How People of the Past Predicted the Future, From Spider Divination to Bibliomancy

How People of the Past Predicted the Future, From Spider Divination to Bibliomancy

A new exhibition spotlights the ways in which cultures around the world have sought answers in the face of uncertainty

People often said: everything that was bewitched on Epiphany Eve (against January 6) will surely come true. This night our ancestors gave special strength. And so the girls gathered to prophesy about fate and the doomed.

Bizarre ways ancient Greeks and Romans predicted the future

Ancient Greece and Rome were among the most influential societies of Antiquity. So much so, that we've inherited a number of things from both Greeks and Romans. Some of the divination methods used by these civilizations are now part of ancient history, however, where they rightfully belong. Surprisingly, some are still practiced to this day. In this gallery, we travel back a few thousand years to bring you the bizarre ways ancient Greeks and Rom…

Back to the future? The return of the art of divination

From the January 2025 issue of Apollo. Preview and subscribe here. ‘Ronnie’s “evil empire” attitude has to go. Gorbachev’s Aquarian planet is in such harmony with Ronnie’s, you’ll see […] They’ll share a vision.’ So wrote Californian astrologer Joan Quigley in her 1990 memoir, which has pride of place in a new exhibition at the Bodleian in Oxford, ‘Oracles, Omens and Answers’ (until 27 April). Source