Divination is the practice of ascertaining information from supernatural sources. If a distinction is to be made with fortune-telling, divination has a formal or ritual and often social character, usually in a religious context; while fortune-telling is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Divination is often dismissed by skeptics as being mere superstition: in the 2nd century, Lucian devoted a witty essay to the career of a charlatan, Alexander the false prophet, trained by "one of those who advertise enchantments, ...

Including:

• Divination - Methods of divination incomplete
• Divination - For further reading
• Divination - Popular
• Divination - Academic

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Including:

• Vedic chant - Introduction
• Vedic chant - Divine Sound
• Vedic chant - Unesco
• Vedic chant - Popular Vedic Chants

Read more here: » Vedic chant: Encyclopedia - Vedic chant

The Hare Krishna mantra, also known as the 'Maha'-Mantra: (pronounced ha-ray, krish-nah, and rar-mah respectively) 'Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.' Om : (pronounced as in home) Widespread in most paths of Hinduism, and used as a seed sound for many of the more complcated mantras. It is the sound representation of the Supreme Divine Energy. Om Tat Sat is said in the Bhagavad- ...

See also:

Vedic chant, Vedic chant - Introduction, Vedic chant - Divine Sound, Vedic chant - Unesco, Vedic chant - Popular Vedic Chants

Read more here: » Vedic chant: Encyclopedia II - Vedic chant - Popular Vedic Chants

Historical and modern Deism is defined by the view that reason, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God. Deists reject both organized and revealed religion and maintain that reason is the essential element in all knowledge. For a "rational basis for religion" they refer to the cosmological argument (first cause argument), the teleological argument (argument from design), and other aspects of what was called natural religion. Deism has become identified with the classical belief that God created ...

Including:

• Deism - Overview
• Deism - Deism and prayer
• Deism - 18th century popularity
• Deism - Appellations for divinity
• Deism - Decline in popularity
• Deism - Current status

Read more here: » Deism: Encyclopedia - Deism

The chanting of the Divine Name or nama japa has an important place in bhakti tradition. Nama japa can be in the form of japa or stotra. Japa is silent repetition of a mantra while stotra is uttered out loud.

The sahasranama stotra is perhaps the most popular of all stotras. There are sahasranamas of most of the deities of the Hindu pantheon of which two have attained great popularity. These are the Lalita Sahasranama in praise of the Divine Mother and Vishnu Sahasranama in praise of the Lord conceived as Vishnu.

(See also: Sahasranama, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Japa

Japa has become a very popular form of worship in modern day Hinduism. Especially with the rise of bhakti movement and the popularity of many yogis and babas, japa has entered the hearts and minds of many devout and spiritually inclined Hindus. Japa means continuous recitation of God's name either silently in ones mind or aloud in a group. Continuous recitation of God's name is expected to purify the mind of the devotee and fill his consciousness with divine thoughts and vibrant spiritual energy. The regular chanting is expected to create certain vibrations in the body and mind which would facilitate the spiritual transformation of ones ordinary self.

Read more here: » Japa: Hinduism Rituals - Japa

The Agamas : Another class of popular scriptures are the Agamas. The Agamas are theological treatises and practical manuals of divine worship. The Agamas include the Tantras, Mantras and Yantras. These are treatises explaining the external worship of God, in idols, temples, etc. All the Agamas treat of (i) Jnana or Knowledge, (ii) Yoga or Concentration, (iii) Kriya or Esoteric Ritual and (iv) Charya or Exoteric Worship.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

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Historical records of Tarot decks date back to the fourteenth century when people first used them for card games. The Roman Catholic Church condemned them as a device for the devil, referring to them as "The Devil's Picture Book." Today they are still being used, and are actually seeing a resurgence in popularity. The Tarot is a wonderful tool for awakening our intuition and putting us in touch with our inner and outer worlds through meditation, reflection, spiritual growth, problem-solving and divination.

Read more here: » Tarot: Getting Started Reading Tarot Cards

Numerology is the study of the purported mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and the character or action of physical objects and living things. Numerology and numerological divination were popular among early mathematicians such as Pythagoras, but are no longer considered to be part of mathematics and are now regarded as pseudomathematics by most mathematicians. This is similar to the historical development of astronomy from astrology, and that of chemistry from alchemy. Numerology - Esoteric signifi ...

Including:

• Numerology - Esoteric significance of numbers
• Numerology - One
• Numerology - Two
• Numerology - Three
• Numerology - Four
• Numerology - Five
• Numerology - Six
• Numerology - Seven
• Numerology - Eight
• Numerology - Nine
• Numerology - Ten
• Numerology - Eleven
• Numerology - Twelve
• Numerology - Thirteen
• Numerology - Twenty-two
• Numerology - Zero
• Numerology - Alphabetic harmonics
• Numerology - Numerological divination
• Numerology - Numerology in science
• Numerology - Postmodern critique
• Numerology - Numerology and astrology
• Numerology - In popular culture
• Numerology - Days of Birth reveal your character
• Numerology - Sunday born
• Numerology - Monday born
• Numerology - Tuesday born
• Numerology - Wednesday born
• Numerology - Thursday born
• Numerology - Friday born
• Numerology - Saturday born

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The Runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes, formerly used to write Germanic languages, mainly in Scandinavia and the British Isles. In all their varieties they may be considered an ancient writing system of Northern Europe. The Scandinavian version is known as Futhark (derived from its first six letters: 'F', 'U' 'Th', 'A', 'R', and 'K'), and the Anglo-Saxon version as Futhorc (also so named after its first letters). The earliest runic inscriptions date from ca. 150, and the al ...

Including:

• Runic alphabet - Background
• Runic alphabet - Origins
• Runic alphabet - Magic and Divination
• Runic alphabet - Common use
• Runic alphabet - Gothic runes
• Runic alphabet - Elder Fuþark
• Runic alphabet - Names
• Runic alphabet - Frisian and Anglo-Saxon Fuþorc
• Runic alphabet - Intermediary Inscriptions
• Runic alphabet - Younger Fuþark
• Runic alphabet - Long-branch runes
• Runic alphabet - Short-twig runes
• Runic alphabet - Hälsinge Runes staveless runes
• Runic alphabet - Dalecarlian Runic script
• Runic alphabet - Modern use
• Runic alphabet - Third Reich
• Runic alphabet - Neopaganism
• Runic alphabet - Popular culture
• Runic alphabet - Unicode
• Runic alphabet - Distribution
• Runic alphabet - Runiform scripts
• Runic alphabet - Special characters

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Nostradamus, (December 14, 1503 – July 1, 1566) born Michel de Nostredame, is one of the world's most famous authors of prophecies. He is most famous for his book Les Propheties, which consists of rhymed quatrains (4‑line poems) grouped into sets of 100, called Centuries. Nostradamus - Biography. Born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the south of France in December 1503, Michel de Nostredame was the son of a grain dealer who was also a prosperous home-grown notary. His family wa ...

Including:

• Nostradamus - Biography
• Nostradamus - Preparation and methods of prophecy
• Nostradamus - His works
• Nostradamus - Skepticism
• Nostradamus - Misquotes and hoaxes
• Nostradamus - Nostradamus in popular culture
• Nostradamus - Television
• Nostradamus - Film
• Nostradamus - Music
• Nostradamus - Comics
• Nostradamus - Sources

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A name is a label for a thing, person, place, product (as in a brand name) and even an idea or concept, normally used to distinguish one from another. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. A name for a specific individual or plurality or ethnic group, (See List of peoples) is sometimes called a proper name, and is a proper noun. Other nouns are sometimes, more loosely, called names; an older term for them, now obsolete, is general name. ...

Including:

• Name - Use of names
• Name - Kinds of names
• Name - Philosophical accounts of names
• Name - Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
• Name - Whitman's Mannahatta
• Name - Technical names for names
• Name - Naming convention

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The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, officially the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the City and Diocese of New York, is the Mother Church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the seat of its Bishop. Located at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 110th Street (a.k.a. "Cathedral Parkway") and 113 Street) in Manhattan's Morningside Heights, the cathedral, though unfinished, is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and is a popular tourist attraction. The Guinness Book of Records lists it as the ...

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Sephiroth may mean: Sephiroth or Sfirot is a Hebrew word meaning "counting", or "number", or "statistics", (ספירות, Standard Hebrew Səfirot, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄îrôṯ). Sephiroth are the ten "Divine enumerations, or emanations" in the Kabbalah of Judaism. Sephiroth was a Power of the fifth seal from the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. Sephiroth is a popular character from the Final Fantasy series of video games. Sephiroth, ...

Read more here: » Sephiroth: Encyclopedia - Sephiroth

Crystallomancy, or crystal gazing, is a method of divination of distant or future events by gazing into a crystal or a ball of polished rock crystal. In popular media, a crystal ball is often used. Among objects used are a pool of ink in the hand (Egypt), the liver of an animal (tribes of the North-West Indian frontier), a hole filled with water (Polynesia), quartz crystals (the Apaches and the Euahlayi tribe of New South Wales), a smooth slab of polished black stone (the Huille-che of South America), water in a vessel ( ...

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Garuda (Sanskrit: गरुड Garuḍa), the eagle, is a lesser Hindu divinity, the mount (vahanam) of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism. Garuda is depicted as having a golden body, white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and wings but a man's body. He wears a crown on his head like his master, Vishnu. He is ancient and huge, and can block out the sun. His stature in Hindu religion can be gauged by the fact that an independent Upanishad, the Garudopanishada, and a Purana, the Garuda Purana, is devoted ...

Including:

• Garuda - Garuda in popular culture
• Garuda - External link

Read more here: » Garuda: Encyclopedia - Garuda

Fortune-telling is the practice of seemingly predicting the future, usually of an individual, through seemingly mystical or supernatural means and often for commercial gain. It often conflates with the religious practice known as divination. Common methods used of fortune telling include astrology, cartomancy (fortune telling with cards), tarot card reading, crystallomancy (reading of a crystal sphere), and cheiromancy (palmistry, reading of the palms). The latter three have traditional associations in the popular mind with the ...

Read more here: » Fortune-telling: Encyclopedia - Fortune-telling

"Singh", meaning "Lion", is used by Sikhs as a male name. Singh - Naming in India. Among the Hindu community, the usual practice for first or personal names is to give the name of one of the gods, goddesses, spirits, or sages, or a name derived from the divine virtues and roles. The name Singh is given to represent the virtue of strength. It was quite common among the Rajput caste of Hindus, but it has retained some modern popularity in all regions. Singh was originally used by the Hin ...

Including:

• Singh - Naming in India

Read more here: » Singh: Encyclopedia - Singh

Portions of the Vedic literature are almost like textbooks on sound, elucidating the use of sound as a spiritual tool. They assert that the entire cosmic creation began with sound: "By His utterance came the universe." (Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad 1.2.4). The Vedanta-sutras add that ultimate liberation comes from sound as well (anavrittih shabdat). Primal sound is referred to as Shabda Brahman - 'God as word'. Closely related to this is the concept of Nada Brahman - 'God as sound'. 'Nada', a Sanskrit word meaning sound, is related to th ...

See also:

Vedic chant, Vedic chant - Introduction, Vedic chant - Divine Sound, Vedic chant - Unesco, Vedic chant - Popular Vedic Chants

Read more here: » Vedic chant: Encyclopedia II - Vedic chant - Divine Sound

Tasseography (or Tasseomancy) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves. The term also refers to the reading of coffee grounds, especially in the Middle Eastern tradition. The term derives from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup). "One of the most popular forms of fortune-telling, depending largely upon psychic intuition. After a cup of tea has been poured, without using a tea strainer, the tea is drunk or poured away. ...

Read more here: » Tasseography: Encyclopedia - Tasseography