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    Paranormal – Divination



    1. Delphi Oracle (Ancient Greece): Located on Mount Parnassus, the Oracle, often personified as Pythia, was where priests interpreted the god Apollos’ prophecies by transcribing the incoherent mutterings of the designated Pythia into hexameter verse.
    2. Oracle Bones (Ancient China): During the Shang Dynasty, royal priests inscribed questions on turtle shells or cattle bone, then applied intense heat until the bone or shell cracked, and interpreted these cracks as divine answers to their inquiries.
    3. Haruspicy (Etruscan civilization): This form of divination involved examining the organs, specifically the liver, of sacrificed animals, typically sheep or chicken, to foretell future events.
    4. Augury (Roman Civilization): Roman religious officials named Augures interpreted signs from the gods based on the flight patterns and calls of birds.
    5. Casting Lots (Biblical Times): In the Jewish and Christian traditions, this form of divination involved throwing sticks, coins, or bones and interpreting the results to gain insight into God’s will. A known example is when the apostles cast lots to replace Judas Iscariot after his death.
    6. Nebel (Ancient Arabic): This form of divination involved throwing arrows. Often used for decisions or settling disputes, it was later abolished in the Islamic era due to its idolatrous implications.
    7. Scrying (Multiple Cultures): Popular in many cultures, scrying involves producing prophetic visions by gazing into a reflective or translucent medium such as a crystal ball, a pool of water, or a mirror.
    8. Runes (Ancient Germanic): In this tradition, symbols were carved on sticks or stones, then tossed on a white cloth. The outcome, whether upright or reversed, and the relationships of the runes were then interpreted.
    9. I Ching (China): Notable in Chinese culture, this entails casting yarrow stalks or coins to form hexagrams, which were then looked up in the I Ching text for insight and guidance.
    10. Tea Leaf Reading / Tasseography (Europe, Asia): After drinking tea from a cup without a tea strainer, the pattern of the remaining tea leaves is interpreted to foretell future events.