Fortuna
The Sacred and Profane Faces of Luck
Published on 16. January 2024
144 pages
978-1-64411-648-7 (ISBN)
Description
Traces the history of good fortune traditions from sacred divination to modern gambling
• Reveals how dice were originally considered sacred objects of divination and details the techniques and meanings of a dice oracle
• Looks at medieval grimoires for fortune-telling and other divination traditions, including those using cowrie shells, bones, coins, cards, sticks, and stones
• Examines how dice became a means of gaming and gambling and how gambling gave rise to specialized lucky charms
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. Exploring how dice became a means of gaming and gambling, Pennick details the forms of trickery and crooked dice used in games of craps by cheating gamblers and the Dream Books that served as oracles for those who played the policy game. In addition to dice, he looks at how cowrie shells, bones, coins, cards, sticks, and stones were 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.
Revealing how divination and gambling are two sides of the same coin, Pennick 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.
• Reveals how dice were originally considered sacred objects of divination and details the techniques and meanings of a dice oracle
• Looks at medieval grimoires for fortune-telling and other divination traditions, including those using cowrie shells, bones, coins, cards, sticks, and stones
• Examines how dice became a means of gaming and gambling and how gambling gave rise to specialized lucky charms
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. Exploring how dice became a means of gaming and gambling, Pennick details the forms of trickery and crooked dice used in games of craps by cheating gamblers and the Dream Books that served as oracles for those who played the policy game. In addition to dice, he looks at how cowrie shells, bones, coins, cards, sticks, and stones were 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.
Revealing how divination and gambling are two sides of the same coin, Pennick 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.
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Book
02/2024
Destiny Books,U.S.
€16.50
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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
