The Divining Traditions
Divination has most likely been around since the dawn of mankind and can be found in all cultures both ancient and modern. It can be a part of a religion or it can stand alone. It has provided communications, revealed truths, produced judgments, and heralded things to come.
Esoteric Tradition
What is divination?
Divination is the foretelling of future or
other unknown events through intuition or magic or—
is it ? Divination is really the production of
information by unaccountable means for a particular
purpose. This purpose can be either communication between
the various deities or worlds or gathering unknown information
from the past, present or future.
Divination for Prediction
Foretelling or affecting the future is probably
the most common form of divination. The future belongs
to "time" and it exists after the present.
What lies after this point can be the realm of possibility
and probability or contrariwise, can be ruled by
predestination.
Alternatively, there may not be a future to predict
because it might not exist until we observe it. The
question here, is not which of these theories is true
but why is it so important for us to know the future?
Something
to think about
When we try to predict the future, are we:
— predicting a specific individual event?
— predicting the possibilities of the probabilities?
or
— are we facilitating certain events to happen?
How do we make predictions
of the unknown?
Scientifically, predications are made through
the following steps: 1) observation, 2) comparison and
analysis, and 3) formation of a model of 'cause and
effect'. We, more or less, do the same thing every day
through deductive and inductive reasoning. In divination,
we use these same steps to form our predictions. What
makes this process different with esoteric divination
is that, in most cases, the relationship between what
is being observed and what is modeled *seems* to be
illogical and unrelated. It is also theorized that when
we perform these "irrational deductions" we
are utilizing that part of our brain that is
non-deterministic.
The three concepts that seem to be the mainstay within esoteric divination are the conscious and unconscious mind and probability. Numerous theories and speculations have been banded about over these topics in relation to predictions, but since it is an illogical method it cannot be proved by logical means.
The Conscious Mind
It seems that the only common link between unrelated
events is the observer —man. We look for connections
between unrelated events because we want them to exist.
A relationship is knowingly established for some personal
reason that is known only to the observer. Perhaps,
the observer is seeking verification.
The Unconscious Mind
Supposedly, a relationship can exist between two
unlikely events in that unknown part of the mind called
the unconscious. The mind is still an undiscovered territory
and this certainly applies to our unconscious. According
to Sigmund Freud, it was "id" -the repressed
memories, and with Carl Jung it was the "tribal
collective" - the shared memories. In the world
of parapsychology and mysticism, it is the container
that holds our wisdom, intuition, higher self, physic
abilities and our other connections to universe. Whatever
the theory, the unconscious mind seems to influences
our actions and the understanding of our world.
"The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. This is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposite halves." —Carl Jung, Collected Works
Probability
Depending on how you view an occurrence of an
event, you will probably use one of the following words:
chance, random, arbitrary, fate, destiny, predestination,
coincidence, or synchronicity. Whereas, the conscious
and the unconscious are the internal factors, probability
is the external factor in divination. How much power
or significance we assign to this external factor is
determined by the individuals' beliefs. In esotericism,
a popular reason for a relationship to exist between
two unrelated concepts is synchronicity. Swiss psychologist,
Carl Jung and physicist Wolfgang Pauli believed that
apparently unrelated significant events are connected
by "acausality" because of a force that transcends
logic. This means that meaningful coincidences, which
have a hidden purpose, exist and happen beyond the realm
of the logical 'cause and effect'. Synchronicity is
not to be confused with predestination where everything,
in varying degrees, is preordained and determined due
to some "higher power".
Divination for communication
There can exist many levels or worlds within
reality. Divination is used to communicate within and
between these worlds. Some of us work on the premise
of two worlds; the spiritual and the physical world.
Necromancy is one form of divination that communicates
between the living physical world and the spiritual
world of our deceased loved ones. Prayer is another
form of divination where man (physical world) communicates
with his gods (spiritual world). Some believe that this
unique ability of communication outside the normal senses
is a natural inherent gift, while others believe it
is a talent that can be developed.
(Source 'The Agnostic Witch')
