Fortuna
The Sacred and Profane Faces of Luck
Published on 29. February 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
144 pages
978-1-64411-647-0 (ISBN)
Description
Traces the history of good fortune traditions from sacred divination to modern gambling.
Some believe that our future is predetermined, while others assert that we have free will and our future can take many different courses depending on our actions. In ancient times, it was believed that the will of the gods determined people's lives, and divination or sacrifices to the gods could change or improve one's future. Of the deities devoted to luck and the future, the Roman goddess Fortuna is most famous, having two shrines in Italy where divination was conducted under her guardianship.
Tracing the history of the culture of good fortune from sacred divination to profane gambling, Nigel Pennick explores the many ways people through the centuries have sought to divine the future, ensure protection, and draw the full benefits from days of good omen. He shows how dice were originally considered sacred objects of divination and reveals the divinatory geomancy techniques and meanings of a dice oracle. In addition to dice, he looks at how cowrie shells, bones, coins, cards, sticks, and stones can be used to form meaningful patterns for interpretation and how these cultural divination practices were often accompanied by texts or oral traditions that explained the meanings of the patterns, such as the Chinese I Ching and the West African verses of the Sixteen Cowries. He also looks at medieval grimoires for fortune-telling, lottery books, and dice books.
Exploring how dice became a means of gaming and gambling, the author details the forms of trickery and "crooked dice" used in games of craps by cheating gamblers and the Dream Books or Policy Books that served as oracles for those who played the "Numbers Racket." He examines how gambling gave rise to specialized lucky charms, luck-ensuring rituals, and even mascots. He also explores the emergence of ideas of randomness as they relate to divination and magic.
Revealing how divination and gambling are two sides of the same coin, the author shows how, whether you are a gambler relying on Lady Luck or a diviner querying the gods, we're all looking to Fortuna in the quest for a better, richer life.
Some believe that our future is predetermined, while others assert that we have free will and our future can take many different courses depending on our actions. In ancient times, it was believed that the will of the gods determined people's lives, and divination or sacrifices to the gods could change or improve one's future. Of the deities devoted to luck and the future, the Roman goddess Fortuna is most famous, having two shrines in Italy where divination was conducted under her guardianship.
Tracing the history of the culture of good fortune from sacred divination to profane gambling, Nigel Pennick explores the many ways people through the centuries have sought to divine the future, ensure protection, and draw the full benefits from days of good omen. He shows how dice were originally considered sacred objects of divination and reveals the divinatory geomancy techniques and meanings of a dice oracle. In addition to dice, he looks at how cowrie shells, bones, coins, cards, sticks, and stones can be used to form meaningful patterns for interpretation and how these cultural divination practices were often accompanied by texts or oral traditions that explained the meanings of the patterns, such as the Chinese I Ching and the West African verses of the Sixteen Cowries. He also looks at medieval grimoires for fortune-telling, lottery books, and dice books.
Exploring how dice became a means of gaming and gambling, the author details the forms of trickery and "crooked dice" used in games of craps by cheating gamblers and the Dream Books or Policy Books that served as oracles for those who played the "Numbers Racket." He examines how gambling gave rise to specialized lucky charms, luck-ensuring rituals, and even mascots. He also explores the emergence of ideas of randomness as they relate to divination and magic.
Revealing how divination and gambling are two sides of the same coin, the author shows how, whether you are a gambler relying on Lady Luck or a diviner querying the gods, we're all looking to Fortuna in the quest for a better, richer life.
Reviews / Votes
"With his customary scholarly zeal, Nigel Pennick's nevertheless accessible examination of our love/hate relationship with fortune, or luck, throughout history takes us deeply into the interlocked worlds of religion and superstition-with a fair sprinkling of human foolishness. With diverse quotations from the likes of the Oracle of Delphi and George Orwell's 1984 and locations from ancient Egypt to the gambling dens of the Deep South, this uniquely thorough history of luck is comprehensive, riveting, and intriguing." * Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, authors of When God Had a Wife * "From the ancient Roman oracle of Praeneste to the geomantic potato divination of Essex, from Dame Fortuna to Lady Luck, Nigel Pennick explores the guiding principle of both gambling and divination. He spreads a table of delights where number, probability, and randomness each turn Fortuna's Wheel." * Caitlin and John Matthews, authors of The Lost Book of the Grail * "Can fate and fortune be foretold or even changed? In this extraordinary new book, Nigel Pennick considers what fortune really is and how, over the years, people have sought to control it. He examines how it has fascinated artists, scientists, and philosophers and explores the many fascinating forms of divination and prediction employed over time. Wonderfully written, Fortuna: The Sacred and Profane Faces of Luck is a must for anyone who wonders what the future may hold." * Graham Phillips, author of The Mystery of Doggerland * "With a scholar's rigorous research and a sage's wisdom, Pennick has crafted this multifaceted picture of Lady Luck, ranging from the history of oracles, divination, and games of chance to the many marvelous ways people have courted fortune's favor through the ages-including badger's teeth sewn into a pocket and special incense that burns away to reveal lucky numbers-and much, much more. Fortuna is a work of fascinating and thought-provoking beauty." * Cait Johnson, author of Witch Wisdom for Magical Aging * "In Fortuna, established wisdomkeeper Nigel Pennick delves into the many faces of predicting fortune, writing yet another authentic and engrossing book. I find it impossible to read without pausing every page to say to anyone in the room, 'Did you know . . . ?' Another definitive and fascinating work; highly recommended." * June Kent, publisher of Indie Shaman magazine * "Pennick begins with a near-poetic overview of the human condition as stuck in a merciless complexity of variables on a celestial omnibus with a one-way driver: time. With his characteristic clarity of observation and attention to detail, he serves as a brilliant tour guide through the infinite continuum of attempts to quell the anxiety of the murky uncertainty of the journey. Persistent among these seek the intercession of goddess Fortuna/Lady Luck, their minions and practitioners, purporting to speak through the language of the universe-numbers. This is an entertaining and thoughtful book- and even offers several DIY prognostication techniques used over time to (possibly) help readers' navigate life decisions." * Linda Kelsey-Jones, president of the San Marcos Area Arts Council and director/curator of The Walker * "With his customary insight, Nigel Pennick investigates the underlying principles and rationale of divination, the means by which the diviner may appeal to the gods (or the subconscious) for guidance, in order to change the course of their luck. Nigel examines methods from bones to dice, to oracle books and geomancy, including an old method of using the eyes on potatoes to foretell the future!" * Anna Franklin, author of The Hearth Witch's Compendium *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Rochester
United States
Publishing group
Inner Traditions Bear and Company
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
11 b&w illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 227 mm
Width: 149 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
254 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64411-647-0 (9781644116470)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2024
Simon + Schuster LLC
€12.85
Available for download
Person
Nigel Pennick is an authority on ancient belief systems, traditions, runes, and geomancy and has traveled and lectured extensively in Europe and the United States. He is the author and illustrator of more than 60 books, including The Pagan Book of Days, Elemental Magic, Wyrd Times, and The Ancestral Power of Amulets, Talismans, and Mascots. He lives near Cambridge, England.
Content
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
The Myths of Time
The Impossibility of Originality in the Universal Laws
CHAPTER 2
Lady Luck and the Goddess Fortuna
Oracle of Numbers
CHAPTER 3
Divinatory Geomancy
Creating Figures for Readings
CHAPTER 4
The Sanctorum Sortes
Dice Divination
CHAPTER 5
Roll Them Laughing Bones
The Dicer's Grip, Controlled Shots, and Crooked Dice
CHAPTER 6
The Wager
One Hundred Guineas to One Penny
CHAPTER 7
Gambling and Gaming
The Prohibition of Practices Pre-1880
CHAPTER 8
Illegal Gambling's Intersection with Divination and Magic
1880s to the Present
CHAPTER 9
Superstition in the Gambling Life
The Black Cat Plays an Ace of Spades
CHAPTER 10
Divination and the Discovery of Randomness Conclusion
APPENDIX 1
James Balmford's A Short and Plaine Dialogue
Concerning the Unlawfulnes of Playing at Cards, or Tables, or Any Other Game Consisting in Chance, Cambridge, 1593
APPENDIX 2
The Officials of Gambling Houses, London, 1731
Bibliography
Index
CHAPTER 1
The Myths of Time
The Impossibility of Originality in the Universal Laws
CHAPTER 2
Lady Luck and the Goddess Fortuna
Oracle of Numbers
CHAPTER 3
Divinatory Geomancy
Creating Figures for Readings
CHAPTER 4
The Sanctorum Sortes
Dice Divination
CHAPTER 5
Roll Them Laughing Bones
The Dicer's Grip, Controlled Shots, and Crooked Dice
CHAPTER 6
The Wager
One Hundred Guineas to One Penny
CHAPTER 7
Gambling and Gaming
The Prohibition of Practices Pre-1880
CHAPTER 8
Illegal Gambling's Intersection with Divination and Magic
1880s to the Present
CHAPTER 9
Superstition in the Gambling Life
The Black Cat Plays an Ace of Spades
CHAPTER 10
Divination and the Discovery of Randomness Conclusion
APPENDIX 1
James Balmford's A Short and Plaine Dialogue
Concerning the Unlawfulnes of Playing at Cards, or Tables, or Any Other Game Consisting in Chance, Cambridge, 1593
APPENDIX 2
The Officials of Gambling Houses, London, 1731
Bibliography
Index