"... a landmark in research of African oral traditions." —African Arts

"... a significant contribution to the understanding of Yoruba religious belief, magic, and art." —Journal of Religion in Africa

Yoruba texts and English translations of a divination system that originated in Nigeria and is widely practiced today by male and female diviners in the diaspora. A landmark edition.

Traditional Yorùbá culture is founded on the idea that everything in Nature has Orí or consciousness. This belief leads to the idea it is possible to communicate with Forces in Nature called Òrisà. One form of communication is through altered states of consciousness commonly refered to as possession. The other is to communicate with Nature through the use of divination. In traditional Yorùbá culture divination is the manipulation of either seeds or shells to create numberical patterns these patterns refer to specific verses of oral scripture. These verses are a way of preserving the wisdom of the ancestors. Traditional Yorùbá culture has four main systems of divination that are interrelated and inter connected. The first is obi obata, which essentially is used to give yes no answers to direct questions. The second system is bàsed on the use of sixteen principles that traditional Yorùbá culture considers the foundation of Creation. This system is called Mérìndínlógún from the elision mérìn meaning four, dín meaning subtract from, and lógún meaning twenty. In the Yorùbá system of counting Mérìndínlógún is the word for sixteen.

• large color photos of each species
• varities and sub-species illustrated
• clear concise descritoins

The 2nd edition of this extensive work illustrates 213 living species, 110+ subspecies and 80+ forms & variations in 3,117 color photos on 116 color plates. Species information includes size range, habitat, references, synonyms, distribution maps and taxonomical relationships. Subspecies and related species are compared in 72 comprehensive tables. Included are 700 drawings, 124 maps, an illustrated key, 2 color plates of living animals and 12 black/white plates of drawings of fossil species. This new edition adds 6 new species as well as many additional subspecies and forms, with 4 new plates containing nearly 100 images and 16 new pages of supplemental text. 250+ pages are updated and 25 plates are color-corrected.

"These were the nineties," reflects the narrator of A Cowrie of Hope, and for the young widow Nasula they are years of relentless economic hardship and privation. She dreams of a better life for her beautiful daughter, Sula, free from poverty and independent of marriage. But when Nasula finds herself unable to pay for Sula's education, her hopes seem to have been extinguished - until a friend advised her to go to Lusaka and sell her last sack of highly sought-after Mbala beans. Nasula makes the journey, but in the city she finds herself exposed to new, and predatory, dangers.

In A Cowrie of Hope Binwell Sinyangwe captures the rhythms of a people whose poverty has not diminished their dignity, where hope can only be accompanied by small acts of courage, and where friendship has not lost its value.

Connie Lawrence loves secrets, and when Aunt Laura shares one with her, it leads them both to a puzzle connected with a beautiful golden cowrie shell. Connie plunges eagerly into the mystery. Figuring it out will be fun, and besides, it will give her a chance to prove herself to her big brother, Dan.

But who is the prowler that knows so much about Aunt Laura's house? What secrets does the strange little set of diaries hold? And what should she do about the letter that she found in the desk?

When time begins to run out for Aunt Laura, however, it is to Dan that Connie must turn. As they work together on the deepening mystery, she comes to a better understanding of God and learns something about her own self as well.

On Sunday December 5, 2010 I (Ken Nunoo) performed cowrie readings of the bible to determine if some of what is written in there are true or false. I used a Kabbalistic method of divinatIon and asked questions to the angels Ariel, Michael, Raphael and others. The answers reveal the hidden mysteries of Genesis, Adam & Eve, Noah’s ark, the true identity of Jesus, the birth and life of Jesus, his missing years, the powers behind his miracles, how he was resurrected, who wrote the books of the new testament gospels including the book of Revelation. The mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids revealed. The answers were sincerely answered by the angel Ariel, to whom I give credit for this work. Here as the answers to questions about the bible that has mystified straight from the mouths of the angels. Did Jesus walk on water? Who resurrected Jesus from the dead. Did the serpent tempt Adam & Eve? Did Mary have other children? Did John the apostle write the book of revelation. Did Mathew write the book of Mathew? Did we all come from Adam & Eve. Are we the first civilization on earth? I asked 132 questions to the angels, and here are the answers. Mysteries of the bible revealed.

On Sunday December 5, 2010 I (Ken Nunoo) performed cowrie readings of the bible to determine if some of what is written in there are true or false. I used a Kabbalistic method of divinatIon and asked questions to the angels Ariel, Michael, Raphael and others. The answers reveal the hidden mysteries of Genesis, Adam & Eve, Noah’s ark, the true identity of Jesus, the birth and life of Jesus, his missing years, the powers behind his miracles, how he was resurrected, who wrote the books of the new testament gospels including the book of Revelation. The mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids revealed. The answers were sincerely answered by the angel Ariel, to whom I give credit for this work. Here as the answers to questions about the bible that has mystified straight from the mouths of the angels. Did Jesus walk on water? Who resurrected Jesus from the dead. Did the serpent tempt Adam & Eve? Did Mary have other children? Did John the apostle write the book of revelation. Did Mathew write the book of Mathew? Did we all come from Adam & Eve. Are we the first civilization on earth? I asked 132 questions to the angels, and here are the answers. Mysteries of the bible revealed.

This comprehensive volume is designed as a practical handbook for marine biologists, divers, shell collectors, students and naturalists. Covering 10 species of the endemic Australian genera Zoila and Umbilia, "Australia's Spectacular Cowries" offers an impressive collation of information on the variation, distribution, habitats, living and fossil history of these popular and beautiful marine animals. Most of the species in these groups are characterised by extreme variability in shell form and colour pattern.

With photographs of over 600 shell specimens, each of the known variations of every species is illustrated in full colour. The book also includes detailed distribution maps and more then 250 photographs of the animals in their natural habitats. "Australia's Spectacular Cowries" is a concise, easy-to-read guide to these endemic Australian cowries.

La cultura tradicional Yorùbá esta fundada sobre la idea que todo en la naturaleza tiene orí o conciencia. Esta creencia nos induce a la idea de que es posible tener comunicación con las Fuerzas de la Naturaleza llamadas Òrisà. Una forma de comunicación es a través de estados alterados de conciencia comúnmente referida como posesión. La otra es la comunicación con la naturaleza a través del uso de la adivinación. En la cultura tradicional Yorùbá la adivinación es la manipulación igual de semillas o caracoles para crear patrones numéricos, estos patrones se refieren a versos específicos de la escritura oral. Estos versos son una forma de preservar la sabiduría de los ancestros. La cultura tradicional Yorùbá tiene cuatro sistemas principales de adivinación que son correlativos e interconectados. El primero es obì àbàtà que esencialmente es usado para dar respuestas de si o no a preguntas dIréctas. El segundo sistema esta basado sobre el uso de diecises principios que la cultura tradicional Yorùbá concidera la bàse de la creación. Este sistema es llamado Mérìndínlógún de la alisión de mérìn que significa cuatro, dín que significa sustraido de y lògún que significa veinte. En el sistema numérico Yorùbá Mérìndínlógún es la palabra para dieciséis.