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oracle (prophecy, revelation)

An oracle is a shrine or temple sanctuary consecrated to the worship and consultation of a prophetic god. The person who transmits prophecies from a deity at such a shrine is also called an oracle, as is the prophecy or revelation itself.

Oracles are usually presented in the form of an enigmatic or ambiguous statement or allegory. "Socrates is the wisest of men." "A great king will achieve victory." Such statements can have several meanings, thus affording a greater chance of being interpreted in such a way as to make them accurate than if they were more clear and precise, such as "Socrates has seven toes" or "Cyrus will defeat the Persians at Salamis on Tuesday."

The belief in oracles can be traced to the desire to know the future. There are literally dozens of strange techniques humans have developed in an effort to divine events before they occur. Unfortunately, the only sure guide to the future is the past, and even that isn't always reliable.

See also Bible Code, cabala, clairvoyance, confirmation bias, crystal power, I Ching, divination, Jeane Dixon, lunar effects, Mayan prophecy, Nostradamus, numerology, selective thinking, shoehorning, Gordon-Michael Scallion, and Tarot.

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