Firstly I will drop in my new and updated brief.
Throughout time human civilisations have tried to predict what will happen in the future, perhaps for affirmation that what’s ahead will be good, to have a clear path through uncertainty . These ancient practices are still used today. I know from my own experience that if I’m having a bad time I’m far more likely to reach for the horoscope. I had a full birth chart reading when I was a teenager and I’m still hanging into the words that I will find success in later life (how much later, who knows? What success, I’m yet to find out, but time is chuggin’ on) and whilst my rational brain tells me it’s all a load of nonsense, there’s a little part of me that keeps the thought alive.
Some examples of historically random ways to predict future events… that are still used today
1, The I Ching
As a divination text, the I Ching is used for a traditional Chinese form of cleromancy known as I Ching divination, in which bundles of yarrow stalks are manipulated to produce sets of six apparently random numbers ranging from 6 to 9. Each of the 64 possible sets corresponds to a hexagram, which can be looked up in the I Ching. The hexagrams are arranged in an order known as the King Wen sequence. The interpretation of the readings found in the I Ching has been discussed and debated over the centuries. Many commentators have used the book symbolically, often to provide guidance for moral decision-making, as informed by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The hexagrams themselves have often acquired cosmological significance and been paralleled with many other traditional names for the processes of change such as yin and yang and Wu Xing.
2, Astrology
astrology, Divination that consists of interpreting the influence of stars and planets on earthly affairs and human destinies. In ancient times it was inseparable from astronomy. It originated in Mesopotamia (c. 3rd millennium BC) and spread to India, but it developed its Western form in Greek civilization during the Hellenistic period. Astrology entered Islamic culture as part of the Greek tradition and was returned to European culture through Arabic learning during the Middle Ages. According to the Greek tradition, the heavens are divided according to the 12 constellations of the zodiac, and the bright stars that rise at intervals cast a spiritual influence over human affairs. Astrology was also important in ancient China, and in imperial times it became standard practice to have a horoscope cast for each newborn child and at all decisive junctures of life. Though the Copernican system shattered the geocentric worldview that astrology requires, interest in astrology has continued into modern times and astrological signs are still widely believed to influence personality.
3, Tarot cards,
I was unaware until this moment that there are two types of tarot card, one type for playing games, the other for divination.
The tarot (/ˈtæroʊ/, first known as trionfi and later as tarocchi or tarocks) is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, tarot playing cards spread to most of Europe evolving into a family of games that includes German Grosstarok and modern games such as French Tarot and Austrian Königrufen. In the late 18th century, French occultists made elaborate, but unsubstantiated, claims about their history and meaning, leading to the emergence of custom decks for use in divination via tarot card reading and cartomancy.[1] Thus there are two distinct types of tarot pack in circulation today: those used for card games and those used for divination. However, some older patterns, such as the Tarot de Marseille, originally intended for playing card games, are occasionally used for cartomancy.
A new word for me cartomancy, fortune telling using cards (not necessarily specific Tarot cards)
4, Rune Stones
Rune stones are an ancient proto-Germanic tradition dating back to potentially the 1st century AD. They consist of a runic alphabet of 24 letters, usually made out of wood or stone that were used as a method of writing, fortune-telling, bindrunes and sigils.
5, Tasseography (reading tea)
6, Palmistry (reading the lines on palm of hand)
7, Chinese Horoscopes
8, fortune cookies
These all
Astrology | Definition, History, Symbols, Signs, & Facts | Britannica
Rune Meanings And How To Use Rune Stones For Divination — Two Wander x Elysium Rituals
The Basics of Reading Tea Leaves – Twinings
Tarot Mythology: The Surprising Origins of the World’s Most Misunderstood Cards | Collectors Weekly
Workshop challenge; mood board
Some more games of chance, not shown in the above mood board.
1, Spin the bottle
2, Roulette
3, Futures, shouldn’t be a game but reliant on chance.
4, certain board games, eg snakes and ladders.
I am still obsessing with the fortune teller, but am acutely aware that the number of predictions will be limited to four, and that once done a few times that pattern will be remembered allowing the user, myself, to influence the answer.
Playing about with progressive maze and crosswords. a few questions
Lucky dip might be the way forward for this.
I have decided to design a lucky dip bag with 20 rune style pieces inside that can be plucked out at random for a vibe of the day.
I think I might call it the Procrastination Bag, as that’s how I’m feeling. Or maybe the sack of Overwhelm!
I will start by listing and then designing the 20 icons with description of their meanings. I have looked at both the meanings of the I-Ching and the Runes, to inspire my meanings. The I Ching are far more ambiguous, where as the runes seem to be based on solid real things. I will base my icon designs more on the runes, so that they represent objects. Each rune could have two meanings, an holistic message and a prediction or instruction. It could be picked from the bag and the flipped to give more randomness
- Bernie; Black dog, love loyalty. You need to be aware of the love and support surrounding you.
- Merlin; the cat, independence with a hint of aloofness. Be careful not to alienate those around you.
- Cake; Life can be sweet, take note of the good things.
- Walk; Take a walk, breath and all will be well
- Globe; See the bigger picture.
- Heads or Tails coin, flip to decide. Pick another rune
- Tai Chi; Energise
- Nature; Go find some, it will make you feel good.
- Horoscope; Look them up, read, and take with a pinch of salt.
- Links; Connect with someone, get in touch with a friend
- Star; Let your inner self shine through.
- Moon; Be careful of the spring tides, be prepared to get wet feet.
- Hill; Keep pushing yourself, the top is within reach
- Map; Take an untraveled route and discover something new
- Wine glass; No explanation needed.
- Spiral; Strength comes from within, you can do it.
- Atom; You are a small part of the Universe
- Smile; It’s meant to be fun
I don’ think I can answer my question with a game, I may have to re-word the question.
After a very helpful tutorial with Teresa I have decided to focus my project on the philosophy of dog and cat wisdom, it will be a self help/game/fun way to enrich your life, find inspiration and a comfort when faced with life’s bigger questions.
Competitive, warm and conservative: what exactly makes someone a dog person? | Dogs | The Guardian
I was concerned about my project ending up sounding like the little book of happiness, but as Teresa pointed out, they are hugely successful.
Back in time, our relationship with cats and dogs.
Ancient Egyptian God, Wepwawet, One of the earliest Egyptian gods on record (this example between 722 and 332 BC). A Deity of funerary rites, war, and royalty association. Name translates to ‘opener of the skies’ The lesser known brother of Anubus.
Similar role as his brother, an embalmer, lord of the underworld, black symbolised regeneration, life and soil of the river Nile.
Set; below was the parent of Anubus and Wepwawet, the God of storms, disorder, violence and foreigners, in Ancient Egyptian Astronomy (yet another bit of research that may well be going too deep for this project) associated with Mercury. The Set beast could resemble many animals, one of which is an African Wild Dog.
DOG GOD | DOG GODS | DOG MYTHOLOGY – phoenixdogtraining
Egyptian astronomy – Wikipedia
Sekhmet – Explore Deities of Ancient Egypt (egyptianmuseum.org)
There is also a fair amount of cat worship going on with the Ancient Egyptians
Bastet protector of pregnant women
Mafdet, Legal justice Protector of kings chambers
Sekhmet; She is powerful, goddess of hot desert sun, plague, chaos war and healing, she had a cure for every problem, Egyptians would whisper prayers into the ears of cat mummies and offer them to Sekhmet.
Interestingly (other than the Sphinx) it appears that cat gods are associated with females, and dog gods are associated with male gods.
Is this the origin of ‘crazy cat lady’ and ‘mans best friend’?
Or the old ‘good boy’ dog food and ‘good girl’ cat food? Which always irked me.
Li Shou
Chinese cat goddess put in charge of running the world on behalf of the other gods. I could absolutely get lost in this myth, the cats just wanted to play and let another creature take over the running of the world (humans)
Bygul and Trjegul
Norse Mythologies, They Pulled Freyja (fertility goddess) chariot across the sky. Freyja’s cats were male!
In Viking culture it was tradition to give a kitten to the newly wed, symbolising the blessing of Freyja.
List#2
A smaller, more refined list of rune ideas for the prophecy of wisdom.
1 Cat
2 Dog
3 The gift (mouse/ball)
4 Social
5 Appearance (grooming or lack of)
6 Voice
Looking for words with ‘cat and dog’ hidden in the I came across;
Personification the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human
form.
Looking at the historical stuff so far it seems this is what people have been doing since civilisation began, elevating to the extent of worship.
A great modern dog illustration of personification is snoopy, although he retains his dogy-ness; in this example with his obsession with food. And Garfield is equally good cat example.
I can’t not mentions Simons Cat, a hilarious depiction of cat, any cat servant will see it.
Name?
Endogenous
adjective
- proceeding from within; derived internally.
Identifications 1. : an act of identifying : the state of being identified. 2. a. : psychological orientation of the self in regard to something (as a person or group) with a resulting feeling of close emotional association.
Brief #3 Third time lucky?
