with the previous video necromancy peeking interest surrounding the different kinds of magic
and how they appear in both classical and modern storytelling
it seems only fitting to devote a series to the exploration of magic and its many practices
today's episode will focus on the art of divination the ability to gain insight into future events through various different means and practices
those who did watch the previous video on necromancy might be thinking this sounds quite similar to necromancy
and that's because there is some crossover in terms of being able to obtain information about the future
when necromancy only really achieves us through communing with the spirits of those already past divination is a far more extensive practice of magic
in this video we'll be examining the different aspects of divination
how it featured in past works of fiction and how it still features today
before we delve any deeper just like necromancy we should first establish what divination is
and the reasons for it being practised in the first place
when we say divination we essentially mean the act of seeking knowledge about the future and the unknown through supernatural means
as for the reasons why divination is practised I think the majority are quite self explanatory
being able to obtain knowledge and information that is usually not available is quite a useful talent to possess
some may just want the comforting feeling that comes with the knowing what lies ahead
and some may actively seek to change their future
the most common type of divination comes from interpreting different omens and signs
sometimes these can be quite good
and then again they can also be quite bad
I'm sure many of us remember the divination scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
in this particular scene professor Trelawney is teaching the students the art of Tessomancy
which in the Harry Potter universe is essentially the art of reading tea leaves to predict the future
the leaves in Harry's cup perform a spectral dog known as the Grimm a symbol of death and an all-round bad omen
now in the books Harry's cup has more than just one symbol
along with the Grimm we see a skull meaning there is danger in one's path
a falcon which represents a deadly foe and a club which predicts an attack
these symbols do foreshadow future events that take place in the story but they are all fairly vague
and we as an audience are left to put the pieces together and essentially predict the future
now the term tessomancy may only really exists inside the realms of the Harry Potter Wizarding World
but the practice of reading tea leaves and grounds of coffee has existed as a form of divination for centuries
and is often referred to as Tasseomancy or Tasseography
Tasseomancy only really began gaining popularity in the 1700 and 1800's and how far back it goes is quite hard to say
but if we consider the fact that tea itself was discovered thousands of years ago then it's safe to say that it's a fairly old practice
most historians seem to agree that it's an art that originated from ancient China
as it isn't something we really saw in Western cultures until Dutch merchants had established a trade route with China around the 17th century
before then we did see similar practices in medieval Europe
but often it involved the mountain of wax and Led
or any other molten substance that would form unpredictable patterns that could then be studied
the process of reading tea leaves simply involves pouring a cup of unstrained tea
the cup would then be shaken well and once the individual was done drinking the tea
any remaining liquid would be drained and pattern left behind would be examined
the diviner then interprets the patterns and links them to symbols that have meaning behind them
for example if the leaves form something similar to a clover that would mean good luck
happiness and prosperity is what awaits you in the future
whereas a snake would be seen as a bad omen
and something like a mountain would imply a long journey ahead of you
there are tons of different symbols man normally the fortune teller or the diviner would group them all together to create some kind of a prediction
some of you myself included may have seen something similar but instead using grounds of coffee
and this is something that is quite common in Greece Serbia Turkey and various other countries in the Middle East
similar to reading tea leaves another very popular type of divination comes in the form of Tarot
now not all decks of tarot cards were designed for the purpose of divination
in 15th century Europe they were simply used as playing cards
and again it wasn't until the 18th century that tarot cards were really used as a form of divination
known as cartomancy the art of reading counts to tell one's fortune
cartomancy had existed since the 14th century which was around the same time playing cards were first introduced into Europe
much like Tarot each card in the deck had a specific value and meaning
but this entire process was streamlined when specific tarot decks were made for occult purposes
such as divination and more specifically fortune-telling
they presented a much more visual experience
drawing a seven of Spades and being told what it meant
is slightly different than seen tarot cards such as the hanged man the lovers or the fool
it just has a more supernatural feel and I guess that means people are more likely to believe what the cards represent
growing up around this sort of stuff I never really had a problem with any of it
I never believed it was real and I still don't today
but I didn't see the problem with reading tea leaves or tarot cards or even having your palm read
if it's done for entertainment or self understanding and reflection
however there will be certain people attracted to this type of divination that may be in a vulnerable position
they may have lost loved ones are gone through some kind of trauma
and rather than seeking the help they need they turn to things such as tarot cards and palm reading
for this false sense of comfort or clarity
and as with all things in life where these vulnerable people exist there will always be those who attempt to take advantage of them
now this isn't me saying everyone who reads fortunes or practices divination is a con artist
I know people who do it for free and people who do it for fun
but it's worth being vigilant of yourself and the people around you when it comes to people telling you they can predict your future
for a small fee of course
it's also worth mentioning that many tarot readers never make the claim they can predict your future
the cards are more of a guideline and the reader is simply interpreting a possible outcome
there are countless forms of divination that each could honestly have entire videos devoted to them
so here's a quick list of the most popular that I haven't mentioned
osteomancy the reading of messages found in decaying bones
scrying the art of looking into reflective surfaces such as water or a crystal ball in the hopes of detecting messages
numerology
the interpretation of numbers and dates as well as the value and significance of letters
and lastly rune casting
which many of you may have guessed from the name involves throwing runes and interpreting the position they land in
this was used by both the Celtic and Norse people
now I say lastly only because I lost count of how many subcategories of divination actually exist
but feel free to google methods of divination and count for yourself
divination as a whole has appeared all across the world from medieval Europe to ancient China and Western Africa
it was also a fairly large part of Mesoamerica and it's religion
there are numerous deities associated with the practice of magic and sorcery
Tezcatlipoca was regarded as the patron of sorcery and a central deity in Aztec religion
divination was practiced in the everyday life of the Aztec people through screen surfaces
and through the use of hallucinogenic plants such as Morning Glory and peyote
visions were created that they believe to reflect the future
now on to Greek mythology where we see divination quite often
we have gods and goddesses such as Asteria, Coeus, Apollo and many more thatare associated of prophecy
when we think of divination or prophecy within Greek mythology
it's natural to think of the Oracles as the primary conduits of the gods and their prophecies
but in reality this is something we see mostly from seers who unlike the Oracles had no direct contact of the gods or divine gift
instead they interpreted certain signs and symbols mostly through the use of hepatomancy or extispicy
the reading of an animal's entrails which is also another very popular form of divination and one that we still commonly see
I'm sure most of you have read a story or watched a TV show or a movie
where a character has used the entrails of an animal to perform some kind of ritual or spell
that allows them to predict the future
despite the Oracles appearing in some of the most well-known Greek stories they were actually quite rare
unlike the seers which were much easier to contact
this abundance of seers meant they became quite valuable to the Greek people
so if seers didn't have the impossible schedule of an Oracle and they could both predict the future
then why have Oracle's in the first place?
it's true that both Oracle's and seers can predict the future
but seers are far more limited because they have no connection to the supernatural
if you ask you see whether you will die tomorrow it will most likely result in a simple yes or no answer
but an Oracle can tell you that at midnight a man on a flying horse is going to drop a boulder on your head
because seers have no connection to the gods or divine gift they have to rely on interpreting different signs which
means they can only really give a yes or no answer
but this couple of the fact that they were often depicted as extremely wise individuals
means they can make you pretty well-informed guess as to what your future may be
the Oracles divination came from visions and messages from the gods
meaning they could provide a more detailed image of the future
now this isn't to say that one is better than the other they're just not used in the same way
Seers may not provide a definitive answer but they are readily available to most people
whereas Oracle's as gifted as they are were more so reserved for heroes or figures of greater importance of stature
so where do we see divination in works of fiction?
well going by what we've discussed so far it's pretty much from everywhere
any story you've read or movie you've watched that features some kind of prophecy is an example of divination being used
that prophecy would have come from some kind of Oracle or prophet like figure
and they would obtain the information through various forms of divination
now the whole prophecy trope is something we see all the time and you could argue it's overused and cliche
but what it does do is provide an outline of a story or a key event in that story
without really given away too many details and spoon-feeding the reader
a prophecy can be self-fulfilling or it can always change
if we look at Greek myth as an example we have Uranus prophesying in that Cronus will be overthrown by his children
which ultimately results in him swallowing his own children and lead into a rebellion against him contributing to his own downfall
and then you have Metis who makes the same prediction about Zeus
but despite this prophecy Zeus doesn't really change the way he behaves and he's still pretty much an overall dick to everybody
when that day does eventually come when Zeus his children and the other gods staged a coup
there are far less individuals involved and the coup is ultimately a failure
making it so that this specific prophecy does not come true
some more popular examples that are a little bit more modern include anakin skywalker
who's prophesied to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the force
but of course he ends up joining them instead only to eventually turn on them anyway
you have neo from the matrix who's prophesized as the hero who would destroy the machines and save all of humanity
but we soon learn that this prophecy is fake and he's merely meant to reboot the matrix
though in the end neo does kind of save everyone but it's at the cost of his own life and not in the way we first expected
very similar to Anakin
in Harry Potter we have the prophecy that states that Harry and Voldemort cannot coexist one will have to kill the other
Voldemort assumes killing Harry will end this prophecy
but in the end all it does is make him vulnerable and eventually leads the prophecy being fulfilled
but as the opposite of what Voldemort expected
just from these few examples we can see a pattern in how prophecy is used
most prophecies in fiction never mean what the characters first think they mean
they act as somewhat of a diversion taking you down one path for you to later realise it's the wrong path
classic misdirection
now as for characters capable of divination in storytelling that is something we see presented in a far different manner
a lot of this comes down to the very simple fact that being able to see into the future is extremely powerful
and if it's not implemented correctly it can ruin a story and an audience's connection to a character
if you have a character that can use divination whenever they please and see as far forward as they want
you then have this problem of them never really being in any real danger
nothing that happens really matters because everything can be overcome and avoided
the way most writers combat this is by limiting the use of divination and quite often magic in general
when you think of characters who have visions they're quite often short and distorted
thecharacter roughly knows where they are and what's happening but the details are often left out
and that's why we commonly see this kind of divination occurring during dreams or nightmares
the character and audience have an idea of what's coming but not enough to easily prevent what they've seen
divination is a form of magic that has been practiced for thousands of years if not more
it's appeared in some of our oldest recorded stories and continues to be a staple of modern storytelling
is divination a school of magic that you knew existed?
and is it a school of magic that you believe? in
let me know in the comments below
as always
I've been your host
mythology and fiction explained