Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Divination and Oracles
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Texts
The Coin Divination ManualA Silk Road coin divination manual from the Dunhuang cave library — reunited from two manuscripts separated between Paris and London. Systematic prognostications for household fortune, illness, marriage, enemies, travel, lost property, spirits, and all the concerns of daily life. Remarkable Sino-Tibetan syncretism: the sign of Confucius appears alongside Tibetan spirit cosmology and Chinese elemental theory. Ten of thirteen sections now survive. Pelliot tibétain 1055 + IOL Tib J 744. First freely available English translation from Old Tibetan.The Dice of the Five ElementsA fragmentary Tibetan dice divination manual assigning the five elements to dice counts, with readings for household fortune, illness, enemies, marriage, and lost goods.The Dice OraclesEleven oracle entries from the Bon gods, cast by dice in the age of the Tibetan Empire. First English translation from Old Tibetan.The Dunhuang Dice Oracle (ITJ 0740)A pre-Buddhist Tibetan dice divination oracle from the Dunhuang manuscripts (IOL Tib J 740). 62 oracular entries spoken by mountain gods, btsan spirits, life-deities, and ancient Tibetan divinities. Each entry pairs a three-dice throw with a prophecy and verdict. First English translation from Old Tibetan.The Great Divination ManualThe largest divination manual in the Dunhuang Bon corpus — fifty-nine oracle entries with dice throws, deity voices, and verdicts for every question of life. First English translation from Old Tibetan.The Great Divination ScrollA 405-line Old Tibetan divination manual from the sealed cave library at Dunhuang — the royal oracle of the Tibetan Empire, with divinations for kings, commoners, livestock, warriors, the grieving, and women. Sealed around 1000 CE, never before translated into English.The Oracles of the Sky Medicine GoddessFifty-seven oracle entries presided over by the Sky Medicine Goddess, with an invocation summoning nine-hundred-and-nine medicines from seven realms. First English translation from Old Tibetan. The codex breaks off mid-verse at Oracle LVII.The Spirit OraclesTwelve Bon divination oracles with elaborate deity speeches from a Dunhuang cave scroll — including the worst omen in the Tibetan Mo corpus. First English translation from Old Tibetan.The Three-Dice Oracle ManualA complete three-dice divination manual from the Dunhuang caves — sixty-two oracles spanning every combination of three four-sided dice, with named deity speakers and verdicts. First English translation from Old Tibetan.The Twelve Coins DivinationA complete coin divination manual from the Dunhuang caves, attributed to Kong-tse — the Tibetan Confucius. The magical king Li-bsam-blang established this system of casting twelve coins to read the fates. Each outcome from one coin face-up through all face-down carries its own cosmic sign: the sun rising in fullness, the Pleiades surrounded by stars, a thousand suns at once, or the sun setting with the earth quaking and the king’s line cut off. India Office Library Tibetan 0742. First freely available English translation from Old Tibetan.