Editing Oracle (section)

===Tibet===
In [[Tibet]], oracles (Tib. སྐུ་རྟེན་, ku ten, Wyl. sku rten) have played, and continue to play, an important part in religion and government. The word "oracle" is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit that enters those men and women who act as [[Mediumship|mediums]] between the natural and the spiritual realms. The media are, therefore, known as ''kuten'', which literally means, "the physical basis". 

The [[Dalai Lama]], who lives in exile in northern India, still consults an oracle known as the ''[[Nechung Oracle]]'', which is considered the official state oracle of the government of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has, according to centuries-old custom, consulted the Nechung Oracle during the new year festivities of [[Losar]].<ref>Gyatso, Tenzin (1988). ''Freedom in Exile: the Autobiography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet.'' Fully revised and updated. Lancaster Place, London, UK: Abacus Books (A Division of Little, Brown and Company UK). {{ISBN|0-349-11111-1}}. p.233</ref> Nechung and Gadhong are the primary oracles currently consulted; former oracles such as Karmashar and Darpoling are no longer active in exile. The Gadhong oracle has died leaving Nechung to be the only primary oracle. Another oracle the Dalai Lama consults is the ''[[Tenma goddesses|Tenma Oracle]]'', for which a young Tibetan woman by the name of Khandro La is the medium for the mountain goddesses Tseringma along with the other 11 goddesses. The Dalai Lama gives a complete description of the process of [[trance]] and [[spirit possession]] in his book ''Freedom in Exile''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html |title=Nechung - the State Oracle of Tibet |access-date=2007-01-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205234136/http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html |archive-date=2006-12-05 }}</ref>