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.
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreAlfonso X of Castileel Sabio
A medieval king who sponsored astronomical tables and translated works on magic and astrology.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇩🇿 Algeria and 1 moreAhmad al-Buniأحمد البوني المالكي
A medieval Sufi scholar known for works on letter mysticism and talismansText · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomMother Shipton
An English prophetess and herbalist from folklore, known for predictions printed long after her death.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical
🇪🇸 Spain and 2 morePicatrixغاية الحكيم
A medieval Arabic handbook of talismanic magic and astrologyText · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreJohn Dee
An English scholar and advisor to Elizabeth I who pursued angelic communication through scrying.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreDendera zodiac
A carved Egyptian sky map now held in a Paris museumText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaOracle bone甲骨
Divination using heated ox bones and turtle shells in ancient ChinaRite · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreBook of Thoth
A collection of ancient Egyptian texts attributed to the god of writing and knowledge.Text · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreHermetica
A collection of ancient texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, covering magic, alchemy and philosophy.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Change and initiation Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreSibylline Oracles
A mixed collection of ancient prophecies attributed to pagan prophetesses but shaped by Jewish and Christian writers.Text · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomWilliam Lilly
A seventeenth-century English astrologer and author who shaped Western tradition.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇦🇫 Afghanistan and 2 moreAbu Ma'shar al-Balkhiابومَعْشَر جعفر بن محمد بن عمر بلخی
A Persian astrologer whose manuals shaped medieval European and Islamic celestial studiesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇷 FrancePlanchette
A wooden device for automatic writing used in Victorian spiritualist séancesCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇫🇷 FranceEtteilla
The first professional tarot occultist who created a system for card divination.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreGematriaגימטריה
A numeric writing system that assigns numerical values to words and phrases for interpretation.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreRunesᚱᚢᚾᛟ
An ancient Germanic script used for writing and magical signs.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus
A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic
A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇧 United KingdomRune casting (sample)
Carved signs drawn from a bag.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling Revived
🇾🇪 YemenDhu'l-Khalasaذُو الْخَلَصَة
A pre-Islamic shrine in Yemen destroyed by early Muslim forces.Text · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayCyprianus
A Scandinavian folk magic grimoire and the tradition of spells it containsText · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreTarocco Bolognese
A 62-card Italian tarot deck from Bologna used for games and cartomancyText · Wonder and entertainment · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇳 IndiaSynoptical astrology
An astrological system that overlays tropical, sidereal and constellational zodiacsText · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Alfonso X of Castile: Otto Posse (1847-1921), Public domain, source
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Ahmad al-Buni: Khalili Collections, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo, source
- Sibylline Oracles: Domenichino, Public domain, source
- William Lilly: Simon Harriyott, CC BY 2.0, source
- Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi: User:Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tarocco Bolognese: Countakeshi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gematria: Bethsheba Ashe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Runes: Bengt Olof ÅRADSSON, CC BY 1.0, source
- Natural magic: Unidentified painter, Public domain, source
- Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
- Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Mother Shipton: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Picatrix: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Synoptical astrology: Constellarius, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dendera zodiac: Shonagon, CC0, source
- Oracle bone: Unknown author, CC0, source