Kristina Jones In fortune-telling, the fortune-teller tries to gain insight into a question or a situation. The fortuneteller reads and interprets various characters to answer the question of the proposer. For this the fortune teller uses rituals and various tools. Through these rituals and tools they can make contact with your essence. Your talents, your powers, your character etcetera. In some cases the fortuneteller can invoke a supernatural power. The fortuneteller makes official use of divination.
What is a fortune teller?
Our dictionary describes: “The fortuneteller. Someone who, by attributed or pretended special gifts and often by appeal to magical powers, foretells the future and reveals hidden things; a fortuneteller”.
In some cultures and religions fortune-telling is still used. However, it has become more and more nowadays a function for the profit of the fortuneteller. For many people, fortune-telling can still have a deep meaning and help with difficult issues.
There is a double meaning attached to divination or the fortuneteller. On the one hand, divination is seen as a prediction of the future, but on the other hand it is absolutely not. On that side it is indicated that by all kinds of events and influences from outside and inside, the future is never fixed. They see divination as a form of character determination. By giving insight into your deep, inner essence you increase your own chances of achieving something.
History fortune teller
Divination began around 4000 years before Christ. Within the ancient religions, cultures and medicine prophetic dreams already played a role. From history it is known that kings also used soothsayers. In the bible fortune-telling was forbidden and in Europe in the time of Christianity fortune-telling was declared devilish. It was a serious sin and a religious prohibition was pronounced. Sometimes soothsayers were even persecuted.
The oldest known form of fortune-telling is geomantics. In geomantics, markings are interpreted. This can be done for example by making markings in the earth during a trance or by scattering stones. The shape and position is then interpreted.
What is fortune-telling?
Fortune tellers use rituals and techniques to practice soothsaying. These rituals and the tools they use are very diverse and I will explain some of them below. How a soothsayer works differs per soothsayer. Attention! There are many other forms of divination. There is also culture and tradition bound fortune-telling and rituals.
Dowsing rod
A dowsing rod is used for dowsing. They use it to detect energies and minerals hidden in the earth. You can think of gems, minerals, electricity and water veins and earth rays. Within dowsing, it is thought that there is a connection between the bishop and the rod with which he can unconsciously perceive.
Glass sphere
The glass ball is also called a crystal ball. As the name says, the sphere is made of glass or crystal. Because it is so solid, it gets the same effect as a lens. What made the crystal ball used for divination is unclear. However, it is known that far back in history reflective surfaces were used by humans. Around the fifth century also the so-called ‘crystal looking’ was forbidden by the Christian church because it was seen as a sin and the work of the devil.
Astrology
Astrology is a collective name for the connection between events and the position of the celestial bodies. Astrology is derived from the Greek ‘astrologia’, which is a composition of astron and logos. Astron means star or constellation and logos means theory. They look at the coherence of the movements of the sun, moon and planets. An example of a well-known form of divination from astrology is the horoscope.
Runes
The runic inscription is the oldest known to date, which was used by the Germanic people in northern Europe and Scandinavia, among other places. The form of foretelling with runes is similar to the Oriental I Ching. Runes are thrown. On the basis of their position the runes are given a meaning, which should lead to an answer to the question. It can thus be seen as a form of geomantics.
Fortune telling cards
Fortune telling cards are used to solve problems. There are various forms of fortune-telling cards, such as the medicine cards, Lenormand cards, archangels cards etc.. More extensive information about the different cards can be found at the articles under the heading ‘card laying’.
Within the fortune-telling cards different laying patterns are used, each with its own meaning. All cards also have their own meaning. A fortune-teller can make connections between the different cards and thus give insight into yourself and your question or the situation you are in.
Numerology
Numerology can provide insight into yourself, the behavior of others and can predict the future. Within numerology, on the basis of numbers, insight is given into your character, your inner self and a look into the future. Numerology means the knowledge of numbers. A numerologist looks at the coherence of things on the basis of a number by converting concepts into numbers according to a certain system.
Character determinations
There are various forms of character determinations. An example of this is handwriting. Here, by means of the lines and pads on the hand, the character properties are determined. Because of different influences of life, lines in the hand can change or break. Fractures, however, can also be repaired. Because of this it is possible to try to predict the future, but it is never fixed.