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Fa

The people of Dahomey do not acknowledge the concept of 'accidents' or 'chance'. They believe that everything is predestined or the resut of human or divine actions. The god Fa represents the personal fate of each and every man.

To connect with their Fa, the people of Dahomey use divination.

Sourcerers (bokonon) create strings of palm nuts which represent a person's Fa. These are kept safe. To determine the Fa, the bokonon tosses nuts from hand to hand allowing them to fall to the floor, a process with similarities to the I Ching or Western geomany then takes place.

Adapted from 'A guide to the Gods' by Richard Carlyon

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