What Is An Oracle? An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination. Description The word oracle comes from the Latin verb ōrāre, “to speak” and properly refers to the priest...
African Divination African divination is divination practiced by cultures of Africa. Divination is an attempt to form, and possess, an understanding of reality in the present and additionally, to predict events and reality of a future time. Cultures of Africa to the year circa C.E. 1991 were still performing and using divination, both within the urban...
Witchcraft And Divination In The Hebrew Bible Various forms of witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible are mentioned in a generally disapproving tone. The Masoretic Text of the Torah forbids: nahash; as a noun, nahash translates as snake, and as a verb it literally translates as hissing. The verb form can be extended to mean whispering. onan; onan literally translates as clouds, possibly referring to nephomancy....
Divination Divination (from Latin divinare “to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy “, related to divinus, divine), or “to be inspired by a god”, is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout history, diviners ascertain...
What Is A Prophecy? A prophecy is a message that is claimed by a prophet to have been communicated to them by a god. Such messages typically involve inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of divine will concerning the prophet’s social world and events to come (compare divine knowledge). All known ancient...
What Is Entheogen? An entheogen is a class of psychoactive substances that induce any type of spiritual experience aimed at development or sacred use. The term entheogen is often chosen to contrast recreational use of the same drugs. The religious, shamanic, or spiritual significance of entheogens is well established in anthropological and modern contexts; entheogens have traditionally...
What Is A Trance? Trance is an abnormal state of wakefulness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the directions of the person (if any) who has induced...
Magic (supernatural) Magic is a category in Western culture into which have been placed various beliefs and practices considered separate from both religion and science. Historically, the term often had pejorative connotations, with things labelled magical perceived as being primitive, foreign, and Other. The concept has been adopted by scholars in the study of religion and the social sciences, who have...