Divination Lectures w/ Prof. Mynk

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Hello class and welcome to Divination. I am so happy that so many have taken an interest in this subject. I hope this term will show you that Divination is indeed a legitimate and credible subject. It's reputation as a class has not always a good one, but I have worked hard to overcome such a poor reputation. But all in all, I do hope you will all enjoy your time here.

Our opening lesson is a fairly simple one. Today we simply ask What is Divination?

The common definition is as follows:

Divination is a branch of magic that involves attempting to foresee the future, or gather insights into future events, through various rituals and tools.

However, I have always found it to be more than that. Many feel that Divination is limited to Seers like myself. I don't believe that to be true. I also don't believe that it is just about seeing and predicting the future. It is about opening your mind to the world around you. The world is a like a magnificent painting where we don't simply want to look at it as a whole, but to pay attention to every last detail. People are much the same way. And once you look at all these details, you will see things regarding their past, present, and yes perhaps even their future. So while we will be following the course requirements in here, using cards, cups, and crystal balls, I urge you to use what I just spoke of out there. Look at the world and each other in a new way. You will be surprised.

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Hello Class, welcome once again. Today we are going to focus on the first of many forms of Divination- Astrology. Astrology is defined as follows:

Astrology is the system of using the relative positions of celestial bodies (including the sun, moon, and planets) to try to predict future events or gain insight into personality, relationships, and health.

Astrology is a method used by both humans and centaurs in the art of Divination. However, while humans use it to predict regular events, centaurs focus more on predicting significantly earth-altering events.

Now let us look at some of the planetary influences in Divination:

Mars — This planet caused burns, accidents, and things of a similar nature according to Parvati Patil. In addition, Parvati claimed that when Mars and Saturn formed a right-angle, it indicated people needed to exercise extra caution when handling hot things. Firenze stated that centaurs interpret Mars shining brightly in the sky as a harbinger of war.

Saturn- This planet being in a prominent position at the time of a person's birth was said by Sybill Trelawney to have a "baleful influence," causing dark hair, short height, and tragic losses early in life.

Pluto — This planet could disturb day-to-day life in a number of ways according to Trelawney.

That is our lesson today class. Please read your chapter on Astrology and answer the questions at the end. Farewell, darlings.

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Hello Class, welcome once again. Today we are going to focus on the second of many forms of Divination-
Cartomancy. Cartomancy is defined as follows:

Cartomancy is the art of reading cards to gain insight into future events. There are special kinds of cards designed especially for this purpose, known as a tarot cards, but standard playing cards can also be used.

In Divination, certain common playing cards have certain meanings. For example:

Two of spades — "conflict"
Seven of spades — "an ill omen"
Ten of spades — "violence"
Knave of spades — "a dark young man, possibly troubled, one who dislikes the questioner."

Again, there is also the Tarot Cards who have their meanings as well. For example:

The lightning-struck tower — "calamity" and "disaster".

Cartomancy is practiced by humans only as this area of Divination was not adopted by the Centaurs as others were.

That is it for the day, class. Please read your chapter on Cartomancy and answer the questions at the end. Farewell, darlings.

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Hello Class, welcome once again. Today we are going to focus on the third of many forms of Divination-
Chinese Fortune Sticks:

Chinese Fortune Sticks was a Western name for the ancient Chinese method of divination known as kau cim. It was considered the oldest known method of fortune-telling, at least by humans, and involved wooden sticks that told the user's daily fortune. Containers of Chinese Fortune Sticks, consisting of seventy-eight sticks each, were sold at Zonko's Joke Shop by the 1990s.

And many do find this method often amusing and simply used for fun, and in most cases they are simply amusing. However, they have been know to work, just not quite as effectively as other methods.

That is it for the day, class. Please read your chapter on Chinese Fortune Sticks and answer the questions at the end. Farewell, darlings.

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Hello Class, welcome once again. Today we are going to focus on the fourth of many forms of Divination-
Crystal-Gazing:

Crystal-gazing was the art of looking into a crystal ball in order to try to gain insight into the future events.

Crystal-gazing was a difficult and subtle practice, and thus most people were unable to see anything the first time they tried it. Success apparently hinged on one's ability to "[relax] the conscious mind and external eyes" so as to perceive clearly with "the Inner Eye and super-conscious." If a person was unable to do so, they would see nothing but swirling white fog in the crystal ball.

That is it for the day, class. Please read your chapter on Crystal-Gazing and answer the questions at the end. Farewell, darlings.

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Note: Lessons will resume in IC January.

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Welcome back, darlings. I trust you all had a wonderful holiday. Today we resume with a lecture on Dream Interpretation.

Dream interpretation, also known as oneiromancy, is a method of Divination that involves analysing dreams. The word oneiromancy comes from the Greek root oneiros, meaning "dream," and mancy, meaning "prophecy". Long ago, it was thought that dreams contained important information, and/ or predict the future (but often in a hidden form, like the riddle form prophecies take). Dream interpreters were hired for royalty to interpret their dreams. It is one of the oldest forms of divination.

That is it for the day, class. Please read your chapter on Dream Interpetation and answer the questions at the end. Farewell, darlings.