![Omens in the Sun](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Omens_in_the_Sun.jpg)
An omen (also called ''portent'') is a
phenomenon
A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...
that is believed to
foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages from the gods.
These omens include natural phenomena, for example an
eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
,
abnormal births
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
of animals (especially humans) and behaviour of the
sacrificial lamb
A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where a lamb is a highly valued possession.
In politics
In politics, a sacrificial ...
on its way to the slaughter. Specialists, known as diviners, variously existed to interpret these omens. They would also use an artificial method, for example, a clay model of a sheep liver, to communicate with their gods in times of crisis. They would expect a binary answer, either yes or no, favourable or unfavourable. They did these to predict what would happen in the future and to take action to avoid disaster.
Though the word ''omen'' is usually devoid of reference to the change's nature, hence being possibly either "good" or "bad", the term is more often used in a foreboding sense, as with the word ''ominous''. The word comes from its
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
equivalent , of otherwise uncertain origin.
Ancient Near East
The oldest source for this practice in the Ancient Near East came from
Mesopotamian
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
practice attested at the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. It was vigorously pursued by the Assyrian kings, Esarhaddon and his son, Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BC.
Omens were interpreted by several methods—e.g., liver divination,
lecanomancy Lecanomancy (Gr. λεκάνη, "dish, pan" + μαντεία, "divination") is a form of divination using a dish, usually of water, which, like many ancient forms of divination, has multiple forms.
The earliest form of lecanomancy appears to have c ...
, and
libanomancy Libanomancy (also known as livanomancy and knissomancy) is a divination primarily through observing and interpreting burning incense smoke, but which may include the way incense ash falls as well. Del Rio, Martín Anton''Investigations Into Magic.'' ...
.
Hepatoscopy
In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails (''exta''—hence also extispicy ( ...
—observing irregularities and abnormalities of the entrails of a sacrificial sheep—was used in many royal services.
Astrological omens were popular in Assyria in the 7th century BC. Diviners gained influence by interpreting omens and advising the king, Esarhaddon (681–669 BC), how to avoid some terrible fate. Sometimes the Assyrian king hid for a while after he put a substitute king on the throne. The court expected that the substitute king would take the evil consequences of an omen. When they believed the danger was over, they executed the substitute king and the true king resumed the throne.
The observations of omens were recorded into series. Some of them dated back to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, and these were arranged as conditional statement later (if such and such is the case, then such and such is the result).
This belief of omens later spread out around the Near East and beyond when clay models of sheep livers used for the diviners to learn the craft was found in Boghazkoi, Ugarit, Megiddo, and Hazor.
Letters from the city Mari dated at the latest from the 18th century showed that these divinatory practices were not limited to the royal court, but also played an important role in everyday life of the people.
Ancient Greece
An (omen) was defined in antiquity as the carnivorous vulture, especially a prophetic bird. By careful observation of the bird's cries and the way or direction it flew, the augurs attempted to predict the future. They also saw lightning or thunder as omens, sent from Zeus, and observed the direction in which they saw or heard them. Omens represented the divine will and the decisions of the gods, their positioning opposite human endeavors, and were aimed at being understood by sensitive receivers of the time, who brought the divine charisma to become intermediaries, channels between the world of gods and humans. Even since Homeric times, the Greeks paid special attention to these signs: when they saw vultures from the left, another symbol of Zeus, they considered it a bad omen. The cry of a heron or lightning to the right marked positive and promising omen. In the Greek territory, seers also judged good and bad omens from the unwillingness or willingness of a victim to approach the altar and by the state of its offal when slaughtered.
[Lampsas Giannis, Dictionary of the Ancient World (Lexiko tou Archaiou Kosmou), Vol. I, Athens, Domi Publications, 1984, pp. 43–44.]
Ancient Rome
In
ancient Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule.
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
,
augurs
An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying i ...
interpreted the flights of birds to ascertain the will of the gods, in response to specific questions. Their system was complex; for example, while a bird-sign on the left was usually favourable (auspicious) and one on the right unfavourable (inauspicious), the combination of a raven on the right and a crow on the left was favourable. Augurs also studied the behaviour of domesticated, sacred chickens before embarking on important enterprises, such as a senatorial meeting, the passage of a new law, or a battle. These formal "divine consultations" by augurs are known as "taking the auspices".
Haruspices
In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails (''exta''—hence also extispicy ( ...
examined the liver, lungs and entrails of
animals sacrifice to interpret the will of the gods, again in response to clear and specific proposals. Some omens came in the form of
prodigies – unnatural, aberrant or unusual phenomena such as
meteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extre ...
s,
hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...
births, or "
blood rain Blood rain is a phenomenon where blood is perceived to fall from the sky in the form of rain.
Blood Rain may also refer to:
* ''Blood Rain'' (film), a 2005 thriller film
* ''Blood Rain'' (novel), a 1999 crime novel
See also
*''BloodRayne'', a 2 ...
", any of which could signify that the gods had somehow been angered. The meaning and import of reported prodigies were officially debated and decided by the
Roman senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...
, with advice from religious experts. Threatening signs could then be officially expiated and the gods placated with the appropriate sacrifice and rituals. The interpretation and expiation of omens that suggested a threat to the State was a serious business. In 217 BC the consul
Gaius Flaminius can refer to:
* Gaius Flaminius (consul 223 BC)
* Gaius Flaminius (consul 187 BC)
__NoToC__
Gaius Flaminius was Roman consul in 187 BC, together with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. During his consulship, he fought to pacify Ligurian tribesmen who had ...
"disregarded his horse's collapse,
the chickens, and yet other omens, before his disaster at Lake Trasimene". Certain natural events, particularly lightning strikes and thunder, could be ominous for the public or state, or only for the individual who saw or heard them. When a thunderclap interrupted his election as consul,
Marcellus gave up his candidacy. Thereafter he travelled in an enclosed litter when on important business, to avoid sight of any bad omens that might affect his plans.
Many Romans believed that particular words, phrases or incidents might carry prophetic content aimed at particular individuals who witnessed or heard them. Such "private" omens could be accepted, and their benefits secured (or their threat averted) by use of countersigns, or verbal formulas such as ("I accept the omen, I hold to it"); the consul
L Aemilius Paullus, when about to embark on his campaign against
King Perseus, heard his daughter say that her dog Persa had died; given the similarity of the names and the death of the dog, he took this as a sign that Perseus would be defeated – which he was.
[ The orator and statesman ]Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
, though an augur himself, and apparently convinced that in capable hands, it offered a reliable means of foretelling the future, was skeptical of unsolicited, personal omens. He reports the story that Licinius Crassus Licinius Crassus may refer to:
* Lucius Licinius Crassus, Roman orator
* Marcus Licinius Crassus (disambiguation), Romans
** including, Marcus Licinius Crassus
* Publius Licinius Crassus (disambiguation), Romans
See also
*
* Licinii Crassi
T ...
took ship for Syria despite the ominous call of a fig-seller – ("Caunean figs!"), which might be heard as ("Beware, don't go!") – and was killed on campaign. Cicero saw these events as merely coincidental; only the credulous could think them ominous. In Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
's "Lives of the Caesars", the deaths of various emperors are presaged by omens and dreams; the emperor Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
, for example, dreamt that he stood before the throne of Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
, king of the gods, and Jupiter kicked him down from heaven to earth; Caligula ignored the premonition and was assassinated the next day.
Astrology
In the field of astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
, solar and lunar eclipses
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
(along with the appearance of comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...
s and to some extent the full moon
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...
) have often been considered omens of notable births
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
, death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
s, or other significant events throughout history in many societies. One Biblical example is the Magi
Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...
in the Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
; in the Nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew, the Magi are depicted as predicting the birth of Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
after seeing the Star of Bethlehem
The Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2 where "wise men from the East" (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem. There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask him: ...
.
Good or bad
Omens may be considered either good or bad depending on their interpretation. The same sign may be interpreted differently by different people or different cultures.
For example, a superstition
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...
in the United States and other countries across Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
indicates that a black cat
A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...
is an omen of bad luck.
Comets
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are ...
also have been considered both good and bad omens. Halley's Comet
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the o ...
was a "bad omen" for King Harold II of England but a "good omen" for William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
.
See also
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
{{Authority control
Divination
Prophecy
History of astrology
Superstitions