Scapulomancie

The scapulomancie , formerly called omoplatoscopy , is a form of ostéomancie which consists of the Divination by the examination of Omoplate S of animals, and by extension of other osseous parts punts as the drill plates of carapace of tortoise (for which exists the term plastromancie , rather little used). It was practiced in many places of the world: Europe, North Africa, Near and Middle-East, the Asian North-East and North America. Often, the scapula was subjected to the fire or a heated object, and one observed the aspect of the cracks thus caused; it thus acted in this case of a form of pyromancie.

Chinese Scapulomancie

One of the most known forms of scapulomancie/plastromancie is that practiced in China, in particular under the Dynastie Shang (1765-1122 av. J. - C.), where it is related on the invention of the character S and to the appearance of the first unquestionable form of Chinese writing, the jiǎgǔwén (甲骨文) or writing ossécaille, literally “writing on carapace and bone”.

The osseous parts used first of all seem to have been of the ox scapulas, then more and more often of the carapaces of tortoise, fragments of dorsal carapace obtained by sawing or ventral drill plates. The aspect symbolic system of the tortoise which would carry on its back a representation of the world or Bagua, mentioned as of the end of the Zhou, could play. Occasionally, the supports came from other bones or animals, like the sheep, the pig or the stag; one even found human cranium fragments.

A small depression in the shape of cup was dug (on the part interns the carapaces in the case of), then a point heated there was applied, causing a crack whose word divination (Mandarin bǔ, probably puk in Chinese antiquated, character 卜), would reproduce the form and the sound. Several cracks were produced on the same osseous fragment.

This type of divination was practiced since thousand-year-old IVe front J. - C. (discoveries with the Liaoning) until the end of the Dynastie Han (beginning of the 3rd century) at the latest. Except for a sign (ㄓ) evoking a character ossécaille found on a fragment of Erligang (二里崗) with Zhengzhou with the Henan, the divinations are commented on in writing only starting from the medium of the Shang dynasty (reign of the king Pangeng 般庚, ~ 1350 av. J. - C.), and the majority of the inscriptions were produced between XIIIe and XIe front centuries J. - C. More than 100.000 written parts carrying a total of some 4000 different natures were updated. Starting from XIe front century. J. - C., the divinations by scapulomancie continue but are seldom accompanied by written comments and seem to become less and less numerous, probably replaced by the system of divination using stems of Achillée cream slice which will be used as a basis for the Livre of the changes .

The subjects subjected to the divination were varied, but related to primarily the events of the royal family (birth, death, marriages), forwardings military and requests for tribute, time, harvests and the ritual ones to achieve. At the great time of the scapulomancie Shang, several different cracks were produced for the same question, which was turned differently to each one (affirmative or negative proposal, change of a detail of the sentence as date etc.) because interpretation was binary: auspicieux (jí 吉) or not auspicieux (xīong 凶); sometimes, more than one fragment was necessary for the same subject. The comment mentioned the date in days expressed in the sexagesimal Système, the name of the soothsayer (who was sometimes the king himself), the proposal submitted to divination. Sometimes one finds precise details concerning the source of the bones or carapaces, the number of divinations, the answer of the god Di (帝) or of the ancestors, and even occasionally the accuracy or not of the prediction. The comments seem to be first of all written with the brush (one found the traces of them) before being engraved for filing, in theory on the face opposed to that where the cups had been dug, i.e. on the external face of the drill plates.

Other areas

Many archeological sites located along the southern parts of the Korean Peninsula and the close islands produced scapulas of stag and pig used for the divination dating among 300 av. J. - C. and 300-400 ap. J. - C.

The Kojiki , the oldest book of History of the Japan, watch of the gods practitioner the scapulomancie.

This type of divination was very current with Babylon.

See too

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