Seeing and foretelling
Divination, omens and oracles: asking what is hidden or still to come.
Divination is the attempt to learn what is hidden or still to come. It is found in nearly every culture, from the Chinese I Ching and Ifa in West Africa to the tarot, astrology, palm reading, the Roman augurs and the Greek oracle at Delphi. People consult diviners about marriage, trade, health, journeys and loss. This page covers who reads, what is read, and how the practice is regarded. It is among the oldest and most widely repeated forms of ritual.
What is read
Diviners read many things. Some read natural signs, such as birds, the entrails of animals, cracks in a heated shell or bone, and the stars. Some read objects thrown or drawn at random, such as bones, cowries, cards, runes, tea leaves or lots. Others receive answers in trance, dreams or possession. In China, oracle bones used in the Shang period are among the earliest written records. Many diviners say the reading is shaped by the question asked.
Who reads
The role can be a profession, a family inheritance, or a sign of calling. Ifa babalawo are men, while the Greek Pythia was a woman. Astrologers served courts in India, Persia and Europe, and card readers in cities serve poorer clients. Class and gender shape trust: a palace astrologer and a roadside parrot-reader may use the same texts and be judged very differently. Readers of the same system may disagree, and the best known diviners are expected to admit that signs can be read more than one way.
Law and religion
Responses vary. The Hebrew Bible forbids certain divination, medieval Christian authorities condemned it, and Islamic scholars largely reject claims to know the unseen, while still permitting dream interpretation and astrology in some schools. Modern states regulate fortune-telling under fraud laws, and some Indian states have passed laws against exploitative practices. Divination also persists inside religion, as in Ifa and Buddhist temple lots. Other traditions, such as Buddhism and Sikhism, reject much divination as a distraction from the path, while their followers may still visit astrologers for family matters.
Why it endures
Psychologists explain its appeal through the Barnum effect and confirmation bias, and a good reader also reads the client. Anthropologists add that divination can give a community a way to settle disputes and accept a choice. Practitioners often say their work is guidance, not prediction. A reading is not a substitute for medical, legal or financial advice. A reading is a performance of listening, and what a client takes from it often depends on what they already feel and on what they decide to do afterwards.
Seeing and foretelling on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreAncient Egyptian religion
Polytheistic worship, divine kingship, and funerary rites along the NileTradition 路 Protection 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 4 moreCunning folk
European practitioners of folk medicine and helpful magic from the Middle Ages to the twentieth centuryTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 2 moreNumerology
The belief that numbers hold hidden meanings and influence human events.Belief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreNatural magic
A historical tradition exploring hidden forces in the physical worldTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreHaruspex
A diviner who read the will of gods by inspecting animal entrailsFigure 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 EgyptScrying
A divination practice of gazing into a medium to receive visions or guidance.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomTaghairm
A Scottish Gaelic divination rite using sensory deprivation and animal skins to summon spirits.Rite 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceCoscinomancy
A divination method using a sieve and shears to reveal guilt or answer questions.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandFetch
A spectral double of a living person, seen as an omen of death or long life.Being 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreHermetica
A collection of ancient texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, covering magic, alchemy and philosophy.Text 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Change and initiation Historical
馃嚠馃嚩 Iraq and 1 moreLibanomancy
Divination by reading the smoke and ash of burning frankincenseOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 1 moreHydromancy
Divination using water to reveal the future or judge legitimacy.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceAeromancy
Divination by reading the sky, wind, and cloudsOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 1 moreCapnomancy
Divination by reading the shapes and movements of smoke from fires or incenseOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Protection Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚜 IrelandBodach
A Gaelic trickster figure used to frighten children and warn of deathFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomSt Mark's Eve
An English folk custom to witness omens of death and future marriage on the eve of a saint's feast dayRite 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Cursing and harm Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreAugury
A Roman rite of reading bird behavior to learn the will of the godsRite 路 Power and authority 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚞馃嚙 United KingdomMother Shipton
An English prophetess and herbalist from folklore, known for predictions printed long after her death.Figure 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Historical
馃嚦馃嚧 NorwayCyprianus
A Scandinavian folk magic grimoire and the tradition of spells it containsText 路 Healing 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaAstrometeorology
A historical belief that celestial positions forecast weather and climateBelief 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚚馃嚦 ChinaPodomancy
A divination method that reads the lines and shapes of the soles to reveal character and fateOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 2 moreLecanomancy
Divination using a dish or bowl of water to read the futureOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 5 moreHippomancy
Divination through the movements, sounds, and tracks of horsesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 2 moreHaruspicy
Reading animal entrails to discern divine will and omensRite 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceWitchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome
Ancient beliefs and practices of magic, curses, and love charms in the Mediterranean worldTradition 路 Cursing and harm 路 Love and attraction Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 3 moreAstrology
A divinatory practice that links celestial positions to human affairs and earthly eventsTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 1 moreTeraphim转专驻讬诐
Ancient Hebrew household figures linked to ancestry, property rights and divinationBeing 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy and 1 moreCola Pesce
An Italian merman legend about a boy cursed by his mother to live in the seaFigure 路 Cursing and harm 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 ItalyScrofa semilanuta
A legendary sow seen in a dream that became the ancient emblem of Milan.Figure 路 Wonder and entertainment 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚪馃嚭 RussiaVolkhovnik袙芯谢褏芯胁薪懈泻
A lost Old Russian divination book of omens and signsText 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Historical
馃嚞馃嚪 GreeceAstrology and astronomy
Two disciplines that shared a history before splitting into science and divinationTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaNaeviology
A divination method that reads the future from moles and scarsOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 1 moreScyphomancy
Divination by reading signs in a cup of water or listening for voices within the glass.Oracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden脜rsg氓ng
An archaic Swedish divination ritual performed on Christmas Eve to glimpse the coming year.Rite 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 2 moreFavomancy
Divination by throwing beans and reading the patterns they form on the groundOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚫馃嚲 SyriaMoleosophy
Divination by reading the shape and place of moles on the bodyOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 Germany and 1 moreCromniomancy
Divination by onions to reveal health, love, weather and distant newsOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Love and attraction Historical
馃嚛馃嚜 GermanySuhl card reader case
A 1956 East German trial of a psychic for favorable forecasts about leaving the countryBelief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Historical
馃嚚馃嚦 ChinaMien shiang闈㈢浉
A Chinese practice of reading character and fate through facial featuresBelief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Historical
馃嚠馃嚬 Italy艢uri饜寫饜寲饜寷饜墿 (Etruscan)
An ancient Etruscan deity of volcanic fire, the underworld, and healingBeing 路 Protection 路 Healing Historical
馃嚠馃嚪 IranF膩l-g奴sh賮丕賱诏賵卮
A Persian divination custom of listening to strangers' words for omensRite 路 Seeing and foretelling Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Augur: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Astrometeorology: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Numerology: Pietro Bongo, Public domain, source
- 艢uri: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, source
- Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Lecanomancy: Author Robert Burns Translator Alexander Smith Illustrator C. A. Vande, Public domain, source
- Libanomancy: 4174332, CC0, source
- Hydromancy: Roger McLassus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aeromancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Capnomancy: Tigerzeng, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Podomancy: Eyefive45, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Haruspicy: Lokilech, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mother Shipton: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Scrying: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Hippomancy: Wer?Du?!, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Scrofa semilanuta: M.casanova, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- John Dee: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
- Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Witchcraft in ancient Greece and Rome: Wilhelm Tischbein, Public domain, source
- Coscinomancy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Public domain, source
- Ancient Egyptian religion: Moh hakem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Teraphim: Athanasius Kircher, Public domain, source
- Astrology and astronomy: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Moleosophy: Unknown author, Public domain, source