Divination
From Wikinfo
This article is about divination as a whole. For the numerous varieties of divination, see Methods of divination.
For other uses, see Divination (disambiguation).
- For criticism see Criticism of Divination
Divination (from Latin divinare "to be inspired by a god", related to divine, diva and deus) is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a standardized process or ritual.[2] Diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through contact with a supernatural agency.[3] Divination can be seen as a systematic method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed, random facets of existence such that they provide insight into a problem at hand. If a distinction is to be made between divination and fortune-telling, divination has a formal or ritual and often social character, usually in a religious context; while fortune-telling is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and religion.
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Categories
Psychologist Julian Jaynes categorized divination according to the following four types:
- Omens and omen texts. "The most primitive, clumsy, but enduring method...is the simple recording of sequences of unusual or important events." (1976:236) Chinese history offers scrupulously documented occurrences of strange births, the tracking of natural phenomena, and other data. Chinese governmental planning relied on this method of forecasting for long-range strategy. It is not unreasonable to assume that modern scientific inquiry began with this kind of divination; Joseph Needham's work considered this very idea.
- Sortilege (cleromancy). This consists of the casting of lots, or sortes, whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, coins, or some other item. Modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination.
- Augury. Divination that ranks a set of given possibilities. It can be qualitative (such as shapes, proximities, etc.): for example, dowsing (a form of rhabdomancy) developed from this type of divination. The Romans in classical times used Etruscan methods of augury such as hepatoscopy (actually a form of extispicy). Haruspices examined the livers of sacrificed animals.
- Spontaneous. An unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, and actually a generalization of all types of divination. The answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear. Some religions use a form of bibliomancy: they ask a question, riffle the pages of their holy book, and take as their answer the first passage their eyes light upon. Other forms of spontaneous divination include reading auras and New Age methods of Feng Shui such as "intuitive" and Fuzion.
Common methods
- astrology: by celestial bodies.
- augury: by the flight of birds.
- bibliomancy: by books (frequently, but not always, religious texts).
- cartomancy: by cards.
- cheiromancy/palmistry: by palms.
- chronomancy: about time, lucky/unlucky days.
- cybermancy: by computers.
- gastromancy: by crystal ball.
- geomancy: by markings in the ground, or the way earth or soil lays when thrown.
- hydromancy: by water.
- extispicy: by the entrails of animals.
- feng shui: by earthen harmony.
- I Ching divination: by the I Ching; a form of bibliomancy.
- numerology: by numbers.
- oneiromancy: by dreams.
- onomancy: by names.
- Ouija: board divination.
- rhabdomancy: divination by rods
- runecasting/Runic divination: by runes.
- scrying: by reflective objects.
- taromancy: a form of cartomancy using tarot cards.
- necromancy: by the dead, or spirits/souls of the dead/recently dead
- pyromancy: by fire.
See also
- 2004 article
- Methods of divination
- Anthropology of religion
- Alectormancy
- Astrology
- Axinomancy
- Bone divination
- Divination in Harry Potter
- Dowsing
- Dream interpretation
- Esotericism
- frétt
- Futurology
- Geomancy
- Guru
- I Ching
- Ifá
- New Age
- Nostradamus
- Occultism
- Oracle
- Omen (or portent)
- Postdiction
- Pueblo
- Prophet
- Runic divination
- Scrying
- Tarot reading
- Western mystery tradition
- List of magical terms and traditions
References
- ^ Spider
- ^ Peek, P.M. African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing. page 2. Indiana University Press. 1991.
- ^ Definition of divination
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Divination. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of this Wikinfo article is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. |
Further reading
Popular
- Robert Todd Carroll (2003). The Skeptic's Dictionary. Wiley.
- Lon Milo Duquette (2005). The Book of Ordinary Oracles. Weiser Books.
- Clifford A. Pickover (2001). Dreaming the Future: The Fantastic Story of Prediction. Prometheus.
- Eva Shaw (1995). Divining the Future. Facts on File.
- The Diagram Group (1999). The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Fortune Telling. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
- Paul O'Brien (2007). Divination: Sacred Tools for Reading the Mind of God. Visionary Networks Press
Academic
- D. Engels, Das römische Vorzeichenwesen (753-27 v.Chr.). Quellen, Terminologie, Kommentar, historische Entwicklung, Stuttgart 2007 (Franz Steiner-Verlag)
- E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, oracles, and magic among the Azande (1976)
- Toufic Fahd, La divination arabe; études religieuses, sociologiques et folkloriques sur le milieu natif d’Islam (1966)
- Philip K. Hitti. Makers of Arab History. Princeton, New Jersey. St. Martin’s Press. 1968. Pg 61.
- Michael Loewe and Carmen Blacke, eds. Oracles and divination (Shambhala/Random House, 1981) ISBN 0-87773-214-0
- W. Montgomery Watt. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Edinburgh, Scotland. Oxford Press, 1961. Pgs 1-2.
- J. P. Vernant, Divination et rationalité (1974)
External links
| Look up divination in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Apple Divination
- Ancient Astrology and Divination on the Web, resources on Greco-Roman and Mesopotamian divination
- W. R. Halliday, Greek Divination (1913), a complete scanned edition of the most recent general treatment of Greek divination
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Divination
- Divination Methods
- Encyclopedia Iranica: Divination
- Theory of Divination by Tim Maroney, exploring different possibilities
- 48 second video of a psychic using a divining rod and pendulum during a missing persons case in Japan
- Divination Foundation
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