Rhapsodomancy
Rhapsodomancy is an ancient form of divination performed by choosing through some method a specific passage or poem from which to ascertain information. There were various methods for practicing rhapsodomancy. Sometimes, individuals would write several verses or sentences from a poet on multiple pieces of wood, paper, or similar material, shake them together in an urn, and pick one at random. Sometimes, they cast dice on a table that was covered with verses; the one on which the die landed was said to contain the prediction. In ancient Rome, the method of sortes involved opening a book and choosing some verse at first sight. This method was particularly called the ''sortes Praenestinae''; and afterwards, according to the poet who was used, '' sortes Homerica'', '' sortes Virgilianae'', ''etc.'' Commonly used texts I Ching One of the most commonly used texts used to perform rhapsodomancy was the I Ching. In the 11th century, before the text was used primarily as a philosophic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sortes (ancient Rome)
Sortes (Latin singular: ''sors'') were a frequent method of divination among the ancient Romans. The method involved the drawing of lots (''sortes'') to obtain knowledge of future events: in many of the ancient Italian temples, the will of the gods was consulted in this way, as at Praeneste and Caere. These ''sortes'' or lots were usually little tablets or counters made of wood or other materials and were commonly thrown into a sitella or urn, filled with water. The lots were sometimes thrown like dice. The name of "sortes" was in fact given to anything used to determine chances, and was also applied to any verbal response of an oracle. Various things were written upon the lots according to circumstances, as for instance the names of the persons using them. It seems to have been a favorite practice in later times to write the verses of illustrious poets upon little tablets and to draw them out of the urn like other lots; the verses which a person thus obtained being supposed to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bibliomancy
Bibliomancy is the use of books in divination. The method of employing sacred books (especially specific words and verses) for 'magical medicine', for removing negative entities, or for divination is widespread in many religions of the world. Terminology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the word ''bibliomancy'' (etymologically from βιβλίον ''biblion-'' "book" and μαντεία ''-manteía'' "divination by means of") "divination by books, or by verses of the Bible" was first recorded in 1753 (''Chambers' Cyclopædia''). Sometimes this term is used synonymously with ''stichomancy'' (from στίχος ''stichos-'' "row, line, verse") "divination by lines of verse in books taken at hazard", which was first recorded (Thomas Urquhart, Urquhart's ''François Rabelais, Rabelais''). ''Bibliomancy'' compares with ''rhapsodomancy'' (from ''rhapsode'' "poem", "song", "ode") "divination by reading a random passage from a poem". A historical precedent was the ancient Roma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bibliomancy
Bibliomancy is the use of books in divination. The method of employing sacred books (especially specific words and verses) for 'magical medicine', for removing negative entities, or for divination is widespread in many religions of the world. Terminology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the word ''bibliomancy'' (etymologically from βιβλίον ''biblion-'' "book" and μαντεία ''-manteía'' "divination by means of") "divination by books, or by verses of the Bible" was first recorded in 1753 (''Chambers' Cyclopædia''). Sometimes this term is used synonymously with ''stichomancy'' (from στίχος ''stichos-'' "row, line, verse") "divination by lines of verse in books taken at hazard", which was first recorded (Thomas Urquhart, Urquhart's ''François Rabelais, Rabelais''). ''Bibliomancy'' compares with ''rhapsodomancy'' (from ''rhapsode'' "poem", "song", "ode") "divination by reading a random passage from a poem". A historical precedent was the ancient Roma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact or interaction with a supernatural agency. Divination can be seen as a systematic method with which to organize what appears to be disjointed, random facets of existence such that they provide insight into a problem at hand. If a distinction is to be made between divination and fortune-telling, divination has a more formal or ritualistic element and often contains a more social character, usually in a religious context, as seen in traditional African medicine. Fortune-telling, on the other hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and reli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hieroglyphs
A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonism, especially during the Renaissance, a "hieroglyph" was an artistic representation of an esoteric idea, which Neoplatonists believed actual Egyptian hieroglyphs to be. The word ''hieroglyphics'' refers to a hieroglyphic script. The Egyptians invented the pictorial script, which refers to any writing system that employs images as symbols for various semantic entities, rather than the abstract signs used by alphabets. The appearance of these distinctive figures in 3000 BCE marked the beginning of Egyptian civilization. Though based on images, Egyptian script was more than a sophisticated form of picture-writing. Each picture/ glyph served one of three functions: (1) to represent the image of a thing or action, (2) to stand for a sound or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cyclopædia, Or An Universal Dictionary Of Arts And Sciences
''Cyclopædia: or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences'' is an encyclopedia prepared by Ephraim Chambers and first published in 1728; six more editions appeared between 1728 and 1751 with a ''Supplement'' in 1753. The ''Cyclopædia'' was one of the first general encyclopedias to be produced in English. The title-page of the first edition summarizes the aims of the author: Noteworthy features The first edition included numerous cross-references meant to connect articles scattered by the use of alphabetical order, a dedication to the king, George II, and a philosophical preface at the beginning of Volume 1. Among other things, the preface gives an analysis of forty-seven divisions of knowledge, with classed lists of the articles belonging to each, intended to serve as a table of contents and also as a directory indicating the order in which the articles should be read. Printing history A second edition appeared in 1738 in two volumes in folio, with 2,466 pages. Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, Worcester, and Springfield. It is one of two de jure county seats of Middlesex County, although the county's executive government was abolished in 1997. Situated directly north of Boston, across the Charles River, it was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, once also an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lesley University, and Hult International Business School are in Cambridge, as was Radcliffe College before it merged with Harvard. Kendall Square in Cambridge has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet" owing to the high concentration of successful startups that have emerged in the vicinity ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day. Educated at Charterhouse School, Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford, Wesley was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1726 and ordination, ordained as an Anglican priest two years later. At Oxford, he led the "Holy Club", a society formed for the purpose of the study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life; it had been founded by his brother Charles Wesley, Charles and counted George Whitefield among its members. After an unsuccessful ministry of two years, serving at Christ Church (Savannah, Georgia), Christ Church, in the Georgia colony of Savannah, Georgia, Savannah, he returned to London and joined a religious so ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Whitefield
George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at the University of Oxford in 1732. There he joined the "Holy Club" and was introduced to the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, with whom he would work closely in his later ministry. Whitefield was ordained after receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree. He immediately began preaching, but he did not settle as the minister of any parish. Rather he became an itinerant preacher and evangelist. In 1740, Whitefield traveled to North America, where he preached a series of revivals that became part of the " Great Awakening". His methods were controversial and he engaged in numerous debates and disputes with other clergymen. Whitefield received widespread recognition during his ministry; he preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million listeners ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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James Sharp (bishop)
James Sharp, or Sharpe, (4 May 1618 – 3 May 1679) was a minister in the Church of Scotland, or kirk, who served as Archbishop of St Andrews from 1661 to 1679. His support for Episcopalianism, or governance by bishops, brought him into conflict with elements of the kirk who advocated Presbyterianism. Twice the victim of assassination attempts, the second cost him his life. Biography James Sharp was born at Banff Castle on 4 May 1618, eldest son of William Sharp (1592–1638) and Isabel Leslie (1595-ca 1640). His father was property manager, or factor, for the Earl of Findlater; his mother was the daughter of the Laird of Kininvie. His younger brother, Sir William Sharp of Stonihill (1622–1685), was political agent to the Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish Secretary of State from 1661 to 1680. In April 1653, Sharp married Helen Moncrieff, daughter of the laird of Randerston. They had seven children. Background Whilst Presbyterian or Episcopalian now implies differences in both gov ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons of Ilus, founder of Troy), making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's children (such as Hector and Paris). He is a minor character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad''. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgil's ''Aeneid'', where he is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. He became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse god Vidarr of the Æsir.The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlson Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur 916Prologue II at Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Accessed 11/14/17 Etymology Aeneas is the Romanization of the hero's original Greek name (''Aineías''). Aineías is first introduced in the ''Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite'' when ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |