Young Woman Hakata with Wire Choker
6.8cm
647-405 ...... 347 USD
Silver wire Choker diameter: 13.5cm
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Hakata are the 'throwing bones' referred to in stories about Africa. They are still used today in divining by a trained and 'chosen' practitioner and patterns vary only slightly from one end of the continent to the other.
Hakata, or divining dice, are very attractive to me in both design and symbolism. Striking to the eye and arousing interest in their use and in the cultural traditions of Zimbabwe. The design of the dice is well suited for use as adornment in my jewellery collection.
Hakata is the Shona term for animal bones, ndoro, fragments, fruit kernels and other such items. These are used by diviners to forecast events and to diagnose illnesses and are an important part of Zimbabwe’s cultural history and heritage.
The dice themselves are most commonly found in sets of four and are carved from bone, ivory or wood – bone being the most popular medium. The dice are accorded many complex meanings but among the more commonly held beliefs is that they have male/female and good/bad luck associations. Others purport that they represent masculinity and manhood, motherhood, youthfulness and virginity or purity.
Each one is carved on one side with designs representing most commonly the four adult statuses; these being Chitokwadzima - old and senior man; Kwami - old and senior woman; Chirume - young and junior man; Nhokwara - young and junior woman.
The use of Hakata was observed around the 16th Century by a Portuguese named Antonio Caiado, who was visiting the court of the Monomotapa. He is quoted as saying, “The ngangas, the greatest sorcerers in the land, who forecast the future by means of four sticks, told the Monomotapa that the priest had been sent by the Governor of India to spy out the land.”
Hakata were employed to determine the guilt of this Jesuit priest, Fr. Goncalo da Silveira, who was subsequently executed in the Dande region in 1561.
Being able to accurately read and interpret the Hakata is a skill inherited from an ancestor. A set of Hakata can be kept for several generations before a successive ‘diviner’ is nominated.
Still in use in Zimbabwe today, Hakata must be thrown on to animal skin or reed matting. When not in use, they should be kept in a special basket or wooden container or wrapped in black cloth.
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