The act or practice of using occult techniques to predict the future or explore the unknown. Divination is defined as the practice of foretelling the future or making a prophesy. Divination is demonstrated by what a psychic performs. A psychic may read tea leaves, bones, water droplets under a lens, or scry with a glass of water to find out information about someone who has been killed in an accident. A psychic might also communicate with spirits or gods for this purpose. Divination dates back at least as far as 535 B.C. when Thales of Miletus predicted a great storm that destroyed much of Athens. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Thales used his knowledge of nature to send messages through the clouds that the Athenians took as prophecies from Zeus himself. Modern psychics often say they use their gifts to help people, but ancient prophets actually told the citizens of Athens that their city would be destroyed by a huge storm. This fact shows that modern psychics are simply doing what ancient prophets did: sending messages through the clouds. In addition to telling the future, psychics can sometimes connect with ghosts, demons, and other spirit beings to receive messages from them. Some psychics claim to have special powers over the elements, such as being able to hear thunder while others can see lights before a storm hits. All of these abilities are forms of divination.