The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-11-18
DIvINATIoN.


This word is from the Latin t'divinatio. >
which means the act of discovering the
hidden, but more particularly the future,
IN a supernatural way. Men have always
set their imagination above the causes of
nature, and by a queer subjective pro-
cess sought to draw out or themselves
what could in reality be only derived
from a study Of the laws Of nature. In
this way systems Of superstition have
been instituted among all nations, and
m the most enlightened races there turks
a deep substrain of superstition 1t was
the belief Of the early natives that as
there were gods, they cared for men, ana
If they cared for men they sent them
signs OF their will Divination assumed
many forms in the past and some Of the
most important among the historic races
are herewith subjoined, under their
learned names:
G Up t T m a n was divina ton
by the mirror or looking glass. AT
Patras, in Greece, the sick foretoId theig
death or recovery by means of mirror
let down with a thread until it's base
touched the water in fountain before
the temple of Ceres. The face of the sick
person appearing healthy in the mirror
hetekened recovery; ii it looked ghastly,
then death was sure to ersue More
modern superstitions attach BI-luck to
the breaking of a looking glass, and to
seeing ones face in a glass by candle
light
Cry a l l m ancy was divina-
ton by means of transparent bodies AMI
at one time very popular, $ stir prac-
tIeed, even in the United States \ prsc-
cious stone, crystal globe, or other trans
parent object was employed, but a berry
was deemed most effective In using il
the operator first muttered over it Ger
tain formulas of prayer, and then gave
1t into the hands of youth or virgin
none others were pure enough to discern
Its reveiations-who beheld in it the IN
formation required. Sometimes tbs
desiderated facts were conveyed by
means of written characters on the crys-
tai; sometimes the spirits invoked an
peared in the crystal to answer the cues
tions asked
Cos CT n o m ncy was 4 species Of
divination practiced from the earliest
times by means of sieve and pair OF
shears or forceps 1t appears to have
been chiefly employed for the discovery
OF thieves, The sieve was supported OF
suspended by means OF the shears, in
some way not easily under stood: a GER
tain mystical form of words was then
used, and the names of the suspected
persons being mentioned in succession at
the name of the thief the sieve moved OF
turned round
m n c y was a Grecian science
that depended upon the number of VOW
els in a name. If the number was edo
something was wrong with the right side
hon flCT17
to begin his fight with Rome, in order Il
discover this result he gave names &c
thirty pigs, half Roman and half Gothic
and in three different styles he locked
them up, five Romans and five GOths in
each. When inspected he found all the
Romans alive with all their bristles off
but all the Goths were dead. The sig
MITIGATION was that the Goths would be
beaten, but the Romans would lose halt
their force.
NJ y NJ a C y made use Of the sounds
and damage done by rats and mice. Thz
great dictator, Fabius Maximus resien-
Cd his office because the squeaI of a
mouse warned him to Go so. Cassius
F4aminius threw up his army command
for similar cause. The bite of a raj
terror to Cato, saying that a rat mas
gnawed his shoe. to which the reply was
Would it net have been strange il The
shoe had gnawed the rat
Da c t y ON ncy was a method
where around table was divided into
spaces, each having a letter. ana over ii
wedding ring was hung by q thread. lis
swing giving The letters forming the n IS
sage from the the spirit world
r IN . n y uest. Il guilty rcr-
son by caualng al IlroceAt bow o rdI
around and around until g.54y, and the;
fol iDE opposite TIC letlels cont li.5.,e n.
name of the culprit
ORR il m = y. depending upon the
habits of animals, was a branch Of aug
ury made practical in ancient times. and
consisted in waiting for the fight OF
birds. hawk beto1ened victory, ar
owl, misfortune. If the bird flew 10 thc