Divination, is it a Tool for Evil or a Tool for Good?

The word Divination usually inspires mental images of raven-haired Romani women staring into crystal balls or peering intently at tarot cards. The imaginary women read fortunes of doom and gloom in thickly accented voices.

The truth, however, is that divination is far from the obscure parlor trick of wandering strangers that it appears to be. From the decorated bones and sticks thrown by primitive man to the broad horoscopes printed in millions of copies of modern newspapers, humankind has long sought knowledge of what the future might bring.

Despite this wide spread love affair the art of divination receives varied reactions from people. People divide into several camps concerning their opinions of divination. There are some major ones that will be discussed here.

One theory regarding divination holds that every person alive subconsciously knows everything that has ever happened and everything that will ever happen. Those who accept this theory believe that the many tools used for divination such as tarot cards, rune stones and crystal balls are simply mechanisms that allow the user to access their subconscious minds.

Another theory claims that divination is evil. Many religions incorporate this theory in their dogma. Those who accept this theory believe that the diviner is contacting demonic forces or malevolent deities that may or may not be disguised. Adherents to this theory feel that the evil entities are divulging information about the future in order to spread harm among human kind. The poet Dante included divination in the Inferno cantica of his epic poem the Divine Comedy. He wrote that a person using divination was a false prophet and would end up in the eighth circle of hell.

Conversely there are those who believe that the diviner is in contact with angelic forces or benevolent deities. Adherents to this view feel that these forces are assisting the diviner with the purpose of helping humankind. Many proponents of this theory are neo-pagans who outright reject the assertion that divination is evil.