Divinations

There is one mode of divination called
> "Sara Nool" in Tamil. It is a form of breath
> divination, i.e., divination according to
> the flow of breath through each nostril.
> There is an English translation of a Sanskrit
> work called "Swara Cintamani", which has
> been published in North India.
> Then there is the "Saguna Saastra"
> which deals with the interpretation of
> certain signs and incidents, e.g.,
> a married woman carrying a full-pitcher
> of water, coming in front , while you are
> about to start on a venture.
> "Swapna Sastra" is the interpretation
> of dreams.
> There is the "Kauli Saastra", which
> is the divination by the interpretation of
> the clucking noise made by the lizard. It
> makes use of the combination of the
> direction, number of times, time of the day of
> the clucking.
> Among the Tamil Hindus, we have "Nool
> Saarththal". In those days, everything was written on
> palmyra leaf. The leaves were bundled, one on top of the
> other. This was called the "suvadi". For this
> purpose, a book of hymns or puaranas is chosen.
> A string is passed in between two leaves at random.
> The book is opened at that place and the verse
> facing you is read. From the verse, the message
> is interpreted for divination, e.g., Take Ramayana
> book. Question in mind: "Will I be successful?"
> The relevent verse, "Hanuman crosses the ocean".
> Interpretation: "Success after great effort".
> There is the Kili Jothidam", divination by parrot.
> Here a parrot is made to chose from a pack of cards.
> The message in the card is interpreted. It is
> something like the "Tarot Cards".
> The "Paaychchigai Jothidam" makes use of
> a certain type of dice.
> A form of divination by beating a rhythm
> on a certain type of drum called "kudu kuduppai",
> is used by a particular sect of mendicants
> known as "Kudu kuduppai Aandi"
> Divination by going into a trance,and beating
> a series of staccato beats on a type of drum
> called "udukku", and listening to the pattern
> of the rhythm, and divining from it - is known
> as "Kodaanggi" and is common in villages of
> Tamilnadu of South India.
> There are several other types also used.
> I don't know whether anyone has made a study
> of all these things are not.
>
> Regards
>
> Jayabarathi
>