(Latin: divinare, to foretell)
Seeking after the knowledge of future or hidden things through means inadequate by nature and unlawful. By natural means some effects can be foreseen with physical certainty; others surmised as probable; others are contingent upon future, free causes and knowable only to God. Divination implies the direct or indirect solicitation of a preternatural evil agency to supplement a natural deficiency. Its practise or patronage is sinful, varying with circumstances. As old as humanity, it existed in every age and country, and nowhere is it completely abandoned. Christianity undermined its power, and after centuries of effort it disappeared as an official system.
