The Face of Sunset by Arthur Bourgeois

Author:Arthur Bourgeois
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2012-04-13T04:00:00+00:00

131. Initiatory figure, Lengola or Metoko; DR Congo. 13 inches

Inevitably, insoluble conflicts, disaster, chronic illness, misfortune and threat of death remain outside political solutions and require the insights of a divinatory consultation or oracle. Assuming that the fundamental order of things lies in the invisible, the diviner singles out and localizes a past transgression, sorcery, or ancestral wrath, thus disentangling the destabilizing effect on the individual client. In conjunction with mediumship and dream analysis, the apparatus deployed in divination, might consist of tossed cowrie shells, shaken baskets (fig. 132), marked trays, ladles and cup whose configurations are then decoded or related to memorized verses, narratives or questions. Often this fascinating paraphernalia decidedly have aesthetic appeal. Yet divination has a more general impact on works of art by creating a demand for new masks or statuettes or shrines as the result of a dialog between diviner and client.

Traditional idea-complexes by which both sickness and health are conveyed and treatment is determined bear closer analysis as applied to related artwork. Illness never just ‘happens’ but is caused by a source, be it either a mischievous spirit, displeased ancestor, or most often, living persons or enemies within the immediate social environment of the sufferer. Yet simultaneously it is recognized that the affliction may also occur for reasons of climate, bad food, bad practice or simply old age. Notions of contagion includes ill will, poison, malefic medicines and a variety of harmful forces, but also are close to modern ideas of infection.

Another traditional paradigm is that of ‘flow and blockage’ as a dominant metaphor for both the realm of the body and exchanges in society, including envy, stinginess and ill will, and even constipation, infertility, witchcraft and disease. Ritual purity representing order in opposition to ritual pollution, provide natural contrasts as do notions of balance or harmony in both human relationships and the community, and the natural and spiritual environment. Color and plant balance are often present in making curative compounds and medicines where opposites are combined—the wild and domestic, male and female, white and red, that balance and purify the body in counteracting the diseased condition.

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