‘…the Thriae showed Hermes how to foretell the future from the dance of pebbles in a basin of water; and he himself invented both the game of knuckle-bones and the art of divining by them. Hades also engaged him as his herald, to summon the dying gently and eloquently, by laying the golden staff upon their eyes.’(1)

‘Among the Beng of the Ivory Coast, a regular form of divination involves the diviner’s use of black pebbles placed in a brass pan with a small amount of water. The process of consultation consists of the client informing the diviner about his/her problem and the reason for consultation. Turning the bowl in her hands, she observes how the pebbles settle in the bowl. From her observation she diagnoses the problem and prescribes an appropriate sacrifice.’(2)

(1) Robert Graves – The Greek Myths, 1955, revised 1960
(2) Jacob K Olupona, ‘Sacred Cosmos: An ethnography of African indigenous religious traditions’ in, ‘African Americans and the Bible: sacred texts and social structures’, ed Vincent L. Wimbush, Continuum International Publishing Group, New York, 2003