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.
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 3 moreCleromancy
A divination method that uses random chance to reveal divine willOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚚馃嚭 Cuba and 4 moreSanter铆aRegla de Ocha
An Afro-Cuban religion blending Yoruba spirits with Catholic saintsTradition 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚡馃嚨 JapanOmikuji銇娿伩銇忋仒
Paper fortunes drawn at Japanese shrines and temples to reveal luck and life adviceOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 5 moreKau chim姹傜堡
A divination practice using numbered bamboo sticks to seek answers from deitiesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Power and authority Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 1 moreGroundhog DayGrund'sau d氓k
A North American custom using a burrowing rodent to forecast the end of winterTradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 5 moreSpodomancy
Divination by reading omens in ashes, soot, and cindersOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Living
馃嚞馃嚙 United Kingdom and 7 moreSaint Andrew's Day
A Christian feast day marked by national holidays in Scotland and Romania, and folk divination across Europe.Rite 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 2 moreAstragalomancy
Divination by casting marked bones, carved rods, or numbered diceOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
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
馃嚠馃嚪 Iran and 3 moreIranian folklore賮賵賱讴賱賵乇 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖
The oral legends, heroes, and spirits of Greater IranTradition 路 Protection 路 Seeing and foretelling Living
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
馃嚞馃嚬 Guatemala and 1 moreMaya calendar
A system of timekeeping used by ancient and modern Maya communities to track days, years, and historical cycles.Tradition 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Living
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
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreCowrie
A sea snail shell used as currency, divination tool, and charm across many culturesSubstance 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesBloody Mary
A mirror ritual to summon a spirit that reveals the future or brings harmBelief 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Cursing and harm Living
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 1 moreJiaobei绛婃澂 (ji菐ob膿i)
Wooden crescent blocks thrown in pairs to ask temple deities yes or no questionsOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
馃嚞馃嚪 Greece and 1 moreOomancy
Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing Living
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesAshtar
A channeled extraterrestrial figure central to mid-century American ufology and New Age spiritualityBeing 路 Speaking with spirits and the dead 路 Seeing and foretelling Living
馃嚪馃嚭 Russia and 7 moreOgnyena Maria袨谐薪械薪邪 袦邪褉懈褬邪
A Slavic fire goddess linked to lightning, rain, and seasonal fire bansFigure 路 Protection 路 Healing Living
馃嚠馃嚦 IndiaSuperstition in India
Common beliefs and rituals across India that influence daily life and major eventsBelief 路 Protection 路 Luck and prosperity Living
馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt and 5 moreWorship of heavenly bodies
Veneration of stars, planets, and the sky as divine forces or deitiesTradition 路 Protection 路 Power and authority Historical
馃嚠馃嚤 Israel and 1 moreDream questionShe'elat Halom
A Jewish divination practice seeking prophetic answers through dreamsOracle 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Healing 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
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesKa-Bala
A 1967 talking board game that claims to tell the future with a spinning marble and tarot cards.Illusion 路 Seeing and foretelling 路 Wonder and entertainment Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ognyena Maria: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
- Omikuji: C121749n, Public domain, source
- Kau chim: No machine-readable author provided. 9old9 assumed (based on copyright, Public domain, source
- Spodomancy: Tim1965, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jiaobei: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos, CC BY 2.0, source
- Astragalomancy: Roland zh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Capnomancy: Tigerzeng, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Iranian folklore: Hossein Mirkamali, CC BY 4.0, source
- Maya calendar: MBisanz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ashtar: Evedawn99, Public domain, source
- Superstition in India: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cleromancy: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Public domain, source
- Cowrie: NOAA (Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program), Public domain, source
- Ancient Egyptian religion: Moh hakem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- Worship of heavenly bodies: Jean-Pierre Dalb茅ra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Groundhog Day: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, source
- Santer铆a: Jorge Royan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source