divination

Examples of divination in the following topics:

• Etruscan Religion

  • The Etruscan belief system was heavily influenced by other religions in the region and placed heavy emphasis on the divination of the gods’ wills to guide human affairs.
  • The Etruscans did not attempt to rationalize or explain divine actions or intentions, but to simply divine what the gods’ wills were through an elaborate system of divination.
  • Therefore, the Etrusca Disciplina is mainly a set of rules for the conduct of all sorts of divination.
  • Divinations were conducted by priests, who the Romans called haruspices or sacerdotes.
  • In this way, the Etruscans placed special emphasis upon intimate contact with divinity, consulting with the gods and seeking signs from them before embarking upon a task.

• Shang Religion

  • Shang religion was characterized by a combination of animism, shamanism, spiritual control of the world, divination, and respect and worship of dead ancestors, including through sacrifices.
  • Shang religion was characterized by a combination of animism, shamanism, spiritual control of the world, divination, and respect and worship of dead ancestors, including through sacrifice.
  • In particular, the Shang kings, who considered themselves divine rulers, consulted the great god Shangdi (the "Supreme Being" who ruled over humanity and nature) for advice and wisdom.
  • The oldest surviving form of Chinese writing is inscriptions of divination records on the bones or shells of animals—so-called oracle bones.

• Humans and Their Deities

  • A deity is a natural or supernatural being with superhuman powers or qualities, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred.
  • A deity is a natural or supernatural being with superhuman powers or qualities who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred.
  • This same concept is also present in monotheistic and henotheistic religions.The boundary between human and divine in most cultures is by no means absolute.
  • Demigods are the offspring of a union between human and deity, and most royal houses in Antiquity claimed divine ancestors.
  • Naram-Sin, the first Mesopotamian king known to have claimed divinity for himself (worshiped as the Akkadian moon god), depicted on his victory stele

• Religious Experience

  • A religious experience is usually an uncommon occurrence in which an individual encounters what he or she considers to be the divine.
  • Religious experience is the subjective experience in which an individual reports that he or she has either contacted a transcendent reality, or encountered, in some fashion, the divine.
  • Definitions of what exactly is divine, and what is not, might differ from person to person.
  • According to Otto, a numinous experience also has a personal quality to it, because individuals typically feel that they are opening some unique communication chain with the divine.
  • Communication with the divine can express itself in two ways, the first of which relates to ectsasy, the second to enthusiasm.

• Pantheism

  • Pantheism refers to a belief in an all-encompassing God in which nature is equivalent with divinity.
  • It is the belief that everything composes an all-encompassing God: in other words, the universe (or nature) is identical with divinity.
  • Feinberg, professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, has identified seven categories of pantheism.
  • According to this belief, since the universe has come forth from the divine, all things and beings are sacred and must be treated so in human thought and action.
  • Because of this divine significance, every position and action in lovemaking had importance.

• Manifest Destiny

  • Manifest destiny was the 19th century U.S. belief that the country had a divine right to expand across and take over the continent.
  • The term described the very popular idea of the special role of the United States in overtaking the continent—the divine right and duty of white Americans to seize and settle the continent's western territory, thus spreading Protestant, democratic values.

• The Three Sovereigns

  • They used clay to create human figures, and with their divine power made the clay figures come alive.
  • Shennong, literally "divine farmer," taught agriculture to the settled peoples.

• Imperial Sculpture in the Early Roman Empire

  • These portraits linked him to divinities and heroes, both mythical and historical.
  • At his feet Cupid rides a dolphin, a symbol of his divine ancestry.
  • As Caesar's nephew and adopted son, this use of iconography allows Augustus to remind viewers of his divine lineage.
  • Although he wears boots, which would appear to contradict the suggestion of humbleness seen in full-length sculptures of Augustus, his plain cuirass and the absence of religious iconography suggest a competent leader who does not promote his accomplishments or divine ancestry.
  • Like his predecessor, Claudius appears barefoot in a gesture of humility balanced with a symbol of divinity, in this case, an eagle to symbolize Jupiter.

• Victory Columns under the Nervan-Antonines

  • The monuments dedicated to the reigns of Trajan, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius emphasize their military achievements, divinity, and public works.
  • With the exception of the appearance of a few Victory figures and a river god, the Romans and Trajan are shown conquering the Dacians under their own power, though their own superiority over their enemy, without the help of divine intervention.
  • This column is modeled on Trajan's column and was originally erected on the Campus Martius between the Temple of Divine Hadrian and the Temple of Divine Marcus Aurelius.

• Death

  • According to their myths, death came into the world as a result of primeval man's transgressions against the divine order.
  • The powers of the dead thus infuse the object, which is used in divination or healing rituals.