Humanity’s constant urge to find answers to the many questions it could not answer has meant that, since the very beginning, people have tried to learn the future with the help of various methods and tools.
Popular divination methods such as palmistry, cartomancy, numerology and astrology are just a drop in the ocean of ways to foretell the future used by our ancestors in antiquity and the Middle Ages.
In Europe alone around 125 divination methods are known. Searching for the roots of divination is a hopeless task, as they lie hidden in the darkness of prehistory, about which we know little.
The oldest sources lead us to Mesopotamia around 2600 BC. It was then that the soothsayers of King Sargon of Akkad compiled a collection of prophecies by observing the livers of slaughtered sacrificial animals. A few centuries later, in the time of the Hammurabi dynasty (2230–1930 BC), a clay model of a liver was made, inscribed with texts interpreting the omens in Old Babylonian script.
The Sumerians and Babylonians were the first to make divination a state institution. A separate caste arose there – the Chaldeans – who devoted themselves exclusively to predicting future events for public and political purposes.
In Babylon the future was also foretold from the flight of birds, weather phenomena, the appearance of stones and chance events. The Chaldeans, for example, paid great attention to dreams and were experts in dream interpretation. Today you can even buy a Chaldean dream book.
At a certain point the various arts of foretelling the future were systematised. The Roman scholar Varro (116–27 BC) divided divination methods according to the elements – Fire, Water, Air and Earth. The scholarly names for these forms are:
– pyromancy (divination by fire)
– hydromancy (divination by water)
– aeromancy (divination by air)
– geomancy (divination by earth)
Cicero, in turn, divided these four forms into two classes: natural and artificial (learned) divination. The first required mediumistic talent, while almost anyone could learn the second. It is worth knowing that the art of prophecy enjoyed far greater popularity and respect then than it does now.
The seer played a significant role in public life, advising ordinary people and kings alike. At times he even acted as a physician.
In ancient Rome, the study of the future was the business of specialists with the status of public officials – the augurs. They divined from the entrails of sacrificial animals, the flight of birds, observations of the weather and so on.
Later came astrology, cartomancy, numerology, palmistry and other methods that are well known today and often used to read the future.
First published (Polish original): 5 September 2011. Written by astrologers and esoteric specialists working with our editorial team; edited and translated for HOROSCOP.SPACE. © All rights reserved.
