HARUSPICY
What is Haruspicy?
Haruspicy was a state divination practice of ancient Etruria and Rome that read the will of the gods from the shape and condition of a sacrificed animal’s organs, especially the liver. It is no longer practiced today and is known as a historical practice.
Overview
- System
- Omen Reading (read from the shape and condition of entrails and the liver)
- Origin
- Etruria and Rome
- What You Need
- None (no reenactment is performed; provided as a historical account)
- Best For
- Life direction
- Time Frame
- Historical / past
Origins & History
Haruspicy is a divination practice originating in ancient Etruria that confirmed the will of the gods by reading the shape and condition of the liver of a sacrificed animal, especially a sheep or chicken. It developed as part of the Etruscan religious system known as the disciplina Etrusca and was passed down to Rome, where it was practiced before important decisions of state and before battles. Similar forms of divination using an animal’s liver existed in the ancient Near East, including Babylonia, and are known to have spread as far as the Hittites.
Priests who specialized in haruspicy were called haruspices, and the Roman Senate valued the practice enough to have young men from Etruria trained in the skill to serve the state. However, under the empire the number of practitioners gradually declined, and the last record is of the emperor Claudius (r. 41–54) attempting to revive it, after which haruspicy disappeared as a historical practice. It is not practiced today.
How It Works
- 01No reenactment is performed; instead, one symbolic result pattern is chosen at random.
- 02A historical explanation of the ancient state divination practice is presented, in keeping with the selected pattern.
- 03No actual divination using an animal is performed.
What It Reveals
It is not practiced today as an actual divination involving animal sacrifice, but it offers a way to learn the history of one of the divination practices that supported statecraft in ancient Rome and Etruria. Rather than a divination that delivers an actual judgment of fortune, it is best enjoyed as reading material for learning about the religious outlook and governance of ancient civilizations.
Related Methods
References
- Wikipedia: Haruspex (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruspex)