This article is just about a religious practice of divination. For more utilizes, watch Divination (disambiguation)

Divination is the practice of ascertaining trading tools from either supernatural or merkin sources. Whenever the distinction is to become processed using fortune-telling, divination has the formal or even ritual & typically social character, unremarkably within a religious context; while fortune-telling occurs as additional everyday practice for home purposes. Divination is typically dismissed by skeptics as being mere superstition: in the 2nd century, Lucian devoted the witty essay to the career of a mountebank, Alexander a traitorously prophet, trained by "one of those who advertise enchantments, miraculous incantations, charms for your love-affairs, visitations for your enemies, disclosures of buried treasure, and successions to estates" [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm], though virtually all Romans believed inside dreams & charms. Still, advocates say there exists plenty of anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of divination. Divination occurs when universal ethnic phenomenon which anthropologists keep close at hand found as existence present inside numerous religions and cultures in all ages as much as a present day. All the same, in the Judeo-Christian Bible most forms of divination are strictly forbidden by God.

Scientific research and methods have made it conceivable to predict new cases using occasionally profits, e.g., eclipses, weather forecasts and volcanic eruptions. Still, this is non divination. Strictly speaking, divinatiin assumes a influence of a bit of supernatural click or even fate, whereas scientific predictions come mass produced from either an au fond mechanical, neutral globe-review & rely on empirical laws of nature. Therefore, as an operational definition, divination would become everthing methods of prognostication that keep around non been shown to become effectual utilizing research project.

Beyond mere explanations for anecdoctal grounds to believe, there are a select few good theories of how else divination will function. Of these such theory is rooted in the nature and severity of the unconscious, the theory which has occasionally empirical scientific basis. According to this theory, divination is a run by which messages from either the unconscious come decoded. the belief inside a supernatural professional or even occult force as the source one messages is what distinguishes this theory from either a scientific explanation.

Julian Jaynes categorized divination according to a ensuing types:

Prognostic & portent texts. "The most primitive, clumsy, but enduring method...is the simple recording of sequences of unusual or important events." (1976:236) Chinese history offers religiously documented occurrences of unknown births, a trailing of natural phenomena, & more information. Chinese governmental planning relied on this method of prediction for long-range strategy. These are non inordinate to think about that modern scientific inquiry began by having this kinda divination; Joseph Needham's work considered this super idea.

Sortilege. This consists of the casting of lots whether by owning sticks, stones, bones, beans, or even another item. Modern swimming cards & board games developed from either this nature and severity of divination.

Preindication. Divination that ranks the placed of given possibilities. It may be qualitative (like shapes, proximities, etc.) Dowsing (a form of rhabdomancy) developed from this nature and severity of divination. A Romans in classical days utilized Etruscan methods of augury like hepatoscopy (actually a form of extispicy). Haruspices examined the livers of sacrificed creature.

Self-generated. An unconstrained form of divination, loose from either any particular medium, & actually the generalization of everthing types of divination. A guide comes from either whatever object a diviner happens to view or even hear. the few Christians & members of more religions have a form of bibliomancy: they ask a wonder, rifle a places of their holy book, & require when their guide the number 1 passage their eyes weak upon. More forms of self-generated divination include reading auras and New Age methods of Feng Shui such as "intuitive" and Fuzion.

By far one of a virtually all popular methods of divination is Astrology, typically categorized when Vedic Astrology (Jyotish), Western Astrology, and Chinese Astrology, though besides these main trine branches numbers of more cultures likewise keep close at hand or even will have their have forms of Star divination it used to be that.

Methods of divination

Aeromancy (by atmospheric conditions) Alectryomancy (by rooster) Aleuromancy (by flour, including fortune cookies): (Note: Divination by fortune cookies is also the form of Stichomancy, see in the image below) Alomancy (by salt) Alphitomancy (by barley) Anemoscopy (by wind) Anthropomancy (by human sacrifice) Apantomancy (by seeing animals) Arithmancy (by numerology) Astragalomancy (by dice; see likewise Cleromancy) Astrology (by celestial bodies) Astro-Numerology (through an integration of Astrology and Numerology) Astro-Tarot (through an integration of Astrology and Tarot) Austromancy (by wind and clouds) Axiomancy (by axes) Belomancy (by arrows) Bibliomancy (by books, especially the Bible; understand likewise Stichomancy) Biorhythms divination Botanomancy (by burning plants) Capnomancy (by smoke) Cartomancy (by cards, e.g., playing cards, tarot, & non-tarot oracle cards; watch as well Taromancy) Catoptromancy (by mirrors) Causimomancy (by burning) Cephalomancy (by skulls) Ceraunoscopy (by thunder and lightning) Ceromancy, or ceroscopy (by placing liquid wax into cold a lake) Chaomancy (by aerial visions) Cheiromancy, or palm reading (by palms) in which a grooves of the hand come interpreted when signs. Chirognomy (by hands) Cleromancy (by casting lots or by bones; including divination by utilise of dice or dominoes; For divination by use of die, view likewise Astragalomancy) Clidomancy, or cleidomancy (by keys) Coffee Grounds Divination, Coffee Tasseography: see Tasseography Cometomancy (by comet tails) Coscinomancy (by hanging sieves) Critomancy (by barley cakes) Cromniomancy (by onion sprouts) Crystallomancy (by crystals or more reflecting objects) Cybermancy (via computer oracles) Cyclomancy (by wheels) Daphnomancy (by burning laurel wreaths) Demonomancy (by demons) Dice divination (see as well Astragalomancy and Cleromancy) Dominoes divination (see likewise Cleromancy) Empyromancy (by burning) Extispicy (from a exta of sacrificed animate being) Favomancy (by beans; a form of cleromancy) Geomancy (by earth), includes Feng Shui divination Geloscopy (by laughter) Graphology (by handwriting) Gyromancy (by dizziness) Hepatoscopy, or even haruspication or hepatomancy (by liver) Hippomancy (by horses) Hydromancy (by water) I Ching divination (ancient Chinese divination using I Ching): (However, equally performed by the select few diviners using heavily reliance in an incidental I personally Ching manual, this is, effectively, besides a form of Bibliomancy/Stichomancy) Icthyomancy (by fish) Lampadomancy (by light) Lecanomancy (by a basin of a water system) Libanomancy (by incense) Literomancy (by the letter inside a given written language) Lithomancy (by precious stones) Mahjong divination (by Mahjong tiles) Margaritomancy (by bouncing pearls) Metagnomy (by visions) Meteormancy (by meteors) Metoposcopy (by foreheads) Moleosophy (by blemishes) Myomancy (by rodent behaviour) Myrmomancy (by ant behaviour) Nephomancy (by clouds) Nggàm (by spiders or crabs) Numerology (by numbers) Oculomancy (by eyes) Oinomancy (by wine) Omphalomancy (by umbilical chords) Oneiromancy (by dreams) Onomancy (by names) Onychomancy (by fingernails) Oomantia, or even ooscopy or ovomancy (by eggs) Ophiomancy (by snakes) Oracle-books divination (e.g., Chinese: I Ching (Book of Changes), Ling Ch'i Ching (Spiritual Chess Classic), I Lin (Forest of Change), T'ai Hsüan Ching (Canon of the Supreme Mystery); African: Ifá; Western: Sabian Symbols): See also Stichomancy/Bibliomancy Orniscopy, or orinthomancy (by birds of flight) Ouija board divination Palmistry (by palm inspection) Pegomancy (by spring water) Phrenology (by the shape of of these's head) Phyllorhodomancy (by rose flower petal) Plastromancy (by cracks formed by heat on the turtle's plastron) Pyromancy, or pyroscopy (by fire) Rhabdomancy (by rod or stick) Rhapsodomancy (by poetry) Runecasting (by Runes) Scatomancy (by droppings, normally brute) Scapulimancy (by bovine or caprid scapulae) Sciomancy (by spirits) Sideromancy (by burning of straw) Spodomancy (by ash) Stichomancy (by books/by lines; see likewise Bibliomancy) Stolisomancy [http://moneycentral.groups.msn.com/epm2em/oldwivestales.msnw (by clothing)] Taromancy (by specially designed cards: Tarot; see as well Cartomancy) Tasseography (or Tasseomancy) (by tea leaves or by coffee evidence): From either French tasset [cup], which successively derives from either Arabic tassa [cup]. Tephramancy (by bark ashes) Tiromancy (by cheese) Xylomancy (by burning wood)