Download or read book Divination written by Patrick Curry and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-13 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Divination is any ritual and its associated tradition performed in order to ask a more-than-human intelligence for guidance. A universal human practice, it has received surprisingly little academic attention. This interdisciplinary collection by leading scholars in the field is dedicated to fascinating new insights into divination and oracles arising from recent work in anthropology, religious studies, history and classical studies. Central importance is given to the practical and theoretical perspectives of diviners as well as scholars of divination; several contributors are both. This book explores philosophical issues such as the nature of divinatory intelligence, the relationship between divinatory and metaphorical truth, the primacy of ontology over epistemology, the importance of reflexivity in scholarly studies of divination, and astrology as the principal Western form of divination. The ethnographic and historical examples range from contemporary Nigeria, urban Cuba, Mayan Guatemala and the shamanic cultures of the circumpolar Arctic to classical Greece and ancient Judea.
Download or read book Ancient Divination and Experience written by Lindsay Gayle Driediger-Murphy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. This volume sets out to re-examine what ancient people - primarily those in ancient Greek and Roman communities, but also Mesopotamian and Chinese cultures - thought they were doing through divination, and what this can tell us about the religions and cultures in which divination was practised. The chapters, authored by a range of established experts and upcoming early-career scholars, engage with four shared questions: What kinds of gods do ancient forms of divination presuppose? What beliefs, anxieties, and hopes did divination seek to address? What were the limits of human 'control' of divination? What kinds of human-divine relationships did divination create/sustain? The volume as a whole seeks to move beyond functionalist approaches to divination in order to identify and elucidate previously understudied aspects of ancient divinatory experience and practice. Special attention is paid to the experiences of non-elites, the perception of divine presence, the ways in which divinatory techniques could surprise their users by yielding unexpected or unwanted results, the difficulties of interpretation with which divinatory experts were thought to contend, and the possibility that divination could not just ease, but also exacerbate, anxiety in practitioners and consultants.
Download or read book Divination and Oracles written by Michael Loewe and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-30 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1981, Divination and Oracles analyses the religious practices of the ancient world as they have been witnessed from Scandinavia to Tibet and Japan, from the third millennium BC until the present day. Divination and the consultation of oracles formed part of the religious practice of the ancient world and are part of the living folklore of the contemporary societies. They are subjects that are of immediate concern to anthropologists and not infrequently to the historians of early science. Written by the specialists in the early history of European and Asian Civilisations, the chapters call on the evidence of the written word of history and the surviving artefacts and inscriptions of archaeology. They describe the different methods that have been adopted and examine the types of question that feature in man’s attempt to seek guidance from other powers. The contributions show how an appeal to the irrational can affect the decision of prophet or statesman, or the way of life of farmer or sailor; and how such an appeal can also stimulate scientific enquiry into the cycles of nature. This book is a must read for scholars and researchers of religion, comparative religion, and ancient history.
Download or read book Pagan Portals Divination written by Melusine Draco and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2018-08-31 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Divination is only a small part of a witch’s stock in trade, and although a basic introduction to the subject can be learned from books, proficiency will only come through vigorous practice. This proficiency comes through the discovery of certain secret matters by a great variety of means, correspondences, signs and occult techniques. Before a witch can perform any of these operations with any degree of success, we need to develop the ‘art of seeing’ and the ability to divine with rod, fingers and birds. Divination is what could be referred to as the practical element of Craft magic, and we don’t even have to be witches to be able to read the portents. But it helps! A companion volume to Pagan Portals: By Spellbook & Candle and Pagan Portals: By Wolfsbane & Mandrake Root, from popular Moon Books author Melusine Draco.
Download or read book African Divination Systems written by Philip M. Peek and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume of finely crafted case studies is also the vehicle for an important general theory of divination.... this is a book overflowing with ideas that will powerfully stimulate further research." -- Journal of Ritual Studies "The essays in this collection provide a very useful overview of both the diversity of African divination systems and of recent approaches to their study." -- Choice This unique collection of essays by an exceptional international group of Africanists demonstrates the central role that divination continues to play throughout Africa in maintaining cultural systems and in guiding human action. African Divination Systems offers insights for current discussions in comparative epistemology, cross-cultural psychology, cognition studies, semiotics, ethnoscience, religious studies, and anthropology.
Download or read book Divination and the Shamanic Story written by Michael Berman and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stories have traditionally been classified as epics, myths, sagas, legends, folk tales, fairy tales, parables or fables. However, the definitions of the terms have a tendency to overlap, making it difficult to classify and categorize material. For this reason, a case can be made for the introduction of a new genre, termed the shamanic story - a story that has either been based on or inspired by a shamanic journey (a numinous experience in non-ordinary reality) or one that contains a number of the elements typical of such a journey. Other characteristics include the way in which the stories all tend to contain embedded texts (often the account of the shamanic journey itself), how the number of actors is clearly limited as one would expect in subjective accounts of what can be regarded as inner journeys, and how the stories tend to be used for healing purposes. Within this new genre, it is proposed that there exists a sub-genre – shamanic stories that deal specifically with divination, and examples are presented and analysed to support this hypothesis. By means of textual analysis it can be shown they all share certain attributes in common, the identification of which forms the conclusion of the work.
Download or read book If Divination Knowledge Power and Performance written by Jacob K. Olupona and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2016-02-29 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This landmark volume compiled by Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun brings readers into the diverse world of Ifá—its discourse, ways of thinking, and artistic expression as manifested throughout the Afro-Atlantic. Firmly rooting Ifá within African religious traditions, the essays consider Ifá and Ifá divination from the perspectives of philosophy, performance studies, and cultural studies. They also examine the sacred context, verbal art, and the interpretation of Ifá texts and philosophy. With essays from the most respected scholars in the field, the book makes a substantial contribution toward understanding Ifá and its role in contemporary Yoruba and diaspora cultures.
Download or read book Tarot and Divination Cards written by Laetitia Barbier and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 1027 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stunning visual history of tarot Used for self-exploration or divination, tarot has, for more than 500 years, been the most popular and accessible of all esoteric tools, looming large in today’s mainstream culture. Why? Because the cards are inexpensive and easy to carry—a perfect traveling companion and, therefore, an invitation to a journey inward and out. Humans are drawn to playing games and feel driven to find meaning in the chaos of paradoxical signs. The vivid iconography of the “Arcanas” speak to us like no other language, moving us to the core, weaving through each card a universal story, a metaphorical pathway of transformation. This 400-page book presents—for the first time—a close look at 500 years of figurative card decks created or used for fortune telling, divinations, and oracle purposes, and explores, one card at the time, their iconographic roots at the crossroads of the medieval imaginarium, Western esoteric wisdom, folklore, and also contemporary art and pop culture. With hundreds of images drawn from more than 100 decks, rarely published and often forgotten in library archives, this book offers the first visual history of tarot.
Download or read book Divination and Prediction in Early China and Ancient Greece written by Lisa Raphals and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-17 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book compares the intellectual and social history and past and present contexts of mantic practices (divination) in Chinese and Greek antiquity.
Download or read book Secrets of Chinese Divination written by Sasha Fenton and published by Red Wheel/Weiser. This book was released on 2018-02-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PBaffled by Chinese astrology? Confused by Feng Shui? Author Sasha Fenton delves into 11 major divination systems based on ancient Chinese practices, providing easily accessible introductions and instructions so the beginner can put these methods to use./PPIncluded are the following:BRULLIChinese astrology/LILIFeng Shui/LILII Ching/LILIChinese hand reading/LILIFace reading/LILILunar oracle/LILIMah Jong reading/LILILo Shu Square/LILIWeighing the bones/LILIYarrow stick divination/LILIFour Pillars of Destiny/LI/UL/P
Download or read book Divination as Science written by Jeanette C. Fincke and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no doubt that Ancient Near Eastern divination is firmly rooted in religion, since all ominous signs were thought to have been sent by gods, and the invocation of omens was embedded in rituals. Nonetheless, the omen compendia display many aspects of a generally scientific nature. In their attempt to note all possible changes to the affected objects and to arrange their observations systematically for reference purposes, the scholars produced texts that resulted in a rather detailed description of the world, be it with respect to geography (the urban or rural environment on earth, or celestial and meteorological phenomena observed in the sky), biology (the outer appearance of the bodies of humans or animals, or the entrails of sheep), sociology (behavior of people) or others. Based on different divination methods and omen compendia, the question discussed during this workshop was whether the scholars had a scientific approach, presented as religion, or whether Ancient Near Eastern divination should be considered purely religious and that the term “science” is inappropriate in this context. The workshop attracted a large audience and lively discussion ensued. The papers presented in this volume reflect the focus of the sessions during the workshop and are likely to generate even more discussion, now that they are published.
Download or read book A Biblical Approach to Feng Shui Divination written by Daniel Tong and published by Armour Publishing Pte Ltd. This book was released on 2006 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Glimpses of Tibetan Divination written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-11-04 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Glimpses of Tibetan Divination: Past and Present is the first book of its kind, in that it contains articles by a group of eminent scholars who approach the subject matter by investigating it through various facets and salient historical figures. Over the centuries, Tibetans developed many practices of prognostication and adapted many others from neighboring cultures and religions. In this way, Tibetan divination evolved into a vast field of ritual expertise that has been largely neglected in Tibetan Studies. The Tibetan repertoire of divinatory techniques is rich and immensely varied. Accordingly, the specimen of practices discussed in this volume—many of which remain in use today—merely serve as examples that offer glimpses of divination in Tibet. Contributors are Per Kværne, Brandon Dotson, Ai Nishida, Dan Martin, Petra Maurer, Charles Ramble, Donatella Rossi, Rolf Scheuermann, Alexander Smith, and Agata Bareja-Starzynska.
Download or read book Magic and Divination at the Courts of Burgundy and France written by Jan Veenstra and published by BRILL. This book was released on 1997-12-01 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The magicians and astrologers who frequented the courts of Burgundy and France during the reign of Charles VI to render their dubious services to king and nobles, induced friar Laurens Pignon OP to write a treatise called Contre les devineurs (1411) which he dedicated to John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy. This book presents a critical edition of the treatise and tries to reconstruct its historical and intellectual context by examining the role of magic and astrology at court. By means of theological and philosophical arguments which he derives from Aquinas, Pignon demonstrates the dangers and deficiencies of divination. In three appendices editions of supplementary documents are supplied: a confession of a court-magician, two divinatory texts and a fictional prognostication on the house of Burgundy.
Download or read book Witchcraft Divination and Magic written by Charles Matthew Newton White and published by . This book was released on 1947 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Chambers s Encyclopaedia written by and published by . This book was released on 1889 with total page 866 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
