Supernatural Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! AdvancedSpecial charactersHelpHeadingLevel 2Level 3Level 4Level 5FormatInsertLatinLatin extendedIPASymbolsGreekGreek extendedCyrillicArabicArabic extendedHebrewBanglaTamilTeluguSinhalaDevanagariGujaratiThaiLaoKhmerCanadian AboriginalRunesÁáÀàÂâÄäÃãǍǎĀāĂ㥹ÅåĆćĈĉÇçČčĊċĐđĎďÉéÈèÊêËëĚěĒēĔĕĖėĘęĜĝĢģĞğĠġĤĥĦħÍíÌìÎîÏïĨĩǏǐĪīĬĭİıĮįĴĵĶķĹĺĻļĽľŁłŃńÑñŅņŇňÓóÒòÔôÖöÕõǑǒŌōŎŏǪǫŐőŔŕŖŗŘřŚśŜŝŞşŠšȘșȚțŤťÚúÙùÛûÜüŨũŮůǓǔŪūǖǘǚǜŬŭŲųŰűŴŵÝýŶŷŸÿȲȳŹźŽžŻżÆæǢǣØøŒœßÐðÞþƏəFormattingLinksHeadingsListsFilesDiscussionReferencesDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getItalic''Italic text''Italic textBold'''Bold text'''Bold textBold & italic'''''Bold & italic text'''''Bold & italic textDescriptionWhat you typeWhat you getReferencePage text.<ref>[https://www.example.org/ Link text], additional text.</ref>Page text.[1]Named referencePage text.<ref name="test">[https://www.example.org/ Link text]</ref>Page text.[2]Additional use of the same referencePage text.<ref name="test" />Page text.[2]Display references<references />↑ Link text, additional text.↑ Link text===Divination=== {{main|Divination}} Divination (from Latin ''divinare'' "to foresee, to be inspired by a god",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Divinatio.html|title=LacusCurtius • Greek and Roman Divination (Smith's Dictionary, 1875)|work=uchicago.edu}}</ref> related to ''divinus'', [[divinity|divine]]) is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an [[occult]]ic, standardized process or ritual.<ref>Peek, P.M. ''African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing.'' page 2. Indiana University Press. 1991.</ref> Used in various forms throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or [[omen]]s, or through alleged contact with a supernatural agency.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Silva|first=Sónia|year=2016|title=Object and Objectivity in Divination|journal=Material Religion|volume=12|issue=4|pages=507–509|doi=10.1080/17432200.2016.1227638|s2cid=73665747|issn=1743-2200|url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/download/hc:19124/CONTENT/object-and-objectivity-in-divination.pdf/}}</ref> Divination can be seen as a systematic method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed, random facets of existence such that they provide insight into a problem at hand. If a distinction is to be made between divination and [[fortune-telling]], divination has a more formal or ritualistic element and often contains a more social character, usually in a [[religion|religious]] context, as seen in [[traditional African medicine]]. Fortune-telling, on the other hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and religion. Divination is dismissed by the [[scientific community]] and skeptics as being [[superstition]].<ref>Yau, Julianna. (2002). ''Witchcraft and Magic''. In [[Michael Shermer]]. ''The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience''. ABC-CLIO. pp. 278–282. {{ISBN|1-57607-654-7}}</ref><ref>Regal, Brian. (2009). ''Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia''. Greenwood. p. 55. {{ISBN|978-0-313-35507-3}}</ref> In the 2nd century, [[Lucian]] devoted a witty essay to the career of a [[charlatan]], "[[Alexander of Abonoteichus|Alexander the false prophet]]", trained by "one of those who advertise enchantments, miraculous incantations, charms for your love-affairs, visitations for your enemies, disclosures of buried treasure, and successions to estates".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm|title=Lucian of Samosata : Alexander the False Prophet|work=tertullian.org|access-date=2019-01-19|archive-date=2017-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109160831/http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page