Divination

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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 (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].

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. 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.

1 Categories of divination
2 Divination and science
3 Theories
4 Common methods of divination
5 See also
6 For further reading
7 References and notes
- 7.1 Popular
- 7.2 Academic
8 External links

[edit] 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.) 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.

[edit] Divination and science

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Science has made it possible to predict future events with some success, including eclipses, weather forecasts and volcanic eruptions. Science operates by objective results obtained from analysis of observable, repeatable phenomena. Divination, on the other hand, is rooted in religious or other belief systems that assume some supernatural cause or link with observable events. In so far as such supernatural causes are erratic and cannot be duplicated, quantified, or modelled, or if they are just imaginary, then they can not be studied by scientific method.

The scientific method relies on repeated and systematic observations and experiments, which lead to hypotheses that are testable by other parties in an attempt to falsify them; falsified. In this way a theory is built, which is a model of the phenomena, and often allows predictions for similar future events. A scientific theory can be held to be 'valuable' because of its ability to make useful if/then statements which then turn out to be valid. (see Karl Popper). "If a rat drowns in water because it is an air-breathing mammal, then a mouse, also being an air-breathing mammal, should similarly drown in water" might be an example. Divination practices are not the outcome of the application of the scientific method, and therefore are often considered superstition or at best pseudo-science. Examples of divination can be found in a multitude of sources. In the following examples, a few details of Islamic and Arab history are cited: While but a lad in Syria, heir to the Umayyad caliphate, Abd al-Rahman the 1st was forseen to be not just a caliph, but caliph of the western end of the Islamic empire. "A physiognomist cited evidence (to) certain signs in the (boy's) face and neck" . ^[2] Indeed Abd al-Rahman the 1st became the emir of the far-flung western Islamic province of Spain (al-Andalus). His son, and successor Hisham also gave much credence in divination. In one case, Hisham used an astrologer (and diviner) to try and learn what his future would be. Hisham asked the astologer, "I doubt not thou hast already divined the reason of thy being sent for; I need not, therefore, give thee any further explanation. Tell me now, with God's permission, what thy science discloses to thee respecting my future destiny". After a few days had passed the astrologer cautiously explained to the emir that his reign (Hisham's) would be glorious in accomplishments, but short-lived. And so it was to pass. ^[3] A final example of divination in Islamic history is eloquently recounted by W. Montgomery Watt. He tells the story of the life of the Prophet Muhammad. One day, when he was but a child, the Prophet Muhammad (who was not then a prophet) was traveling amid a caravan through the Syrian desert on the way back to Mecca. The caravan stopped by the isolated residence of a Christian monk named Bahira, who was also considered to be a bit of mystic. When Bahira gazed upon the boy he saw "a mark between his shoulders which he recognized as the seal of prophethood." ^[4]

One does not need to know how or why a practice, such as divination, works, as long as one has faith that it works sometimes. 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 repetition 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.

[edit] Theories

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.

Sometimes random decisions are recognized by modern science as effective ways to address a problem. Mathematical problems may be addressed by Monte Carlo algorithms in which pseudo-random numbers are used to test a function. In game theory, choices must be made randomly to prevent opponents from devising an effective counter strategy. A similar role might exist for the I Ching, which is sometimes described as an "invention machine", in which any random combination of hexagrams potentially leads to a new and different idea. Perhaps divination schemes may be seen as efforts to divide conceptual space into segments, and randomly directing attention to any segment is potentially productive.

[edit] Common methods of divination

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)
Dactylomancy (by means of finger movements)
Extispicy (from the entrails 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
Podomancy (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)
Sternomancy (by markings or bumps on the chest)
Taromancy (by specially designed cards: Tarot; see also Cartomancy)
Aura-Soma, based on colors

[edit] See also

[edit] For further reading

[edit] References and notes

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 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.