Divination Systems: Binary, Ifa, Sikidy

Historians categorized the writing schemes from Africa into the following groups: 

Xylographic Systems, Alphabetic Systems, Pictographic Systems, Petrographic Systems, Chromatographic Systems, and Philosophical Systems. So there were many different types of scripts. Nsibidi is a writing system of the Ejagham people of Nigeria. It is seen on tombstones, secret society buildings, costumes, ritual fans, headdresses, textiles, and in gestures, body and ground painting. 

Over 12,000 years ago, indigenous Africans developed Binary-based Oracle Divination Systems, based on the square of 16=16x16=256 = 2^8 corresponding to the vertices of an 8-dimensional hypercube and to the binary 2-choice Clifford algebra C1(8) and so to related ones such as C1(8)xC1(8) = C1(16). Since the number of sub-hypercubes in an 8-dimensional hypercube is 6,561 =81x81=3^8, the Oracle Divination Systems has N=8 ternary 3-structures as well as binary 2-structure.

According to many indigenous African legends “their gods once existed as humans and had their way of communicating.

  Prior to their disappearance, they left with the people a means to communicate with them in the outer realm (Oracle Divination Binary Systems).” The Chinese have mostly been using their binary combinatorics for philosophical and religious things.  This is also true for the African use of binary systems. There are actually at least three types of African binary divination techniques, all of which use four-bit combinations:

Ifa ((West Africa), Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, Caribbean, America)) the four-tablet system (South Africa) and Sikidy (Madagascar). The former two are quite straight-forward (randomise a combination and interpret its meaning), but Sikidy requires more advanced computation. The first step in Sikidy is to randomise four columns of four bits (a four-by-four matrix). The randomisation of one bit usually happens by grabbing a handful of seeds from a bag and removing two seeds at a time until only one or two seeds are left.

This gives a totally new meaning to the concept of "random number seed"). The one or two seeds are then placed in their proper position on the Sikidy board.  The image above shows an example of a completed Sikidy board. 

The randomised columns (called "Mother-Sikidy") are in the upper right corner. The values of the columns from right to left, bottom to top are 1010, 1001, 1011, and 0010. The next thing to do is to form the "Daughter-Sikidy" by rotating and flipping the matrix. 

The rightmost column of the Mother-Sikidy (bottom to top) becomes the top row (left to right) of the Daughter-Sikidy, and so forth. Our Daughter-Sikidy (placed to the left of the Mother-Sikidy) is therefore: 0110, 1101, 0000, and 0111. The rest is pure binary arithmetic. 

The columns below the Mother-Sikidy and Daughter-Sikidy are formed by eXclusive-ORing each pair of columns: 1010 XOR 1001 = 0011, 1011 XOR 0010 = 1001, etc. 

This process is then repeated to all the new lines until only one column is left (the bottom column, 0110 in the example). We now have a complete Sikidy tableau and what is left is the interpretation: each of the sixteen binary values has its own meaning, and each of the "memory slots" also has a designated meaning. The Sikidy system was also adopted by Arabs (under the name of "ilm al-raml", "the science of sand"), and from Arabs, it even transferred to Europe in the middle ages. 

In Europe, it was known as "Arabic geomancy", a small branch of Arabic occultism. 

All kinds of freaks extended to system to include relationships with astrology, numerology, tarot and other things. Our Daughter-Sikidy (placed to the left of the Mother-Sikidy) is therefore: 0110, 1101, 0000, and 0111. The rest is pure binary arithmetic. The columns below the Mother-Sikidy and Daughter-Sikidy are formed by eXclusive-ORing each pair of columns: 1010 XOR 1001 = 0011, 1011 XOR 0010 = 1001, etc. 

This process is then repeated to all the new lines until there is only one column left (the bottom column, 0110 in the example). We now have a complete Sikidy tableau and what is left is the interpretation: each of the sixteen binary values has its own meaning, and each of the "memory slots" also has a designated meaning. The Sikidy system  

Book: Bade Ajayi, A New Model of Ifa Binary System