Divination Archives | National Humanities Center

Divination

%customfield(subject)%

Divination and Human Nature: A Cognitive History of Intuition in Classical Antiquity

By Peter T. Struck (NHC Fellow, 2002–03) Divination and Human Nature casts a new perspective on the rich tradition of ancient divination—the reading of divine signs in oracles, omens, and dreams. Popular attitudes during classical antiquity saw these readings as signs from the gods while modern scholars have treated such beliefs as primitive superstitions. In this … Continued

%customfield(subject)%

Divination’s Grasp: African Encounters with the Almost Said

By Richard Werbner (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) Richard Werbner takes readers on a journey though contemporary charismatic wisdom divination in southern Africa. Beginning with the silent language of the divinatory lots, Werbner deciphers the everyday, metaphorical, and poetic language that is used to reveal their meaning. Through Werbner's skillful interpretations of the language of divination, a … Continued

%customfield(subject)%

Mantikê: Studies in Ancient Divination

Edited by Peter T. Struck (NHC Fellow, 2002–03) and Sarah Iles Johnston This book thoroughly revisits divination as a central phenomenon in the lives of ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. It collects studies from many periods in Graeco-Roman history, from the Archaic period to the late Roman, and touches on many different areas of this … Continued