In this wide-ranging, authoritative and accessible guide, Karcher has compiled a unique historical and cultural record of humanity's preoccupation with divining the future. He provides practical guidance on various divinatory methods and reveals many secrets previously unavailable to the public. Color illustrations throughout.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Astrology, dreams, cards, and more, Stephen Karcher explains them all in this multicultural guide to history's popular forms of divination. The illustrations alone would make this a desirable book, and they harmonize with the text to create a splendid compendium on prognostication. While experienced practitioners will likely be familiar with much of the information, anyone with an interest in forecasting the future will find the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Divination fully satisfying.
From Library Journal
Virtually all cultures have used divination to seek advice or help from unseen forces, though the methods have differed. Karcher (Elements of the I Ching, Element, 1995) gives a colorful historical overview of the practices from many lands and times, including runes, tarot, dowsing, numerology, tea leaves, and more obscure rituals involving bones and spiders. A solid bibliography points readers to monographs on particular topics; the index allows users to locate information specific to a country, symbol, or rite; and a brief glossary is also included. Practitioners of the divination arts will need more depth, but libraries without a treatment of this subject (e.g., Divining the Future, Facts on File, 1995) will find this a readable and comprehensive choice. Recommended for reference and circulating collections in academic and public libraries.?Kelli N. Perkins, Herrick P.L., Holland, Mich.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Knowledgeable, well-written, easy-to-read overview.,
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This review is from: Illustrated Encyclopedia of Divination: A Practical Guide to the Systems that Can Reveal Your Destiny (Paperback)
I am ordering a second copy of this book after not being able to resist repeatedly highlighting passages in my girlfriend's copy. I come to this topic from both a Christian background and intellectual skepticism. But in the past fifteen years I have been exposed to and come to see the value of several forms of oracle and divination as tools for tapping into the subconscious as well as whatever one chooses to believe about the unseen energies and spirits possibly involved. I have often experienced remarkable outcomes and guidance from Runes, I Ching, and various forms of Tarot Cards, and have come to trust and value my own gifts of intuition. It was exciting to see what I have experienced with "divination" and oracle tools so well summed up and explained.
This is an attractively laid-out, beautifully illustrated book that is impressively distinct from many coffee-table type overview "encyclopedias" on various subjects for actually having something useful and insightful to say. So many of these type of books are rushed into print to take advantage of popular (and superficial) interest in a given subject and are mostly cheap eye candy with shallow content and often misinformation. What impressed me most about this book is the author's knowledgeable and balanced presentation. He is not dismissive of religion, but he is forthright about how religion and mainstream culture have repressed alternative realities and methods throughout history. This book is not full of gushy New-Age-speak. It does not concentrate on fortune-telling, the acknowledged association and stereotype of "divination", but demystifies the "spooky" stuff (seances, witchdoctors) and shows how the various forms are simply tools for accessing and utilizing the wisdom of Mystery.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great overview of the various divination practices!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Illustrated Encyclopedia of Divination: A Practical Guide to the Systems that Can Reveal Your Destiny (Paperback)
This book is highly recommended for those interested in learning about the origin and methodology of contemporary divination practices. The book is big, beautiful (complete with pictures and diagrams), easy to read and understand, and perfect for anyone's library. Highly recommended.
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