Free The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter by Allan Zola Kronzek, Elizabeth Kronzek Page A

of divination began in ancient Mesopotamia more than 4,000 years ago. There, the divinatory arts were practiced by the priests, who studied the movements of the stars and planets and examined the entrails of sacrificed animals for clues to the welfare of the king and community. Some diviners sought clues to future events by going into a trance and seeking guidance from the spirit world. Others looked for omens in nature. An eclipse, a hailstorm, the birth of twins, or the way smoke drifted through the air—almost anything might be interpreted as a sign of things to come.
    In ancient Greece and Rome, there were two levels of divination: Professional, highly trained diviners worked for the government, while ordinary fortune-tellers worked for anyone who could afford them. Of the official diviners, the most esteemed in Greece was the Oracle of Delphi (see Prophecy ), to whom petitioners would bring their questions and receive an answer directly from the god Apollo, as channeled through a priestess. Royal emissaries from neighboring lands consulted the Oracle on such important matters as where to construct a new temple or whether to go to war. In Rome, the state-appointed diviners were known as “augurs,” from the Latin avis , meaning “bird,” and garrire , meaning “to chatter.” Indeed, their highly regarded counsel to the empire was based on bird watching. Of all earth’s creatures, birds were the closest to the heavens, so it’s understandable that they were regarded as good indicators of what might or might not please the gods. Interpretations were based on many kinds of observations, including the number and species of birds and their flight patterns, calls and songs, direction, and speed. Julius Caesar, Cicero, Mark Antony, and other eminent Romans all served as augurs.
    Less noteworthy diviners were available to most everyone (even slaves were sometimes permitted a consultation), and fortune-telling was a booming business throughout the ancient world. Dream interpretation and astrology were the most venerable systems, but also popular were arithmancy , scrying (a relative of crystal-ball gazing), and palmistry , as well as systems involving birds, dice, books, arrows, axes, and other surprising items. Popular fortune-tellers, many of whom also sold talismans and amulets , were not afforded the respect given official diviners. They were more likely to be deliberate frauds, and humorists enjoyed poking fun at those who flocked to them for advice on every trivial matter.

     
    People from all walks of life consulted professional fortune-tellers. Here a young nobleman learns what the cards reveal about his future . ( photo credit 19.2 )
     

 

 
What does the fearsome green predator of the insect kingdom known as the praying mantis have in common with systems of fortune-telling? Not much, really, except for an interesting connection in language: the Greek word mantikos , which means “prophet.” Because of the prophetic nature of fortune-telling, diviners are sometimes said to practice “the mantic arts,” and dictionary makers use the word ending “-mancy” to indicate any form of divination. Palm reading is chiromancy ( cheiro is Greek for “hand”), dream interpretation is oneiromancy (in Greek oneiros means “dream”), and so forth. The voracious garden mantis derives its name from the typical upraised position of its forelegs, which suggests a prophet with his hands held together in prayer. Usually, however, the praying mantis is more concerned with “prey” than with either fortune-telling or heavenly supplication.

 
( photo credit 19.3 )
 

 
     
    Many ancient divinatory systems survived into the Middle Ages, despite opposition in Europe from the Church. Professional seers continued to work in major cities, traveling fortune-tellers moved from town to town, and village wizards and wise women served as diviners for their communities. Village wizards, it should be noted, were expected to look