Divination
This article is about the religious practice of divination. For other uses, see Divination (disambiguation). |
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 is the attempt of ascertaining information by interpretation of
omens or an alleged
supernatural agency
[Definition of divination]. If a distinction is to be made with
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. However, advocates say there is plenty of
anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of divination. Divination is a universal cultural phenomenon which anthropologists have observed as being present in many
religions and cultures in all ages up to the present day.
Scientific research and methods have made it possible to predict future events with some success,
e.g., eclipses, weather forecasts and volcanic eruptions. However, this is not divination. Divination practices are usually rooted in religious or other belief systems that assume the influence of some supernatural force or fate, whereas scientific predictions are made from an essentially mechanical, impersonal world-view and rely on empirical laws of nature. Thus, as an operational definition, divination would be all methods of prognostication that have not been shown to be effective using scientific research.
The
scientific method relies on repeated and systematic observations and experiments, which lead to hypotheses that are tested and possibly
falsified; in this way a theory is built, which is a model that describes our understanding of the phenomena, and often allows predictions for similar future events. Divination practices are not the outcome of the application of the scientific method, and therefore are often considered
superstition or at best
pseudo-science. There is no obvious, unique, consistent, or compelling way that a divination practice can be derived from its underlying belief system; indeed one can practice divination without reference to a particular belief system.
One does not need to know how or why a practice "works", as long as one can verify
that it works: the latter can be subject to scientific inquiry. However diviners do not systematically assess their results or try to falsify their hypotheses. Indeed diviners are discouraged to repeat queries. The taboo is that repetition may be an attempt to divine a more favorable answer, or that repetition adversely agitates the method or the operants. Without repitition of the divination, it is much harder to design experiments that will have meaningful statistically significant results that could falsify a hypothesis about the divination method.
Beyond mere explanations for anecdotal evidence, some theories have been proposed of how some forms of divination might result in meaningful messages. One theory is that the divination process allows messages from the subconscious mind to emerge into the conscious world. For example, using the
I Ching oracle, a person with a very good knowledge of the 64 chapters of the I Ching might subconsciously direct the division of the yarrow stalks to obtain a relevant oracle. After an I Ching hexagram has been found, some interpretation is needed to obtain an answer to the question posed, and again, this allows the subconscious to influence the outcome. This theory presupposes that the subconscious mind has a relevant message to deliver, which in any particular case may or may not be true.
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.)
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. Other forms of spontaneous divination include reading
auras and
New Age methods of
Feng Shui such as "intuitive" and Fuzion.
By far one of the most popular methods of divination is
astrology, typically categorized as Vedic astrology (
Jyotish),
Western astrology, and
Chinese astrology, though besides these main three branches many other cultures also have or have had their own forms of Astrology in the past.
For a more complete list, see Methods of divination*
Astrology (by celestial bodies)
*
Ailuromancy (by the behaviour of felines; see
Felidomancy)
*
Bibliomancy (by book, frequently but not always a religious text)
*
Cartomancy (by cards, e.g., playing cards, tarot cards, and non-tarot oracle cards; see also Taromancy)
*
Cheiromancy (by palms; see
Palmistry)
*
Crystallomancy/
Scrying (by crystals or other reflecting objects)
*
Extispicy (from the exta of sacrificed animals)
*
Geomancy (by earth), includes
Feng Shui divination
*
Graphology (by handwriting)
*
I Ching divination (ancient Chinese divination using
I Ching): (However, as performed by some diviners with heavy reliance on an accompanying I Ching manual, this is, in effect, also a form of
Bibliomancy/
Stichomancy)
*
Numerology (by numbers)
*
Oneiromancy (by
dreams)
*
Onomancy (by names)
*
Ouija board divination
*
Padomancy (by the soles of one's feet)
*
Palmistry (by palm inspection)
*
Phrenology (by the shape of one's head)
*
Pyromancy, or pyroscopy (by fire)
*
Runecasting /
Runic divination (by
Runes)
*
Scatomancy (by droppings, usually animal)
*
Taromancy (by specially designed cards:
Tarot; see also Cartomancy)
*
Anthropology of religion*
Axinomancy*
Bone divination*
Dowsing*
Dream interpretation*
Esotericism*
Futurology*
Geomancy*
Guru*
I Ching*
Ifá*
New Age*
Nostradamus*
Occultism*
Omen (or
portent)
*
Pueblo*
Prophet*
Runecasting*
Runic divination*
Scrying*
Tarot*
Stick divination*
Western mystery tradition*
List of magical terms and traditions
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.
Academic
*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 0877732140
*
J. P. Vernant,
Divination et rationalité (1974)
*
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 possible mechanisms
*
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