Prophecies

People have always had a great interest in human destiny, with the individual wanting to know what the future holds. They have generally beeb prompted by the fear of death, illness or some other calamity, or by joyful anticipation of wealth, prestige or some other form of worldly success. It does seem that anticipation is more meaningful than realization.

But people have good cause to be anxious about the future, for they are constanly operating under a cloud which is due to their intelligence, of which they are so inordinately proud. we are the only animals on earth with prior knowledge of our own demise - and well in advance. It is this intelligence which has also rendered us capable of gross cruelty and refined deception, including self-deception. Lest the future be less favourable to our interests than we might wish, we have entertained dreams of immortality or an afterlife where all will be good and beautiful. 'Hope springs eternal in the human breast...'

There have always been prophets who are ready to satisfy the market in soothsaying. Some of the minor prophets are charlatans, as in the case with those who will readily assure you of a delightful destiny if you cross their palm with sufficient silver. Predictions from this source will surely be unreliable, but this cannot be said of a physician's prognosis, a meteorologist's forecast or an economist's appraisal of commercial trends, for they are based on known facts and logical thinking, though they could rarely achieve complete accuracy.

Religion has produced many prophets. The Bible, for example, contains much prophetic wisdom, including that of Elijah and Solomon. In other religions, too, visionaries such as Lao Zi, Confucius and Muhammad produced inspired teachings which have done much for the health and happiness of mankind.

But there have always been sceptics, such as the Persian philosopher Omar Khayyam, who perceived that most of the sages and saints are neither as clever nor as virtuous as they would have us believe. Considering the present state of the world, it seems that Omar had a clear perception, for it is apparent that those in authority, who are supposed to be of exceptional talent, have always served mankind well.

For the people of the ancient world, the main sources of prophecies were astrology, books of fate and oracles. Some well-known books of fate are the Bible, I Ching, Tao Te Ching and Virgil's Aeneid.

A dictionary defines an oracles as a person or thing that serves as an infallible but mysterious guide or indicator in making profoundly wise and authoritative judgements. Such an oracle was the temple of Apollo, the god of the sun. In Delphi, at the foot of Mouth Parnassus in central Greece. The soothsayers of ancient Rome used the entrails of an animal as a means of making predictions. The blood sacrifice, so beloved of religionists, was probably intended to produce a favourable augury. Bribing the gods!

Chinese prediction-making, whether astrological or otherwise, has always been based upon past experience, logical thought and three scientific principles; there can be no effect without a cause; nothing occurs in isolation; and what has occurred before will occur again.