Editing Divination (section)

===Antiquity===
The [[Nymphaion (fire sanctuary)|eternal fire at Nymphaion]] in southern [[Illyria]] (present-day [[Albania]]) also functioned as an oracle. The forms of divination practiced in this natural fire sanctuary with peculiar physical properties were widely known to the ancient Greek and Roman authors.<ref>{{cite book|last=Anamali|first=Skënder|authorlink=Skënder Anamali|chapter=Santuari di Apollonia|pages=127–136|editor-last1=Stazio|editor-first1=Attilio|editor-last2=Ceccoli|editor-first2=Stefania|title=La Magna Grecia e i grandi santuari della madrepatria: atti del trentunesimo Convegno di studi sulla Magna Grecia|volume=31|series=Atti del Convegno di studi sulla Magna Grecia|publisher=Istituto per la storia e l'archeologia della Magna Grecia|year=1992|language=it|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6L0jAQAAIAAJ}} pp. 134–135.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Larson|first=Jennifer Lynn|title=Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York|year=2001|isbn=978-0-19-514465-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ww3m1vSRtsC}} pp. 162–163.</ref> The Oracle of [[Amun]] at the [[Siwa Oasis]] was made famous when [[Alexander the Great]] visited it after conquering Egypt from Persia in 332 BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gardiner|first1=Alan Henderson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lzhBbsElbKAC&q=The+Oracle+of+Amun+at+the+Siwa+Oasis+was+made+famous+when+Alexander+the+Great+visited+it+after+conquering+Egypt+from+Persia+in+332+BC.&pg=PA381|title=Egypt of the Pharaohs: An Introduction|last2=Sir|first2=Alan Henderson Gardiner|date=1961|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-500267-6|language=en}}</ref>
 
{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|18:10-12}} or {{bibleverse|Leviticus|19:26}} can be interpreted as categorically forbidding divination. But some biblical practices, such as [[Urim and Thummim]], [[Cleromancy|casting lots]] and [[prayer]], are considered to be divination. Trevan G. Hatch disputes these comparisons because divination did not consult the "one true God" and manipulated the divine for the diviner's self-interest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hatch |first=Trevan G. |date=2007 |title=Magic, Biblical Law, and the Israelite Urim and Thummim |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1074&context=studiaantiqua#:~:text=The%20Urim%20and%20Thummim%20was%20an%20object%20given%20to%20the,the%20prophets%20on%20God's%20terms. |journal=Studia Antiqua |volume=5 |issue=2 |via=Scholars Archive}}</ref> One of the earliest known divination artifacts, a book called the Sortes Sanctorum, is believed to be of Christian roots, and utilizes dice to provide insight into the future.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Klingshirn |first=William E |date=2002 |title=Defining the Sortes Sanctorum : Gibbon, Du Cange, and Early Christian Lot Divination |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/10252 |journal=Journal of Early Christian Studies |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=77–130 |doi=10.1353/earl.2002.0011 |issn=1086-3184}}</ref>

Uri Gabbay states that divination was associated with sacrificial rituals in the ancient Near East, including Mesopotamia and Israel. Extispicy was a common example, where diviners would pray to their god(s) before [[Vivisection|vivisecting]] a sacrificial animal. Their abominal organs would reveal a divine message, which aligned with [[Cardiocentric hypothesis|cardiocentric]] views of the mind.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gabbay |first=Uri |date=2016 |title=The Practice of Divination in the Ancient Near East |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-practice-of-divination-in-the-ancient-near-east |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414030617/https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-practice-of-divination-in-the-ancient-near-east |archive-date=April 14, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com}}</ref>

====Oracles and Greek divination====
{{See also|Oracle|Greek divination}}
Both oracles and seers in ancient Greece practiced divination. [[Oracle#Greece|Oracles]] were the conduits for the gods on earth; their prophecies were understood to be the will of the gods verbatim. Because of the high demand for oracle consultations and the oracles’ limited work schedule, they were not the main source of divination for the ancient Greeks. That role fell to the seers ({{Langx|el|μάντεις}}).<ref name="Princeton Classics">{{cite web | title=The Seer in Ancient Greece | website=Princeton Classics | url=https://classics.princeton.edu/research/bookshelf/seer-ancient-greece | access-date=28 November 2022}}</ref>

Seers were not in direct contact with the gods; instead, they were interpreters of signs provided by the gods. Seers used many methods to explicate the will of the gods including [[extispicy]], [[ornithomancy]], etc. They were more numerous than the oracles and did not keep a limited schedule; thus, they were highly valued by all Greeks, not just those with the capacity to travel to [[Delphi]] or other such distant sites.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Flower|first=Michael A.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/290580029|title=The seer in ancient Greece|date=2008|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-93400-9|location=Berkeley|oclc=290580029}}</ref>

The disadvantage of seers was that only direct yes-or-no questions could be answered. Oracles could answer more generalized questions, and seers often had to perform several sacrifices in order to get the most consistent answer. For example, if a general wanted to know if the omens were proper for him to advance on the enemy, he would ask his seer both that question and if it were better for him to remain on the defensive. If the seer gave consistent answers, the advice was considered valid.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

During battle, generals would frequently ask seers at both the [[campground]] (a process called the ''hiera'') and at the [[battle]]field (called the ''sphagia''). The hiera entailed the seer slaughtering a sheep and examining its liver for answers regarding a more generic question; the sphagia involved killing a young female goat by slitting its throat and noting the animal's last movements and blood flow. The battlefield sacrifice only occurred when two armies prepared for battle against each other. Neither force would advance until the seer revealed appropriate [[omen]]s.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Because the seers had such power over influential individuals in ancient Greece, many were skeptical of the accuracy and honesty of the seers. The degree to which seers were honest depends entirely on the individual seers. Despite the doubt surrounding individual seers, the craft as a whole was well regarded and trusted by the Greeks,<ref>Flower, Michael Attyah. ''The Seer in Ancient Greece.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008.</ref> and the [[Stoicism|Stoics]] accounted for the validity of divination in their [[Stoic physics#Divination|physics]].