Ok. I've spent a bit of time tonight researching the various types of divination tools, and came across a lot of history dealing with it. So here, I'll
share some of what I learned. Hopefully others can contribute to it, and also learn something from it. Keep in mind it is not by any means complete.
About Divination:
Divination: (From Merriam Webster's Online Dictonary)
From the Middle English "Divinacioun", from Latin "Divination-, divinatio, from divinare"
Approximate first useage: 14th century
1. The art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.
2. Unusual insight; intuitive perception
The word divination comes from the Latin word "divinare" or to be inspired by a god. Traditionally, it never has mattered which God or Diety has inspired the events foreseen, but almost all religions have had their versions of diviners. It is actually more common than most people realize. Divination in its most basic sense is to foretell the future.
Divination is forbidden in the Christian Bible. The Bible's attitude on divination is very hostile in general. Duteronomy 18:10-12 (King James Version) states:
10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
All that translates to: Sorcery, witchcraft, omens, fortunetellers, ect are evil, and God doesn't like them.
There are exceptions though. Daniel 5:11-12 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
Daniel was very much a prophet of God. His divinations, using magic, astrology, Chaldeans (not the people in general- Chaldeans were sorcerers, witches and used all sorts of Magik), and soothsayers (truth sayers- prophets). So him using divination was OK. There are other examples, but that's not the point of this posting. Divination is found in some form or another all around the world, weather it is condoned or not. In fact divination is still illegal in many places in the world.
Divination has been around as long as mankind has walked the earth. The Egyptians, Druids and Hebrews used scrying. Romans liked augury and haruspicy. Druids also used haruspicy as well as reading death throes. Greeks had Oracles. Grain, sand and peas were tossed into fields in the Middle Ages to read the patterns they fell in, for the purpose of divining the cast of the year, crops, health, every aspect. The IChing was used as far back as 1000 BCE.
Dice and even playing cards had a divinatory background. Dice (or knucklebones) were made from hooves of animlas (horses, oxen, ect) and then cast both for gambling, and for fortunetelling. (Honestly, are the two really that different? Gambling is betting on a future outcome as it is.) Dominoes were a spinoff of dice as well, and had similar uses, but more variations were available. Dominoes were used in China and India first, and have some connection to the IChing and casting of bones.
Another type of divination coming from the China area of the world is Feng-Shui, or geomancy. Feng-Shui is a divination based on the energy that encircles the planet. Feng-Shui is still used today, but not in its original structure. Now people use it to arrange furniture, but it used to be used to build structures, just by their placement to the invisible energy lines running around the planet.
Playing cards and tarot are linked closely as well. Some decks were used for both fortunetelling and gaming. There is controversy as to which came first, but some stories say that early divination decks were turned into playing cards to hide the practice during the Crusades and Inquisition times.
Astrology has been around in both legends and history for many centuries as well. The influence of planets on humankind and the things surrounding us seems to be very common to hear about. Even most newspapers have a daily section dedicated to your daily horoscope.
Prophetic dreams counts among the list of divination methods. Some people have been able to put themselves into a trance and remotely see, or foretell events coming in the near or far future. Some of the most commonly known future predictions and theories are from people like Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, the Mayans (Don't forget the callendar they made), the Egyptian pyramids and sphinx, theories about Stonehenge, and the list goes on.
Other lower key divinations that you may see in daily life: farmer's almanac, weather averages, forecasts, ect. These can be considered a type of weather reading. Certainly the farmer's almanac each year can be considered a type of divination. It most of the time even gives out moon phases, crop planting times, best fishing days, and sometimes lucky numbers or day outlooks (depending on the version).
Just so I don't make this posting too long, I'll make a second post with a listing of some of the types of divination and a little about the basics of them.
Keep in mind, please, that foretelling the future may indeed have an impact on the future you are actually seeing. I know I'm not the only one here that holds to this concept. And please, if anyone has any corrections, or input, tell me please!
About Divination:
Divination: (From Merriam Webster's Online Dictonary)
From the Middle English "Divinacioun", from Latin "Divination-, divinatio, from divinare"
Approximate first useage: 14th century
1. The art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.
2. Unusual insight; intuitive perception
The word divination comes from the Latin word "divinare" or to be inspired by a god. Traditionally, it never has mattered which God or Diety has inspired the events foreseen, but almost all religions have had their versions of diviners. It is actually more common than most people realize. Divination in its most basic sense is to foretell the future.
Divination is forbidden in the Christian Bible. The Bible's attitude on divination is very hostile in general. Duteronomy 18:10-12 (King James Version) states:
10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
All that translates to: Sorcery, witchcraft, omens, fortunetellers, ect are evil, and God doesn't like them.
There are exceptions though. Daniel 5:11-12 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
Daniel was very much a prophet of God. His divinations, using magic, astrology, Chaldeans (not the people in general- Chaldeans were sorcerers, witches and used all sorts of Magik), and soothsayers (truth sayers- prophets). So him using divination was OK. There are other examples, but that's not the point of this posting. Divination is found in some form or another all around the world, weather it is condoned or not. In fact divination is still illegal in many places in the world.
Divination has been around as long as mankind has walked the earth. The Egyptians, Druids and Hebrews used scrying. Romans liked augury and haruspicy. Druids also used haruspicy as well as reading death throes. Greeks had Oracles. Grain, sand and peas were tossed into fields in the Middle Ages to read the patterns they fell in, for the purpose of divining the cast of the year, crops, health, every aspect. The IChing was used as far back as 1000 BCE.
Dice and even playing cards had a divinatory background. Dice (or knucklebones) were made from hooves of animlas (horses, oxen, ect) and then cast both for gambling, and for fortunetelling. (Honestly, are the two really that different? Gambling is betting on a future outcome as it is.) Dominoes were a spinoff of dice as well, and had similar uses, but more variations were available. Dominoes were used in China and India first, and have some connection to the IChing and casting of bones.
Another type of divination coming from the China area of the world is Feng-Shui, or geomancy. Feng-Shui is a divination based on the energy that encircles the planet. Feng-Shui is still used today, but not in its original structure. Now people use it to arrange furniture, but it used to be used to build structures, just by their placement to the invisible energy lines running around the planet.
Playing cards and tarot are linked closely as well. Some decks were used for both fortunetelling and gaming. There is controversy as to which came first, but some stories say that early divination decks were turned into playing cards to hide the practice during the Crusades and Inquisition times.
Astrology has been around in both legends and history for many centuries as well. The influence of planets on humankind and the things surrounding us seems to be very common to hear about. Even most newspapers have a daily section dedicated to your daily horoscope.
Prophetic dreams counts among the list of divination methods. Some people have been able to put themselves into a trance and remotely see, or foretell events coming in the near or far future. Some of the most commonly known future predictions and theories are from people like Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, the Mayans (Don't forget the callendar they made), the Egyptian pyramids and sphinx, theories about Stonehenge, and the list goes on.
Other lower key divinations that you may see in daily life: farmer's almanac, weather averages, forecasts, ect. These can be considered a type of weather reading. Certainly the farmer's almanac each year can be considered a type of divination. It most of the time even gives out moon phases, crop planting times, best fishing days, and sometimes lucky numbers or day outlooks (depending on the version).
Just so I don't make this posting too long, I'll make a second post with a listing of some of the types of divination and a little about the basics of them.
Keep in mind, please, that foretelling the future may indeed have an impact on the future you are actually seeing. I know I'm not the only one here that holds to this concept. And please, if anyone has any corrections, or input, tell me please!
