Div^s. See Lazarus.
Divination (0^J5, ie^aoa, a hi [see bebr].* some kindred term ; Gr. fmvrtla [hot Ocidwir, /yk in Acts xvi, 16] ; used in the verb form CD?, iors'. only of false prophets, etc, e. g. of the Hebrews, B^ xviii, 10, 14 ; Biic. iil, 6, 7, U ; of necroaiaac«& 1 Sam. xxviii, 8 ; of foreign prophets, as of the f^t- tines, 1 Sam. vi, 2, and Balaam, Josh, xni, S; ai specifically of the three kinds of diWnatioo comiaa among the Shemitic nations, viz. arrows, entrails, a^ Teraphim, Ezek. xxi, 21) is a general terra deaciiylin of the various illusory arts anciently practised £0- tk discovery of things secret or future. The cari(»rr of mankind has devised nnmberless method of s«<iisz to accomplish this result. By a perversion aad exs^ geration of the sublime fiiith which sees God ersr- where, men have laid everything, with greater or lea ingenuity, under contribution, as means of elkitis; a divine answer to eveiy question of their rnsatiilile c«- riosity : e. g. the portents of the sky and ws (PH- tarch, 'De Stg^ersHOonej passim); the mysteries of tiie grave {vfKpofiavrtia and OKiofiavriia) ; the iroadoi of sleep and dreams (thought to be emanatioas flva the gods, Homer, //. i, 63 ; ffjfnm im Merenr. U ; Tr- gil, jEn. V, 888) ; the phenomena of victims ncrScef (in which the deities were supposed to be spcdillj s- terested or near at hand ; comp. the i^po^mmM k Potter's Gr. AnL ii, 14) ; the motions and z^peiamm of the animal creation (such as the flight ofbii^ft copious source of superstition in the opii^omcona «f the Greeks and the angmrwrn of the Latins, and tb aspect of beasts) ; and the prodigies of inwnimstt » ture (such as the t-Mia ovpi^Xa, omens ofAewa^ upon which whole books are said to hare been wribo; the Kkrf^ovtQy omwnts voices) ; and the kog EH tf
DIVINATION
827
DIVINATION
nsLgic arts, which may be found in Hoffmann's Zeav COM, ii, 97, and Potter on the Occult Science* (in the ^nci/d, MeiropoL pt v, which contains some thirty lAmes ending in -money ^ or compoands of fmvriia, all tranches of the magic art). Nor have these expe- lients of superstition been confined to one age or to a lingle nation. The meteoric portents, for instance, wblch used to excite the surprise and fear of the old S reeks and Romans, are still employed among the t>arbarians of Africa (e. g. musana of the Manika tribe, Krapf 's Trav. in E. Africa^ p. 116 sq.) ; and as the ancients read fearful signs in the fieces of animals CVirgil, Georg, i, 469), the savage Bakmains indicate the presence of the terrible alligator with their hcUo hi bo, "there Is sin** (Livingstone*s Trcto. inS. Africa, p. 225). See Supbrstition. This art " of taking an aim of divine matters by human, which cannot but breed mixture of imaginations" (Bacon, Ess. x^i), ac- cordingly has been universal in all ages and all na- tions, alike civQized and savage. It arises from an Impression that, in the absence of direct, visible guid- ing Providence, the Deity suffers his will to be known to men, partly by inspiring those who from purity of character or elevation of spirit were susceptible of the divine afflatus (^tofiavruQ, ivBovoiaoraiy UtrrariKof), and partly by giving perpetual indications of the fu- ture, which must be learned by experience and obser- vation (Cicero, Div. i, 18 ; Pliny, xxx, 6).
(a.) The first kind of divination was called naiitral (arixyog, aSidaKroi:)^ in which the medium of inspinu tion was transported firom his ovm individuality, and became the passive instrument of supernatural utter- ances (Virg. j£n. vi, 47 ; Ovid, Met. ii, 640, etc.). As this process involved violent convulsions, the word fiavriKfjj soothsaying^ is derived from fiaivkoBaiy to rave, and alludes to the foaming mouth and streaming hair of the possessed seer (Plato, Tim. 72, B, where the ^dvTiQ \b carefully distinguished fW>m the wpo^^n/t). But even in the most passionate and irresistible proph- ecies of Scripture we have none of these unnatural dis- tortions (Num. xxiii, 5 ; Psa. xxxix, 3 ; Jer. xx, 9), although, as we shall see, thoy were characteristic of pretenders to the gift. See Soothsayeb.
(6.) The other kind of divination was artificial (re^- viKti), and probably originated in an honest conviction that external nature sympathized with and frequently indicated the condition and prospects of mankind — a conviction not in itself ridiculous, and fostered by the accidental S3aichronism of natural phenomena with human catastrophes (Thucyd. iii, 89 ; Josephus, War, vi, 5, 8 ; Foxe's Martyrs, iii, 406, etc.). When once this feeling was established the supposed manifesta* tions were infinitely multiplied, and hence the num- berless forms of imposture or ignorance called capno- mancy, p^Tomancy, arithmomancy, libanomancy, bo- tanoraancy, cephalomancy, etc., of which there are abundant accounts in Cicero, De Div.; Cardan, De Sapientid ; Anton, v. Dale, De Oriy. Idol. ; Fabricius, Bibi. A ntiq. p. 409-426 ; Carpzov, App. Crit. p. 640-649 ; Potter*s ArUiq. i, ch. viii sq. Indeed, there was scarce- ly any possible event or appearance which was not pressed into the service of augury ; and it may be said of the ancient Greeks and Romans, as of the modem New Zealanders, that, ** after uttering their karakias (or charms), the whistling of the wind, the moving of trees, the flash of lightning, the peal of thunder, the flight of a bird, even the buzz of an insect, would be regarded as an answer" (Taylor's New Zealand, p. 74; Bowring's Siam, i, 163 sq.). A system commenced in fanaticism ended in deceit. Hence Cato's fkmous saying that it was strange how two augurs could meet without laughing in each other's face. But the sup- posed knowledge became in all nations an engine of political power, and hence interest was enlisted in its support (Cicero, De Leyy. ii, 12 ; Livy, vi, 27 ; Sopho- cles, ^n^^. 1055 ; comp. Mic. iii, 11). It fell into the hands of a priestly caste (Gen. xli, 8; Isa. xlvii, 18;