Abstract
DREAMS IN AFRICA.—In Man for August, Mr. J. P. Driberg records a number of dreants of different types and their interpretation which he has collected, at the suggestion of Prof. Seligman, among the Lango and Didinga of, the south-eastern Sudan. The Lotuko-speaking Lango provide eleven varieties of dream, the Didinga fourteen. Among the Lango no greater significance attaches to the dream of a magician than of a layman, but among the Didinga, although the magician does not have a different class of dream from that of the layman, all his dreams have a greater significance, and if the significance is ill-omened a sacrifice must be made of a bull or a goat to avert the threatened evil. Among both peoples the significance of many of the dreams is a simple prognostication. For example, among the Lango a dream that some one kills the dreamer is considered a true forecast; to dream of killing an elephant means that one will do so; among the Didinga, to dream of hunting means that success on the next expedition will correspond, and so forth. Certain dreams, however, have a special significance. Among the Lango, to dream of being carried away in a flood causes the dreamer fear, though whether this is because of an ill omen is not clear. To dream of being bitten by a snake is a very bad omen. A piece of charcoal must be bitten and spat out and the dreamer must prick himself with a thorn. Among the Didinga, a similar use of charcoal and thorns follows on a dream that A kills B by witchcraft. The dreamer must the next day call on B, bite a piece of charcoal and spit it on B, rub soot on his forehead and scratch him with thorns. The same procedure follows a dream that A accidentally spears himself; but it must be done immediately on waking even if this involves a journey in the night. To dream of falling in the fire must be followed by the sacrifice of a white goat and the tying of a goatskin bracelet on the person of whom one dreams.
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Research Items. Nature 120, 345–347 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/120345a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/120345a0