ESP and Divination

Giotto, Adoration of the Magi

Divination [From Chapter Two of Psi Development Systems]
A vast variety of methods were used in ancient Mesopotamia for divination. The future was viewed in the livers and intestines of slaughtered animals, from fire and smoke, from the reflection of precious stones, from the murmerings of springs, and the shape of plants, the movements of trees, and the activity of animals - particularly snakes. Monstrous births of animals and men were believed to be portents. Atmospheric signs, rain, clouds, wind and lightning were interpreted as forebodings; the cracking of furniture and wooden panels foretold future events. Flies and other insects, as well as dogs and cats were the carriers of occult messages (Seligman 1948).

Mesopotamia was noted throughout the ancient world for its magi -- men and woman for whom nothing was accidental. They perceived a harmony in nature binding together all objects and all events. Omens were often interpreted through linguistic relations (particularly puns) between the ominous portent and its presumed consequences. In times of crisis, kings and priests would engage in a ritual preparation in the inner room of a temple sanctuary. Then, during sleep, the deity of the temple would appear to the dreamer with a clear and literal message requiring no further interpretation (Callois 1966).

The art of divination received in Mesopotamia more intense and sustained interest than in any other known civilization. Reading omens was particularly important since every event was thought to have a personal meaning to the observer. This attitude was proto-scientific in that it stressed minute observation and description of phenomena. However, deterministic causality was not an important notion, as all events were seen as communications from the divine (Oppenheim 1966).

The Chinese I Ching or "book of changes" is one of the oldest books in the world. It consists of 64 sections, each headed by a figure made up of six lines, broken or unbroken, called a hexagram. Each of the 64 hexagrams represents a different stage of the eternal fluctuation of the cosmic forces of yin and yang basic to Chinese philosophy, which may be thought of as the archetypes of feminine and masculine. The hexagrams are described in poetic and often enigmatic terms that seem to echo the deeper levels of the human mind or subconscious; there have also been commentaries by Confucius and other sages relating the hexagrams to specific human situations. One consults the oracle by the apparently random process of flipping coins or shuffling yarrow stalks.

Two contemporary studies have noted clinically (Kahn, Kroeber & Kingsbury 1974) and experimentally (Rubin & Honorton 1971) that when the oracle is approached with an attitude of respect and belief, the hexagrams which are selected do seem more applicable than other hexagrams chosen as controls. Carl Jung (1949), the great Swiss Psychiatrist, described the I Ching divination method as an example of his principle of "synchronicity," in that the failing of the coins or yarrow stalks and th state of mind of the questioner were all a function of and unified by the moment in time of the divination process. (However, it is not clear that in this situation there is any testable method of distinguishing the conformance or synchronicity paradigm of psi from the extra-sensorimotor paradigm.)



Adrian Boshier (1974) reports on an ancient African method of divination by throwing bones. He described an encounter with an old female sangoma who was able to provide him with "64 revealing personal details concerning my life, which were absolutely accurate."

The Ifa system of divination used by the African Yoruba culture also involves throwing bones. It is similar to the I Ching in that the random tosses are related to a complex mythology although the African is more complicated than the Chinese, containing 256 basic patterns instead of 64. Many years are required simply to master the complicated mythological structure related to the divination (Bascom, 1969).

Divination played a major part in the oracles of the Greek culture. Female priestesses in a trance state, sometimes apparently induced through drugs, offered enigmatic statements highly prized by nobility and peasants. Herodotus reports one incident in which Croesus, King of Lydia, tried to test seven different popular oracles. He prepared a specific target: he had a tortoise and lamb cut into pieces and cooked together in a brass pan, upon which he placed a brass lid. The famous oracle at Delphi is said to have provided a lucid and accurate response to the target. The presents that Croesus sent to Delphi, which are detailed in Herodotus, were of incalculable value (de Vesme, 1931).

Another tradition of divination, or precognition, existed in Greek philosophy, beginning with Socrates and was inherited by the neoplatonic philosophers. According to Plato, Socrates had precognitive abilities that he attributed to the internal voice of a daemon or demigod (not a demon).

Divination was very prominent in ancient Rome. In 150 B.C., the Romans passed a law declaring that no important resolution could be adopted without consulting the augurs. The dreams and portents of Julius Ceasar's death are reported by Plutarch, much as they have been portrayed in William Shakespeare's famous tragedy. The Roman physician Galen, one of the fathers of modem medicine, wrote of the value of using dreams for diagnosing illness as well as for predicting the future.

Bascom, W. Ifa divination: Communication between the gods and men in West Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1969.

Boshier, A.K. African apprenticeship. Parapsychology Review, 1974, 5(4), 1-3,25-27.

Callois, R. Logical and philosophical problems of the dream. In G.E. Grunebaurn and R. Callois (Eds.), The dream and human societies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.

de Vesme, C. A history of experimental spiritualism. Vol. I. London: Rider and Co., 1931.

Jung, C.G. Introduction. In Richard Wilhelm (trans.), The I Ching. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1970. (Originally published, 1949.)

Kahn, M., Kroeber, T.C., and Kingsbury, S. The I Ching as a model for a personal growth workshop. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1,974, 14(3), 39-51.

Oppenheim, A.L. Mantic dreams in the ancient near east. In G.E. Grunebaum and R. Callois (Eds.), The dream and human societies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.

Rubin, L., and Honorton, C. Separating the yins from the yangs: An experiment with the I Ching. Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association, 1971, 8, 6-7.

Seligman, K. Magic, supernaturalism, and religion. New York: Random House: 1948.