Lynn Scheu wrote:
cut...
> Also, cowry shells were used in primitive cultures in Africa and Asia as
> tokens of chance, like dice. Instead of the six options of standard
> cubic dice, cowry shells only offer two, aperture or dorsum up, rather
> like tossing a handful of coins and counting heads and tails.
Hello!

Hi Kalil,

They (Africans, Nigeria for sure) also use moneta cyps to fortell
present and future events. They use 17 cyps with dorsum cut flat and
toss/roll them on
a flat surface (usually a flat ceremonial board) blessed by their
deities. The position (individual and group) plus dorsum/aperture
"Lay of the Shells" is interpreted, as in tea leaves (not Art's mounds
of leaves), to describe future stuff. This is all done by the local
"Doctor". Same methods are used in the Caribbean and Brazil by the
local Macumba/Santeria folks.

Later,


Emilio Jorge Power

"At Work"