Editing Oracle (section)

==In other cultures==
{{Main|Divination}}
The term "oracle" is also applied in modern English to parallel institutions of divination in other cultures. Specifically, it is used in the context of [[Christianity]] for the concept of [[divine revelation]], and in the context of [[Judaism]] for the [[Urim and Thummim]] breastplate, and in general any utterance considered [[prophecy|prophetic]].<ref>[[OED]] s.v. "oracle ''n.''"</ref>

===Celtic polytheism===
In [[Celtic polytheism]], divination was performed by the priestly caste, either the [[druid]]s or the [[vates]]. This is reflected in the role of "seers" in [[Dark Age Wales]] (''[[dryw]]'') and [[History of Ireland 400–800|Ireland]] (''[[fáith]]'').

===China===
{{Main|Oracle bone|I Ching}}
[[File:Shang dynasty inscribed scapula.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Oracle bone]] of the [[Shang dynasty]], ancient China]]
In China, [[oracle bones]] were used for divination in the late [[Shang dynasty]] (c. 1600–1046 BC). Diviners applied heat to these bones, usually ox scapulae or tortoise plastrons, and interpreted the resulting cracks.

A different divining method, using the stalks of the [[Achillea millefolium|yarrow plant]], was practiced in the subsequent [[Zhou dynasty]] (1046–256 BC).  Around the late 9th century BC, the divination system was recorded in the ''[[I Ching]]'', or "Book of Changes", a collection of linear signs used as oracles. In addition to its oracular power, the ''I Ching'' has had a major influence on the philosophy, literature and statecraft of China since the Zhou period.

=== Egypt ===
{{Main|Reporter (Ancient Egypt)}}
According to the [[Ancient Egyptian religion]], some ancient Egyptian gods (and rarely deified humans), acted as intermediaries between humans and the divine. This was exemplified by the [[Ancient Egypt|Ancient Egyptian]] title "[[Reporter (Ancient Egypt)|Reporter/Herald]]" (''wḥmw''), whom in the religious context, reports requests and petitions to the local gods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Colonna |first=Angelo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGxMEAAAQBAJ&dq=I+am+a+whmw&pg=PA164 |title=Religious Practice and Cultural Construction of Animal Worship in Egypt from the Early Dynastic to the New Kingdom: Ritual Forms, Material Display, Historical Development |date=2021-10-21 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78969-822-0 |language=en}}</ref>

===Hawaii===
In [[Hawaii]], oracles were found at certain ''[[heiau]]'', Hawaiian temples. These oracles were found in towers covered in white ''[[kapa]]'' cloth made from plant fibres. In here, priests received the will of gods. These towers were called '' 'Anu'u''. An example of this can be found at Ahu'ena heiau in [[Kona District, Hawaii|Kona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gohawaii.about.com/od/bigislandofhawaiiphotos/ig/kailua-kona/kailua_kona_038.htm|title='Anu'u (oracle tower) and Ki'i Akua (temple images) at 'Ahu'ena Heiau in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii's Big Island|author=John Fischer|work=About.com Travel|access-date=2010-06-09|archive-date=2011-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075234/http://gohawaii.about.com/od/bigislandofhawaiiphotos/ig/kailua-kona/kailua_kona_038.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===India and Nepal===
In ancient [[India]], the oracle was known as ''[[Akashvani (term)|ākāśavānī]]'' ("voice/speech from the sky/[[Aether (classical element)|aether]]") or ''aśarīravānī'' ("a disembodied voice (or voice of the unseen)") (''asariri'' in Tamil), and was related to the message of a god. Oracles played key roles in many of the major incidents of the epics [[Mahabharata]] and [[Ramayana]]. An example is that [[Kamsa]] (or Kansa), the evil uncle of [[Krishna]], was informed by an oracle that the eighth son of his sister [[Devaki]] would kill him. The opening verse of the ''[[Tiruvalluva Maalai]]'', a medieval Tamil anthology usually dated by modern scholars to between c. 7th and 10th centuries CE, is attributed to an ''asariri'' or oracle.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kamil Zvelebil |title=Tamil Literature |series=Handbook of Oriental Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kx4uqyts2t4C&pg=PA124 |year=1975 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-04190-7}} </ref>{{Rp| pp=58–59}}<ref>{{cite book |author= S. N. Kandasamy |title= திருக்குறள்: ஆய்வுத் தெளிவுரை (பெருட்பால், பகுதி 1) [Tirukkural: Research commentary: Book of Porul, Part 1] |year= 2020 |publisher= Manivasagar Padhippagam | location= Chennai |pages= }}</ref>{{Rp|p=16}}<ref>{{cite book | last=Vedhanayagam |first=Rama |script-title=ta:திருவள்ளுவ மாலை மூலமும் எளிய உரை விளக்கமும் |trans-title=Tiruvalluvamaalai: Source with simple commentary |publisher=Manimekalai Prasuram |edition=1 |date=2017 |location=Chennai |language=ta}}</ref> However, there are no references in any Indian literature of the oracle being a specific person.

Contemporarily, [[Theyyam]] or "theiyam" in [[Malayalam]]  - a south Indian language - the process by which a Priest invites a [[Hinduism|Hindu]] god or goddess to use his or her body as a medium or channel and answer other devotees' questions, still happens.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/videos/news/news-in-videos/devakoothu-the-lone-woman-theyyam-in-north-malabar-1.3468731|title='Devakoothu'; the lone woman Theyyam in North Malabar|website=Mathrubhumi|access-date=2021-11-05|archive-date=2021-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606105354/https://english.mathrubhumi.com/videos/news/news-in-videos/devakoothu-the-lone-woman-theyyam-in-north-malabar-1.3468731|url-status=dead}}</ref> The same is called "arulvaakku" or "arulvaak" in [[Tamil language|Tamil]], another south Indian language - [[Adhiparasakthi Siddhar Peetam]] is famous for arulvakku in [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBs9DgAAQBAJ|title=Women's Authority and Leadership in a Hindu Goddess Tradition|author=Nanette R. Spina (2017)|date=28 February 2017|page=135|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-1375-8909-5}}</ref> The people in and around [[Mangalore]] in [[Karnataka]] call the same, [[Buta Kola]], "paathri" or "darshin"; in other parts of Karnataka, it is known by various names such as, "prashnaavali", "vaagdaana", "asei", "aashirvachana" and so on.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|year=1987|title=Bhuta Worship in Coastal Karnataka: An Oral Tulu Myth and Festival Ritual of Jumadi|journal=Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik |volume=13/14|pages=17–37}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|year=1992|title=Dhumavati-Bhuta" An Oral Tulu-Text Collected in the 19th Century. Edition, Translation, and Analysis.|journal=Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik |volume=13/14|pages=13–63}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=Fürstliche Fest: Text und Rituale der Tuḷu-Volksreligion an der Westküste Südindiens.|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=1995|location=Wiesbaden|pages=199–201}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|title=On an Auspicious Day, at Dawn … Studies in Tulu Culture and Oral Literature|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=2009a|location=Wiesbaden}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite book|title="Der Gesang von der Büffelgottheit" in Wenn Masken Tanzen – Rituelles Theater und Bronzekunst aus Südindien edited by Johannes Beltz|last=Brückner|first=Heidrun|publisher=Rietberg Museum|year=2009b|location=Zürich|pages=57–64}}</ref> In [[Nepal]] it is known as, "Devta ka dhaamee" or "[[Jhākri|jhaakri]]".<ref>{{cite book |first=Kuldip Singh |last=Gulia |year=2005 |title=Human Ecology of Sikkim – A Case Study of Upper Rangit Basin |publisher=Kalpaz Publications |place=Delhi, India |isbn=978-81-7835-325-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4aDVQ1KVZYC |pages=152–154, 168}}</ref>

===Nigeria===
The [[Igbo people]] of southeastern [[Nigeria]] in [[Africa]] have a long tradition of using oracles. In Igbo villages, oracles were usually female [[priest]]esses to a particular deity, usually dwelling in a cave or other secluded location away from urban areas, and, much as the oracles of ancient Greece, would deliver prophecies in an ecstatic state to visitors seeking advice. Two of their ancient oracles became especially famous during the pre-colonial period: the Agbala oracle at [[Awka]] and the Chukwu oracle at [[Arochukwu]].<ref>Webster J.B. and Boahen A.A., ''The Revolutionary Years, West Africa since 1800'', Longman, London, p. 107–108.</ref> Although the vast majority of Igbos today are [[Christianity|Christian]], many of them still use oracles.

Among the related [[Yoruba people]]s of the same country, the [[Babalawo]]s (and their female counterparts, the Iyanifas) serve collectively as the principal aspects of the tribe's world-famous [[Ifa divination]] system. Due to this, they customarily officiate at a great many of its traditional and religious ceremonies.

===Norse mythology===
In [[Norse mythology]], [[Odin]] took the severed head of the god [[Mimir]] to [[Asgard]] for consultation as an oracle. The ''[[Havamal]]'' and other sources relate the [[sacrifice]] of Odin for the oracular [[runes]] whereby he lost an eye (external sight) and won wisdom (internal sight; [[insight]]).

===Pre-Columbian Americas===
In the migration myth of the Mexitin, i.e., the early [[Aztec]]s, a [[mummy]]-bundle (perhaps an [[effigy]]) carried by four priests directed the trek away from the cave of origins by giving oracles. An oracle led to the foundation of [[Mexico-Tenochtitlan]]. The [[Yucatec Maya]]s knew oracle priests or ''chilanes'', literally 'mouthpieces' of the deity. Their written repositories of [[traditional knowledge]], the Books of [[Chilam Balam]], were all ascribed to one famous oracle priest who had correctly predicted the coming of the Spaniards and its associated disasters.{{cn|date=September 2021}}

===Tibet===
In [[Tibet]], oracles (Tib. སྐུ་རྟེན་, ku ten, Wyl. sku rten) have played, and continue to play, an important part in religion and government. The word "oracle" is used by Tibetans to refer to the spirit that enters those men and women who act as [[Mediumship|mediums]] between the natural and the spiritual realms. The media are, therefore, known as ''kuten'', which literally means, "the physical basis". 

The [[Dalai Lama]], who lives in exile in northern India, still consults an oracle known as the ''[[Nechung Oracle]]'', which is considered the official state oracle of the government of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has, according to centuries-old custom, consulted the Nechung Oracle during the new year festivities of [[Losar]].<ref>Gyatso, Tenzin (1988). ''Freedom in Exile: the Autobiography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet.'' Fully revised and updated. Lancaster Place, London, UK: Abacus Books (A Division of Little, Brown and Company UK). {{ISBN|0-349-11111-1}}. p.233</ref> Nechung and Gadhong are the primary oracles currently consulted; former oracles such as Karmashar and Darpoling are no longer active in exile. The Gadhong oracle has died leaving Nechung to be the only primary oracle. Another oracle the Dalai Lama consults is the ''[[Tenma goddesses|Tenma Oracle]]'', for which a young Tibetan woman by the name of Khandro La is the medium for the mountain goddesses Tseringma along with the other 11 goddesses. The Dalai Lama gives a complete description of the process of [[trance]] and [[spirit possession]] in his book ''Freedom in Exile''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html |title=Nechung - the State Oracle of Tibet |access-date=2007-01-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205234136/http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/nechung_hh.html |archive-date=2006-12-05 }}</ref>