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Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact or interaction with supernatural agencies such as spirits, gods, god-like-beings or the "will of the universe".
Numerology is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in words and names. When numerology is applied to a person's name, it is a form of onomancy. It is often associated with astrology and other divinatory arts.
Fortune telling is the unproven spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination. The difference is that divination is the term used for predictions considered part of a religious ritual, invoking deities or spirits, while the term fortune telling implies a less serious or formal setting, even one of popular culture, where belief in occult workings behind the prediction is less prominent than the concept of suggestion, spiritual or practical advisory or affirmation.
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin supernaturalis, from Latin super- + natura (nature). Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanings since the ancient world, the term "supernatural" emerged in the Middle Ages and did not exist in the ancient world.
Necromancy is the practice of magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events and discover hidden knowledge. Sometimes categorized under death magic, the term is occasionally also used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft as a whole.
Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were introduced into Europe in the 14th century. Practitioners of cartomancy are generally known as cartomancers, card readers, or simply readers.
Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those who practice palmistry are generally called palmists, hand readers, hand analysts, or chirologists.
Pyromancy is the art of divination by means of fire or flames.
Axinomancy is an obscure method of divination using an axe, hatchet, or (rarely) a saw. Most methods involve throwing an axe into the ground, or swinging it into a tree, and interpreting the direction of the handle or the quivering of the blade. A form of this is axiomancy; this is when the quivering of the blade of an axe that has been thrust into a wooden table is interpreted by the diviner.
A caul is a piece of membrane that can cover a newborn's head and face. Birth with a caul is rare, occurring in less than 1 in 80,000 births. The caul is harmless and is immediately removed by the attending parent, physician, or midwife upon birth of the child.
Destiny, sometimes also called fate, is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Aeromancy is divination that is conducted by interpreting atmospheric conditions. Alternate terms include "arologie", "aeriology", and "aërology".
Lithomancy is a form of divination by which the future is told using stones or the reflected light from the stones. The practice is most popular in the British Isles.
Apantomancy is a form of divination using articles at hand or things that present themselves by chance. The diviner works him/herself into a state of trance until an object or event is perceived and a divination worked out. This form of divination was used in ancient Rome by the augurs. There is no set of standard interpretations in apantomancy, with the interpretations of events depending on the background of the seer.
Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Masonic organizations such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, is a key element within the Thelemic orders, and is important to mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.
Practical Kabbalah in historical Judaism, is a branch of the Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual source from qlippoth realms of evil if performed under circumstances that were holy (Q-D-Š) and pure, tumah and taharah. The concern of overstepping Judaism's strong prohibitions of impure magic ensured it remained a minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings include the use of Divine and angelic names for amulets and incantations.
CSS General M. Jeff Thompson was a warship which served in the River Defense Fleet of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Purchased in January 1862, the vessel was operated by the Confederate States Army and named after M. Jeff Thompson, an officer in the Missouri State Guard. She was equipped with a ram and armored as a cottonclad. General M. Jeff Thompson participated in the Battle of Plum Point Bend in May 1862, before being sunk on June 6 in the First Battle of Memphis. Her wreck remained on the floor of the Mississippi River until it was removed by a snagboat in July 1867; it had caused a shipwreck about six months earlier when another vessel struck it.
Capnomancy is divination by examining smoke. This is done by looking at the movements of the smoke after a fire has been made. A thin, straight plume of smoke is thought to indicate a good omen whereas the opposite is thought of large plumes of smoke. If the smoke touches the ground, this is thought to be a sign that immediate action must be taken to avoid catastrophe.
Futomani is a traditional Shinto system of divination. Practitioners attempt to foresee future events by interpreting the pattern of cracks made by heating the shoulder-blade of a stag. The practice is thought to predate the introduction of divination by tortoiseshell, which was imported from China; archaeological evidence suggests it originated as early as the Jōmon period.
African divination is divination practiced by cultures of Africa.
References
- ↑ Pickover, Clifford A. (2001). Dreaming the future: the fantastic story of prediction . Prometheus Books. pp. 70. ISBN 1-57392-895-X.
- ↑ Cunningham, Scott (2003). Divination for beginners: reading the past, present & future. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 203. ISBN 0-7387-0384-2.
- 1 2 Buckland, Raymond (2003). The Fortune-Telling Book: The Encyclopedia of Divination and Soothsaying. Visible Ink Press. p. 16. ISBN 1-57859-147-3.
- ↑ Epstein, Randi Hutter (2011-04-11). Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. ix. ISBN 978-0-393-07990-6.
- ↑ "Amniomancy". The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Harper Element. 2006. p. 21.
- ↑ The Recreative review, or Eccentricities of literature and life, Volume 2. 1822. p. 138.
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