Good Luck's fake, and that Mercury might be propitious to them, used, with the rest of their Lots, to put in one, which they called Eppuλïev, Mercury's Lot, which was an Olive-leaf, and was drawn out before the reft. Sometimes the Lots were not caft into Veffels, but upon Tables confecrated for that purpofe (a). This Divination was either invented, or at least so much practis'd by the Thria, who were three Nymphs that nurfed Apollo, that at length the word Ogia came to be a fynonymous Term with xañer whence the Proverb, Πολλοὶ Θριοβόλοι, παῦροι δέ τε μάντιες ἄνδρες. Crowds of your Lot Diviners every where, To this Species of Divination we may reduce Paβδομαντεία, or pro phefying by Rods, mentioned alfo in the holy Writings, wherein (6) Hofea, amongst other abominable Wickedneffes committed by the Ifra elites, reckons this as none of the fmalleft, Er ouCóros nga TV, 2 ἐν ῥαβδοις αὐτῇ απήγγειλον αὐτῷ, πνεύματι πορνείας επλανήθησαν, κα ξεπόρνευσαν ἀπὸ τὸ θεῖ αὐτῶν. Our Tranflation renders it thus, My People ask counsel of their Stocks, and their Staff declareth unto them; for the Spirit of Whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. This Divination, as it is defcrib'd by St. Cyril of Alexandria, and Theophylact (c), was thus perform'd: Having erected two Sticks, they murmur'd forth a certain Charm, and then according as the Sticks fell, backwards or forwards, towards the Right or Left, they gave Advice in any Affair. Not much different was Beλquar Tea, in which Divination was made by Arrows, fhaken together in a Quiver. Others are of Opinion, that the Arrows were caft into the Air, and the Man was to fteer his Courfe the fame way that the Arrow inclined in its Descent. This feems to be the Divination used by Nebuchad nezzar in Ezechiel, where he deliberates about invading the Ifraelites, and the Ammonites: The Words are these, as they are rendred by our Tranflators; (d) Appoint a way, that the Sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Juda in Jerufalem the defenced. For the King of Babylon flood at the parting of the Way, at the head of two Ways, to ufe Divination: he made his Arrow bright, (the Septuagint Tranflation fpeaks not of Bios, but pal) he confulted with Images, he looked into the Liver. At his right Hand was his Divination for Jerufalem, to appoint Captains, to open the Mouth in the Slaughter, to lift up the Voice with fhouting, to appoint battering Rams against the Gates, to caft a Mount, and to build a Fort. But because the Prophet fpeaks of making his Arrows bright, fome are of Opinion that he divined by looking upon the Iron Heads of the Arrows, and obferving the various Appea rances in them; in the fame manner, as fome in our Days, pretend to tell Fortunes, by looking upon their Nails, faith Clarius upon that Place. Another Method of Divination by Rods, was used by the Scythi ans, and is defcribed in (e) Herodotus. From the Scythians it was derived, with fome Alteration, to the Germans, and is described by (a) Pindari Scholiaftes in Pythion. Od. IV. v. 338. (b) Cap. IV. v. 12. (c) In itarum Hofes locum, (d) Cap. XXI. v. 20. (e) Lib. IV. (a) Tacitus: (4) Tacitus. Others alfo you may read of in (b) Strabo, (c) Athenæus, and (d) Ammianus Marcellinus; but thefe, and fome others, I shall pafs by, as not pertinent to my present Defign. Another Way of Divination by Lots was us'd in Greece, and Rome; in this manner: The Perfon that was defirous to learn his Fortune, carried with him a certain Number of Lots, diftinguish'd by feveral Characters, or Infcriptions, and walking to and fro in the publick Ways, defired the first Boy that met him, to draw; and if that which came forth, agreed with what he had conceiv'd in his Mind, it was taken for an infallible Prophefy. This Divination is by Plutarch, in his Treatife about Ifis and Ofiris, faid to be derived from the Egyptians, by whom the Actions and Words of Boys were carefully obferved, as containing in them fomething Divine, and Prophetical; and that for a Reason no less abfurd, than the practice itfelf; all the Grounds they had for it being only this, viz. That Ifis having wandred up and down in a fruitless Search after Ofiris, happened at laft upon a Company of Boys at Play, and was by them inform'd about what he had fo long fought for in vain. To this Cuftom of Divining by Boys, as fome think, (e) Tibullus alludes, when he faith, Illa facras pueri fortes ter fuftulit, illi Rettulit è triviis omnia certa puer. Thrice in the Streets the facred Lots the threw, But I am rather of Opinion, that the Poet speaks of a different Kind of Lots, which was this: In the Market, High-ways, and other Places of Concourse, it was ufual for a Boy, or a Man, whom the Greeks call'd Αγύρτης, to ftand with a little Tablet, call'd in Greek πίναξ αγυρτικός, σε ayupun σaris, upon which were written certain fatidical Verfes, which, according as the Dice light upon them, told the Confultants What Fortune they were to expect: Sometimes inftead of Tablets, they had Pots, or Urns, into which the Lots or fatidical Verses were thrown, and thence drawn by the Boys; and I am the rather inclined to think the Poet's Words are to be understood in this Senfe, because he faith, the Woman her felf, that had a mind to be instructed what was to befal her, took up the Lots; which can never be meant of the Boy's drawing Lots out of the Woman's Hand. Artemidorus, in his Preface, fpeaks of ev yoga μavTEwv, i. e, Diviners in the Marketplace; and the Sortes viales were very common at Rome: the Circus was thronged with thofe, and a great many other Diviners, which the poor filly Women used to confult, as (f) Juvenal witnesseth : His words are thefe, ~ Si mediocris erit, fpatium luftrabit utrumque Metarum, & fortes ducet; frontemque, manumque (a) Lib. de Morib. German. (b) Lib. XV. XXIX. (e) Lib. I. Eleg. III. (c) Lib. XII. (d) Lib. (f) Sat. VI. v. 581. Conductus, Conductus, dabit aftrorum, mundique peritus ; The middle fort, who have not much to spare, And from the cheaper Lots their Fortunes hear. Who clap the pretty Palm, and thence their Fortunes know. Her Answers from the Brachman will receive. Skill'd in the Globe and Sphere, he gravely stands, } Whereby it appears, that Lots had very small Credit in Juvenal's Days, being confulted only by the meaner Sort, and fuch as were not able to be at the Charge of more reputable Divination. Didymus tells us, this was brought to pafs by Jupiter, who being defirous that Apollo fhould prefide in chief over Divination, brought Lots, which are faid to have been invented by Minerva, into disrepute. CHAP. XVII. Of Divination by Ominous Words and Things. NOTHER Sort of Divination there was, very different from all A thofe I have hitherto spoken of, which foretold things to come, not by certain Accidents, and cafual Occurrences, that were thought to contain in them Prefages of Good, or Evil. Of these there were three Sorts: The firft of Things Internal, by which I mean thofe that affected the Perfons themselves. The fecond, of Things External, that only appeared to Men, but did not make any Impreffion upon them. The third, were Ominous Words. Of these in their Order. First, Of thofe Omens that Men receiv'd from themselves, which are diftinguifh'd into four Kinds; 1. Marks upon the Body, as ad, Spots like Oil. Secondly, fudden Perturbations feizing upon the Mind; fuch were the Panici terrors, Panick Fears, which were sudden Confternations, that feized upon Men, without any visible Cause, and therefore were imputed to the Operation of Damons, especially Pan, upon Men's Fancies. Of these there is frequent Mention in History; as when Brennus, the Gallick General, had been defeated by the Greeks, the Night following, He, and the remainders of his Troops were feized with fuch Terrors and Diftractions, that, ignorant of what they 337 they were doing, they fell to wounding and killing one another; till they were all utterly deftroy'd. Such another Fright gave the Athenians a great Advantage against the Perfians, infomuch that Pan had a Statue erected for that piece of Service; as appears from one of Simonides's Epigrams, Τὸν τραγόπον ἐμὲ Πάνα, * και Μήδων, Grateful Miltiades rais'd this Monument, The reason why thefe Terrors were attributed to Pan, was, because when Ofiris was bound by Typho, Pan and the Satyrs appearing, caft him into a Fright. Or, because he affrighted the Giants, that waged War against Jupiter. There is alfo a third Reafon affigned by Mythōlogifts, which will be explain'd in the following Book (a). In thefe Terrors, whereof there was either no apparent Caufe, or at leaft none anfwerable to the Greatness of the fudden Confternation ; it was a good Remedy to do fomething quite contrary to what the Danger would have required, had it been fuch as Men vainly imagin'd. Thus Alexander caufed his Soldiers to difarm themselves, when they were on a fudden in a great Fear of they knew not what. All fudden and extraordinary Emotions and Perturbations, in Body or Mind, were look'd upon as evil Omens; fuch was that of Penelope's Courtiers described by (b) Homer, and faid to have been caused by Minerva, their implacable Enemy : ·μνηςῆρα ὃ Παλλάς Αθήνη Ασβεστον γέλον ώρσε, παρέπλαγξεν ἢ νόημα The Courtiers ftrait offended Pallas feiz'd An Augur then prefent, was affrighted at this dreadful Omen, and prefently broke out into this Exclamation, Α δειλοὶ τι' κακὸν τίδε πάρετε; Ah wretched Men! what Fate is this you bear? (a) Lib. III. cap. IX. pag. 84. (b) Odyff. ú. v. 345· Vol. I. Z The The third fort of internal Omens, were the Παλμοί, οι παλμικά diaviouara, fo call'd So new, from Palpitating. Such were the Palpitations of the Heart, the Eye, or any of the Muscles, called in Latin Saliffationes, and Bouc, or a Ringing in the Ears; which in the Right Ear was a lucky Omen; fo alfo was the Palpitation of the Right Eye, as Theocritus telleth us, Αλλέται ὀφθαλμός μοι ο δεξιός My Right-Eye twinkles. (a) Niphus hath enumerated all the Parts of the Body, with all the Omens to be gathered from the Palpitations of each of them; whom you may confult at leifure. Melampus, the famous Fortune-teller, dedicated a Book upon this Subject to Ptolemy Philadelphus : Another to the fame Purpose was compos'd by Pofidonius, as Suidas reports; the Title of which was Παλμικὸν οἰώνισμα. The fourth fort of internal Omens, were the Пrupul, or Sneezings, which were fo fuperftitiously obferv'd, that Divine Worship was thought due to them; tho fome fay this Adoration was only an Expiation of the Omen: Others are of Opinion; as (b) Cafaubon obferves, That Sneezing was a Disease, or at least a Symptom of fome Infirmity; and therefore when any Man fneez'd, it was ufual to fay, Zn, May you live; or, Zeu orov, GOD bless you. To this Cuftom Ammian alludes, in an Epigram upon one who had a long Nofe, which he faith was at great a diftance from his Ears, that he could not hear himself sneeze, fo Οὐδὲ λέγει, Ζεῦ σῶσον, ὅταν πληρῇ, ἐ γδ ακέει His long-beak'd Snout at fuch a distance lies Where you may obferve, That it was not only ufual for Persons that ftood by, to cry, Zeu @ov, but alfo for Men when themselves fneezed. However it be, it is certain, that Sneezing was accounted facred, as appears from (c) Athenaus, who proves that the Head was esteem'd holy, because it was cuftomary to fwear by it, and adore as holy the Sneezes that proceeded from it: And Ariftotle tells us in exprefs Terms (d), That Sneezing was accounted a Deity, Tor ПTapuòv deor nybμeda. Cafaubon alfo has proved the fame, out of (e) Xenophon; who reports, that the Soldiers with one accord worship'd it as a God. But it is fcarce to be fuppofed, they could be fo ignorant, as to think every Act of Sneezing a Deity; nor do Ariftotle's words neceffarily imply they did; for no more need be understood by them, than that there was a God of Sneezing, called Пrague's and Xenophon may be expounded the fame way, viz. That when the Soldiers heard a Sneeze, they worshipped the God, i. e. the God of Sneezing: Or it may be, no more is meant, than that they worshipped God, perhaps in the ufual Form of Za ov, (a) De Augur. 1. I. c. IX. (b) In Athenæum, 1. II. c. XXV. (c) Loc, citat, (d) Problem. Sect. XXXIII. cap. VII. (e) De Expedit. Cyri, lib. III. |