Divination
Divination designates the set of practices aimed at obtaining information about the present, the past or the future by interpreting signs, objects, movements or phenomena considered meaningful. Tarot, astrology, geomancy and rune reading are forms of it.
Origin and etymology
The word comes from the Latin divinatio, formed on divinus, meaning belonging to the gods. Cicero devoted a major treatise to divination, De Divinatione, in 44 BCE, in which he distinguishes artificial divination (by interpretation of signs) from natural divination (by direct inspiration, dreams, trances). Divinatory practices are attested in every ancient culture: Etruscan haruspicy, Greek oracles at Delphi and Dodona, Roman sibyls, ornithomancy, hydromancy, geomancy. Babylonian Mesopotamia practiced hepatoscopy (reading the liver) and astrology as early as the 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient China used the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty (18th-12th centuries BCE) and the Yi Jing.
Evolution and tradition
Medieval Christianity officially condemned divination as a pagan practice, but sometimes tolerated it in certain forms (medical astrology, prophecy). The Renaissance rediscovered the ancient traditions with Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola. The 19th century saw the development of modern cartomancy with Etteilla and Mademoiselle Lenormand, and the founding of the great occultist schools (Eliphas Levi, Papus, Golden Dawn). The depth psychology of Carl Gustav Jung, who wrote the preface to the Yi Jing in 1949, proposed a re-reading of divination as a mirror of the unconscious rather than a prediction. This reading dominates contemporary practice.
Practical use
Contemporary divinatory practices range from tarot to astrology, including oracles, runes, the Yi Jing, dowsing, and coffee-ground reading. On Tarotoui, several divinatory systems are offered, from the Tarot de Marseille to the Lenormand and modern oracles. The vast majority of modern practitioners do not claim a literal prediction of the future, but a mirroring of the internal and external dynamics in play. The querent draws cards, casts runes, or asks a question, and reads the answer as a trigger for reflection.
Going further
Cicero's distinction between artificial and natural divination remains relevant: a cartomancer interprets cards (artificial), a medium relates a vision (natural). Confusing divination with strict prediction is a popular simplification. Most contemporary practitioners, trained in psychology or philosophy, reject this deterministic reading. Note also that the legal status of divination varies by country: regulated in France by the offense of fraud in cases of abuse.