Diviners and readers
Babalawos, astrologers, card readers and others who read signs.
Diviners and readers are the people who interpret signs: the Ifa babalawo, the sangoma with her bones, the astrologer, the tarot reader, the palm reader, the Chinese fortune-teller and the oracle priestess. They answer questions about marriage, business, illness and loss. This page looks at how they are trained, who they serve, how they are paid, and the line between guidance and fraud. Their trade is as old as writing.
Training and tools
Training varies. A babalawo studies for years and memorises thousands of verses. An astrologer in India may study classical texts or inherit a practice. A tarot reader may learn from books and a community. Tools include cowries, bones, cards, charts, shells, tea leaves and the lines of the hand. Most readers say their tools open a conversation, and some say a spirit speaks through them. Many keep a strict code of confidentiality, as a priest or counsellor would.
Clients and trust
Clients tend to come at moments of uncertainty. In India, astrologers are consulted for weddings and for names, and in West Africa Ifa is consulted for naming a child. Diviners often act as counsellors, hearing family stories and framing a decision. Some are trusted for decades, while others are strangers in a street, and the difference matters for how fraud is spotted. Fees range from a coin or a chicken to several hundred pounds, and a reading may be offered in a shop, a temple, a market stall or an app.
Regulation and religion
Rules vary widely. Some religious authorities forbid divination, and some states license or tax readers. Fortune-tellers have been prosecuted for fraud in the United States, the United Kingdom, India and elsewhere, particularly in cases that involve large payments to lift a curse. Others practise within religion and are protected, such as Ifa within Yoruba religion. Diviners often keep close to the dominant religion, and many Ifa and Vodou diviners are also baptised Christians.
How scholars read it
Psychologists describe cold reading, in which a reader draws on small cues. Anthropologists describe divination as a social process that can break deadlocks and share responsibility. Many diviners deny they predict the future and speak instead of showing possibilities. Advice on health, law or money from a reader is no replacement for qualified advice. Many say they are paid for their time and skill, as a counsellor might be, and not for any guarantee.
Diviners and readers on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePalmistry
A divination method that interprets the lines and shapes of the hand to predict fate or reveal character.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲
An ancient Chinese divination system mapping time and space for strategic decision-makingOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived
🇪🇬 EgyptScrying
A divination practice of gazing into a medium to receive visions or guidance.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇨🇳 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
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOnomancy
Divination based on the letters, numbers, or written strokes of a person's nameOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreGermanic seeressvǫlva
Diviners and sorceresses of early Germanic and Norse societyTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMoon blocks筊杯
Two crescent blocks thrown to a deity for a yes or noOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇫🇷 FranceCartomancy
Divination using playing cards or tarot decks to foresee the futureOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreSpodomancy
Divination by reading omens in ashes, soot, and cindersOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreBibliomancy
Divination by opening a book at random and reading the first passage foundOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority 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
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreScapulimancy
Divination using animal shoulder blades, practiced across Asia and the Americas.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living
🇮🇶 Iraq and 1 moreLibanomancy
Divination by reading the smoke and ash of burning frankincenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHydromancy
Divination using water to reveal the future or judge legitimacy.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreTasseography
A divination method that reads fortunes in the sediment of tea or coffee cupsOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 GreeceAeromancy
Divination by reading the sky, wind, and cloudsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreCapnomancy
Divination by reading the shapes and movements of smoke from fires or incenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaCarromancy
A divination method that reads the future from molten wax or candle flamesOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇨🇳 ChinaChronomancy
A divination method to find lucky days and the best times for action.Oracle · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreLecanomancy
Divination using a dish or bowl of water to read the futureOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaPodomancy
A divination method that reads the lines and shapes of the soles to reveal character and fateOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇺🇸 United StatesOinomancy
A divination method that reads the future in wine patterns and sedimentOracle · Seeing and foretelling Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreOomancy
Divination by eggs, reading shapes and signs to foresee events or diagnose spiritual statesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreHippomancy
Divination through the movements, sounds, and tracks of horsesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTōkyūjutsu淘宮術
A Japanese fortune-telling system based on birth date and facial featuresOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living
🇮🇳 IndiaNaeviology
A divination method that reads the future from moles and scarsOracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreScyphomancy
Divination by reading signs in a cup of water or listening for voices within the glass.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreFavomancy
Divination by throwing beans and reading the patterns they form on the groundOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇸🇾 SyriaMoleosophy
Divination by reading the shape and place of moles on the bodyOracle · 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.
- Oomancy: Rollcloud, CC BY 3.0, source
- Moon blocks: Hsiung/d6478coke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Carromancy: Peter Becker, CC BY 2.0, source
- Cartomancy: Alma Erdmann, Public domain, source
- Spodomancy: Tim1965, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bibliomancy: Albert Robida, Public domain, source
- Lecanomancy: Author Robert Burns Translator Alexander Smith Illustrator C. A. Vande, Public domain, source
- Astragalomancy: Roland zh, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Scapulimancy: Albert Peter Low, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Libanomancy: 4174332, CC0, source
- Hydromancy: Roger McLassus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tasseography: User:MochaSwirl, Public domain, source
- Aeromancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Capnomancy: Tigerzeng, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Podomancy: Eyefive45, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Scrying: John William Waterhouse, Public domain, source
- Chinese fortune telling: Lai Afong, Public domain, source
- Hippomancy: Wer?Du?!, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Germanic seeress: Emil Doepler, Public domain, source
- Palmistry: Pietro della Vecchia, Public domain, source
- Onomancy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Moleosophy: Unknown author, Public domain, source