Brother Harmonius
Urim and Thummim
As I was researching a reference to the Witch of Endor from the First Book of Samuel, I happened upon a divination method from the Bible, the Urim and the Thummim, which might have been stones inscribed with a "yes" or "no", or jewels that reflected light in a certain way to give answer to the querent. Whatever they were, they were kept by the priests. Since the First Book of Samuel says that Saul received no answer as to the course of a battle victory from his dreams or the Urim and the Thummim, maybe there was also a neutral stone, or some other ambivalent outcome.
pur
Interestingly, the evil Haman from the Megillat Esther (Book of Esther) cast "lots" or stones, like dice, to decide when he should attack the Jews in Shushan. The red lot, or lot of blood fell in the month of Adan. The lots were called "pur", and one interpretation has it they fell in a zodiacal wheel. The month of Adan fell in the zodiac sign of the fishes. This is the origin of the Jewish holiday Purim.
arrow divination in Islam
According to Islamic sources, there was a similar form of divination among the Arabs prior to the beginning of Islam. There, two arrow shafts (without heads or feathers), on one of which was written command and the other prohibition or similar, were kept in a container, and stored in the Kaaba at Mecca; whenever someone wished to know whether to get married, go on a journey, or to make some other similar decision, one of the Kaaba's guardians would randomly pull one of the arrow shafts out of the container, and the word written upon it was said to indicate the will of the god concerning the matter in question. Sometimes a third, blank, arrow shaft would be used, to represent the refusal of the deity to give an answer.
As I was researching a reference to the Witch of Endor from the First Book of Samuel, I happened upon a divination method from the Bible, the Urim and the Thummim, which might have been stones inscribed with a "yes" or "no", or jewels that reflected light in a certain way to give answer to the querent. Whatever they were, they were kept by the priests. Since the First Book of Samuel says that Saul received no answer as to the course of a battle victory from his dreams or the Urim and the Thummim, maybe there was also a neutral stone, or some other ambivalent outcome.
pur
Interestingly, the evil Haman from the Megillat Esther (Book of Esther) cast "lots" or stones, like dice, to decide when he should attack the Jews in Shushan. The red lot, or lot of blood fell in the month of Adan. The lots were called "pur", and one interpretation has it they fell in a zodiacal wheel. The month of Adan fell in the zodiac sign of the fishes. This is the origin of the Jewish holiday Purim.
arrow divination in Islam
According to Islamic sources, there was a similar form of divination among the Arabs prior to the beginning of Islam. There, two arrow shafts (without heads or feathers), on one of which was written command and the other prohibition or similar, were kept in a container, and stored in the Kaaba at Mecca; whenever someone wished to know whether to get married, go on a journey, or to make some other similar decision, one of the Kaaba's guardians would randomly pull one of the arrow shafts out of the container, and the word written upon it was said to indicate the will of the god concerning the matter in question. Sometimes a third, blank, arrow shaft would be used, to represent the refusal of the deity to give an answer.
