Baule mice oracle

Baulé Oracle of Mice (Gbêkê region, Ivory Coast)

In the surroundings of Bouaké you can still find fortune tellers who use the Gbêkêlé-Sé pot to help their neighbors make important decisions.
When a person comes asking for advice, the psychic will use his Gbêkrêlé-Sé pot, a container with several levels and galleries in which he keeps several voles or mice alive. He will then line up ten or twelve chicken tabas on the top level, pour a handful of rice before closing the lid and tap the side of the container loudly stating the problem raised by the plaintiff. The eager mice will then come out of their hiding place and, in their eagerness to eat, they will remove the fine chicken bones. The fortune teller will only have to interpret the situation and offer an answer to the problem posed.
The Gbêkrêlé-Sé could be a simple clay pot or a simple wooden container, but, faithful to the old Baulé maxim that says that "without beauty you cannot live", the oracle usually comes finely carved following the canons of this Akan group.
The one we offer at Black Market is made of wood, clay, sheet metal and braided raffia; On the front there is a carving of a seated male figure (probably that of the seer), and on the sides you can see the relief faces of two mice and various abstract decorative motifs.

Height: 29.0 cm; Maximum width: 31.0 cm; Weight: 4.80 Kg