Cleromancy

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For the use of random selection as a way to make a fair form of selection see Sortition.

Cleromancy is a form of divination using sortition, casting of lots, or casting bones, in which an outcome is determined by means that normally would be considered random, such as the rolling of dice, but that are believed to reveal the will of God or other supernatural entities.

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[edit] In Judeo-Christian culture

Casting of lots occurs relatively frequently in the Bible.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are at least four cases where casting lots was invoked as a means of determining God's mind:

  1. In the Book of Joshua 7:11-22, God commands that a thief be found by casting lots, first among the tribes of Israel, then among the families of that tribe, etc. Achan, the person identified in this way, confesses his guilt, and shows where he has buried the loot.
  2. In the First book of Samuel 10:17-24, the people of Israel demand God to set a king over them, and God decrees a king to be found by a procedure similar to the above, leading to the selection of king Saul.
  3. Also in the First book of Samuel 14:42, lots are used to determine that it was Jonathan, Saul's son, who broke the oath that Saul made, "Cursed be the man who eats food until its evening and I am avenged on my enemies".
  4. In the Book of Jonah 1:7, casting of lots is used to determine that Jonah was the cause of the storm. He was subsequently cast overboard, and the storm dissipated.

Other places in the Hebrew Bible relevant to divination:

  • Book of Proverbs 16:33: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh" and 18:18: "The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart.".
  • Leviticus 19:26: "'You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it; neither shall you use enchantments, nor practice sorcery" (some translations have "augury" instead of "sorcery").
  • In the Book of Esther, Haman casts lots to decide the date on which to exterminate the Jews of Shushan; see Purim.

Note that there are two distinct Hebrew concepts which are confused if both are translated by casting of lots. The Hebrew word translated as sorcery, nachash, is the same word as serpent and means literally to hiss when used as a verb. The idea of divination, or fortune-telling, is conveyed through association with the breath [fig. spirit] of a serpent [fig. deceiver] and implicitly declares diviners as con artists. In contrast, the Hebrew word for lot-casting, gowral, merely means to assign portions, or allotments, in the interests of fairness.

The most notable examples in the New Testament occur in the Acts of the Apostles 1:23-26 where the eleven remaining apostles draw lots to determine whether Matthias or Barsabbas (surnamed Justus) would be chosen to replace Judas, and in John 19:24, where the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothes as he was dying on the cross.

In the Book of Mormon, the sons of Lehi cast lots in the First Book of Nephi to determine who will obtain the plates of brass, a record containing the Israelite scriptures, from the merchant Laban. Laman is selected to represent the brothers by this method, but he fails to do so and barely escapes with his life (the brothers successfully retrieve the plates through other means, however). [1][2]

[edit] In Eastern culture

In China, and especially in Chinese Taoism, various means of divination through random means are employed, such as use of the I Ching. In Japan, omikuji is one form of drawing lots.

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