Week 12: Divination Flashcards
What were the 6 Canaanite divination languages?
- Reading sheep entrails
- Reading behaviour of sheep
- Reading movements of a water snake
- Reading tokens
- Reading behaviour of birds
- Reading behaviour of shelducks
Define: Diviner:
Somebody that can communicate with the divine through the manipulation of certain objects
Define: Ephod
- An Israelite High Priest’s breastplate
- Had 12 sacred stones on it
- Can communicate to YHWH with it
What were the Urim and Thumim?
- Israelite tradition
- 2 stones
- You throw them both, if they both land on the same side, it is a divinely correct verdict
What was the oldest oracle in the Greek world?
Zeus’ oak tree at Dodona
In the Greek world, why are oracles often female?
Because their power to create babies was seen as mystical magic
Which deity ruled Delphi before Apollo took over?
Gaia
Who did Apollo kill to gain control of Delphi?
Python, Gaia’s serpent monster
Which Greek oracle site involved slipping into a small and dark subterranean chamber feet first?
Trophonios’ Oracle at Lebadeia
What did one have to do before entering into the cave at Trophonios’ oracle in Lebedaeia?
- You are taken to the river Herecina, where you are washed
- Once you drink the water there, you will be clear of all memory
List the Greco-Roman methods of divination: (6)
- Oracles
- Dreams
- Augury
- Haruscpisy
- Bibliomancy
- Astrology
Define: Bibliomancy
Looking at random passages in a book, and interpreting them as divine messages
List some early Christian methods of divination: (5)
- Lot casting
- Onomancy
- Bibliomancy
- Astrology
- Ouija Board
Acronym: OBOLA
Horoscopes were first religiously practised by the __________, in the year ___________.
Babylonians
500 BC
When do horoscopes first reach the Mediterranean?
100 BC
Which famous Roman leader used bibliomancy by consulting the Iliad before battle? What followed?
- Pompey
- Before Pharsallus
- The line says that he would be undone by Apollo
- He ignores it, and loses the battle
What book did many Roman Emperors use for Bibliomancy?
Virgil’s Aeneid
Define: Omeni oblatine
Omens that come to you
Where in Greece was there said to be a direct entrance to Hades?
Death Oracle of Poseidon at cape Tainaron
- Southern most tip of Greece
What were the 4 main functions of amulets?
- Erotic (attraction, fertility,
contraception) - Healing
- Averting ghosts and demons
- Luck
Define: Relics
Remains of, or anything once touched by saints
Describe pilgrim flasks:
- Canteens used by pilgrims in the east
- They often had saints depicted on them
- This affirmed their use as amulets, as the icon of the respective saint warded away bad luck and evil
True or False: Coins were thought to have had value in the human, AND non-human worlds
TRUE
What on coins was seen to protect you in the afterlife?
- The image of a king or ruler
True or False: Imitation coins and obsolete old coins are still valid in the underworld
TRUE
Why did the Christian Church abhor the idea of relying on an old ruler’s image on a coin for protection in the afterlife?
- Because it meant rejecting the sanctity of the Lord, in favour of superstitious hope in the luck of an old pagan ruler
What were Gold Foil Bracteates?
- Old, inexpensive coins that were wrapped in a thin layer of gold foil and buried with the dead
- Christians often used ancient coins, then outdated, picking symbols that pertained to Christianity (ex. Dove on coins for Aphrodite)
Define: Voces magicae
- Incomprehensible, but pronounceable magical formulas, spells and curses
- Often used when writing about demons
What was the Sethian demon curse tablet, found in Rome?
- A curse tablet found in the Via Appia tombs
- Portrayed the dog headed Seth
- The victims had their heads bitten off by snakes
What is Sympathetic Magic?
- Cursing an image, which thus curses the person
- Ex. Vodoo dolls
What was an early Christian book describing proper procedures to exorcise a demon?
The Eighth Book of Moses (4th c. AD)
What was the spell of Pibechis?
- A Judeo-Christian charm used to exorcise those possessed by demons
How does the Eighth Book of Moses tell one to properly exorcise a demon?
If you say the magic name to a man possessed by a demon while applying sulphur and
bitumen to his nose, the demon will give voice at once and depart
Applying which two materials to a possessed victim’s nose will repel the demon within them?
Sulphur
Bitumen
What was known to the Greeks and Romans as the “sacred disease”?
Epilepsy
Why did many Christians defile old pagan statues?
- Christians consider statues to actually be inhabited by pagan gods, and thus, demons
After which year does Christian defilement of pagan statues begin?
395 AD
How did Mesopotamians view pain?
As a vulnerability to evil forces and demons in the world
What was the most comprehensive Mesopotamian medical text?
- Nineveh Medical Encyclopedia
Who were the Asu and the Asipu? How did they differ?
- Medical practitioners in ancient Mesopotamia
Asu= Practiced HERBAL medicine
Asipu= Practiced RITUAL medicine (ex. exorcisms)
What was the Maqlu Ceremony?
- 100 incantations and symbolic rites performed through the night
- To ward against witchcraft
How did the Syro-Canaanites see illness?
- As a punishment from the gods
What was the Amphiaraion?
- A healing and oracular sanctuary
- The place where a hero, Amphioraias, disappeared from this world
-He sends up oracular messages and fumes from the underworld - People would throw coins down the well there
What was the Asklepion in Athens?
- Temple to Asklepios
- Sick people would come here
- Had a snake chamber, where they let out snakes at night to slither among the incubating ill peoples
Where were Asklepeions often located?
- Asklepeions are usually located in the centre of cities
At which Asklepion was it said that no patients ever died from their illness? Why?
Asklepeion at Pergammon
- Because they would kick those about to die out of the sanctuary before they could pass away
Where did Asklepios ascend?
Epidauros
Asklepios only becomes the centre focus of the Sanctuary at Epidauros in the ________ century BC
4th C. BC
Define: Abaton
A covered colonnade used as an incubation chamber for sick people at Asklepeions
Which foreign deity was heavily present at the Epidaurus healing sanctuary?
Isis
Define: Tamata (Tama)
- Votive offerings of small golden or bronze body part illustrations hung beside an icon of a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Ex. if one is blind, they would post a Tamata of eyes beside the icon of a saint
