\[ **BT: [[religion#astrology and alchemy|astrology and alchemy]]** ] --- # fortune ## the concept of ‘fortune’ in different cultures ### fortune-improving gifts #### fortune-improving gifts in China [[’Zodiac talismans and red clothes are most effective when they are gifts from your close friends and family, instead of purchased by yourself … your loved ones are giving you pieces of their own luck.’]][^1] #### fortune-improving gifts in England [[Crooked coins were superstition-based coins left with foundlings, sweethearts, etc; it was hoped they would bring good fortune.]][^2] ## deities of fortune [[Tai Sui, the Chinese guardian deity of each zodiac year, is in charge of people’s fortune.]][^3] ## divination Divination is the attempt to unmask the future—i.e. to tell one’s own or collective fortune. ### types of divination #### fortune-telling by birthdays - see: - [[astrology, Chinese|Chinese astrology]] - [[astrology, Western|Western astrology]] ### history of divination #### China [[During the Shang dynasty, divination sought to uncover the cause of events, correct actions, and the will of their ancestors and Di (their highest deity).]][^4] [[The earliest example of dragons—in writing—appears in Shang dynasty divination inscriptions, i.e. carved on bones and shells.]][^5] - see also: [[history--China#Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE)]] #### Ancient Greece ##### numerology [[Modern numerology (in the West) descends from the idea that Pythagoras had ‘perfected a system of divination by numbers, based upon the secret traditions which had descended from Orpheus.’]][^6] That said, it wasn’t actually invented by Pythagoras.[^7] [[The use of numbers for symbolical and divinatory purposes was common to nearly all ancient religious systems.]][^8] - see also: [[religion#quasi-scientific and magical cults; e.g., numerology, astrology]] #### Germanic peoples - see also: - [[history--Europe#weirding a form of Saxon divination]] #### Ireland [[In ancient Ireland, it was believed that raven calls could predict future events.]][^9] - see also: [[birds#ravens|ravens]] [^1]: Sophie Song, ‘[[Song, ‘Why Your Zodiac Year is Bad Luck’, 2024|Ben Ming Nian: Why Your Zodiac Year is Bad Luck]]’, Chinese New Year, last updated 27 Septemeber 2024, [https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/ben-ming-nian/](https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/ben-ming-nian/). [^2]: Sally Holloway, ‘[[Holloway, ‘Love Tokens’, n.d.|Tokens of History: Love Tokens]]’, Foundling Museum, accessed 4 January 2025, https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/tokens-of-history/love-tokens/. [^3]: Michael Hanna, ‘[[Hanna, ‘Ben Ming Nian’, 2025|Ben Ming Nian – The Twelve-Year Curse (本命年)]], *Feng Shui Store*, 1 April 2020 \[updated 2025], accessed 16 March 2025, https://www.fengshuiweb.co.uk/ben-ming-nian-the-twelve-year-curse/; Sophie Song, ‘[[Song, ‘Why Your Zodiac Year is Bad Luck’, 2024|Ben Ming Nian: Why Your Zodiac Year is Bad Luck]]’, Chinese New Year, last updated 27 September 2024, [https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/ben-ming-nian/](https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/ben-ming-nian/). [^4]: ‘[[Asia for Educators, ‘Primary Source Document, with Questions (DBQ) on Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of the Late Shang Dynasty’ , n.d.|Primary Source Document, with Questions (DBQ) on Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of the Late Shang Dynasty: On Childbearing]]’, *Asia for Educators* (Columbia University, n.d.), p. 1, https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/cup/oracle_bone_childbearing.pdf. [^5]: J. Keith Wilson, ‘[[Wilson, ‘Powerful Form and Potent Symbol’, 1990|Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia]]’, *The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art*, vol. 77, no. 8 (1990), p. 287, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161297](https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161297). [^6]: Manly P. Hall, ‘Introduction’, in *[[Taylor, Theoretic Arithmetic of the Pythagoreans, 1816|The Theoretic Arithmetic of the Pythagoreans]]* (London: J. Valpy, 1816; Samuel Weiser, 1972), p. viii. Citations refer to the 1972 edition. Internet Archive: https://archive.org/embed/theoreticarithme0000tayl. [^7]: Manly P. Hall, ‘Introduction’, in *[[Taylor, Theoretic Arithmetic of the Pythagoreans, 1816|The Theoretic Arithmetic of the Pythagoreans]]* (London: J. Valpy, 1816; Samuel Weiser, 1972), p. viii. Citations refer to the 1972 edition. Internet Archive: https://archive.org/embed/theoreticarithme0000tayl. [^8]: Manly P. Hall, ‘Introduction’, in *[[Taylor, Theoretic Arithmetic of the Pythagoreans, 1816|The Theoretic Arithmetic of the Pythagoreans]]* (London: J. Valpy, 1816; Samuel Weiser, 1972), p. viii. Citations refer to the 1972 edition. Internet Archive: https://archive.org/embed/theoreticarithme0000tayl. [^9]: Betty Coon Wainwright, ‘[[Coon Wheelwright, ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’, 2013|A Storytelling of Ravens]]’, *Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche*, vol. 7, no. 1 (2013), p. 15, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26596516; Tiina Talvitie, ‘[[Talvitie, ‘Ravens and Crows in Celtic and Norse Mythology Before and After the Emergence of Christianity’, 2017|Ravens and Crows in Celtic and Norse Mythology Before and After the Emergence of Christianity]]’ (Master of Philology, University of Oulu, 2017), p. 17, [https://oulurepo.oulu.fi/handle/10024/9406](https://oulurepo.oulu.fi/handle/10024/9406).