Black 1 Divination has held a mysterious place in mankinds mind since the beginning of recorded history.

The practice of divination has thousands of different expressions all over the globe. Though the forms and expressions of divination have subtle differences there are fundamental similarities in the purposes, techniques, and tools developed; all of these coming in to being around a shared experience of a usually marginal group of people in any particular society. The further advancement in the art of divination brought a whole other vein of information and understanding into the forefront. The information gained from divination many times being information that no one could rationally know. The irrationality of the state of mind of the diviner or oracle has been highlighted in many cultures as one of the main values in divination. With an irrational means of knowing some people come to more accurate information more often. If these people lose their skill or begin to say things that have no value their opinion is devalued almost completely very quickly. In the past diviners and oracles have influenced battles and the planning of cities the building of temples and the times of celebration and sacrifice though this position has been devalued in most industrialized countries It has held and still holds a place in the heart and at the fringes of society.
there is also a madness which is a divine gift, and the source of the chiefest blessings granted to men. For prophecy is a madness, and the prophetess at Delphi and the priestesses at Dodona when out of their senses have conferred great benefits on Hellas, both in public and private life, but when in their senses few or none. And I might also tell you how the Sibyl and other inspired persons have given to many and one; many an intimation of the future which has saved them from falling. But it would be tedious to speak of what everyone knows. - Socrates

The very fact of divination has been what has kept it in peoples minds for thousands of years. It allows a person to gain more information than one should be able to gain for any one given situation. The techniques used many times involve a complete lying down of the rational senses and normal means of knowing; either to be possessed or inspirited by a particular deity, deamon or anyone of countless entities sought after. These entities or states of being are many times specialized for the act of divination or in order to allow information from our subconscious and unconscious to come to expression; drawn out by techne or art. The subconscious and unconscious aspects of our nature in the

Black 2 past have been respect as various occult qualities, hidden or veiled qualities of human nature that interact with a more kind of transcendental quality of experience. Methods and understand developed around divination has been held more highly in various cultures then in others. How divination is favored has a lot to do with its expression in society and culture. It is hard to place where the oldest oracles originated from. Just looking at the founding of Rome in the tale of Romulus and Remus they decide where the city will be placed by having a divinatory contest; also all buildings placed in Rome were done so with the auspice of a well-respected augur. Oracles many times are lone wanderers who roam though cities and country sides divining door to door. At times though the practice and art is more well respect or a person has a particular quality, skill or genius that is noticed by multiple people and a temple or fallowing is set up. Or a special quality of the landscape gives it an otherworldly quality and allows the loss of ones normal sense with things like intoxication, rituals, periods of fasting and celibacy to more extreme practices and dangerous ordeals.
Here conspires with There and There with Here, elaborating together the consistency and eternity of a Cosmos and by their correspondences revealing the sequence of things to the trained observer- for every form of divination turns upon correspondences. Universal interdependence, there could not be, but universal resemblance there must. This probably is the meaning of the saying that Correspondences maintain the Universe. Plotinus

The theories and ideas behind divination have been surprisingly similar throughout time. This idea of universal correspondence and a kind of harmony between these connections is what divination is based on; this idea that there are qualities within our nature that correspond with qualities in Nature itself.
Man through divination attains to much more than belongs to our human nature This is because they are both portions of one living organism, and there is that which binds them one to the other more than to other things. Even to some god, of those who dwell within the universe, a stone from hence and an herb is a befitting offering; for in sympathizing with these he is yielding to nature and is bewitched. Thus the harp-player who has sounded the highest note does not sound the sesquioctavus next, but rather strikes the epitrite and the nete, a heritage today from a more ancient state of harmony. Synesius

This idea of transcendental qualities within our nature has been the source of divination and seemingly its ultimate goal in a correspondence with a transcendental quality of Nature. By connecting to nature in this way information that was previously unavailable is seen in new light. The inspiration and

Black 3 illumination that come from divination of any sort have also been one of the largest spiritual endeavors of mankind; to know the inner nature of reality through our subjective experience. The quality of information from oracles is many times checked against many of the highest intellects of the given society to see if the information is in anyway understandable. Many times in history these higher intellects have yielded to the manic states of the oracle. If the oracle provides no useful information favor is lost very quickly and the reputation of the oracle falls. The oracle at Delphi was well respect for hundreds of years as more corruption moved in the oracles prophecies lost their divine quality and ultimately fades away. Though even with the fading of one tradition others thrive. The Roman Government kept books of oracles that were consulted before any major event up until the capital was destroyed and the books lost. Weather divination is influencing society from a central position of power or a more marginal fringe position. Divination has always been a unique and interesting quality of human experience. Although divination has been devalued almost complete in our modern world there are still many who study and practice the art of divination. Many of these people still have the same ideas in mind as were in place from the very earliest times of civilization. Divination is one of the more free expressions of spirituality which takes into account mans intimate relationship with nature; giving man a position in which an aspect of ourselves is divine. It uses this fact to develop whole systems of art and techniques to work with this relationship and connection. Even if there is no belief in the practices they still work many times. This fact and the very fact of divination being lost and found again and again seems to show there is at least some kind of experiential reality people are running into; which has a particularly special quality of being associated with the gathering of information and cultivation of altered states of mind and body in order to have particular rare effects and qualities of nature to show though. From jungles and small villages to culture hubs it seems some aspects of divination will always be around ready to be stumbled upon and used to further our exploration of nature and ourselves.

Black 4 Synesius, On Dreams , Livus.org http://www.livius.org/susz/synesius/synesius_dreams_02.html 3rd tractate section 6 plotinus Phaderus, Plato