50 Divination Quotes For Reading The Signs

By Clifton Sankofa | Published October 23, 2023

Align yourself with the universe with our divination quotes.

People have been practicing divination since humanity’s earliest memories.

Learn more about this ancient practice and its evolution today with our divination quotes.

What is divination?

Divination is an art where people discern the underlying significance of situations, omens, and visions.

People who practice divination are called diviners.
Diviners use signs to determine the future or see deeper meanings.
Ancient and modern cultures use divination for practical and spiritual problems.

What tools do diviners use?

An array of tools and systems have been created to help diviners find wisdom.

Tarot cards, astrology, scrying, or the I Ching are all powerful tools to assist diviners.

The elements of divination involve using signs and omens to learn more about a particular situation or outcome.

Divination is centered on nature and the natural elements.

Therefore, diviners use natural objects such as water, bone, feathers, or entrails.

Divination is practiced through readings, trance, meditation, and the dream state.

Why do people seek divination?

People seek divination for many reasons.

Sometimes, they wish to solve challenges in the physical world, and other times, they seek guidance on spiritual matters.

Diviners are used for practical purposes like finding lost objects or healing.

They also help people who wish to understand the forces that impact a situation more fully.

Diviners help seekers find answers, gain insight, and receive clarity.

To learn more, check out our divination quotes below.

Diviners in ancient Mesopotamia

Divination is ancient.

Cultures in ancient China, Kemet (Egypt), India, and the Americas all practiced the art of divination.

However, one culture that excelled in the divination arts was Mesopotamia.

Babylonian astrology was central to determining the will of the Gods.

The people of Mesopotamia developed an advanced understanding of celestial bodies and natural forces.

They applied the wisdom from the natural world to the art of diving to inform their decision-making.

To learn more, check out our divination quotes below.

Short divination quotes for reaching the knowing state

We begin with these short divination quotes.

1. “Regarding the divination, I expect there might be a lot of nervous laughter.” — Amerlia Wong

2. “Do you hate making choices alone? Medieval divination may be for you.” — Sarah Waldorf

3. “Not to get too New Agey, but I think there’s a little something to divination.” — Eric Branham

4. “And this quality of ambiguity is shared with nearly all forms of divination.” — Michael Crichton, Travels

5. “Criticism is properly the rod of divination.” — Arthur Symons, An Introduction to the Study of Browning

6. “There is a deep, ancient connection between gambling and divination.” — Aaron C. Brown, The Poker Face of Wall Street

7. “The songs of a city are its diviners.” — Sumerian Proverb

8. “I’d certainly recommend medieval divination.” — Eric Branham

9. “Aspiration is a kind of divination of an enigmatic vision.” — Leo Strauss

10. “War is the truest form of divination.” — Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian

Famous divination quotes from scholars and philosophers

Check out these interesting takes on divination from thinkers.

11. “Prayer, or thought or studying the stars, or watching the flight of birds, or studying the entrails of the sacrifice, it is all the same process, ultimately: of divination.” — D.H. Lawrence

12. “Do not go to mediums or fortune-tellers for advice, or you will become unclean.” — Leviticus 19:24-32

13. “Divinations involve being able to foresee approaching events or obtaining secret knowledge through communication with holy sources and through signs and revelations.” — Wordinfo

14. “The system of divination takes for granted that spiritual beings exist, are approachable by humans.” — Wordinfo

15. “I wonder that a soothsayer doesn’t laugh whenever he sees another soothsayer.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Divinatione

16. “The elemental hunger for truth and meaning we live with, which requires what might best be termed divination.” — Maria Popova

17. “A divination is based on the belief in making events known to humans by the spirits and in supernatural forms of knowledge.” — Wordinfo

18. “Every real discovery made, every serious and significant decision ever reached, was reached and made by divination.” — D.H. Lawrence

19. “Divination is of as many kinds as there are fruit-bearing varieties of the flowering dunce and the early fool.” — Ambrose Bierce, The Cynic’s Dictionary

20. “You must not try to tell the future by signs or black magic.” — Leviticus 19:24-32

The best poetic divination quotes for divine appreciation

These poetic quotes about divination will make your heart smile.

21. “And divination of the loss as gain, and reading mysteries with brightened eyes.” — Edgar Masters

22. “And such a doom as his may be for you, Gawaine, should your untiring divination delve in the veiled eternal mysteries too far to be a pleasure for the Lord.” — Edwin Robinson, Merlin

23. “Flushing all avenues of life, and unawares by thousandfold approach forestalling its full flood with divination of the secret contacts of Love.” — Robery Bridges, From The Testament of Beauty

24. “So that you feel able at times to hold the world in the hollow of your hand.” — Edgar Masters, Jonathan Swift Somers

25. “Kissing the omen, said Amen; Be, be it so, and let this be a divination unto me.” — Robert Herrick, The Olive Branch

26. “All over the country an evil reverence, animals’ heads in the mist, divination by willow wands.” — Peter Huchel, Melpomene

27. “When a daffodil I see hanging down his head towards me guess I may what I must be.” — Robert Herrick, Divination By A Daffodil

28. “Wax is for women; bronze is for men. Our fate is only given in fight; to die by divination is given to them.” — Osip Mandelstram, Tristia

29. “Whom will she love? The rope, like a snake, has the gift of divination, yet reveals only a hint, a single initial.” — Connie Wanek, Jump Rope

30. “And naturally all souls to his did bow, as wands of divination downward draw and points to beds where sovereign gold doth grow.” — John Dryden, Heroic Stanzas

Biblical divination quotes from the Christian Faith

Below are quotes from the Christian Bible that discuss divination.

31. “Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination?” — Genesis 44:3

32. “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.” — 1 Samuel 15:23

33. “No Satanic plan against Jacob nor divination against Israel can ever prevail.” — Numbers 23:22-24

34. “So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.” — Jeremiah 27:9-10

35. “Don’t let anyone use magic or witchcraft, or try to explain the meaning of signs.” — Deuteronomy 18:9-15

36. “They passed their sons and daughters through fire, practiced divination, cast spells, and sold themselves to practice what the Lord considered to be evil, thereby provoking him.” — 2 Kings 17:16-17

37. “Don’t turn to psychics or mediums to get help. That will make you unclean. I am the Lord your God.” — Leviticus 19:30-31

38. “They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and embrace pagan customs.” — Isaiah 2:5-8

39. “Don’t let anyone try to control others with magic, and don’t let them be mediums or try to talk with the spirits of dead people.” — Deuteronomy 18:9-15

40. “And the Lord said to me: They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.” — Jeremiah 14:14

Divination quotes and sayings about life

We close our list with these divination quotes to live by.

41. “Divination can let you look at possible outcomes, possible meanings, and possible paths so that you can go deep into what you are bringing to a situation.” — Eric Branham

42. “Divination instructions in medieval manuscripts can be very lengthy, sometimes requiring as many as nine masses to be said before any foretelling can occur.” — Eric Branham

43. “Why is divination required for important collective decisions in many small-scale societies?” — Pascal Boyer

44. “This is enough to give divination an epistemic advantage compared with other sources of information.” — Pascal Boyer

45. “Divinatory statements provide a version of the situation that most participants are motivated to agree with.” — Pascal Boyer

46. “Divination is found in most human societies, but there is little systematic research to explain why it is persuasive.” — Pascal Boyer

47. “I would definitely recommend medieval divination to people, as long as they don’t put too much stock in the outcome.” — Amelia Wong

48. “People sometimes approach divination as if it is giving you information set in stone or as if it is nonsense gobbledygook.” — Eric Branham

49. “A highly recurrent feature of divination is “ostensive detachment,” a demonstration that the diviners are not the authors of the statements they utter.” — Pascal Boyer

50. “As a consequence, people spontaneously interpret divination as less likely than other statements to be influenced by anyone’s intentions or interests.” — Pascal Boyer