Introduction to Divination
From New Age Village
The method of obtaining knowledge of the unknown or the future by means of omens. Astrology (q.v.) and oracular utterances (See Oracles), may be regarded as branches of divination. The derivation of the word supposes a direct message from the gods to the diviner or augur. It is practiced in all grades of barbarism and civilization. The methods of divination are many and various, and strangely enough in their variety are confined to no one portion of the globe. Crystal-gazing has been relegated to a separate article. Shell-hearing and similar methods are allied to crystal-gazing and may be classed with it, as that method of divination which arises from the personal consciousness of the augur. Of the same class are divination by dreams, automatic writing, and so forth. What might be called divination by "luck" is represented by the use of cards, the casting of lots, the use of knuckle-bones as in Africa and elsewhere, cocoanuts as in Polynesia. Haruspication, or the inspection of entrails, divination by foot-print in ashes, by the flight of birds, by meeting with ominous animals, represents the third class of augury.
The art of divination is usually practiced among savages by the shaman caste; among less barbarous people by the augur, as in Rome and ancient Mexico; and even amongst civilized people by persons who pretend divination, such as the spiritualistic medium or the witch. The art is undoubtedly of great antiquity. It was employed in ancient Egypt side by side with astrology, and divination by dream was constantly resorted to -- a class or priests being kept apart, whose office it was to interpret dreams and visions. We find instances of dreams recorded in the Egyptian texts: as for example those of Thothmes IV king of Egypt in 1450 B.C., and Nut-Amen, king of the Eastern Soudan and Egypt about 670 B.C. The Egyptian magician usually set himself to procure dreams for his clients by such devices as the drawing of magical pictures and the reciting of magical words; and some of these are still extant, such as that in the British Museum papyrus No.122. We find, however, that in Egypt augury was usually effected by astrological methods.
In ancient China the principal method of divination was by means of the oracles; but we find such forms as the examination of the marks on the shell of a tortoise, which reminds us of the examination of the back of a peccary by the Maya of Central America. We find a Chinese monarch consulting the fates in this manner in 1146 B.C. and finding them unfavorable; but as in Egypt, most soothsaying was accomplished by means of astrology. Omens, however, were by no means ignored, and were given great prominence, as many tales in the ancient books testify.
In ancient Rome a distinct caste or college of priests called Augurs was set apart to interpret the signs of approval or disapproval sent by the gods in reference to any coming event. This college probably consisted originally of but three members, of whom the king himself was one; and it was not until the time of Cæsar that the members were increased to sixteen. The college remained in existence as late as the fourth century, and its members held office for life. The tenets of the Roman augurs were, that for signs of the gods one must look towards the sky and glean knowledge of the behests of the divine beings from such omens as the lightning-flash, and the flight of birds. On a windless night, the augur took up his position on a hill which afforded an extensive view. Marking out a space for himself, he pitched a tent within it, and seating himself therein with covered head requested the gods for a sign, and waited for an answer. He faced southwards, thus having the east, or lucky quarter, on his left, and the west, or unfavorable portion of the sky, on his right. He carefully observed every sign which came within the purview of his vision: such as lightning, the appearance of birds, and so forth. The song or utterance of birds was also carefully hearkened to; and these were divided into birds of good omen and evil omen: while others referred to definite persons and events. The reading of omens was also effected by the feeding of birds and observing the manner in which they ate. The course of animals and the sounds uttered by them were also closely watched, and all unusual phenomena were regarded as omens or warnings.
Sortilege or the casting of lots was often resorted to by the caste of augurs. The election of magistrates was nearly always referred to the Auspices or College of Diviners, as were the setting out of an army for war, and the passing of laws.
In the East generally, divination appears to have been effected by crystal-gazing, dreams and similar methods of self-hallucination, or self-hypnotism. Divination flourished in Chaldea and Assyria among the Babylonians and Ethiopians, and appears to have been very much the same as in Egypt. In the Jewish Talmud we notice that witches are said to divine by means of bread-crumbs. Among the Arabs, the future is often foretold by means of the shapes seen in sand. The Burmese and Siamese pierce an egg at each end, and having blown the contents on the ground, trace within them the outline of things to be. (See Burma.) Divination by astrology too is very common in oriental cultures, and prophetic utterance is likewise in great favour.
It is remarkable that among the native races of America the same arts of divination as are known to the peoples of the Old World were and are in vogue. These arts, as a rule, are the preserve of the medicine-man and priestly class. In ancient Mexico there was a college of augurs corresponding in purpose to the Auspices of ancient Rome, the members of which occupied themselves with observing the flight and listening to the songs of birds, from which they drew their conclusions. In Mexico, the Calmecac or college or priests had a department where divination was taught in all its branches, but there were many ex officio prophets and augurs, and the reader is referred to the article on Mexico for an account of the astrological methods of casting nativities, and so forth.
Oracles were common, and in this connection an amusing Peruvian story may be recalled. A certain huaca or oracle was reported to be evil influence; orders were given to destroy it; and upon its being broken up a parrot found means to escape from within it, - thus giving us a pretty shrewd idea of the means employed by the priesthood to effect oracular utterance. In Peru, still other classes of diviners predicted by means of the leaves of tobacco, or the grains or juice of coca, the shapes of grains or maize, taken at random, the forms assumed by the smoke rising from burning victims, the viscera of animals, the course taken by spiders, and the direction in which fruit might fall. The professors of these several methods were distinguished by different ranks and titles, and their training was a long and arduous one. The American tribes as a whole were very keen observers of bird life. Strangely enough the bird and serpent are combined in their symbolism, and indeed in the names of several of their principal deities. The bird appeared to the American savage as a spirit, in all probability under the spell of some potent enchanter - a spell which might be broken by some great sorcerer or medicine man alone. As among the ancient Romans, the birds of America were divided into those of good and evil omen; and indeed certain Brazilian tribes appear to think that the souls of departed Indians enter into the bodies of birds. The shamans of certain tribes or Paraguay act as go-betweens between the members of their tribes and such birds as they imagine enshrine the souls of their departed relatives. This usage would appear to combine the acts of augury and necromancy.
The priesthood of Peru practiced ocular methods by "making idols speak," and this they probably accomplished by ventriloquial arts. The piagés or priests of the Uapès of Brazil have a contrivance known to them as the paxiuba, which consists of a tree-stem about the height of a man, on which the branches and leaves have been left. Holes are bored in the trunk beneath the foliage, and by speaking though these the leaves are made to tremble, and the sound so caused is interpreted as a message from Jurupari, one of their principal deities. But all over the American continent from the Eskimos to the Patagonians, the methods of oracular divination are practically identical. The shaman or medicine-man raises a tent or hut which he enters carefully closing the aperture after him. He then proceeds to make his incantations, and in a little while the entire lodge trembles and rocks, the poles bend to breaking point, as if a dozen strong men were straining at them, and the most violent noise comes from within, seemingly now emanating from the depths of the earth, now from the air above, and now from the vicinity of the hut itself. The reason for this disturbance has never been properly accounted for; and medicine-men who have been converted to Christianity have assured scientific workers amongst Indian tribes that they have not the least idea of what occurred during the time they occupied these enchanted lodges, for the simple reason that they were plunged in a deep sleep.
After the supernatural sounds have to some extent faded away, the medicine-man proceeds to question the spirit he has evoked, - the answers of whom for sheer ambiguity are equal to those of the Pythonesses of ancient Greece. There is little doubt that the shamans who practice this method or oracular utterance are the victims of hallucination, and many cases are on record in which they have excited themselves into a condition of permanent lunacy.
America is the touchstone of the science of anthropology, and since we have adopted it as the continent from which to draw the majority of our illustrations, it will be as well if we conclude the article on American lines for the sake of comparison. We find then that divination by hypnosis is well-known in the western continent. Jonathan Carver, who traveled among the Sioux about the latter end of the eighteenth century, mentions it as in use amongst them. The "Ghost Dance" religion of the Indians of Nevada had for one of its tenets the belief in the hypnotic communion with the dead. Divination by means of dreams and visions is extremely common in both sub-continents of the western hemisphere, as is exemplified by the derivation of the word "priest" in the native languages: by the Algonquians they are called "dreamers of the gods," by the Maya "listeners," and so forth. The ability to see visions was usually quickened by the use of drugs or the swallowing or inhalation of cerebral intoxicants, such as tobacco, maguey, coca, the snake-plant, and so forth. Indeed many Indian tribes, such as the Creeks, possessed numerous plants which they cultivated for this purpose. A large number of instances are on record in which Indian medicine-men are said to have divined the future in a most striking manner, and perhaps the following will serve to illustrate this:
In his autobiography, Black Hawk, a celebrated Sac chief, relates that his grandfather had a strong belief that in four years' time 'he should see a white man, who would be to him as a father.' Supernaturally directed, as he said, he traveled eastward to a certain spot, and there, as he had been informed in dreams, met with a Frenchman who concluded an alliance on behalf of his country with the Sac nation. Coincidence is certainly possible here, but it can hardly exist in the circumstances of Jonathan Carver. While he was dwelling with the Killistenoes, they were threatened with a famine, and on the arrival of certain traders, who brought them food in exchange for skins and other goods, their very existence depended. The diviners of the tribe were consequently consulted by the chief, and announced that the next day, at high noon exactly, a canoe would make its appearance with news of the anxiously looked-for expedition. The entire population came down to the beach in order to witness its arrival, accompanied by the incredulous trader, and, to his intense surprise, at the very moment forecasted by the shamans, a canoe rounded a distant headland, and, paddling speedily shorewards, brought the patient Killistenoes news of the expedition they expected.
John Mason Brown has put on record an equally singular instance of the prophetic gift on the part of an American medicine-man. (See Atlantic Monthly, July, 1866.) He was engaged several years previously in searching for a band of Indians in the neighborhood of the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers; but the difficulties of the search induced the majority of his band to return, until out of ten men who originally set out only three remained. They had all but concluded to abandon their search when they stumbled upon a party of braves of the very tribe of which they were in search. These men had been sent out by their medicine-men to find three whites, of whose horses, accoutrements, and general appearance the shaman had given them an exhaustive account ere they set out, and this the warriors related to Brown before they saw his companions. Brown very naturally inquired closely of the medicine-man how he had been able to foretell their coming. But the latter, who appeared to be 'a frank and simple-minded man,' could only explain that 'he saw them coming, and heard them talk on their journey.'
Crystal-gazing is in common use amongst many Indian tribes. The Aztecs of Mexico were wont to gaze into small polished pieces of sandstone, and a case is on record where a Cherokee Indian kept a divining crystal wrapped up in buckskin in a cave, occasionally "feeding" it by rubbing over it the blood of a deer. At a village in Guatemala, Stephens saw a remarkable stone which had been placed on the altar of the church there, but which had previously been used as a divining-stone by the Indians of the district. Divination by arrow was also commonly resorted to.
According to Fuentes, the chronicler of Guatemala the reigning king of Kiche, Kicah Tanub, when informed by the ambassador of Montezuma II, that a race of irresistible white men had conquered Mexico and were proceeding to Guatemala, sent for four diviners, whom he commanded to tell him what would be the result of this invasion. They asked for time to discover the future fate of his kingdom, and taking their bows discharged some arrows against a rock. They returned to inform their master that, as no impression had been made upon the rock by the arrowheads, they must prognosticate the worst and predicted the ultimate triumph of the white man - a circumstance which shows that the class to which they belonged stood in no fear of royalty. Kicah Tanub, dissatisfied, sent for the 'priests,' obviously a different class from the diviners, and requested their opinions. From the ominous circumstance of an ancient stone - which had been brought from afar by their forefathers - having been broken, they also augured the fall of the Kiche empire.
Many objects such as small clay birds, boats of boat-shaped vessels, etc., have been discovered in sepulchral mounds in North America, and it is conjectured that these may have been used for purposes of divination. As any object might become a fetish, it is probable that any object might become a means of augury. The method employed appears to have been so to treat the object that the probably changes for or against the happening of a certain event would be discovered - much, indeed, as some persons will toss coins to "find out" whether an expected event will come to pass or not. Portents, too, were implicitly believed in by the American races, and this branch of augury was, we find, one of the accomplishments of Nezahualpilli, king of Tezcuco, near Mexico, whom Montezuma consulted concerning the terrible prodigies which startled his people prior to the advance of the Spaniards upon his kingdom, and which were supposed to predict the return of Quetzacloatl, the legendary culture-hero of Anahuac, to his own again. These included earthquakes, tempests, floods, the appearances of comets and strange lights, whilst mysterious voices were heard in the air - such prodigies, indeed, as tradition usually insists upon as the precursors of the downfall of a mighty empire.
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