheworldinnumerousways.
Theyarethewaters,themountains,theforests,
thewinds…Theyarealsoobjects:pilesofstones,
bitsofiron,sacrificialblood,plantinfusions.In
addition,theyturnintobeingsmadeoffleshand
bloodwhentheyareincarnatedbytheinitiates
duringthetrance.
Inspiteofallthesemodesofexistencethat
ensurethemaconstantpresenceinthisworld,the
godsofthecandombléhonoronemeansofcom-
municationwithhumansoverallothers:the
cowryshell.Duringthediviningceremony,the
cowryshellsrepresentthegodsinaveryliteral
sense:Theybecomethe“mouthsofthedivinities”
andcarrytheirvoices.Moreprecisely,thecowry
shellsbecomethe“teethofExú”.Exúisthedivin-
itywhosetaskitistotransportofferingsbetween
thehumanworldandthedivineworld.Exúisthe
mediatorofthepantheon,anditishewhopre-
sidesatadivination.
Theprocessofdivinationinthecandombléis,
aboveall,amethod.Adivinervoluntarilyde-
scribesthemethodtotheethnographers,who
thenrecordwhatheorshesays.Inthetermsused
bytheinformants,then,the16divinatoryshells
arerituallypreparedtobeabletospeak.Theircon-
vexpartisfileddownsothattheirfacescanbe
interpretedas“open”or“closed”.Afterbeing
questionedbythediviner,thecowryshellsare
gatheredup,shakenandthenthrown:Theway
theyland(whethertheyhavelandedintheopenor
closedposition)allowsthedivinertoknowwhich
divinityhasstartedspeaking.Ineffect,thisdivina-
torycategoricalsystemisbasedontheassociation
ofonegodwitheverycowryshellconfiguration,
determinedaccordingtowhichsideisdisplayed,
openorclosed.“Oxoguiã[adivinity]responds…
youareprotected,”saysadiviner,forexample.It
isnothewhoisspeakingthough,butindeedthe
godwhosevoiceisbeingcarriedbytheeight
“open”cowryshells.
Atfirstglance,therulesseemclearenough.
Oneonlyneedstounderstandthetableofcorre-
spondencesbetweenthearrangementoftheshells
andtheirrelateddivinitiesinordertoidentify
thosewhoaremakingthemselvesheardduring
thecourseofadivinatorysession.However,the
analysisofaconsultationshowsthatthedivineris
constantlymodifyingthemethodwithoutever
reallybeingunfaithfultoit.
Everysessionbeginswiththerecitationof
alitany.Itspurposeistodrawtheattentionofthe
divinitiestothefactthataconsultationhasgotten
underwayandtoinvitethemtorespond.Inorder
togetthegodstoexpressthemselves,thediviner
mustrevealhisownritualidentity:thename(s)of
thosewhoinitiatedhimintothecandomblé(those
who“made”him,inthatsenseoftheterm)and
thenameofthedivinitiesthatprotecthimand
authorizehimtointerrogatethecowryshells.As
well,heinvokesthosewhoareintheprocessof
“eating,”thatis,thoseforwhomthesacrificial
immolationhasjustbeenpreparedandthose
whoseidentitiescorrespondtothedayofthe
weekonwhichtheconsultationtakesplace.Thus,
theresponseoftheshellsdependsontheparticu-
laritiesofthosewhointerrogatethemandonthe
circumstancesunderwhichtheyareinterrogated.
Duringtherecitation,calledtheopening
prayer,thenameandsometimesthedateofbirth
andaddressofthepersonwhohascometocon-
sultthegodsaregivenaswell;theresponseofthe
cowryshellsdependsontheidentificationofthose
aboutwhomtheywillspeak.Finally,their
responseisalsodependentontheir“desireto
speak”.Itdoeshappenthattheshellssimply
remainsilent.Sometimesthepersonwillbeasked
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AnAssemblyofHumans,
ShellsandGods
PatriciadeAquino
tocomebackanothertime:“Today,theydonot
wanttorespond.Wecanmeetagainanothertime,
ifyousodesire.”Moreover,duringthecourseofa
divinatorysession,itiscommonthatanobserver,
evenawell-informedone,isunabletofollowthe
proceedingsofacowryshellinterrogation.Thus,
familiaritywiththemethodandwiththetableof
correspondencesturnsouttobeinsufficientfor
identifyingthegodswhoaresupposedtospeak
aftereachtossoftheshells.
Whenthedivinersarequestionedregardingwhat
appeartobe“dysfunctions”intheregularproce-
dure,theyseemsurprised.Theydonotgivethe
impressionthattheyfeelcalledintoquestionor
thattheyhavestrayedfromthemethodthatthey
introducedjustafewhoursbefore.Onthecon-
trary,saysonediviner,“Forthecowryshellstobe
abletospeakwellforthegods,theymustknow
whoisthere,whomademe[whoismyinitiator],
whotheconsultantisandofwhomheismade[for
whomheisinitiated].”Inotherwords,forthe
shellstobegoodspeakers,simplyapplyingthe
divinatorymethodisnot,onitsown,sufficient.
“Onelistenstowhoisspeaking[accordingtothe
tableofcorrespondences,thenumberof‘open’
cowryshells/divinities],andoneadaptstothesit-
uation,”explainsthediviner.
Onecouldimaginethatthereissimplyadis-
crepancyatworkherebetweentheory(thedivina-
torymethod)andpractice(theapplicationof
Afro-Braziliangodsare“speaking”throughcowries,2001,photo:PatriciadeAquino

2. 457
speaksforallthedivinities.ForExúisbothone
andmultiple.Heistheonlygodtohavebeencre-
ated,andheaccompaniesallindividualhuman
anddivineexistences:ThereisanExúattributed
toeachhumanbeingandtoeachgod.Thecircular
platesthataresometimesusedbydivinersintheir
ritualinterrogationofthecowryshellsare,infact,
Exú’sbody.Hiseyesareoftencarvedintothe
woodanddecoratetheperimeterofthedivining
tray,theopomIfá,thusdefiningthedirectionin
whichtheobjectmustbepositionedsothatthe
divinernowfacesExú.
TheopomIfáinBrazil,oftenimportedfrom
Africa,aremuchsoughtafterbecauseoftheiraes-
theticqualities.Accordingtooneinitiatewhowas
fascinatedbythediscoveryofoneoftheseobjects
inaprestigiousartgalleryinRiodeJaneiro,“They
arebeautiful,justasthecowryshellssaidthey
wouldbe.”ThesewordsevokethoseofOlabiyi
BabalolaYaiinananalysisofYorubaart:“Even
deconstructiontheoryandidiom,oftenpraised
asthemostadvancedmodeofcriticism,lacksthe
vocabularyneededtoaccountforYorubaattitudes
toward‘representation,’sinceitsconceptof
‘decentering’presupposesacenter.[…]Anentity
orrealityworthrespectingisthatfromwhichwe
departordiffer.”1
Inthecandomblé,theshellsspeakforthegods,
whospeakforthehumans,who,inturn,also
interfereinwhatissaid.Bymakingthingsspeak,
thedivinatorytechniquecreatesakindofparlia-
ment,whereinthoseinvolvedarenolonger
entirelyequaltothemselveswhentheytakethe
floor.Noneofthem,however,isanylesseffec-
tivelyrepresentedbecauseofit.
TranslatedfromtheFrenchbySarahClift
An Assembly of Humans, Shells and Godsde Aquino
1OlabiyiBabalolaYai,“Inpraiseofmetonymy:theconceptsof
‘tradition’and‘creativity’inthetransmissionofYorubaartistry
overtimeandspace”,in:TheYorubaartist.Newtheoretical
perspectivesonAfricanarts,RowlandAbiodun(ed.),Smithson-
ianInstitutionPress,Washington,1994,pp.107-115.
themethod).However,theneedtoparticularize
eachapplicationappearstobetheverycondition
ofpossibilityforitssuccess.Inotherwords,the
transgressionsofthetheoryarethetheory.The
attitudeofthedivinersandtheircommentaries
bothseemtosaythis:Foraspeechtobewell-
spoken,foradivinitytobeabletospeak,for
thetruthtobespoken,itisnecessarythatthethe-
orybecontextualizedinthehereandnowof
thedivinatorysituationandthattheparties
present(thediviner,thecowryshells,thedivini-
ties,theobserver)haveaninvestmentintheout-
come.
Here,tospeakforothers,ortorepresenttheir
speech,presupposesanengagementoftheindi-
vidualthatisdifferentfromthatindemocraticsys-
temsofrepresentation.Inademocracy,political
representativesareideallysupposedtolosetheir
attachmenttotheirownparticularitiesandto
makeanabstractionofthemsothattheycan
speakinanabstractvoice.Democracyis,thus,
foundedonavoid:Nothingdetermines,in
advance,whowilloccupythepositionofrepre-
sentative,andthecitizenwhodoesoccupyitdoes
notdosoinhisorherownname,noreveninthe
nameofthosewhohaveallowedtheirvoicestobe
heard,butratherinthenameofthegeneralwill.
Theabstractnotionofcitizenshipguaranteesthe
libertyofindividuals,whoarealwayssusceptible
tobecoming“others”inrelationtotheorigins
thatmightendupdefiningthemorsimplyinflu-
encingthecourseoftheirlives.
Inthecandomblé,thesingularizedbeingsthat
arethehumansarenolesscapableofbecoming.
Eachoneisprecededbyhisdivinizedancestors
(elementsofnaturethathavemergedwiththe
divinities),andsotheyareallcarriersofaparticu-
lardestiny.However,eachonearrivesinthis
world“unfinished”:Eachistobe“made”
throughoutthecourseofhislifebymeansofthe
ritualswhichareprescribedbythedivination.Fur-
thermore,lifeischaracterizedbythemovement
inherentinthecontinualrepetitionoftherites:In
thissense,onlythedeadare“complete”.
Inthedivination,Exú,alsoknownasEnugbar-
ijoor“communalmouth,”actsasmediatorand
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Afro-Braziliangodsare“speaking”throughshells,2001,photo:PatriciadeAquino