Divination is the art of predicting the future, and is practiced by many psychics all over the world. Since the future is completely unknown, man has always been intrigued by it, and in his pursuit of the knowledge of the future, used many different methods. The records of these different methods of divination can be found in various cultures all through their history. The word divination itself means the power of foresight related to the Gods or the divine.
History
The first forms of divination were recorded in ancient Greece, where the leaders consulted psychics known as oracles. It was believed that the oracles could talk to God and find out about the future. The Greeks took the advice of the oracles very seriously and did not take any major decision without their help.
Apart from the Greeks, Druids also used divination to a large extent. They used crystal balls to foretell the future and sometimes even used runes. Even the Norse people, including the God fearing Vikings, used runes for various divination séances. However, the Nordic people usually sought help from their elders – who they believe could talk to the Gods.
In Egypt, divination was performed using the moon cycle and the position of the stars. Greeks too believed in zodiacs, based on the position of astral bodies at the time of a person’s birth. Studying these positions, they predicted the future of the person concerned.
Common Methods of Divination
There are several types of divination that have become extremely popular over the years. Astrology is one of the most used methods of divination. Zodiac signs are used to categorize people into twelve different categories. These categories correspond to the position of various celestial bodies at the time of the person’s birth. Another method of divination is cartomancy in which cards are used to predict the future. Tarot reading is one of the most common practices in cartomancy.
Clairvoyance and clairaudience are divinatory methods which need to be honed by psychics. These are used by parapsychologists and are a form of extrasensory perception. Clairvoyance is the ability to see certain events in the future and clairaudience is the ability to hear sounds which are not apparent to others.
Crystallomancy is a form of divination in which the psychic gazes through crystals to see a person’s future. Another method is dowsing, and this is performed using special instruments known as dowsing or divining rods. Dowsing is also performed with the help of a pendulum or a forked stick. Dowsing is often used to locate precious metals in mining areas as well.
Other forms of divination include numerology, which is the interpretation of alphabets, numbers and dates in numerical forms; occulomancy, in which the psychic tries to see a person’s future through the person’s eyes; palmistry, in which the structure, shape and the lines of the hand are studied to form interpretations and predict the future.
