Download or read book Oracle Bones Divination written by Kostas Dervenis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first complete guide to this ancient Greek form of divination • Explains how to cast and interpret this oracle using either coins or traditional animal bones • Reveals how the use of oracle bones predates the I Ching • Includes the complete matrix of oracle interpretations reconstructed by the author from stanzas in ancient Greek temples In ancient Greece methods of foretelling the future were widespread, whether they were official oracles of the gods or simple dice games to divine one’s luck. One of the most popular and accessible ways of determining one’s fate and fortune was through the ritual casting of animal bones, similar to the casting of coins or yarrow stalks with the Chinese I Ching. Kostas Dervenis explains how to interpret the casting of the oracle bones--either traditional sheep anklebones or coins--to answer your questions on love, health, wealth, and the future. Using the original stanzas discovered in ancient Greek temples in Greece and Turkey, the author reconstructs the complete matrix of interpretation for each possible casting of the bones. He explores how this practice traces back to the Golden Age of the Neolithic period in Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria--predating the I Ching--and how it is still practiced today as the popular folk game of “knucklebones.” Providing the first complete guide to this ancient practice, Dervenis allows anyone to cast the bones for guidance, inspiration, and insight into their fate.
Download or read book The Oracle Bone Inscriptions from Huayuanzhuang East written by Adam C. Schwartz and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2019-11-18 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1899 more than 73,000 pieces of inscribed divination shell and bone have been found inside the moated enclosure of the Anyang-core at the former capital of the late Shang state. Nearly all of these divinations were done on behalf of the Shang kingsand has led to the apt characterization that oracle bone inscriptions describe their motivations, experiences, and priorities. There are, however, much smaller sets of divination accounts that were done on behalf of members of the Shang elite other than the king.First noticed in the early 1930's, grouped and periodized shortly thereafter, oracle bone inscriptions produced explicitly by or on behalf of "royal familygroups" reveal information about key aspects of daily life in Shang societythat are barely even mentioned in Western scholarship. The newly published Huayuanzhuang East Oracle Bone inscriptions are a spectacular addition to the corpus of texts from Anyang: hundreds of intact or largely intact turtle shells and bovine scapulae densely inscribed with records of the divinations in which they were used. They were produced on the behalf of a mature prince of the royal family whose parents, both alive and still very much active, almost certainly were the twenty-first Shang king Wu Ding (r. c. 1200 B.C.) and his consort Lady Hao (fu Hao). The Huayuanzhuang East corpus is an unusually homogeneous set of more than two thousand five hundred divination records, produced over a short period of time on behalf of a prince of the royal family. There are typically multiple records of divinations regarding the same or similar topics that can be synchronized together, which not only allows for remarkable access into the esoteric world of divination practice, but also produce micro-reconstructions of what is essentially East Asia's earliest and most complete "day and month planner." Because these texts are unusually linguistically transparent and well preserved, homogeneous in orthography and content, and published to an unprecedentedly high standard, they are also ideal material for learning to read and interpret early epigraphic texts. The Huayuanzhuang East oracle bone inscriptions are a tremendously important Shang archive of "material documents" that were produced by a previously unknown divination and scribal organization. They expose us to an entirely fresh set of perspectives and preoccupationscentering ona member of the royal family at the commencement of China's historical period. The completely annotated English translation of the inscriptions is the first of its kind, and is a vibrant new source of Shang history that can be accessedto rewrite and supplement what we know about early Chinese civilization and life in the ancient world. Before the discerning reader are the motives, preoccupations, and experiences of a late Shang prince working simultaneously in service both for his Majesty, his parents, and hisown family.
Download or read book Sources of Shang History written by David N. Keightley and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1985 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Divination with Osteomancy written by Monique Joiner Siedlak and published by Oshun Publications, LLC. This book was released on 2021-11-11 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have you always had an interest in the ancient practice of bone throwing, but you just didn’t know how to start learning? Perhaps all you’ve needed is an all-around guide that will introduce you to the world of bone throwing or bone casting! Bone reading is an ancient method of divination practiced throughout the world by various cultures. Not only will this book teach you how to practice this ancient method and how to perform bone readings, but it will also help you to connect yourself to your ancestors! Inside this book, you’ll find: The history of bone-throwing practices; What is bone-throwing and why is it beneficial; How to connect to the bones and do readings; How to bless and cleanse your bones, And so much more! Learn how to perform bone reading easily by using the guidance and tools described in this book! Divination with Osteomancy: A Beginner’s Guide Throwing the Bones teaches you the ancient art of bone throwing or bone casting and it gives you all the necessary tools to perform the act yourself successfully! If you’ve always wanted to take a deep dive into the world of divination or if you’ve been looking for an all-around guide – this book is a perfect fit for you! Look no further than this book and learn everything you ever wanted to know about bone-throwing! So, what are you waiting for?
Download or read book The Oracle of the Bones Book With Casting Bones and Casting Map Cloth written by Claire O'Neil and published by Thomas Dunne Books. This book was released on 1994-07-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exciting new oracle system based on the ancient African and Caribbean tradition of bone-casting. This unique pack contains everything needed to become an adept bone-caster in very little time, including four ceramic bones, a lay diagram--onto which the bones are cast--and an illustrated book with complete instructions and interpretations.
Download or read book Oracle Bones written by Peter Hessler and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-03-17 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China's transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people. In a narrative that gracefully moves between the ancient and the present, the East and the West, Hessler captures the soul of a country that is undergoing a momentous change before our eyes.
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 The Oracle of the Bones written by Claire McCool and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 Throwing the Bones written by catherine yronwode and published by . This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ancient Greek Divination written by Sarah Iles Johnston and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-04-22 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first English-language survey of ancient Greek divinatorymethods, Ancient Greek Divination offers a broad yetdetailed treatment of the earliest attempts by ancient Greeks toseek the counsel of the gods. Offers in-depth discussions of oracles, wandering diviners,do-it-yourself methods of foretelling the future, magicaldivinatory techniques, and much more Illustrates how the study of divination illuminates thementalities of ancient Greek religions and societies
Download or read book The Shape of the Turtle written by Sarah Allan and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1991-02-21 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many Chinese philosophic concepts derive from an ancient cosmology. This work is the first reconstructions of the mythic thought of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1700- 1100 B.C.) which laid the foundation for later Chinese patterns of thought. Allan regards the myth, cosmology, divination, sacrificial ritual, and art of the Shang as different manifestations of a common religious system and each is examined in turn, building up a coherent and consistent picture. Although primarily concerned with the Shang, this work also describes the manner in which Shang thought was transformed in the later textual tradition.
Download or read book To Become a God written by Michael J. Puett and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-10-26 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evidence from Shang oracle bones to memorials submitted to Western Han emperors attests to a long-lasting debate in early China over the proper relationship between humans and gods. One pole of the debate saw the human and divine realms as separate and agonistic and encouraged divination to determine the will of the gods and sacrifices to appease and influence them. The opposite pole saw the two realms as related and claimed that humans could achieve divinity and thus control the cosmos. This wide-ranging book reconstructs this debate and places within their contemporary contexts the rival claims concerning the nature of the cosmos and the spirits, the proper demarcation between the human and the divine realms, and the types of power that humans and spirits can exercise. It is often claimed that the worldview of early China was unproblematically monistic and that hence China had avoided the tensions between gods and humans found in the West. By treating the issues of cosmology, sacrifice, and self-divinization in a historical and comparative framework that attends to the contemporary significance of specific arguments, Michael J. Puett shows that the basic cosmological assumptions of ancient China were the subject of far more debate than is generally thought.
Download or read book The Ancestral Landscape written by David N. Keightley and published by Institute of East Asian Studies University of California - B. This book was released on 2000 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ETHS graduate of 1949 brings ancient China to life with careful scholarship, producing a brilliant synthesis of Shang civilization.
Download or read book Animals Through Chinese History written by Roel Sterckx and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This innovative collection opens a door into the rich history of animals in China. This title is also available as Open Access.
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 The Greatest Invention written by Silvia Ferrara and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this exhilarating celebration of human ingenuity and perseverance—published all around the world—a trailblazing Italian scholar sifts through our cultural and social behavior in search of the origins of our greatest invention: writing. The L where a tabletop meets the legs, the T between double doors, the D of an armchair’s oval backrest—all around us is an alphabet in things. But how did these shapes make it onto the page, never mind form complex structures such as this sentence? In The Greatest Invention, Silvia Ferrara takes a profound look at how—and how many times—human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language, traveling back and forth in time and all across the globe to Mesopotamia, Crete, China, Egypt, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond. With Ferrara as our guide, we examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts, including famous cases like the Phaistos Disk and the Voynich Manuscript; we touch the knotted, colored strings of the Inca quipu; we study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions; we watch in awe as Sequoyah single-handedly invents a script for the Cherokee language; and we venture to the cutting edge of decipherment, in which high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer’s eye. A code-cracking tour around the globe, The Greatest Invention chronicles a previously uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and a faint, fleeting glimpse of writing’s future.
