Oracles

Dr Angela Voss - What is the Daimon? An Exploration of the Oracular Intelligence. Divine Molecule Talks at Tyringham – Part II Exploring Entheogenic Entity Encounters, a private symposium, Tyringham Hall, September 2015 (curator and compère).

Neste artigo eu falarei sobre um aspecto do baralho Petit Lenormand que é fundamental para mim, embora infelizmente seja muitas vezes subestimado ou até mesmo ignorado. Na maioria dos casos de que eu tive conhecimento, as pessoas diziam-me que não analisavam os naipes uma vez que isso as confundia ainda mais: segundo elas, os significados dos naipes que elas conheciam não correspondiam, de todo, ao simbolismo que era apresentado nas cartas. E é precisamente para esclarecer este aspecto e fornecer uma nova perspectiva sobre os naipes – ou pelo menos uma perspectiva diferente – que eu escrevo este artigo.

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

"""Tarot in Culture is a well-illustrated (260 illus.) two-volume multi-author anthology of papers on Tarot. Contributions range from original, in-depth, thoroughly documented studies of Tarot history, art, and literature to artists' statements and other primary source documents. Tarot in Culture is both accessible to the Tarot student and of interest to scholars of other fields, including historians and theorists of art, esotericism, literature, the occult, and popular culture and genres.

Contributors include Ed Buryn, Julie Cuccia-Watts, Tabitha Dial, Michael Dummett, Helen S. Farley, Joyce Goggin, Mary K. Greer, Bruce Hersch,  Brian Johnson, Danny Jorgensen, Richard Kaczynski, Marcus Katz, June Leavitt,  Carol S. Matthews, Paul Mountfort, Christine Parkhurst, Robert Place, Casey J. Rudkin, Leslie Stratyner, Catherine Waitinas, and Batya Susan Weinbaum. For a complete table of contents, see my website.

The call for papers for the Tarot in Culture anthology went out in 2008 and the manuscript was essentially finished in 2010. Since then it has passed academic peer review several times with different publishers, only to remain unpublished. With the unanimous support of the authors, I am making it available as an ebook (Kobo) in March 2014, and in print (Lulu) in June 2014.

Ebook distributed by Kobo (now available)
Hardcopy distributed by Lulu (now available)

Individuals who purchased the ebook version of Tarot in Culture Volume One and/or Two in March or April 2014 may get updated files by emailing Kobo at help@kobobooks.com and making a request. The updated files include a few minor corrections and alterations.

"Excerpts from the Preface:

... I became intrigued by the idea that the recent revisions of Tarot are not so much replacements for the older decks as they are the results of the feudal, modern, and post-modern concepts readily associated with changes in Tarot function from game to occult accessory to meditation aid, as well as broader historical developments in the western world; indeed, the effectiveness with which these concepts have accrued, rather than substituted for each other, in Tarot, supports the genre's unique contemporary function as a heterotopian "space" where the individual may seek transformative understanding of himself, society, and the universe. This Tarot is akin to the library or museum, both of which are also heterotopias based on the accumulation of history, and is supported by the invitation the deck format extends for play, even in its most esoteric revisions. Combined with the artist's and querent reader's particular sense of purpose, this functionality is the essence of all Tarot creativity.

... it is a commonplace among historians of all types, but particularly those engaged with popular culture, that the art of real value in any given time and place is that which helps people to find a sense of reality, to find themselves. I believe, therefore, that recognition of the purposes and content of this unique, affordable and aesthetically satisfying popular art form is as important to understanding our times as is the study of more extravagant and critically acclaimed works. This book is intended to bring recognition of the place of contemporary Tarot and other meditation decks in cultural history and the conventions by which they help people find their place in the world."

Oracle Corporation adalah salah satu perusahaan pembuat software yang terkenal khususnya pada Database software. Perusahaan ini telah mengeluarkan banyak versi dari software mulai dari oracle 6.0, 8i, 9i hingga 10g. Produk produk tersebut biasa digunakan paa skala Enterprise (perusahaan), yang tentu saja harganya tidak murah bagi kita pengguna individual, lantas bagaimana kita bisa belajar Oracle dengan harga terjangkau ? , Oracle memberikan solusi untuk hal tersebut, Oracle XE merupakan versi freeware yang ditujukan bagi pemula atau pengguna individual yang ingin mempelajari oracle tanpa harus mengeluarkan biaya besar atau membajak software tersebut. Versi ini memiliki banyak kesamaan dengan versi 10g sehingga anda tidak perlu khawatir bahwa fitur yang nanti anda pelajari dan gunakan di versi XE tidak akan anda temukan di versi 10g Enterprise.

A great number of Greek oracular cults focused on caves, notwithstanding the divergent nature of the divine patrons of these cults. The fundamental reason for locating prophetic activities in caves was the need of the gods' mediums to attain divine inspiration, that is, to alter their state of consciousness. For the purposes of divination the Greeks used at least two methods. The easiest and universally practiced technique was sensory deprivation. Modern research demonstrates that reduction of external stimuli leads to dream-like states, involving release of internal imagery. In the geographic setting of Greece, caverns and grottos provide an easy way to achieve total or near total isolation. The second technique was based on special geological conditions, namely, a source of poisonous gas having euphoriant or psychotropic effect. The psychotropic or, in the opinion of the Greeks, numinous quality of the caves was common knowledge to such a degree that the association of seers and prophets with caves became universal.

La Lycie, territoire situé au sud-ouest de l’Anatolie, avait, durant l’Antiquité, la particularité de receler de nombreux oracles. Ceux-ci fonctionnaient selon divers vecteurs divinatoires, c’est-à-dire que la parole divine — en l’occurrence celle d’Apollon, dieu grec de la divination — était transmise à travers différents médiums : parfois il s’agissait de poissons (ichthyomancie), d’autres fois d’osselets (astragalomancie) ou de tables alphabétiques, à une occasion d’eau (hydromancie) et de songes (oniromancie). Or, malgré ce foisonnement oraculaire, nul n’a à ce jour tenté de dresser un portrait complet des sanctuaires divinatoires de la région ; un projet que nous nous proposons à présent d’entreprendre.

Étant donné la documentation limitée sur le sujet, l’ensemble des sources disponibles, qu’elles soient archéologiques, épigraphiques, littéraires ou numismatiques, ont leur place dans cette étude. À la lumière de celles-ci, nous avons cherché à établir pour chaque site, lorsque cela était possible, l’époque à laquelle les activités oraculaires avaient commencé et s’étaient terminées, quelle était la procédure suivie, la nature des installations, la structure du clergé en place, le niveau d’achalandage, la clientèle visée, la renommée, etc.

Nous avons ainsi réussi à fixer le nombre d’oracles dans la région, tâche qui n’avait point encore été exécutée avec précision, à onze : Patara, Tlos, Kyaneai, Soura, Limyra, Tyriaion, Kitanaura, Olympos I et II, Oinoanda et Kibyra. Sur le premier des sites, l’oniromancie était pratiquée, au second le mode divinatoire est incertain, au troisième il s’agit d’hydromancie, les deux suivants d’ichthyomancie, les six derniers comptaient deux sites astragalomantiques et quatre sites alphabétiques. La Lycie était donc, surtout à l’époque romaine, un véritable réceptacle pour une panoplie de traditions divinatoires différentes, qui ont peut-être pu se côtoyer toutes en même temps au IIe siècle p. C. Certaines d’entre elles, l’oniromancie et l’ichthyomancie, revêtent, par ailleurs, un caractère étrange aux yeux des Grecs et leur origine serait plutôt à mettre en lien avec des pratiques oraculaires hittito-louvites datant du second millénaire a. C. Nous sommes d’avis que ces dernières, malgré le gouffre chronologique qui sépare les témoignages anatoliens des sources gréco-romaines, ont pu perdurer, sous une forme quelque peu altérée, au cours des siècles en Lycie et notamment donner naissance à un type d’oracles inconnu du monde hellénique : les sanctuaires ichthyomantiques.

El estudio comienza con una propuesta de traducción al español del Libro de Abdías, con comentarios y notas de traducción. A partir de este análisis, se procede a un estudio detallado de las diversas propuestas sobre la estructura del oráculo contra Edom. La propuesta central es que la división en días es esencial para captar el mensaje del oráculo. Un análisis de los recursos literarios y retóricos completa el estudio, para así pasar a le profundización en el mensaje teológico del Libro de Abdías.

On the occasion of some unique characteristics of an unpublished bronze wheel from Evangelides’ excavations at Dodona, that allow its correlation with the sonic and musical means of the oracle procedures, a new theory is presented - through a new analysis of ancient sources and myths related to Dodona's oak tree and doves  - establishing the leading role of music of wind-chimes and cauldrons in ancient divination.

This paper studies the treatment of the Sibyl and Virgil in a speech attributed to Constantine the Great. Scholars generally focus on the role played by one or the other of these two figures in that writing. To do justice to the economy of the work, it seems necessary to keep them together. As a result, the Sibyl and Virgil serve as pagan counterparts to the witnesses of Moses and Daniel about the divinity of the Crucified. A prophetess initially attached to Apollinian oracular centers, the Sibyl becomes a prophetess of the one Christian God. That is illustrated by the famous acrostic poem Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour Cross that she is said to have uttered. As for Virgil, it is through the exegesis of the Fourth Eclogue, of which several verses are glossed and translated into Greek, that he is also Christianised.


Cet article étudie le traitement réservé à la Sibylle et à Virgile dans un discours attribué à l’empereur Constantin. La recherche s’interroge habituellement sur le rôle et la place de l’une ou l’autre des deux figures dans cet écrit. Pour rendre justice à l’économie de l’œuvre, il semble préférable de les tenir ensemble. Il en ressort que la Sibylle et Virgile servent de contreparties païennes aux témoignages de Moïse et Daniel sur la divinité du Crucifié. De prophétesse rattachée à des centres oraculaires apolliniens, la Sibylle devient prophétesse du seul vrai Dieu des chrétiens, ce qu’illustre le célèbre acrostiche Jésus Christ Fils de Dieu Sauveur Croix qu’elle aurait prononcé. Quant à Virgile, c’est par l’exégèse de la Quatrième Églogue, dont plusieurs vers sont glosés et traduits en grec, qu’il est lui aussi christianisé.

The article investigates the impact on Western culture of the so-called Oneirocriticon of Achmet, a Byzantine Greek dreambook, by focusing on an early Latin translation made by Leo Tuscus in 1176 and entitled De Somniis et Oraculis. The study presents a revised list of both existing and lost Latin manuscripts, and of the manuscripts containing later translations into vernacular European languages. A subsection is dedicated to the text preserved in Oxford, St John’s Library MS 172 considered as the missing link between the Latin tradition and some of the vernacular versions. In order to provide evidence of the successful reception of the De Somniis et Oraculis and its authority within the Western medieval dream tradition, the author discusses two literary cases from Dante’s Commedia (Purgatorio 9) and from the Lancelot en prose. The list of excellent readers of Tuscus includes also Coluccio Salutati, Filippo Buonaccorsi, Pierleone da Spoleto, Gerolamo Cardano and the Renaissance families Visconti-Sforza, Montefeltro, de’ Medici and Estensi.

In appendix, the author publishes the transcriptions of the index of Tuscus’ dreambook, and of a few significant excerpts  taken from the manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 103.

KEYWORDS - Leo Tuscus - Leon Toscan - Leone Toscano - Leo Pisano - Leo da Pisa - Leo Etherianus - Pseudo-Achmet - Achmet ibn Sirin - Sereim - De Somniis et Oraculis - Divination through dreams - Dream Divination - Divinatione per somnium - Dreams in Literature - Dreaming in the Middle Ages - Divinazione - Oneirocritica - Oneirocriticon - Digby 103 - Berriot - Byzantium - Dondaine - Purgatorio IX - Purgatorio 9 - Dream of the eagle - Dreams in Dante"

The divide between science and religion has its roots in the early modern period. In the first part, the popular talk of oracles of reason is traced back to the ancient oracles published in the 15th century, and it is shown how this led to the emergence of a "natural" theology that does without revelation, so that eventually reference to a divine creator seems superfluous. In the second part, using the concept of the cosmos, it is shown that mathematics, especially geometry, has been part of the theological interpretation of Creation since the Middle Ages. From this developed the concept of transcendence as rooted in human thought. Therefore, cosmos, creation, and humanity, which are mutually exclusive, form a unity of complementary elements.

Η «ιερή νόσος» του Ιπποκράτη, η σημερινή επιληψία, γινόταν αντιληπτή από τους αρχαίους ως είσοδος κάποιου θεού ή δαίμονα στο ανθρώπινο σώμα. Τα συμπτώματα της νόσου ταυτίζονται με εκείνα που εμφάνιζε η Πυθία σε μαντική έκσταση. Μέσα από το σώμα της, ο Απόλλωνας πρόφερε χρησμούς με τη δική της φωνή. Τη μετάπτωση της Πυθίας σε μια τεχνητή και αναστρέψιμη κατάσταση επιληψίας εξασφάλιζε το μάσημα φύλλων και η εισπνοή καπνού ροδοδάφνης.

Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind analyses techniques of searching for ultimate wisdom in ancient Greece. The Greeks perceived mental experiences of exceptional intensity as resulting from divine intervention. They believed that to share in the immortals' knowledge, one had to liberate the soul from the burden of the mortal body by attaining an altered state of consciousness, that is, by merging with a superhuman being or through possession by a deity. These states were often attained by inspired mediums, `impresarios of the gods' - prophets, poets, and sages - who descended into caves or underground chambers. Yulia Ustinova juxtaposes ancient testimonies with the results of modern neuropsychological research. This novel approach enables an examination of religious phenomena not only from the outside, but also from the inside: it penetrates the consciousness of people who were engaged in the vision quest, and demonstrates that the darkness of the caves provided conditions vital for their activities.

A new look at Choqek'iraw (Choque Quira). An Inca site in the heart of the Vilcabamba Cordillera, Peru

Situated in the heart of the Vilcabamba cordillera in Peru, some 150 km northwest of Cuzco, the ancient Inca state capital, Choqek’iraw or Choquequirao (« the golden cradle » in Quechua), is one of the most beautiful achievements of Inca architecture, and one of the very few pre-Hispanic sites displaying large wall mosaics showing geometric figures and llama caravans climbing the mountainside, the only one known from Inca times.
Ethnohistoric sources suggest that Choqek'iraw was one of the Tupac Inca Yupanqui’s palaces, but the excavations we conducted in peripheral residential areas suggest a much earlier occupation; it could begin at the end of the Formative Horizon or the early Intermediate Period, dated from 200 to 500 AD, and continue during the Late Intermediate (1000-1300 AD), characterized by Killke and Chanka ceramics. Several elements also suggest that figures represented on the mosaics convey cosmological significance and are laid out following textile principles.
Finally, the orientation of some buildings with the cardinal points and the presence of a truncated hill considered as an astronomical observatory, an ushnu, reinforce this hypothesis, suggesting that Choqek'iraw could have played the role of a regional agro-pastoral calendar and be considered as a important ritual centre or wak'a, and an oracular shrine dedicated to the triple Inca tripe divinity of the Lightning.
This book stems from an extensive French-Peruvian archaeological project conducted from 2003 to 2006, as part of a cooperation agreement between the French and Peruvian governments related to the execution of transactions for the Debt Conversion Sustainable Development. It presents the results of the excavations that have been carried out, but also new hypotheses about the role - including symbolic - that this site may have played. It is so far the most complete work available on Choqek’iraw.

- ‘Our greatest blessings come to us by way of mania, provided it is given us by divine gift,’ – says Socrates in Plato’s Phaedrus. Certain forms of alteration of consciousness, considered to be inspired by supernatural forces, were actively sought in ancient Greece. Divine mania comprises a fascinating array of diverse experiences: numerous initiates underwent some kind of alteration of consciousness during mystery rites; sacred officials and inquirers attained revelations in major oracular centres; possession states were actively sought; finally, some thinkers, such as Pythagoras and Socrates, probably practiced manipulation of consciousness. These experiences, which could be voluntary or involuntary, intense or mild, were interpreted as an invasive divine power within one’s mind, or illumination granted by a superhuman being. In ancient Greece, these mental states were treated with cautious respect, and in contrast to the majority of complex societies, ancient and modern, were never suppressed or pushed to the cultural and social periphery.

SUMMARY: This lecture focuses first on the triad of Amun-Re, Mut, and Khonsu, then proceeds with other aspects of religion, deities, offerings: The King as ultimate “High Priest,” priests in general, the “First Prophet” (High Priest) and other rankings of high priest, the Lector-priest, the Sem-priest, the God’s Wife of Amun, the God’s Father, the Wab-priest, temple musicians and singers, temple institutions (subsidiary offices and components), temple rituals, divine offerings, temple festivals, temple oracles, funerary/mortuary cults, and connections between divine and mortuary cults. The lecture concludes with New Kingdom household cults and the village of Deir el-Medineh in general. UPDATED: Revised formatting, new images, and editing in Feb. 2021.

While no traces of Henmyōin 遍明院 cloister remain today at its original location, there is a thirteenth century Japanese oracle record that attests to its intriguing past and significance at the Shingon 真言 esoteric Buddhist monastic complex Kōyasan 高野山. The document reports that on the thirteenth day of the eleventh month in the third year of Kenchō 建長 (1251), a young chigo 稚児 (child acolyte) resident at Henmyōin suddenly began to exhibit alarming behavior. After declaring himself a former master of the temple and messenger of the deity “Daishi Myōjin” 大師明神, he proceeded to deliver a stream of information for a period of twelve days. This was transcribed by the eminent scholar-monk (gakuryo 学呂) Dōhan 道範 (1178–1252), and after being verified in consultation with the same deity later invoked for that purpose, the text was secreted away as a set of branch-exclusive teachings that were categorized as one of the cloister’s shōgyō 聖教 (sacred works). It was lent out to monks related to the cloister for limited periods of time for reading (and presumably, copying). The incident itself was later explained by Kōyasan scholar-monk Yūkai 宥快 (1345–1416) as having been a transmission of specific teachings necessary for the legitimization of a monk named Yūshin 祐信 (n.d.–1287) as Henmyōin head priest. Yūshin became the seventy-second head (kengyō 検校)1 of Kōyasan some years after the incident.

The incident itself attracts exploration and explanation. In what way could a possession-oracle function to transmit religious teachings and how standard was it? How might this incident be explained in terms of Kōyasan branch history and its strategies of acquiring legitimacy? How does it relate to broader issues concerning the nature of transmission in Buddhism? Focusing on the function of the oracle, the record, and several related commentaries, this paper proposes that although this specific possession-oracle was in some ways an unusual occurrence for its community, it largely conformed to general procedures and practices of knowledge transmission and legitimization of authority in pre-modern Japan and to a broader, even orthodox Buddhist context.

"The Elven Book of Changes" is a magical interpretation of the I Ching or Book of Changes, and is for magicians, elves, and magic wielders of all kinds. It is written without gender bias and serves both as an Oracle and as a book of instruction to help the magician find hir way through the maze of modern life, the mystical worlds of spirit, and the magical realms of Faerie.

The subject of the paper are the reasons of intense, though short-lived, interest that a few Latin authors of the last years of the 4th century had in the druids.
The druids, the most emblematic institution of the Gallic religion, are mentioned by Greek and Latin authors up to the beginning of the 2nd century AD. Afterwards they completely vanish from literature only to reappear in the 390ties in the works of Ammianus Marcellinus, Ausonius of Bordeaux and the anonymous author of the Historia Augusta.
In older scholarship it was quite widely accepted that the druidic episodes in three lives of emperors in the HA can be treated as proving the revival of indigenous Gallic priesthood in the 3rd century, and that Ausonius’ Commemoratio professorum Burdigalensium testifies to their survival at least up to the end of the 4th century. Nowadays scholars are more cautious about the actual renaissance of the druidism. But even if this revival is – as I think – a late antique literary phenomenon, the question imposes itself about the sources of the sympathetic interest in this vernacular religious institution that Latin authors of the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD treated as alien and ominous.
I suggest that there are three reasons of the popularity of the druids in late antiquity, especially in the intellectual milieu of Gaul in the second half of the 4th century. Firstly, we should have in mind the vivid “ethnographic” interest of the late ancient intelligentsia, especially in one’s own people and family history. Because of their unquestionable aristocracy and antiquity the druids were attractive not only as a subject of research but also as ancestors and forefathers. Secondly, the druids were considered philosophers, indigenous Gallic representatives of Pythagoreanism – the school that the intellectuals of Late Antiquity voluntarily identified with. Thirdly, they were seen as teachers, and thus proper role models for Ausonius and his fellow-professors in Bordeaux. The re-disappearance of the druids from literature after the end of the 4th century should be linked to the disappearance of the group of Gallic pagan intellectuals and writers. In the 5th century too, there were authors interested in local history and traditions but their heroes were Christian martyrs, not heathen priests.

The story of Ehud & Eglon in Judges 3 is one of homoerotic seduction & regicide following a theophany at Gilgal.  Ehud's story seems obscure but ancient auditors would have expected a salacious story with a left-handed hero.  I have taken into consideration Rabbinical & modern commentary.

"Archaic Tyrants’ International Relations: Periander in the War between Lydia and Miletus".

Greek tyrants were leading actors of archaic age international politics: beyond the compass of their own polis they constructed networks of personal relations and controlled interstate iplomacy; through a reciprocity-based system, their contacts interested all of Greece and extended to the non-Hellenic world. A distinctive merging of the private and public spheres in the tyrant’s anagement of power comes to light. The case study analyzes the early VI century war between the Lydian empire and the polis of Miletus and the relations between the Lydian king Alyattes, the tyrant of Miletus Thrasybulus, the Corinthian tyrant Periander and the sanctuary of Delphi: according to the proposed reconstruction, Periander exploited his international relations in order to mediate between the two antagonists and drive the conflict to a peaceful solution."