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Write up the results of your research into divinatory methods in a short essay. Include an example of how you might apply your chosen divinatory method in counseling, or discuss its role in ritual. If you regularly use modern or non-Hellenic divinatory methods, explain how you integrate them into Hellenic practice. If you do not intend to perform divination as part of your clergy work in Hellenion, explain how your worldview or ethics excludes it.

Divination

"For there are two methods of divining; one dependent on art, the other on nature." (Cicero, 146) The first type, depending on art, consists of a person actively petitioning for the answer to a question. Examples include tarot readings and astrology. Natural divination, on the other hand, consists of observing signs to realize the will of the Immortals. Examples include dream interpretation, oracles and augury. "I do not know on what principle the omens which we draw from the signs furnished to us by the winds and storms proceed; but I do know, and am certain of, and thankful for their power, and the results which flow from it." (Cicero, 148)

Dream Interpretation is the examination of a dream to divine the will of the Immortals. Like any other divination method, the major criteria for evaluating the value of dream interpretation should be its accuracy and, while I believe dream interpretation is a valid form of divination, I have never been very good at it. This is due to the difference in meanings of the symbols from one person to another and due to the source of dreams not always being one of the Immortals, they also come from other mortals and other spirits. Therefore, I'll continue to practice in an attempt to get better but I currently won't be using it in rituals or counseling.

Oracles are the reading of signs given in the sounds of the wind, the location of lightening strikes or the idle comments of a person, usually while they are in a state of ecstasy. While I believe this may have happened to me before (such as answering a question accurately when I didn't consciously know the answer), this is not something that is under the control of mortals and cannot be actively practiced. What I can, and will, do is try to remain faithful to my religious beliefs and learn more of the Immortals so that I am available for omens. ("In Greek, prophetes literally means 'a person who speaks for someone else,' and that someone else is usually a god.", Luck, 230)

Augury was originally the reading of signs by observing the flight and songs of birds. I have some material telling how this is accomplished but I don't know the original source of this material and I haven't been able to find any other. I believe this is the most important form of natural divination for modern use and I will continue to research this subject so I can use it in rituals.

Haruspicina is the reading of signs in the entrails of sacrificial victims. I have no idea how to even start on this and it is very controversial in modern times. I won't be using or researching this subject any further.

The natural forms of Geomancy (casting dirt onto the earth), Aeromancy (casting sand into the air), Pyromancy (reading signs in fire), Libanomancy (reading signs in incense smoke), Hydromancy (divination by water) and Scrying (crystal gazing) all rely on seeing symbols in random patterns. These forms, like dream interpretation, are types of divination that I am not skilled at so I won't currently be using them for rituals but I'll continue to practice in the hope of getting better. There is an art form of Geomancy which I will continue to practice but I'm not currently skilled enough to use it in rituals. "In truth, prognostics of calamity, like other auspices, and omens, and tokens, do not produce causes why anything should happen but merely give notice of what will happen unless you provide against it." (Cicero, 158)

"Chiromancy, or palmistry, is mentioned in the second century A.D. by Pollux, but apparently it was practiced in the Far East at least two thousand years before that." (Luck, 256) Strictly speaking, Palmistry is not divination since it doesn't accurately tell the future. It does, however, tell a great deal about the personality and is sometimes useful when used with other types of divination. I have learned a little of this, and in the future hope to learn more, but I don't currently see it being useful in ritual.

"Tarot cards, as popular today as they were in the Middle Ages, were possibly created in Egypt as part of the Cabalistic tradition." (Luck, 256) Tarot cards are the form that I find most useful and most versatile. They can be used to resolve problems by examining one's subconscious or for communications with spirits and Immortals. Like spoken languages, the choice of deck and layout should be made by the symbolism that are meaningful to the reader. Most believe that the Immortals understand languages other than the ones spoken in the Hellenistic world (Greek, Egyptian, Latin, etc.) and, by the same reasoning, the Immortals understand different symbolic languages (i.e. different Tarot decks). Currently, I will mostly use Tarot readings in counseling rather than ritual, but that may change in the future.

Conclusion

To summarize, I will continue to research and practice various forms of divination to learn what is effective and what is not. The primary form that I will use during rituals (i.e. after a sacrifice to determine if it is accepted) will be Augury and the primary form I'll use during counseling on religious matters (i.e. determine subconscious issues and the will of the Immortals) will be Tarot cards.

I was unable to find much evidence of the use of astrology before the second century of the common era. (There is a lot of evidence that it was used but not how.) What evidence there is, shows that astrology was mostly used to determine the fate of whole communities or cultures (rather than individuals). Although there is a lot of agreement in the modern interpretation of personality using the natal horoscope, there is a lot of disagreement on the methods of using astrology to foretell the future. Like other forms, I will continue to study astrology but I don't currently plan to use it in counseling or ritual.

Works Cited

Theoroi Hellenionou.
Approved
05-Jan-04.