HW Due Date: Friday, January 8th @ 11:59pm EST
Objective: Students will recognize different types of divination and their role in history. It is also a custom in the Academy for young wizards and witches to make predictions for the New Year. This helps the city councils identify students that may have this particular gift.
Divination: the art of predicting the future. This can be done in many different ways. Here are a few types:
- Smoke scrying - typically used by tribal communities. The American Indians practise a special type of smoke scrying. It's called a sweat lodge.
- Cloud scrying - Down through history entire military battles have been witnessed in the clouds.
- Ornithomancy - divinating the flight patterns of birds. It was a very popular form of divination during ancient Rome where in fact it was part of its religeon.
- Anthropomancy - a barbaric form of divination that involved using human entrails. The magician Julian the Apostate sacrificed young children during his rituals in order to evaluate their entrails.
- Lychnomancy - divinating by candle flame. A wavering flame would indicate a journey. A spiral flame indicated plots by enemies. An uneven flame danger. Sparks would indicate you should be cautious and a sudden extinction indicated bad luck.
- Phyllorhodomancy - divinating with rose leaves. During ancient Greece, they would clap a Rose leaf on the hand. The omen was in the sound it made. A good clear sound was positive, but a muffled sound was a bad omen.
- Lecanomancy - The scryer will divinate by the sound the stone makes in the water and the images of the rippling water.
- Wind - Ancient Greeks practised wind scrying in the sacred grove of Dodona, which was dedicated to Zues. Psellus refered to this technique writing "there is a mode of predicting by means of the air and the leaves of the trees. The method seemed to involve the hanging of striking wands from branches of sacred oak tress in a way that they struck resounding brass basins when the wind blew. Interpretations were made of these sounds and that of the wind.
Assignment (4 points)
Part 1: Choose a form of divination to use that fits within the world of Britannia- You can pick one from the list, or you can make up your own. Just make sure it is possible within the world of UO. (Ex: Don't divinate the position of cars in traffic to predict the future. Although you might realistically predict that you're not getting home for a while).
Part 2: Make a prediction for what you think will happen in Britannia in the new year. Illustrate and explain your prediction within the world of Britannia.- You can use MSPaint, or whatever other drawing program you have and upload your picture directly into your reply.
- You can make predictions about people, places, or events.
- Don't predict anything stupid like "I predict I will eat fish steaks in the New Year". Clearly everybody already loves and will eat fish steaks.
** If your prediction comes true at any point in the year, reference it back to me and I will reward your talent based on the significance of the prediction! This offer extends until 01/01 next year, or earlier if the headmaster should perish.
Event Results: Magincia Wins!
Magincia: 44
- Luca - 4
- Calista - 4
- chainsoar - 4
- Caswallon - 4
- chokingvictim - 4
- Rdb - 4
- Kabal - 4
- Maahes - 4
- emac - 4
- Maegus - 4
- Zeus - 4
- Blackfoot - 4
- felix - 4
- Gicod - 4
- Tabius - 4
- Fwerp - 4
- Drazaos - 4
- strut - 4
- Pristiq - 4
- Coloram - 2 ** A few hours late