ABSTRACT
Of all the direct data which their experience affords, primitives are chiefly interested in those which proceed from the unseen world, and reveal to them the orders issued by the mystic powers dwelling therein. The prosperity of the social group, the health and very existence of each one of its members, depend at all times on the good or bad influences exercised upon them. This chapter designates the sum-total of the direct or indirect processes which primitive mentality brings to bear on the discovery of that which interests it so strongly. It examines those forms of divination which are interrogatory, and consist of direct questions addressed to the powers of the invisible world. The divination practised by some Indians, in the form of a dream which they induce, includes both an attempt to discover whether the success desired will be attained, and an effort to make sure of it.
