Divination is an attempt to gain insight into a situation or particular question or questions by using occult-like methods, or a standardized process or ritual...this obviously in an attempt to forewarn of dire circumstances or to foretell fortuitous future events...it has been used in various forms throughout the long course of history...many religions and philosophies including certain types of Taoism have used or use divination...these type of Taoists use I Ching...something I have never believed in or endorsed as a Taoist teacher...those who do this type of work are called diviners and they ascertain their interpretations of how someone should proceed by reading various signs, events, or omens... or perhaps through alleged contact with a supernatural agency...all kinds of things and methods have been used...throwing bones, reading tea leaves, using cards such as tarot cards, dream prophecy...literally there are thousands of methods that have been used...methods which no doubt have produced mixed results...it is often a systematic but yet disjointed and scattershot method in an attempt to gain insight..there are successes, but even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while...is there a difference between divination and fortune telling?...yes in the fact that divination has a more formal and ritualistic element in its ways...whereas fortune telling is a practice that is used for personal purposes.
