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1: the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers. 2: unusual insight : intuitive perception Divination is often misrepresented as fortune telling. There is a distinct difference between them. Divination is a tool used to offer insight that something could happen IF one continued on their current path. With divination one always has the choice to alter their path, thereby, changing the outcome. In fortunetelling one is given to believe that the predicted outcome is fate...that you have no choice it is predestined to happen. The art of divination has fascinated people from antiquity to present day. In ancient Celtic sources it is recorded that the fate of many a venture depended upon divination by Druids. Druids were schooled in many different areas of knowledge. Within the Druid community there were three types of Druid. The first being those who were the administrators, the officiators, the judges and the ritualists. The second were the Votis. These Druids were taught the proficiencies to be diviners, investigators, healers and scientists. The last were the Bards. The bards were the keepers of history and lore. They were the musicians and poets, as well as being proficient in arts and crafts. Most of the early divinatory readings dealt with the present more often than the future. When Druids predicted outcomes, they were basing their predictions on the best available knowledge, personal intuition, and most appropriate behavior to be done. They drew upon their teaching in the laws of propability and patterns of nature in order to prognasticat about the outcome of actions (such as battles) and the weather. They were knowledgeable of astrology, astronomy, the actions of animals and plants to changes, Here, in our time, we are using meteorolgy with the aid of satellites to predict our weather. Today we have come a long way in knowing what our weather will be tomorrow....or have we? Countless methods have been devised by witches, gypsies, shamans, druids, priests and priestesses, medicine men and biblical prophets. There are as many different types of divination as there are "grains of sand" on the shore...just look here and see for yourself....http://www.enlightened-pathways.com/typesofdiv.html. Despite all these types the most famous is the Tarot. THE TAROT The earliest known "book" of Tarot cards still in existence are those from 1840-42, of which seventeen remain. The first entire deck still in existence was painted by the Italian Bonifacio Bembo for the Duke of Milan. Many theories exist about the origins of the Tarot. During different periods of history, occult (the word means "hidden") studies were either freely available to all or deeply secret, depending upon the prevailing authorities of the culture's attitude toward occult knowledge. One theory is that in the great library of Alexandria in Egypt, whose female librarian Hypatia was world-renowned for her wisdom and learning, there existed scrolls (which was how books were made in those days) containing all of the wisdom of the ancient world. One of these "books" was supposedly based on the legendary Book of Thoth, derived from the mystery schools of Egypt. The allegorical illustrations on the Tarot cards are said to contain these secret teachings, which in the Major Arcana represent a course in personal development. The esoteric teachings were hidden in the seemingly innocent pictures. Gypsies are said to have carried the cards to Europe and "gypsy" is considered a corrupt form of "Egyptian." Considered by the Church to be "the devil's picture book", the cards were quickly condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical. Just to possess them was a dangerous act. The use of playing cards originated in China, and it seems coincidental that the Tarot game began to appear in Italy after the return of Marco Polo from China in the late 13th Century. The designs on the earliest known Trump cards related to Roman myths and Astrology, thus supporting the theory of Italian origins. The tarot deck is comprised of 78 cards: 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana. The 22 major arcana cards are supposed to depict a journey through one's life, which originates with the Fool card and ends with a card called The World. Sources for this article: The Wicca Spellbook by Gerina Dunwich Druid Magic - The Practice of Celtic Wisdom by Maya Magee Sutton, Ph.d and Nicholas R. Mann Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig Advanced Celtic Shamanism by D. J. Conway http://www3.sympatico.ca/terrir/tarothistory.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot http://www.tarot-decks.com/tarotarticle.htm http://ct.essortment.com/historyoftar_rrai.htm http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tarot-card-meanings.html |