Janae Baptiste-Lewis Zoe Carey Int Sem 2 15 April 2016 Final draft Here s a curious question, if it were possible to know what is happening in the future, to know exactly what fate had in store for someone, would people take that opportunity? The thought of knowing your own future can be exciting but also a frightening thing. Unfortunately, a device that allows people to do just that does not exist yet so for now people just have to accept and focus on what is happening in the present. There is another option on how to see into the future, and it may not be accurate per say but it is something that can give people a (hopeful, but possibly untrue) glimpse into their future, and that option is fortune telling. The practice of fortune telling is something that has been integrated into many cultures since ancient times and also exists today. Fortune telling belongs under the big umbrella known as Divination, which basically involve acts that have to do with searching for knowledge about the future. As we look back into the past and learn about different cultures perspectives on the topic of Divination we see an obvious change in the importance of future seeking from the past to present day. Clearly there is a shift of importance when it comes to the subject and not a ton of people believe that things like fortune telling, prophecies or anything to do with looking into the future are logical or true things anymore. It is fascinating to see how a culture s whole perspective on a subject can change over the course of time. Why is it that some cultures opinions change over the course of time even though these styles of divination have been ingrained into their societies for so long?
What were the positives and negatives of the societal reliance of divination and what were the specific negatives points that led to breaking and turning points that made these societies leave behind their reliance of divination? If they have not completely left behind these beliefs, how does their viewpoint of divination contrast with the U.S. s viewpoint of divination? To go back for a minute, ancient cultures have relied on the concept of future seeking in their own societies, which from today s perspectives would be considered preposterous, but that contrast is something that makes looking into this matter more interesting. Not only was ancient Greek society an influential part of our United States society but it is also a society full of many exciting stories and belief systems, but more importantly they believed in the idea of fortune telling and the practice was considered very important. Ancient divination was adaptable to many different cultures and to the advancements of technology, for example, Assyrians preferred to divine by looking at the sky because they lived on the plains where the sky was in clear view at all times and similarly the Greeks themselves liked to consult their Oracles because of their own beliefs that were important to them. Even with the reliance of divination in their culture, even back then, people reflected just how accurate these divinations were truly. People around the 15 th century debated and discussed the subject and talked about whether the practice worked, how it worked and so on. Greeks commonly relied on the practice of divination more than they relied on the practice of prayer and sacrifice because unlike the use of prayer and sacrifice which is not an immediate response and can take weeks or months to take effect when practicing divination, whether it be by reading entrails or asking a question to a diviner, you always get an immediate answer. This answer may or may not be accurate but it helps to know that someone has heard them and that gives them the feeling of security (Johnston 2009). Along with the
Greeks, other cultures, such as some societies in West Africa also has defining beliefs that these people heavily relied on and these beliefs were intertwined with the practices of divination. One of the names of one of the many practices of divination in West Africa is called Ifa. Ifa is a traditional African system of divination, practiced by the Yoruba people, pertaining to the worship of Ifa, the God of Divination and involved different types of ceremonies, sacrifices, songs, and praises. It is a type of divination based off the mythology of the Yoruba people, which is not a new thing, the Greek people also based their divination beliefs off of their beliefs pertaining to their own gods and divination by practice involves some sort of spirituality so it makes sense. The possible earliest report of Ifa divination comes from the coast of what is now Ghana (Bascom 1991). There s also a lot more defining and interesting characteristics about their practice of this type of divination, characteristics that involve memorizing a variety of symbols and pratices, but it is more important to focus on some other important topics that this type of divination bring up, like how the Yoruba s beliefs were influenced by different religions, both Christianity and Islam as proven here: Since at least 1800 the Yoruba have been in direct contact with Islam, although during the nineteenth century they were warring against their Muslim neighbors, and for more than a hundred years Christian missions have been established within Yoruba territory. 1 With this information, not only is it safe to assume that bits of Christianistic and Islamic are sprinkled into the Yoruba religious system but it is also safe to assume that Ifa divination is intertwined with the Yoruba religious system, meaning that divination is not a separate side thing 1 Bascom, William W.. Ifa Divination. Bloomington, IN, US: Indiana University Press, 1991. Accessed April 13, 2016. ProQuest ebrary.
in their society but an essential part of it, removing this part would only cause their society to fall. In many ways both the Greek and Yoruba people have similar tastes when it comes to their own forms of divination, but another question still stands, can divination be seen through another lens, a lens involving a business perspective rather than through a spiritual and cultural perspective? It is a different playing field in America when it comes to the practice of Divination, back then around the 1800s and even during the present day. Fortune tellers, clairvoyants and mediums all exist in America but over here, it is seen more as a business rather then something that is ingrained in our belief system or something that we rely on. It is (for the most part) all about the money and whether these future seeking people are accurate or not is up to that person to decide. Fortune tellers and those with similar occupations use tactics, like advertisements, to attract their customers. They do things like use big buzz words like magic and healing, make their establishments give off a mysterious atmosphere from the outside and inside, and also use their feminine charm to attract men (notice how most fortune tellers are female?) or for the male fortune teller s case, use their own charm. The business of fortune telling is also enhanced by the many different types of divinations you can get, from palm readers, to mediums, to card readers and everything in between, the everyday person loves variety in their life. Bold claims (which can be true or untrue) such as claiming to be an exotic race or claiming to solve someone s problems if they do this certain action are also things that seal the deal during these kind of interactions (Bolton 1895). It is clear that this perspective of Divination in this culture differs from the perspectives of the previously mentioned cultures. The point of view of this culture does share something with the point of view for the Greek culture involving this subject and that it even though both cultures questioned the relevance, logistics and importance of
divination (just in different ways and intensities) both relied on the practice because it gave them something to hold onto, some sort of hope or belief that even though it may have not been true, it did not matter, it was something. It is interesting just how the human mind works in which even though something is clearly or somewhat untrue and non-factual, those people still hold onto it and try to believe in it. Even those who may not necessarily believe in the supernatural, those people are: The curious non-believers in the pretensions of the fortune-tell-ers, who visit them "just for the fun of the thing." Some of this class would not openly admit a shadow of belief, yet will be more or less influenced by the mystical and rhapsodical talk of the me-sity is excited, their hope of securing benefits aroused, and the first visit is sure to be followed by others, feeling, as they say, that "there must be something in it." 2 The change in the way how Divination is looked upon by different cultures comes from how those people reflected on their beliefs. The Greeks reflected on these beliefs and questioned if divination was really a proper way to base their society off of. There progression was shown through the Romans, who heavily based their own society off the Greeks because While the early Greeks emphasised mantic or inspired behaviour, it was never practised by Romans. In Rome, there were no prophecies emanating from divinely inspired seers who could look far into the future or deep into the past 3. This shows that over time and during some point the Greeks relied less on divination in their society and even when the empire fell, when the Roman Empire 2 Bolton, Henry Carrington. 1895. Fortune-telling in America To-day. A Study of Advertisements. The Journal of American Folklore 8 (31). University of Illinois Press: 299 307. doi:10.2307/532745. 3 Tedlock, Barbara. 2001. Divination as a Way of Knowing: Embodiment, Visualisation, Narrative, and Interpretation. Folklore 112 (2). 189 97.
was created, they learned from the previous empire and decided to focus their society on more factual things. Another instance of people changing their opinions of divinations is because of the time period. During the 1800s in America things were much more advanced compared to the previously mentioned cultures and the focus on everyday life was more on business and being successful rather than spiritually and future seeking. It was all about surviving so the practice of divining was seen more as a business. Whether or not in the past before the 1800s Americans actually believed in the practice of divination it is apparent that the shift in time periods can easily cause a change of perspective. The Divination system has flaws, everything has flaws, and with the many positives and good things about the subject there is also many negatives to go alongside it. The positives of practicing and believing in divination is that it can help build and grow societies and cultures, just like it did for the Yoruba people. They basically cultivated and grew upon their beliefs of divination, arguably making their society stronger. The downside to this is that since divination is so important to these people, if removed, it would cause the whole society to collapse. Another positive would be that it allows for intellectual debates about the topic itself, and whether or not divination could really be something that societies can rely on. The Greeks debated this as shown here: One thing does distinguish the Greeks and Romans from us, however, and that is their degree of self-reflection about the topic. Already in the mid-fifth century, intellectuals debated whether divination worked or not--and as the centuries rolled
on, they composed numerous treatises that took on the questions of whether it worked, how it worked and why the gods (or whatever) had established it. 4 They actually questioned how their own society worked and people wanted answers to how exactly this system worked and why was their society built upon it. It is healthy for different societies to question their own beliefs because that attitude shows that people are aware of the flaws in their society and this can lead to change. The negatives of this is that making your society rely on something that is not factual is cause people to question things and since that society has no facts to give them, they must make stuff up in order to calm their citizens. The clear contrast between the U.S. idea of divination and the Greek s and the Yoruba s idea of divination is apart especially while researching through these topics. One society believes that divination itself is just one big business because of the time period and the way fortune tellers worked during the 1800s (and even now) when they try to attract customers in many different ways and at the end of the day are trying to make a living. The other two cultures heavily relied on the beliefs of future seeking and the spirituality of the whole thing, with one society relying on the practice but also questioning it while the other society had divination has a vital part of their society. Obvious conflicting viewpoints are seen here but it is very apparent that whether divination is believed in or not, it exists in these cultures in some way. Divination is such a powerful thing that it can influence any culture, just with differing end results. 4 Johnston, Sarah Iles. Blackwell Ancient Religions : Ancient Greek Divination (1). Hoboken, GB: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Accessed April 13, 2016. ProQuest ebrary.
Bibliography Bascom, William W. 1991. Ifa Divination. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Bolton, Henry Carrington. 1895. "Fortune-Telling in America To-Day. A Study of Advertisements." The Journal of American Folklore 299-307. Johnston, Sarah Iles. 2009. Blackwell Ancient Religions : Ancient Greek Divination (1). Hoboken: Wiley- Blackwell. Tedlock, Barbara. 2001. "Divination as a Way of Knowing: Embodiment, Visualisation, Narrative, and Interpretation." In Folklore, by Barbara Tedlock, 189-197. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.