Editing Psychic (section)

===Early seers and prophets===
Elaborate systems of [[divination]] and [[fortune-telling]] date back to ancient times. Perhaps the most widely known system of early civilization fortune-telling was [[astrology]], where practitioners believed the relative positions of [[celestial bodies]] could lend insight into people's lives and even predict their future circumstances.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Astrology |url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/astrology |website=Britannica |access-date=March 30, 2025}}
</ref> Some fortune-tellers were said to be able to make [[predictions]] without the use of these elaborate systems (or in conjunction with them), through some sort of direct apprehension or [[Vision (religion)|vision]] of the future.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} These people were known as seers or [[prophet]]s, and in later times as [[clairvoyance|clairvoyants]] (French word meaning "clear sight" or "clear seeing") and psychics.

Seers formed a functionary role in early civilization, often serving as advisors, priests, and judges.<ref name="Melton1" /> A number of examples are included in biblical accounts. The book of [[1 Samuel]] (Chapter 9) illustrates one such functionary task when [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]] is asked to find the donkeys of the future king [[Saul]].<ref name="bible">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a09.htm|title=1 Samuel 9 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre|website=www.mechon-mamre.org|access-date=2021-12-23|archive-date=2021-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223213102/https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a09.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The role of prophet appeared perennially in ancient cultures. In [[Egypt]], the priests of the sun deity [[Ra]] at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] acted as seers. In ancient [[Assyria]] seers were referred to as ''nabu'', meaning "to call" or "announce".<ref name="Melton1" />

The [[Delphic Oracle]] is one of the earliest stories in [[classical antiquity]] of prophetic abilities. The [[Pythia]], the priestess presiding over the [[Oracle]] of [[Apollo]] at [[Delphi]], was believed to be able to deliver [[prophecy|prophecies]] inspired by Apollo during rituals beginning in the 8th century BC.<ref name="Morgan">Morgan 1990, p. 148.</ref> It is often said that the Pythia delivered oracles in a frenzied state induced by vapors rising from the ground, and that she spoke gibberish, believed to be the voice of Apollo, which priests reshaped into the enigmatic prophecies preserved in Greek literature. Other scholars believe records from the time indicate that the Pythia spoke intelligibly, and gave prophecies in her own voice.<ref>
*{{Cite book|title=The Delphic Oracle: Its Responses and Operations|last=Fontenrose|first=Joseph|year=1978|pages=196–227}}
*{{Cite journal|title=The Voice at the Centre of the World: The Pythia's Ambiguity and Authority|last=Maurizio|first=Lisa}} (in {{Cite book|title=Making Silence Speak: Women's Voices in Greek Literature and Society|last1=Lardinois|first1=Andre|last2=McClure|first2=Laura|pages=38–54|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=2001}})</ref> The Pythia was a position served by a succession of women probably selected from amongst a guild of priestesses of the temple. The last recorded response was given in 393 AD, when the emperor [[Theodosius I]] ordered pagan temples to cease operation. Recent geological investigations raise the possibility that [[ethylene]] gas caused the Pythia's state of inspiration.<ref>*{{Cite journal|doi=10.1081/CLT-120004410|title=The Delphic Oracle: A Multidisciplinary Defense of the Gaseous Vent Theory|last1=Spiller|first1=Henry A.|last2=Hale|first2=John R.|last3=de Boer|first3=Jelle Z.|journal=Clinical Toxicology|volume=40|issue=2|year=2000|pages=189–196|pmid=12126193|s2cid=38994427}}
*{{Cite journal|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0707:NEFTGO>2.0.CO;2|title=New Evidence for the Geological Origins of the Ancient Delphic Oracle|last1=de Boer|first1=J.Z.|last2=Hale|first2=J.R.|last3=Chanton|first3=J.|journal=Geology|volume=29|issue=8|year=2001|pages=707–711}}
*{{Cite magazine|title=Questioning The Delphic Oracle|author1=John R. Hale|author2=Jelle Zeilinga de Boer|author3=Jeffrey P. Chandon|author4=Henry A. Spiller|magazine=[[Scientific American]]|date=August 2003|volume=289|issue=2|pages=66–73|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0803-66|pmid=12884540|bibcode=2003SciAm.289b..66H}}
*{{Cite web|title=The Prophet Of Gases|author=Betsy Mason|work=Science Now|date=October 2, 2006|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/prophet-gases|access-date=June 30, 2022|archive-date=August 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825104702/https://www.science.org/content/article/prophet-gases|url-status=live}}</ref>

One of the most enduring historical references to what some consider to be psychic ability is the prophecies of [[Nostradamus|Michel de Nostredame]] (1503–1566), often [[Latinization (literature)|Latinized]] to Nostradamus, published during the [[French Renaissance]] period. Nostradamus was a French [[apothecary]] and seer who wrote collections of [[prophecy|prophecies]] that have since become famous worldwide and have rarely been out of print since his death. He is best known for his book ''[[Les Prophéties]]'', the first edition of which appeared in 1555. Taken together, his written works are known to have contained at least 6,338 [[quatrain]]s or prophecies,<ref name="chevignard">{{Cite book|title=Présages de Nostradamus|last=Chevignard|first=Bernard|year=1999}}</ref> as well as at least eleven annual calendars. Most of the quatrains deal with disasters, such as plagues, earthquakes, wars, floods, invasions, murders, droughts, and battles – all undated.

Nostradamus is a controversial figure. His many enthusiasts, as well as the popular press, credit him with predicting many major world events. Interest in his work is still considerable, especially in the media and [[Nostradamus in popular culture|in popular culture]]. By contrast, most academic scholars maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus' quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes deliberate) or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power.<ref name="lemesurier">{{Cite book|title=The Unknown Nostradamus|last=Lemesurier|first=Peter|year=2003}}</ref>

Englishwoman [[Mother Shipton]] demonstrated psychic abilities from her youth and foresaw historical events in the 16th century.<ref name="Porche Vaughan 2005 p. 31">{{cite book | last1=Porche | first1=J. | last2=Vaughan | first2=D. | title=Psychics and Mediums in Canada | publisher=Dundurn Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-77070-167-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c-FNbSjucn4C&pg=PA31 | access-date=2023-05-30 | page=31 | archive-date=2023-05-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530013652/https://books.google.com/books?id=c-FNbSjucn4C&pg=PA31 | url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to the belief that some historical figures were endowed with a predisposition to psychic experiences, some psychic abilities were thought to be available to everyone on occasion. For example, the belief in prophetic dreams was common and persistent in many ancient cultures.<ref name="Melton2">{{Cite book|last=Melton |first=J. G. |title=Dreams. In Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology |publisher=[[Thomson Gale]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8103-9487-2}}</ref>