The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

Chapter 5 - Oblative divination 82
Oblative divination is similar to impetrative divination in all aspects except the sign
production. In impetrative divination the sign production is a function of human manipulation
and it is no problem to identify the sign, whereas in oblative divination the problem is
identifying the sign in the daily stream of events. The basic problem is to account for the
principles for determining how certain occurrences become signs. Precious little research has
been done on omens since the turn of the previous century (cf. Lisdorf 2007c). What is
presented here is therefore naturally tentative.
According to one of the most perceptive analyses of omens by Caroline Humphrey, omens
arise from a person’s concern for his own situation (Humphrey 1976: 35). These concerns
are, as in impetrative divination, to achieve fortune and avoid misfortune. A quick glance at
any collection of omens will reveal that they’re typically related to the same life matters that
we found in impetrative divination: death (Cannell & Snapp 1933: 20-24; Hansen 1957: 48-
55, 94-122,137-167; Lingren 2003: 139-141; Lynge 1981: 126-141), marriage (Cannell &
Snapp 1933: 14-19; Cielo 1918: 7-22; Hansen 1957: 35-47; Lingren 2003: 132-138) and birth
(Jastrow 1914; Lingren 2003: 124-131; Lynge 1981: 19). While the process starts from this
motivation in impetrative divination, in oblative divination another triggering event is needed
– a sign. The argument put forward here is that these signs are interpreted as intentional signs
just as those produced in impetrative divination. To some it might be a controversial
position. 83
What makes an event a sign? Recent research in developmental psychology conducted by
Jesse Bering and Becky Parker touches on this (Bering & Parker 2006). Children from ages 4
to 7 were given the task to find out in which of two boxes a ball was hidden. They were told
to place the hand on the top of the box in which they thought the ball was and keep it there
for 15 seconds. During the 15 seconds they could move the hand back and forth as many
times as they wanted, but by the end of the 15 seconds the position of the hand would count
as the answer. The children were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group.
In the experimental group, the children were taken aside and shown a picture of Princess
Alice after the explanation of the rules of the game. They were told that Princess Alice was a
82 This section is based on (Lisdorf 2007c). There are also excerpts from (Lisdorf 2004c)
83 It would be a digression in this context, but a more elaborate argument for this can be found in (Lisdorf
2007c)
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