Divination expressed through poetry: The divinatory poems of Johannes Mokgwadi

Abstract

This article aims to explore the divinatory poems of Johannes Mokgwadi with special reference to their structure, role and tools of performance in the art of divination as practised still today by the Bapedi in some rural areas of South Africa. Cultural verse forms in ‘the poetry of divinatory bones’, as this form of poetry may be called (due to the set of divinatory bones used in the process of divination), will be outlined through a discussion of metrical compositions, long-measure verse, long-measure ‘echo’ or repetition verse, divinatory poems with linked hemistichs, divinatory poems with repeated segments, long-measure triplet verse, and verses of four, five or more hemistichs. These form designs are intended to achieve maximum impact when recited. The role of the traditional healer as an intermediary figure between the gods and his people will be indicated. Divinatory poems are shrouded in secrecy, as they are intended for listening (by targeted addressees) and not for reading (by the general public), for communication with ancestors and not for performance before an audience in public gatherings. The discussion of the divinatory apparatus serves to shed light on the symbolism of the key icons in the selected extracts from the poetry.