Divination

Divination in English is derived from Latin, divinare, which means to foresee the future or be inspired by Gods or some supernatural powers on what may happen.

Primitive tribes, like our forefathers, have limited understanding of how things develop or work and at the same time, they understood that nature and its forces had a part to play in their life, hence many tribes developed a system or systems to guide their decisions and behaviours based on signs they perceived to be from the heavens above.  But such signs from “Heavens” were not common enough and did not come often enough to help in decision-making, so people came up with ways to divine the advice Heavens may have for them using objects.

So our forefathers had developed practices or systems that attempt to interpret omens or “heaven’s will” with tools like tea leaves, rune stones, cards, turtle shells and sticks.  These tools were used to develop symbols and signs, to which different meanings and interpretations were then associated with each symbol or sign.  Unlike prophesies which then to have a more definite answer – which side Heaven would prefer – divination often produces vague and ambiguous answers, leaving it up to the individual to interpret and find your answer.  As most divination systems tried to address a number of situations and different aspects of everyday lives, it is probably inevitable that the answers produced could not be precise and to the point.