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Birds of a feather

Augury is the practice of divination through flight patterns of birds. The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly direction of flight and what kind of birds they are. This was known as "taking the auspices." The ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman societypublic or privateincluding matters of war, commerce, and religion. The Roman historian Livy stresses the importance of the augurs:
"Who does not know that this city was founded only after taking the auspices, that everything in war and in peace, at home and abroad, was done only after taking the auspices?"1

The derivation of the word augur is uncertain; ancient authors believed that it contained the words avi and geroLatin for "directing the birds"but historical-linguistic evidence points instead to the root aug-, "to increase, to prosper." 2
'Come then,' Tarquin said angrily, 'Deduce when they make up in bed, if your augury can, whether what I have in my mind right now is possible.' And when Navius, expert in augury that he was, immediately said that it would happen, Tarquin replied: 'Well, I thought that you would cut a whetstone with a sharp knife. Here, take this and do what your birds have predicted would be possible.' And Navius, hardly delaying at all, took the whetstone and cut it.
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In biblical times, the observation of the flight of birds for the purpose of divination is shown in Ecclesiastes 10:20: "...for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter." Among the Arabs the raven was a bird of omen. Josephus narrates that a bird (an owl) alighted on the tree against which Agrippa was leaning while a prisoner at Rome; whereupon a fellow prisoner, a German, prophesied that he would become king, but that if the bird appeared a second time, it would mean he would die. The Romans also understood the language of the birds, since Judah was said not to dare, even in a whisper, to advise the Emperor Antoninus to proceed against the nobles of Rome, for the birds would carry his voice onward. The Babylonians divined by flies. The belief in animal omens was also widely spread among the Babylonians, who also divined by the behavior of fish, as was well known. The language of trees, which the ancient peoples, especially the Babylonians, are said to have understood, was probably known to the Babylonian Jews as early as the eighth century. Abraham learned from the sighing of the tamarisk-tree that his end was nigh. Omens indicated by birds are still a concern for modern people.

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Livys History of Rome

Douglas - Harper Etymology Dictionary, Weekley's "An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English," Klein's "A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language," and the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Edition)
Livys History of Rome

Augury persisted in the early era of Roman Christianity, Constantine was still deferring to Augers during his reign. Even though he is often considered the first Christian Emperor, there is little evidence to support this during his life. There is more evidence, however to support that he was still supporting pagan practices. As modern pagans attempt to reconstruct historical paganism, the art of Augury is making a comeback. The last few decades have seen a number of bird diviners toting caged birds to pagan events, or drawing attention to the innards of road kill, or odd flight patterns.

I've always kept birds, from as early as I can remember. Observing birds, I can see where superstition arises from watching animals in their natural environment. Birds can appear ominous. I often find myself trying to interpret the strange mannerisms of my pet Cockatiel. It was a rescue from an abusive pet owner when it was just a baby; Ive had it for over 15 years now. It bonded to me as its only owner, and gives me signs when he feels I need to be alerted; such as when a person is about to knock at the door, or when something is amiss in my home. Some days he sings to his little hearts content as the rays of sunlight beam into his domestic habitat, just being a bird.

Augury is directly tied to ideas of the 'Left', this was seen as unfavorable omen in Rome, tied directly to Lefthandedness, to be an unfavorable position to hold. Rome was infected with cross-culturalism, as they invaded and took other cultures into their fold. Rome was they were heavily influenced by the Greeks, but not exclusively. The cult of Augers arose as did the public need. In Roman tradition, public rites were held by the Cult of Augers and were performed zealously in spectacular ritual and pageantry. Haruspices (examination of entrails of a ritual sacrifice) were often in compliment. In addition to these practices, Augers were on hand to interpret dreams, interpret the movement of animals (birds among them), blood, fire, water, and dangerous colors approaching the dawn of day. Ritual bathing and purification in animal sacrifice with prayers to appease the gods were thought to be the proper rite in the face of omens. Many of these rites were included on the Roman Calendar of holy days. This guaranteed the prosperity of the Roman Empire. The night before the festivities were to commence, the Cult of Augers would meet to perform Veneficia4, legal ritual sorcery of the cult, vital to reversing bad omens. It was dedicated to the true Augurs, and was used as a way to weed out any cynics and non-believers. The cult of Augurs would use it as a stratifying measure and intimidation tactic, as the Veneficia required animal sacrifice and volumes of blood, to invoke real-world results. The need for Augers fell to the wayside as the new diviners came forward looking to the cosmos in ritual garments, offering a cleaner method to the Royal Court for shooing away bad omens by the Middle Ages.

Ovids Metamorphosis

Augury is making a come-back in Roman Christianity, as Roman Catholics report on strange flight patterns of birds, strange bird-deaths or the absence of birds in spiritual locations. Check your local newspaper for weird bird stories. Theres an Internet-based Spiritual news paper called Spirit Daily, I often find odd articles on the front page as the religious report on strange bird-related events.5 Excerpt from an article from 2008 entitled Signs Across America : SIGNS ACROSS AMERICA, SPIRIT DAILY
It's been a while since we have received the mail we did following our last stories on a peculiar topic: the seeming prevalence and sometimes "strange" behavior of birds, particularly crows. We have broached the topic for two reasons: one, we are interested in God's Creation, and what appears to be a diminishing of other kinds of birds, along with wildlife in general as the earth moans; and second, crows, which in some areas are dominating where those other birds once were, have long carried spiritual connotations. Are they a sign -- spiritual, ecological, or both -- of something afoot in the environment around us? We left it as we do many times for your own decision-making. No doubt peculiarities, and coincidences, there are. The reports come from all over. "Do a Google search for Auburn, New York, crows," advised reader Barbara Ingraham. "You will see many articles on a city under siege by crows, up to 70,000 crows in a town of about 30,000 people. They have brought in and released predator birds. They have resorted to having a 'shoot' to reduce the numbers. "We used to live about 45 minutes south of Auburn," continued Barbara. "One morning while getting up early to prepare breakfast for our bed-and-breakfast guests I became very frightened as suddenly I could hear thousands of crows flying just above the trees, and all cawing." "I looked out of the kitchen window and the early morning sky was filled with them. It was very unnerving. It continued for several minutes. There are people who speak about the fact that they congregate around the cemetery and the Indian burial grounds [around Auburn]. We spent this last Christmas in Ithaca, an hour south of Auburn, with relatives, and again saw the sky filled with crows."

Dont be too surprised when the Cult of Augurs is reconstructed to meet the demands of the growing superstitious, and ominous bird-related events. As Mark Twain once wrote: History doesnt repeat, but it sure does rhyme! Beware of bird omens and Augurs in all their religious pompery. I know of no flock to fit this feather.

SIN JONES www.the-poison-apple.com February 2008

Spirit Daily, http://spiritdaily.com/

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