The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

man is ill and has the classical symptoms of being a victim of sorcery. Several times his
family tries to find out who was causing the sorcery, but without luck. When he finally gets
better they stop consulting the poison oracle. What is noticeable is that no answer about who
did it was ever found (Evans-Pritchard 1937: 303-305; 397-399). This seems to be a general
situation among the Azande and probably by all people. They only use divination when they
see a possibility and necessity for changing their situation (Evans-Pritchard 1937: 85).
Sign production 32
As we saw in the beginning divination is understood as the acquisition of credible knowledge
about matters not otherwise available to human perception or reasoning. In the typical case
this process will be initiated by a questioner with a question motivated by actual or potential
misfortune or lack of fortune. He consults an operator who performs a divination technique.
This produces a sign, which is interpreted to give credible information about the matter of the
questioner’s question. The operator is in general seen as competent enough to perform the
technique, but not himself in possession of the wanted information. The technique implies
ritualized action 33 and produces a sign, for example a configuration of stones on the ground
(Jackson 1978), a bird’s flight in the air (Linderski 1986), or a spider’s manipulation of cards
at its mound (Zeitlyn 1990). This sign is subsequently interpreted.
According to most views in anthropology the ritual character of divination is accidental and
has no consequence for the credibility of the information produced. 34 In contrast to this, I
hypothesize that the ritual character of the action is exactly what explains the ability of
divination to produce information not available to normal human perception.
Let us consider the differences between normal intentional action and ritualized action.
Normal intentional action is usually considered guided by beliefs and desires (Dennett 2001:
412; Malle & Knobe 1997). By accomplishing a goal you believe that this will fulfill your
desire (see fig.4.2.)
32 This section is based on (Lisdorf 2007b)
33 The term ritualized action is understood in a technical sense which will be specified shortly (Cf. Boyer &
Liénard 2006: 595f). Some divination techniques like using the Ouija board or tarot cards may not seem like
ritual, but are in this technical sense.
34 Performance theories may differ on this point. Here, however, there are no clear criteria by which we can
distinguish a performative action from a non-performative action (Brown 2003). Also Pascal Boyer’s
treatment differs from this view (Boyer 1990).
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