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.
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAstrology
A divinatory practice that reads human fate through the positions of celestial bodies.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreMagi
Priests of Zoroastrianism and the figures who inspired the word for magicTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreDukun
A traditional healer and spirit medium in Indonesian folk practiceTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreChinese fortune telling算命 (Suànmìng)
Reading faces, palms, birth hours and places to map a person's luck through lifeTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaNechung Oracleགནས་ཆུང་ཏ་བླ་མ
The official prophetic medium and spiritual advisor to Tibet's Dalai LamaOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇳🇿 New ZealandTohunga
A Māori expert practitioner of sacred or secular arts, from priests to carvers.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ
Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreTang-ki童乩 (tóngjī); 乩童 (jītóng)
A Chinese folk-religion medium whose body a deity is held to take overTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇸🇸 South Sudan and 1 moreAzande witchcraft
A Zande belief that certain people harm others by an inherited power, judged by oraclesBelief · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇳 IndiaHindu astrologyज्योतिष (Jyotiṣa)
A traditional Hindu system of astrology and timekeeping rooted in the VedasTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreGroundhog DayGrund'sau dåk
A North American custom using a burrowing rodent to forecast the end of winterTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇬 Madagascar and 4 moreGeomancy
A cross-cultural system of divination using earth, sand, and landforms to read the future or align spaces.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇨🇺 Cuba and 4 moreSanteríaRegla de Ocha
An Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba spirits with Catholic saintsTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreBomohبوموه
A Malay shaman and traditional healer who works with spirits, herbs, and geomancy.Tradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreBagua八卦
A set of eight trigram symbols from China used in divination, cosmology, and feng shui.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 5 moreIfá
A Yoruba divination system using palm nuts to access spiritual guidanceTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United StatesKahuna
A Hawaiian expert or priest, keeper of hidden knowledge in craft and spiritTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreZi Wei Dou Shu紫微斗數
A Chinese natal astrology system mapping stars across twelve life palacesTradition · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy
Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNakshatraनक्षत्रम् (Nakṣatram)
A system of lunar mansions used in Hindu and Buddhist astrology to map the sky.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 3 moreIranian folkloreفولکلور ایرانی
The oral legends, heroes, and spirits of Greater IranTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇹 Guatemala and 1 moreTzolkʼinAj Ilabal Qʼij
A 260-day cycle used by the Maya for divination and ritual timingTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreMachi
Mapuche spiritual authorities and healers who bridge herbal knowledge and spirit realmsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreScottish folkloreBeul-aithris na h-Alba
The myths, creatures and beliefs of the Scottish people, recorded from ancient times to the present.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇲🇲 Myanmar and 2 moreBurmese zodiacဇာတာ ရာသီခွင်
A traditional Burmese system of astronomy and astrology with lunar mansions and weekday signs.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreRunic magic
The use of ancient Germanic letters for spells, divination, and protectionTradition · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇹 Guatemala and 1 moreMaya calendar
A system of timekeeping used by ancient and modern Maya communities to track days, years, and historical cycles.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo and 4 moreNganga
A spiritual healer and ritual specialist in Kongo religion and its diaspora traditionsTradition · Healing · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇳🇬 NigeriaIfa divination (sample)Ifá
A system of verses and divining chains.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreChinese shamanism巫教 (Wūjiào)
Spirit-mediums of China who dance and trance to carry messages between people and godsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇳 IndiaNadi astrologynāḍi jyotiṣa
A Tamil astrological tradition using palm leaves to read past lives and future pathsTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇮🇳 IndiaVedic astrologyJyotiṣa
A traditional Hindu system of astrology rooted in Vedic study and timekeepingTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNeopagan witchcraft
Modern pagan traditions that practice magic and draw on historical witch beliefs.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇵🇰 PakistanShamanism in Pakistan
A shamanic tradition of the Hunza region where spirit guides select healers who enter trance states through music and riTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇺🇸 United StatesAshtar
A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇮🇪 IrelandFellowship of Isis𓊨𓏏𓁐𓌞𓋴𓅱𓂻𓏥
An international spiritual fellowship honouring the Divine Feminine and the goddess IsisTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living
🇨🇳 ChinaFlying Star Feng Shui
A Chinese feng shui school that charts a building's nine squares for good and bad qiTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇲🇿 Mozambique and 1 moreNdau witchcraft and sorcery
A system of spirit belief and traditional healing among the Ndau people of Mozambique and ZimbabweTradition · Healing · Protection Living
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dukun: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Magi: Colijn de Coter, CC0, source
- Astrology: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nadi astrology: Wikipedia Loves Art participant " ARTiFACTS ", CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Bagua: TarcísioTS at Portuguese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Ifá: Toluaye, Public domain, source
- Kahuna: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Astragalomancy: Roland zh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nakshatra: Kishorekumar 62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Iranian folklore: Hossein Mirkamali, CC BY 4.0, source
- Tzolkʼin: Lacambalam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Machi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Burmese zodiac: Photo Dharma, CC BY 2.0, source
- Maya calendar: MBisanz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chinese fortune telling: Lai Afong, Public domain, source
- Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
- Nechung Oracle: Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0, source
- Chinese shamanism: No machine-readable author provided. +上帝+ assumed (based on copyright, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tohunga: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Tang-ki: Bunkichi Chang, CC BY 2.0, source
- Azande witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Hindu astrology: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Groundhog Day: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Vedic astrology: Freedomji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Geomancy: Jacopo188, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Flying Star Feng Shui: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ndau witchcraft and sorcery: Mycelium101, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Santería: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source