Divination (II) (Mystery)

My friends did not divine the way those Shang Emperors had. There’re many other ways to do it these days. I’ll give some as I’ve seen or heard.

1. In my previous writing “Bwa3-bui 跋杯” on 04/23/2011, I talked a lot about the practice of using a pair of crescent-shaped, wood or bamboo-made utensil to ask deities questions in the temples. This is one of the commonest ways to divine, often accompanied with the act of 抽籤(cho qian), lot drawing. Please refer to my old writing for the details.

2. 扶乩(fu2 ji):  Usually it’s a ritual practiced in the temple by someone who is “possessed” by a god or an immortal. The messages are conveyed through a spirit writing usually using a stick in sand or incense ashes. The characters have to be read and interpreted by someone who is capable of doing this. Long ago I’ve been to a ritual of this and watched it. I didn’t ask any questions, but I remember the process vividly. I picked up one from YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptzZ_2f-Kh8, though it’s not exactly the same as I’ve seen, it’s basically the same thing.

3. 相術(xiang4 shu4) Physiognomy: Fortune-tellers foretell someone’s future by watching his face, features, palm, figure, or 氣(qi4) . . , etc. Some even do this by watching his moles or feeling his wrist bone, which is called 摸骨(mo gu3) in Taiwan.  

4. 測字(ce4 zi4) Literomancy: The literomancer tells someone’s future by the Chinese character and the subject the client gives. To do this, you have to know a lot about the Chinese characters. I goolged and found an example like this, which I’m not sure about the authenticity but just give you an idea what literomancy is like:

Giving the word天(tian), a girl asks if she will marry her boyfriend that she’s been seeing for a couple of years. The literomancer gives a positive answer since the word can be separated into 二(er4), two and人(ren2), person. You put two persons together and it turns into 天. If you extend one of the strokes, 天turns into 夫(fu), which means husband.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

抽籤=抽签

相術=相术

氣=气

測字-测字