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This divination figure, or bocio, is part of the material culture of vodun, a belief in mysterious forces at play in the world. Vodun is practiced widely in the Republic of Benin, as well as in other parts of western Africa and in African diasporic communities throughout the Atlantic World. Bocios serve as instruments of communication between the Earthly world and vodun deities. They are activated through the assemblage of materials and a private ceremony between a client and a diviner. Only the diviner knows the complex mixture of materials to assemble the Bocios. The cotton cloth denotes value and status, while the color red relates to Sagbata, the vodun god of the earth, and also blood.