Oracle

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Oracle

An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic

Prophecy

Prophecy, generally, describes the disclosing of information that is not known to the prophet by any ordinary means. In religion, this is thought to be a divinely inspired revelation or interpretation....
opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual

Spirituality

Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religion and faith, transcendence , or one or more Deity....
in nature. It may also be a revealed prediction

Prediction

A prediction is a statement or claim that a particular event will occur in the future in more certain terms than a forecasting. The etymology of this word is Latin ....
or precognition

Precognition

Precognition or Precog denotes a form of extrasensory perception wherein a person is said to perceive information about places or events through paranormal means before they happen....
of the future, from deities, that is spoken through another object or life-form (e.g.: augury and auspice

Auspice

An auspice is a type of omen already familiar to the king of Alasia in Cyprus who, in the Amarna correspondence has need of an 'eagle diviner' to be sent from Egypt....
). In the ancient world many sites gained a reputation for the dispensing of oracular wisdom: they too became known as "oracles," and the oracular utterances, called khresmoi in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
, were often referred to under the same name—a name derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
verb orare, to speak.

les were common in many civilizations of antiquity.

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Encyclopedia

An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic

Prophecy

Spirituality

Prediction

A prediction is a statement or claim that a particular event will occur in the future in more certain terms than a forecasting. The etymology of this word is Latin ....
or precognition

Precognition

Auspice

Greek language

Latin

Ancient civilizations

China

Oracles were common in many civilizations of antiquity. In China, the use of oracle bones dates as far back as the Shang Dynasty

Shang Dynasty

The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was according to traditional sources the first Dynasties in Chinese history. They ruled in the northeastern region of the area known as "China proper", in the Yellow River valley....
, (1600–1046 BC). The I Ching

I Ching

The I Ching , or ?Y? Jing? ; also called Classic of Changes or Book of Changes is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts....
, or "Book of Changes", is a collection of linear signs used as oracles that are from that period. Although divination with the I Ching

I Ching divination

Among the many forms of divination is a bibliomancy method using the I Ching or Book of Changes. The book is structured as an 8x8 matrix of 64 hexagrams representing the states and the dynamic relationships of the eight elements, each represented by a trigram....
is thought to have originated prior to the Shang Dynasty, it was not until King Wu of Zhou (1046–1043 BC) that it took its present form. In addition to its oracular power, the I Ching has had a major influence on the philosophy, literature and statecraft of China from the time of the Zhou Dynasty

Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in China history?though the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty only lasted during the Western Zhou....
(1122 BC – AD 256).

Egypt

The earliest known oracle was in the renowned temple of Per-Wadjet. This was an important site in the Predynastic era

Predynastic Egypt

The Predynastic Period of Egypt is traditionally the period between the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Pharaonic monarchy beginning with King Narmer....
of Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
, which includes the cultural developments of ten thousand years from the Paleolithic

Paleolithic

The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic or "Old Stone" era is a Prehistory era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human history....
to 3100 BC The temple was dedicated to the worship of Wadjet

Wadjet

In Egyptian mythology, Wadjet, or the Green One , was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep, which became part of the city that the Egyptians named Per-Wadjet, House of Wadjet, and the Greeks called Buto, a city that was an important site in the Predynastic era of Ancient Egypt and the cultural developmen...
and may have been the source for the oracular tradition that spread to Ancient Greece from Egypt. The Per-Wadjet tradition continued through the entire history of the Ancient Egyptian culture. The later Greeks called both the goddess and the city Buto

Buto

Buto or Butos or Butosos , was the later, Greek name for an ancient city located 95 km east of Alexandria in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
.

Another oracle of note lay in Egypt during the Eighteenth dynasty

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers....
(1550–1292 BC), in a temple dedicated to Amun

Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian language Yamanu , was the name of a deity in Egyptian mythology who gradually rose from being an abstract concept to the patron deity of Thebes, Egypt and one of the most important deities in Ancient Egypt before fading into obscurity....
, a god who rose to importance during that time. The Greeks associated him with Zeus

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
. Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
once visited it, and although no record of his query remains, the oracle is thought to have hailed him as Ammon's son, influencing his conceptions of his own divinity.

Greece

The earliest tradition of oracular practice in Hellenic culture is from the archaic period shortly after arrival of the Hellenes in their current place of settlement c. 1300 BC. The oracle was associated with the cults of deities derived from the great goddess of nature and fertility, the pre-eminent ancient oracle—the Delphic Oracle

Delphi

Delphi is an archaeology site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Pythia, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, when it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python , a deity who lived there and protecte...
—operated at the temple of Delphi

Delphi

Apollo

In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Apollo , is one of the most important and many-sided of the Twelve Olympians. The ideal of the kouros , Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the sun; truth and prophecy; archery; medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more....
during the classical period of Greece and priests were added to the temple organization—although the tradition regarding prophecy remained unchanged—and the apparently always-female priestess continued to provide the services of the oracle exclusively. It is from this institution that the English word, oracle, is derived.

The Delphic Oracle exerted considerable influence throughout Hellenic culture. The Greeks consulted her prior to all major undertakings, wars, the founding of colonies, and so forth.

The semi-Hellenic countries around the Greece world, such as Lydia

Lydia

Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkey provinces of Manisa Province and inland Izmir Province....
, Caria

Caria

Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians and Dorians Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there....
, and even Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
also respected her and came to Delphi as supplicants. Croesus

Croesus

Croesus was the Monarch of Lydia from 560/561 BC until his defeat by the Persian Empire in about 547 BC. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Greeks, providing a fixed point in their calendar....
of Lydia consulted Delphi before attacking Persia

Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
, and according to Herodotus

Herodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
was told, "If you cross the river, you will destroy a great empire." Believing the response favorable, Croesus attacked, but it was his own empire that ultimately was destroyed by the Persians.

She allegedly also proclaimed Socrates

Socrates

Socrates was a Classical Greece Philosophy. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known only through the classical accounts of his students....
to be the wisest man in Greece, to which Socrates said that, if so, this was because he alone was aware of his own ignorance. After this confrontation, Socrates dedicated his life to a search for knowledge that was one of the founding events of western philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
. This Oracle's last recorded response was given in 393 AD, when the emperor Theodosius I

Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
ordered pagan temples to cease operation.

Dodona

Dodona

Dodona in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was a prehistoric oracle devoted to the Mother Goddess identified at other sites with Rhea or Gaia , but here called Dione and later, in historical times also to the Greek mythology God Zeus....
another oracle devoted to the Mother Goddess

Mother goddess

A mother goddess is a term used to refer to any goddess associated with motherhood, fertility, creation or the bountiful embodiment of the Earth....
identified at other sites with Rhea

Rhea (mythology)

This page is about the Greek mythological figure. For the bird, see Rhea .Rhea was the Titan daughter of Ouranos , the sky, and Gaia , the earth, in Classical Greece mythology....
or Gaia

Gaia (mythology)

Gaia Gaia is a Greek primordial gods and chthonic deity in the Ancient Greek Pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess or Great Goddess....
, but here called Dione

Dione (mythology)

Dione in Greek mythology is a vague goddess presence who has her most concrete form in Book V of Homer's Iliad as the mother of Aphrodite who lived among the mortals was known for her kindness....
. The shrine of Dodona was the oldest Hellenic oracle, according to the fifth-century historian Herodotus and, in fact, dates to pre-Hellenic times, perhaps as early as the second millennium BC when the tradition spread from Egypt. It became the second most important oracle in ancient Greece, which later was dedicated to Zeus

Zeus

Heracles

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles meaning "glory of Hera", or "Glorious through Hera" Alcides or Alcaeus " was a hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus....
during the classical period of Greece.

During the period, on Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
lay another important oracle, sacred to Apollo

Apollo

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
.

India

In ancient India, the oracle was known as Akashwani, literally meaning "voice from the sky" and was related to the message of God. Oracles played key roles in many of the major incidents of the epics Mahabharat and Ramayana. An example is that Kans

KANS

KANS is a radio station broadcasting a Adult Contemporary format. Licensed to Emporia, Kansas, USA. The station is currently owned by Kansas Radio, Inc....
, the evil uncle of lord Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
, was informed by an oracle that the eighth son of his sister Devaki

Devaki

In Hinduism, Devaki is the wife of Vasudeva and mother of Krishna and Balarama.She was the daughter of Devaka, the younger brother of King Ugrasena of Mathura....
would kill him.

Mesoamerica

In the migration myth of the Mexitin, i.e., the early Aztec

Aztec

Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology....
s, a mummy

Mummy

A mummy is a corpse whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness, very high humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs....
-bundle (perhaps an effigy

Effigy

An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments....
) carried by four priests directed the trek away from the cave of origins by giving oracles. An oracle led to the foundation of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. The Yucatec Mayas knew oracle priests or chilanes, literally 'mouthpieces' of the deity. Their written repositories of traditional knowledge, the Books of Chilam Balam

Chilam Balam

The Mayan Chilam Balam books are manuscripts named after Yucatec towns such as Chumayel, Mani, and Tizimin, and usually consisting of disparate texts in which Mayan and Spanish traditions have coalesced....
, were all ascribed to one famous oracle priest who correctly had predicted the coming of the Spaniards and its associated disasters.

Nigeria

The Igbo people

Igbo people

Igbo people are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo language, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English language alongside Igbo as a result of British Empire....
of southeastern Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federation constitutional republic comprising States of Nigeria and one Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria....
in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
have a long tradition of using oracles. In Igbo villages, oracles were usually female priestesses to a particular deity, usually dwelling in a cave or other secluded location away from urban areas, and, much as the oracles of ancient Greece, would deliver prophecies in an ecstatic state to visitors seeking advice. Though the vast majority of Igbos today are Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
, many in Nigeria today still use oracles.

In Igboland of present-day Nigeria many different oracles were regularly consulted. Two of these became especially famous: the Agbala oracle at Awka

Awka

Awka is the capital of Anambra State, Nigeria. The town is located in southeastern Nigeria in Igboland and lies along roads leading from Owerri, Umuahia, Onitsha, and Enugu....
and the Chukwu oracle at Arochukwu

Arochukwu

Arochukwu pronounced aruchukwu is the third largest town in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria.It is composed of 19 villages with an overall leader called Eze Aro....
.

Scandinavia

In Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
, Odin

Odin

Odin , is considered the chief ?sir in Norse paganism. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxons Woden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wodanaz or *Wodanaz....
took the severed head of the mythical god Mimir

Mímir

M?mir or Mim is a figure in Norse mythology renowned for his knowledge and wisdom who is beheaded during the ?sir-Vanir War. Afterward, the major god Odin carries around M?mir's head and it recites secret knowledge and council to him....
to Asgard

Asgard

In Norse mythology, Asgard is the country or capital city of the ?sir surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning....
for consultation as an oracle. The Havamal
Hávamál

H?vam?l is presented as a single poem in the Poetic Edda. The poem, itself a combination of different poems, largely presents advice for living and survival composed around the central figure of Odin....
and other sources relate the sacrifice

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is commonly known as the practice of offering food, objects , or the lives of animals or people to the deity as an act of propitiation or worship....
of Odin for the oracular Runes whereby he lost an eye (external sight) and won wisdom (internal sight; insight

Insight

Insight from the Greek word noesis .Insight can be used with several related meanings:In psychology and psychiatry, insight is the ability to recognize one's own mental illness....
).

Tibet

In Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a Tibetan Plateau in Asia, north of the Himalayas, and the home to the indigenous Tibetan people and its related ethnic groups. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres , it is the highest region on Earth and has in recent decades increasingly been referred to as the "Roof of the World"....
, oracles have played, and continue to play, an important part in religion and government. The word "oracle" is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit that enters those men and women who act as media

Mediumship

Mediumship is believed by its adherents to be a form of communication with spirits.It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism , Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candombl?, Louisiana Voodoo, and Umbanda....
between the natural and the spiritual realms. The media are, therefore, known as kuten, which literally means, "the physical basis".

The Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a lineage of religious leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and was the political leader of Lhasa-based Tibetan government between the 17th century and 1959....
, who lives in exile in northern India, still consults an oracle known as the Nechung Oracle
Nechung Oracle

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-16-22-17, Tibetexpedition, Staatsorakel.jpgThe Nechung Oracle is the State Oracle of Tibet. The medium of the State Oracle currently resides with the current Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India....
, which is considered the official state oracle of the government of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has according to custom, a custom that has endured for centuries, consulted the Nechung Oracle during the new year festivites of Losar

Losar

Losar is the Tibetan language word for "new year." ' holds the semantic field "year, age"; ' holds the semantic field "new, fresh". Losar is the most important holiday in Tibet....
. Before fleeing from Tibet however he consulted the oracle of Dorje Shugden. Another oracle he consults is the Tenma oracle
Tenma goddesses

The Tenma goddesses are twelve guardian deities in the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism. In hierarchy, they fall under Palden Lhamo, one of the eight Dharmapala deities....
, for which a young Tibetan woman is the medium for the goddess. The Dalai Lama gives a complete description of the process of trance

Trance

Trance denotes a variety of processes, techniques, modalities and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden....
and spirit possession in his book Freedom in Exile. .

Oracle

Ancient civilizations

China

Egypt

Greece

India

Mesoamerica

Nigeria

Scandinavia

Tibet

Further reading

External links