Difference between revisions of "Divination" - New World Encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Divination (disambiguation).

This article is about divination as a whole. For the numerous varieties of divination, see Methods of divination.

This man in Rhumsiki, Cameroon, tells the future by interpreting the changes in position of various objects as caused by a fresh-water crab through nggàm[1].

Divination (Greek μαντεια, from μαντις "seer," anglicized in the suffix -mancy, see also mania) is the attempt of ascertaining information by interpretation of omens or an alleged supernatural agency^[1], either by or on behalf of a querent.

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. Divination is often dismissed by skeptics, including the scientific community, as being mere superstition: in the 2nd century, Lucian devoted a witty essay to the career of a charlatan, Alexander the false prophet, trained by "one of those who advertise enchantments, miraculous incantations, charms for your love-affairs, visitations for your enemies, disclosures of buried treasure, and successions to estates" [2], though most Romans believed in dreams and charms.

Categories of divination

Psychologist Julian Jaynes categorized divination according to the following 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 whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, 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 Christians and members of other 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. The Bible itself expresses mixed opinions on divination; see e.g. Cleromancy.

Other forms of spontaneous divination include reading auras and New Age methods of Feng Shui such as "intuitive" and Fuzion.

Common methods of divination

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.
gastromancy: by crystal ball.
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: by Tarot; a form of cartomancy.

References and notes

↑ Definition of divination

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.

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)
Michael Loewe and Carmen Blacke, eds. Oracles and divination (Shambhala/Random House, 1981) ISBN 0-87773-214-0
J. P. Vernant, Divination et rationalité (1974)

2. Philip K. Hitti. Makers of Arab History. Princeton, New Jersey. St. Martin’s Press. 1968. Pg 61.

3. Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Makkari. The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain; extracted from the NAFHU-T-TIB MIN GHOSNI-L-ANDALUSI-R-RATTIB WA TARIKH LISANU-D-DIN IBNI-L-KHATTIB. Translated by Pascual de Gayangos, member of the Oriental Translation Committee, and late professor of Arabic in the Athenæum of Madrid. In Two Volumes. VOL. II Johnson Reprint Corporation, New York, NY. 1964. Pages 96 (Book VI, chapters 1 & 2).

4. W. Montgomery Watt. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Edinburgh, Scotland. Oxford Press, 1961. Pgs 1-2.

External links

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 editon of the most recent general treatment of Greek divination
1913 Catholic Encyclopedia: Divination
Divination Methods
Encyclopedia Iranica: Divination
Theory of Divination by Tim Maroney, exploring different possibilities

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[merriamw-1] Definition of divination

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