The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

Augurs were also skilled in interpreting night visions and were always assigned to generals. They accompanied them on military campaigns and were ever close by to give the disposition of the god regarding proposed military campaign strategies. Their predictive activities included foretelling, surmising from the objects studied, conjecture based on the obvious, and foreboding premonitions. Augury is close to divination and served in official positions in Roman courts, palaces, and temples. They differed from official prophets in that they strictly relied on designated occultic objects to obtain their revelation. Dagon prophets, on the other hand, were distinguished by being seized by the spirits of their messages. Many of their seizures were chemically induced so the prophet could get caught up in trances and ecstatic frenzies to deliver their words from the gods. Under routine circumstances, seeking their words from objects was not necessary, although many of them employed sorcery or other magical elements to receive their words. Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 33:6. Also Ezekiel 21:21. 131. Augury—A type of divination that detects oncoming events by interpreting their signs by bird’s flight or animal’s behavior. Augury bases its predictions on everyday incidents appearing in unusual ways and translates them to signs or omens. Ancient Rome had an entire priestly caste devoted to augury to inform the state, government, military, and society of its future and potential for success in various ventures. The word augury originally came from “the flight of birds.” Observing the flight path of birds under certain prescribed circumstances was believed to reflect the silent direction and will of the invisible gods who were thought to direct and determine the path the birds flew. The belief extended to the conviction that the god, his or her emissary, or spirit resided in the chosen birds in the first place. 132. Aura—A) A nimbus radiating around a person symbolizing their investment of numinous powers and authority. B) One adorned with spiritual power. The word comes from Latin roots that define “a crown of gold.” Anday called it a halo. Refer to Proverbs 4:9; Isaiah 28:5 and 62:3; 1 Peter 5:4. C) A spiritual term for the radiation of spiritual power that usually crowns a person. It is detected by colors that show the nature and type of spiritual power (anointing glory) they are empowered by or to dispense by divine assignment. See Color Symbolism and Nimbus. 133. Auspices—A) That which pertains to omens such as the voice of the invisible and inaudible forces. B) Readers and interpreters of tokens received