MIPC stands for Magic in Popular Culture and it is a series of posts in which I take a spell, ritual, tradition, or belief from a work of fiction such as television, a book, movies, or a comic book and analyze it against real world magical theory and practices.
The Spell, Belief, or Ritual
"This is the most reliable method of telling your fortune. The Bones never lie. Pick a bone and throw it on the fire. The heat makes cracks in the bone and I read the bone cracks to tell your destiny. " - Madame Wu
Avatar The Last Airbender Book 1 Ep. 14
The Fortune Teller 3/23/2005
Commentary
According to my research, this is a fairly accurate - albeit dramatized - depiction of ancient Chinese Oracle Bone Reading. I believe that the above ritual is the original form of bone reading and that throwing the bones came later. Bone Reading was a form of divination that sought guidance and direction from deities, but also more commonly from the ancestors. A description of the divination ritual can be read at Wikipedia.
Many oracle bones were discovered in the 1800s prompting research into this ancient practice. The most common bone is that of the shoulder blade or the bone of a turtle shell. Many of the bones are inscribed with the details of the reading such as who is asking the question, what is their question, who is reading the bone, what is the answer, and in some cases the eventual outcome. Even today scientist and researchers are still trying to decode the many symbols that appear on the bones in order to learn more about the past.
Links
- Carolina Dean
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