Editing Cowrie-shell divination (section)

{{Short description|Traditional divination practice using sea shells}}
{{Use American English|date = January 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = January 2019}}

'''Cowrie-shell divination''' refers to several distinct forms of [[divination]] using [[cowrie]] shells that are part of the [[ritual]]s and [[religion|religious beliefs]] of certain religions. Though best-documented in [[West Africa]] as well as in [[Afro-American religions]], such as [[Regla de Ocha]], [[Candomblé]], and [[Umbanda]],<ref>[[Pierre Edouard Leopold Verger|Pierre Fatumbi Verger]] (1954): ''Dieux D'Afrique'' Paul Hartmann, Paris (1st edition, 1954; 2nd edition, 1995). 400 pages, 160 photos, {{ISBN|2-909571-13-0}}.</ref><ref>Pierre Verger, ''Notas Sobre o Culto aos Orixás e Voduns''. 624 ages.  Portuguese translation by Carlos E. M. Moura. Editora da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, 1999 {{ISBN|85-314-0475-4}}
</ref><ref>José Beniste (1999), ''Jogo de Búzios - Um Encontro com o Desconhecido''.  Editora Bertrand Brasil, 290 pages. {{ISBN|85-286-0774-7}}
</ref> cowrie-shell divination has also been recorded in [[India]], [[East Africa]], and other regions.<ref>J. Wilfrid Jackson (1917). ''Shells as Evidence of the Migrations of Early Culture''. London: Longmans, Green, & Co. (pp. 144-45, 170)</ref>