Did you know that you can explore your future through eggs, the shape of your hands or a pendulum? Or that by using age-old methods like coffee ground and tea leaf reading or the I Ching code you can know how you'll do in your relationship or whether you'll find a job? Here's our selection of oracles to predict the future.
What is an oracle?
In Ancient Greece, priests and psychics asked the gods for the future; for instance, how a war would end or what would be a ruler's fate. To do that they climbed up into Mount Delfos. The place where they received the message of the gods was called oracle, so it was eventually named the Oracle of Delfos.
Since the old times, humankind has dealt with deities to find an answer to an uncertain future. The latin term oraculum is used to define both the place where the communication with the gods occurred as well as the answer received.
Aside from the Oracle of Delfos, other peoples and civilisations followed the same ritual to ask the gods: the Oracle. Kings and emperors would send their questions to psychics or prophets, and they in turn would reveal the deities' answers.
Over time, methods and procedures have evolved, but there are still ways to check the future through the mediation of sages (psychics, priests, wizards, etc.) through objects.
How to predict the future: 7 oracles and divination methods
We as humans keep up the need to know the future. Isn't it tempting to find out how a relationship will progress? Should we expect a baby boy or girl? Will we find a job? Will that health issue get sorted out?
Nowadays, white magic and esotericism have developed many ways to contact deities and ask about our future.
1. Astrology
Although astrology has transformed into a psychology-based method for personal evolution and self-knowledge, it used to be a divination method at first. As an oracle, astrology uses the position of the planets and their combinations of energy and potential to predict how events will unfold.
Unlike other oracles, astrology is a highly complex science which requires the presence of an expert. Aside from astronomy knowledge, it is required to be acquainted with astral houses, astrological ephemeri and complex planet calculation algorithms which require a specific specialisation.
Normally we don't get highly specific answers in astrology, just tendencies which need to be submitted to interpretation. According to the astrologer's qualifications, we'll adjust to a more or less precise answer.
2. Pendulum
It is one of the most popular objects to reach personal divination, and it is also used as an oracle to find missing items and people. In this case, the answer comes through vibrations and energy.
In the old times, sages used a branch to track through fertile grounds and water sources. Nowadays, the branch has evolved into a pendant with a sphere which can be made of quartz or filled in with precious metals. The pendulum dangles through energy and it allows the wizard or sage to perform a reading.
Using the pendulum requires having cleansed the space where the reading is performed, as well as the creation of a personal connection between the individual and the pendulum. The pendulum is dangled over a board with short answers (Yes, No, Maybe) and the questions are asked in order to obtain answers.
3. Coffee ground reading
Although it may seem shocking, tasseomancy or coffee ground reading for divination purposes dates back to a few centuries ago: it is an old tradition set in the Near East.
Coffee grounds offer shapes that inspire the ideas behind objects and messages. In order to reach them, it's enough to drink our coffee calmly and slowly while we ask the questions we want answered. It's important to focus all our attention into one single question and to visualise it in our mind.
When we're done, we must focus on the coffee ground reading, entering it with our mind to visualise the shapes that will bring the answer. In order to receive it, we need to tap the bottom of the cup three times with our spoon.
4. I ching
I Ching refers to an old-age oracle book to predict the future and choose the right path. The Chinese use the sacred book as a source for life orientation, and the I Ching oracle as a tool to make choices.
The conventional path includes using coins for divination. Reading the future is the result of switches. If we don't have Chinese coins, we can do it with regular coins: we'll assign a value of 2 to the upper side (Yin) and a value of 3 to the lower side (Yan) to three coins.
The asker has to think of a question and toss the coins six times. On each toss there's a value of 6, 7, 8 or 9. From the result there are 8 three-line combinations (trigrams) which in turn will switch to make 64 six-line figures (hexagrams).
Through the interpretation code, we'll find an answer following the hexagram.
5. Tea leaf reading
One of the oldest forms of divination is through tea leaves because of the mystic connotation grass has always had as an item connecting us to the afterlife. Teomancy is done through brewing tea leaves (preferably black or Chinese tea) and reading the content on a light-coloured cup.
The divination procedure is very similar to tasseomancy. We must drink our tea slowly, focusing on a single question about our concern. When we're done, we'll tap our spoon three times on the bottom of the cup, and read the shapes of the leaves that are left.
There is an entire interpretation code through the figures we can see. For instance, a dragon implies change, a waterfall is connected to prosperity, and a branch means there's a new friendship blossoming. A circle is the symbol for love. It's enough to check the codes in order to know and read our future. That simple.
6. Cartomancy (tarot card divination)
For more than 600 years, cartomancy has been used as the main divination method, and it still remains as one of the most trustworthy, popular method. It is based on reading our future through the fates acting upon the arrangement of a deck of cards.
Normally, Tarot cards are used. This is a deck of 78 cards divided into 22 major arcana and 56 minor arcana. Their combination through fate offers the chance for a cartomancy expert to read them, who answers the questions of the asker about their future.
Within cartomancy, there are different decks and methods for divination, but the most usual one is to shuffle and spread through fate traditional Tarot cards, and to analyse the symbols and their distribution.
7. Crystal gazing
Crystallomancy or crystal gazing divination has become obsolete, so much so that it's being considered exotic. Still, some psychics still use it as an age-old prediction method.
The magic dimension of the crystal ball is based on its vibrations. Through an expert, it connects with a person's spiritual realm and it can be read by the expert. Their use is based on the ancient belief that glass is a connecting door between the human world and the afterlife.
At a first glance, and unlike other easier-to-find methods, crystallomancy is only available for "chosen" sages with the gift of clairvoyancy. To see through the glass you need innate properties, but when they are achieved, the access to the crystal ball's hidden dimension offers an accurate prediction.
Other types of oracles to predict the future
Aside from the aforementioned methods, there's other popular methods for divination. These are other well-known effective oracles.
One of them is chiromancy or hand reading. It is based on the belief that the shape of our hands and their lines contain answers to questions such as duration, bliss, financial prosperity or romantic relationships.
In principle, the reading should be performed by a professional hand reader, but nowadays there's codes and manuals to learn how to read hands ourselves.
A very ancient method, although taken aside by other more modern methods, is ornithomancy or bird divination. In the old times, kings and emperors would ask priests and sages about their lives or an upcoming war.
They would watch the flight of birds and reached a conclusion through the number of birds, their direction or whether they flew in even or odd-numbered groups.
Oomancy or divination through eggs is more modern and up-to-date. The most extended method is to fill a glass with water and to prick the egg with a needle, letting the egg white touch the water.
That way, there's shapes in the water that could answer our questions. The future can also be predicted by breaking the egg on a plate and reading the future in the yolk.