ARROWS. Divination with Arrows. Ezek. xxi. 21.Ezekiel informs us, that Nebuchadnezzar putting himself at the head of his Armies to march against Zedekiah King of the Jews, who was in open rebellion, and against the King of the Ammonites, who was likewise concern’d with him in his revolt; that Nebuchadnezzar, I say, coming to the head of two ways, mingled his Arrows together in a quiver, to divine from thence which way he should march; that he consulted the Teraphim, and inspected the livers of Beasts, in order to collect from thence, what resolution he should take, and which of the two he should attack, Zedekiah, or the King of Ammon. S. Jerom, Theodoret1, and the modern Commentators after them believe that this Prince took several Arrows, and upon each of them wrote the name of the King, Town, or Province which he was to attack: for example, upon one Jerusalem, upon another Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites, upon another Egypt, &c. After he had put these into a quiver, he had them hussled together, then drew them out, and that which came first, was looked upon as a declaration of the will of the Gods, who required him to attack first that City, Province, or Kingdom, the name whereof was upon the Arrow.
The ancient Arabians, who before Mahomet were Idolaters, had a way of divination, which they called, presaging by Arrows2. These Arrows were without either Iron or Feathers, and in their language were termed Acdah and Azlam. There were three in number, shut up in a sack, which was in the hands of one whom they named the Diviner of the God Hobal, the Idol belonging to the Temple of Mecca, before Mahomet’s coming. Upon one of these Arrows was written, Command me, O Lord; upon the second, Forbid me, O Lord; and upon the third nothing at all. When any one designed to enter upon an undertaking, he went to the Diviner, and carried a present to him: the Diviner drew one of his Arrows out of his sack; if that with the command came out, the Arabian immediately pursued his affair, if that with the prohibition appeared, he deferr’d the execution of his design for a whole year. When the Arrow without an inscription was drawn, he was to draw again.
The Arabians consulted these Arrows upon all occasions, but particularly upon their marriages, the circumcision of their children, their journies and warlike expeditions. They likewise made use of them in dividing any thing among them, particularly the parts of the victim or camel, which they sacrificed on certain Stones, or to Idols which were placed about the Temple of Mecca. Mahomet in his Alcoran very expressly forbids all Divinations of this kind.
M. Thevenot3 tells us, that in the Levant abundance of these Diviners are still at present to be seen, who are seated on the ground upon a small carpet in the corners of the streets, with many books laid out before them. They take four Arrows, which they place pointing one against the other, and make two persons hold them; then they put a naked sword before them on a cushion, and read a certain chapter in the Alcoran. If they desire to know whether the Turks or Christians, for example, shall have the advantage in any war which they propose to undertake, two of these Arrows have the name of Christian given them, the two others of Turk. As the Diviner reads his Alcoran, the Arrows stir in spite of those who hold them, as if they were beating one against the other, and were capable of thought. Those which keep down the others and mount upon them, are the conquerors, and certainly foretel Victory to those whom they represent, whether Turks or Christians.
The ancient Germans4 cut a branch of some fruit-tree into many pieces, and marking them with certain characters, threw them at random upon a white cloth, then the Father of the Family, if the matter were transacted in a private house, took up these branches one after the other, and from thence form’d his Presages of what was to come, by inspecting the characters which he observed upon them.
The Scythians had likewise their way of presaging5 by the branches of trees. Their Diviners took large bundles of willowbranches, which they untied and extended upon the ground one after the other, pronouncing at the same time certain predictions. Afterwards they took these branches once more in a quite contrary order, and tied up the bundles again, at every stick they touched pronouncing other predictions. All which shews the antiquity of this superstitious way of presaging what was to come by Arrows, or the branches of trees. The Reader may likewise consult Ammianus Marcellinus, l. xxxi. concerning the manner made use of by the Alans in prognosticating things future by the inspection of wands.
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