The telling of fortunes and the predicting of the future in ancient times was the work of the Oracles. In the ancient religions the Oracle was believed to be a revelation made by some god or divinity in reply to the questions of men. The word “oracle” was applied both to the answer and to the sacred place where the answer was given. The responses were made either by priests and priestesses or by signs and portents.

At the Oracle of Dodona the responses were given either by the movements of leaves, the noise of brazen vessels, or the murmurings of the waters of a fountain. Usually springs or grottos of which the waters were known to have delirious effects were selected for the sites of the oracles. At Dydima the vapor of the water affected both the priestess and person who consulted her. At Delphi the priestess, who was called the “Pythia,” delivered her utterances from a tripod placed over a chasm, from which intoxicating vapors arose. In some of the oracles, incense and artificial fumigations were used.

The answers of the oracles were famous for their obscurity and lack of meaning. They were often susceptible of two or more meanings. When King Croesus asked of the oracle whether he should make war against Alexander, the reply was: “If you make war you destroy a great kingdom.” Croesus began the war thinking that he would destroy Alexander, but it was his own kingdom that he destroyed.

The responses of the Pythia were not considered authoritative till they had been submitted and approved by the presiding priest. Delphi was the most famous oracle and became the center of all the Greek oracles. Even the Romans believed in its power.

With the coming of Christianity, the oracles lost much of their influence. Eusebius affirms that Christ put an end to the reign of Satan on earth and thereafter the oracles became silent.

In Greece there were altogether twenty-two oracles to Apollo, which were consulted for various purposes. One was used exclusively for the interpretation of dreams, another for the foretelling of battles, still another was consulted by those who went into the Olympian games to find out whether they would be victorious. At PatrÆ sick persons came to inquire whether they would get well. At Nysa the priests would take patients and induce a cataleptic sleep, during which the sick man prescribed his own remedy.

It is easy to see why many of the utterances of the oracles came true. They appealed to the superstition of the primitive people, who took the replies as coming from their gods, and tried to live up to them. The will to see the prophecy fulfilled was often sufficient to make it come true.

Napoleon’s Oraculum

This well-known method of telling fortunes is exceedingly ancient, and was a favorite with Napoleon;—hence its name. The usual method was to mark down four rows of dots at random on a sheet of paper and then count them. If the first row had an uneven number of dots, one star was put in the first place, if an even number, two stars were put down, and so for each of the four rows. The resulting figure gave the key by which the chart was to be consulted. It often happened, however, that the questioner consciously or unconsciously regulated the number of dots to suit his purpose.

A more modern and strictly impartial way is the following: Take any book. Hold it tightly shut and stick a card at random between two of its pages. Open the book at those pages, note the first four words on the upper line of the left-hand page. Count the letters in these four words. If the first word has an even number place two dots in the first space, if odd, place only one dot. Then take the second word and place one or two dots in the same way, and so for the other two words. You will thus get a symbol that may look as follows:

These are called the Astral “Keys.” There are 16 possible constructions or keys. Now ask your question. Turn to the Cabalistic Chart on page 35. Decide on which of the 16 questions you want to ask. Note the number opposite that question. Run your finger along the top of the table till you find the Astral Key which you have just formed. At the junction of this column with the number line, you will find a mystic letter which tells you which of the oraculum tables to consult. For example: You want to ask the question, “Shall I recover my property?” This you find is No. 6 on the chart; the symbol is _. Find this symbol, run your finger down the column till it meets with the line of No. 6, and it gives you the mystic letter A. Turn to the oraculum table marked A and opposite the same symbol you will find the reply, “You will not recover your property.”

Instead of the book and card plan, four dice may be used in the same manner. The points indicating the even or uneven numbers of dots in the symbol.

Do not ask a question more than once in any one day. Always begin the search by reciting the formula:

The following are unlucky days, on which none of the questions should be asked, or any adventure undertaken:

January 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, 20; February 1, 17, 18; March 14, 16; April 10, 17, 18; May 7, 8; June 17; July 17, 21; August 20, 21; September 10, 18; October 6; November 6, 10; December 6, 11, 15.

The Answers