Lesson 5 - Weird and Wonderful
This month we will be looking at some of the weird and wonderul Divination methods that are out there! We will be looking at 5 different types, most of which I have never heard of previously! Enjoy!
Cromniomancy
Cromniomancy, the ancient art of fortune telling using onions. However, the humble onion has been important in both culinary and spiritual terms for many cultures for thousands of years.It was a most holy vegetable to the ancient Egyptians, who thought its shape to be sacred. Onions appear frequently in Egyptian art, where there are many examples to be seen of men holding onions while they took important oaths. And, of course, the onion played a part in the most Egyptian of rituals, the embalming and mummification of the dead.
The Romans saw beauty and natural order in the concentric rings to be seen inside the onion: for them it represented the eternity of the universe. Indeed onions have always been recognised for their antispectic and purifying qualities: we all know that garlic (a close relative) can be used to ward off evil demons and vampires! And so, it is no wonder that onions have taken on a spiritual meaning over the centuries and been used for divination from Europe across to Asia.
The most common method of fortune telling using onions, involves observing their sprouting behaviour. Traditionally, a pair of onions might be inscribed with a 'Yes' or 'No', left on an altar or special place and a question asked. Whichever onion sprouted first would give you your answer.
In certain Germanic countries, it has even become a tradition for young women to write the names of potential suitors on a number of onions: the one sprouting first would, of course, indicate their true love!
Ornithomancy
Man has held no single creature in greater awe than the bird. Throughout history, man has been insanely jealous of our feathered friend's ability to fly, to go wherever it desires, whenever it wishes. The bird symbolises man-kind's struggle to free himself from the shackles of his mundane day-to-day existence.Birds had a special significance to the Greek and Roman civilisations, who both developed systems of divination, and indeed, worship, using them.
Today we know that birds are aware of forthcoming changes in the weather and disturbances in the Earth's natural order. And, although scientists have yet to fully agree on exactly how birds navigate, we know that they do so using some form of heightened sense, perhaps magnetic, which tunes them into the environment.
According to the ancient records, the Greek philosopher Anaximander apparently predicted an earthquake sometime in the 6th century BC by observing the behaviour of birds. No one can be sure exactly what he saw, but we do know that birds will try to avoid or fly away from impending disasters.
The Romans developed a whole part of their religious system based upon the study of birds. Priests called 'augurs' would observe and interpret the behaviour of all animals, and birds in particular. They watched flight patterns, interpreting movement from the right as good and the left as bad.
They also paid attention to bird calls, with each call having a significance of its own. The more frequent or intense the call, the sooner or greater the impending event.
Hippomancy
With the possible exception of the dog, man's greatest ally in the animal kingdom has to be the horse. Humans have used horses to plough fields, transport goods and carry armies.Horses appear frequently in mythology, sometimes carrying the Gods across the night sky. Just think for a moment of the number of horses you know from ancient stories, such as Pegasus, the winged horse; the Centaur, half-man half-horse, the Trojan horse; and the mysterious and magical unicorn. The horse is truly a noble and enigmatic creature and one who seems to have great wisdom to impart to his master. As a result, man has found many ways to predict the future by observing and interpreting their behaviour.
Ancient Persian folklore tells us that kings would be chosen by horses. A group of victorious generals would mount their steeds at dawn and wait for the first neigh. Whichever horse made the first noise would determine the choice of new leader.
Medieval Germans kept their horses on holy ground in or around their churches. When, from time to time, they were preparing themselves to attack a foe or ride into battle, they would observe which of the horse's feet crossed the threshold first: the left foot was seen as a bad omen and they would call the battle off.
Phrenology
An 18th century Viennese doctor by the name of Franz Joseph Gall was the pioneer of this most unusual science. Have you ever seen one of those white china busts with what looks like a map drawn on the scalp? This is a 'phrenology bust' and it is used by a phrenologist to indicate the areas of the brain that process or control the different parts of our mind.Gall's argument was this: The brain is the organ of the mind. The mind is not a single thing but a collection of conscious and subconscious processes, each of which relate to a facet of human existence, behaviour and nature. Any organ in the body responds to proper use, by growing: muscles, for example, develop with exercise. Likewise, if a certain part of our body is well proportioned, we might have the tendency to excel at any activities employing that part.
Thus, he argued that the various parts if our brain containing the components of our mind could be identified and measured, giving a way to determine an individual's characteristics and attributes. And so, he developed a system of feeling and recording the bumps on the heads of his patients, which gained great favour in the early 19th century. Like so many great theories it was soon ridiculed and marginalized, though there are still practioners of the art around today, often giving bump readings as entertainment.
In actual fact, Gall's theories were not that crazy at all, and the modern understanding of the way the mind and brain work together tend to support his concept, although it does seem that his map (by modern day standards) was rather inaccurate.
Click here to see a picture of a Phrenology bust.
Geomancy
Geomancy is the name given to the use of forces from Mother Earth, for the purposes of prediction. This form of fortune telling has many faces in many cultures. In the early 20th century, Alfred Watkins, a prominent British photographer, published a book, which revealed a network of ancient pathways that stretched across the British Isles. He had begun to notice that churches, monuments and other special places and structures all seemed to be located along discernible lines on the map. He call them 'Ley-lines', and much research since then has shown further evidence of their existence.Most of us are familiar with the concept of dowsing - using a stick or rods to 'find water'. In fact, dowsers can also detect these lines of energy and distruptions and anomalies. It is known that dowsers were used by ancient builders to help locate the best sites on which to construct churches. There are strong allusions to this even today in the mysterious rituals of freemasonry.
Feng Shui, which means 'wind and water', is most better known as a technique for arranging your home and the room within it to obtain the best ch'i or energy. In fact, it is a far more complex science sharing much in background and practice with dowsing, the lines in Feng Shui being shown as 'Lung-Mei' or 'dragon lines'.
These invisible forces can also be used to make predictions. Many cultures would scatter soil or small pebbles onto sacred ground and observe the patterns they made.
The End
I hope you enjoyed taking a look at some of the weird and wonderful methods in the world!Please proceed to your assignment (no extra credit this month) which is due on January 25. You also need to complete your exam in order to pass the class, due January 25 also! Good luck!