divination: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Oct. 30, 2026

News •

Computerized clairvoyance: psychics push back against AI-generated readings • Oct. 29, 2026, 5:19 PM ET (The Guardian)

Facts

Also Known As	soothsaying

Photos

Barotse basket diviner. The diviner shakes various objects in the winnowing basket and, by interpreting their final juxtaposition, seeks to predict the outcome of an illness and to name the sorcerer responsible.

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Topics

haruspicy somatomancy scapulimancy pyromancy incubation hydromancy hepatoscopy aeromancy cleromancy cartomancy Witchcraft magic alchemy Spiritualism Satanism Evil eye sorcery dowsing levitation

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Key People

Nostradamus

Nostradamus

French astrologer

Angel, donkey, and Balaam

Balaam

biblical prophet

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Gongsun Hong

Chinese scholar

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Thomas The Rhymer

Scottish poet

Artemidorus

Artemidorus

Ephesian soothsayer

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William R. Bascom

American anthropologist