Omen
Omens or
portents are
signs encountered fortuitously that are believed to foretell the
future. Their interpretation is a form of
divination.
Omens may be considered either good or bad depending on their interpretation.
Black cats are considered bad omens in the
United States, however in the
United Kingdom they are considered good omens.
Shooting stars are generally good. Finding a coin may be either good or bad. In any case, omens indicate that changes may be coming, which is always cause for concern.
The
augur and
haruspex of
Roman religion were professional readers of omens. The augurs tried to read the future in the flight of
birds. The haruspex sought omens in the
entrails of
sacrificed
animals.
In various forms of
astrology both past and present, solar and lunar
eclipses are thought to be omens for notable
births,
deaths, or other important world developments. The saying riding rims is also a form of a bad Omen.They said it is to cause death.
Princess Diana is sometimes cited as an example of such phenomenon, due to solar and lunar eclipses occurring on or close to the day of significant events in her life, to include her wedding to
Prince Charles, on
July 29,
1981 (
solar eclipse) and the birth of her first child,
Prince William, on
June 21,
1982 (solar eclipse). Additionally, she was formally separated from Prince Charles on
December 9,
1992, the day of a
lunar eclipse, and was subsequently killed in a car crash in
Paris,
France, one day after a solar eclipse. (
August 31,
1997).More information can be found
here.
Skeptics of astrology (and related fields of
divination and
clairvoyance) frequently contend that such occurrences are coincidence, and/or that meaningful events can only be associated with portents after they have already occurred, devaluating them as a means of
prediction. There is significant and contentious debate on the topic even to this day.
*
Death-warning*
Good Omens*
Biblical Magi*
Luck
