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Prophecy : In
an early state of society, the prophet and
shaman were probably one and the same, as is
still the case among primitive peoples. It is
difficult to say whether the offices of the
prophet are more truly religious or magical. He
is usually a priest, but the ability to look
into the future and read its portents can
scarcely be called a religious attribute. In
many instances prophecy is merely utterances in
the ecstatic condition. We know that the
pythonesses attached to, the oracles of ancient
Greece uttered prophetic words under the
influences of natural gases or drugs ; and when
the medicine-men of most savage tribes
attempt to peer into the future, they usually
attain a condition of ecstasy by taking some
drug, the action of which is well known to them.
But this was not always the case; the shaman
often summoned a spirit to his aid to discover
what portents and truths lie in the future ; but
this cannot be called prophecy. Neither is
divination prophecy in the true sense of the
term, as artificial aids are employed, and it is
merely by the appearance of certain objects that
the augur can pretend to predict future events.
We often find prophecy disassociated from the
ecstatic condition, as for example among the
prophets of Israel, who occupied themselves in
great measure with the calm statement of future
political events, or those priests of the 1 Maya
Indians of Central America known as Chilan Balam,
who at stated intervals in the year made certain
statements regarding the period which lay
immediately before them. Is prophecy then to be
regarded as a direct utterance of the deity,
taking man as his mouthpiece, or the statement
of one who seeks inspiration from the fountain
of wisdom ? Technically, both are true of
prophecy, for we find it stated in scripture
that when the deity desired to communicate with
man he chose certain persons as his mouthpieces.
Again individuals (often the same as those
chosen by God) applied to the deity for
inspiration in critical moments. Prophecy then
may be the utterances of God by the medium of
the practically unconscious shaman or seer, or
the inspired utterance of that person after
inspiration has been sought from the deity.
In ancient Assyria the prophetic class were
called nabu, meaning " to call" or "
announce,"—a name probably adopted from that of
the god, Na-bi-u, the speaker or proclaimer of
destiny, the tablets of which he inscribed.
Among the ancient Hebrews the prophet was called
nabhiaf a borrowed title probably adopted from
the Canaanites. That is not to say, however,
that the Hebrew nabhiim were indebted to the
surrounding peoples for their prophetic system,
which appears to have been of a much loftier
type than that of the Canaanite peoples.
Prophets appear to have swarmed in Palestine in
biblical times, and we are told that four
hundred prophets of Baal sat at Jezebel's table.
The fact that they were prophets of this deity
would almost go to prove that they were also
priests. We find that the most celebrated
prophets of Israel belonged to the northern
portion of that country, which was more subject
to the influence of the Canaanites. Later,
distinct prophetic societies were formed,—the
chief reason for whose existence appears to have
been the preservation of nationality; and this
class appears to have absorbed the older castes
of seers and magicians, and to some extent to
have taken over their offices. Some of the later
prophets,— Micah, for example—appear to have
regarded some of these lesser seers as mere
diviners, who were in reality not unlike the
prophets of Baal. With Amos may be said to have
commenced a new school of prophecy—the canonical
prophets, who were also authors and historians,
and who disclaimed all connection with mere
professional prophets. The general idea in
Hebrew Palestine was that Yahveh,. or God, was
in the closest possible touch with the
prophets,, and that he would do nothing without
revealing it to them. The greatest importance
was given to their utterances,, which more than
once determined the fate of the nation. Indeed
no people has lent so close an ear to the
utterance of their prophetic class as did the
Jews of old times.
In ancient Greece, the prophetic class were
generally found attached to the oracles, and in
Rome were represented by the augurs. In Egypt
the priests of Ra at Memphis acted as prophets,
as, perhaps, did those of Hekt. Among the
ancient Celts and Teutons, prophecy was
frequent, the prophetic agent usually placing
him or herself in the ecstatic condition. The
Druids were famous practitioners of the
prophetic art, and some of their utterances may
be still extant in the so-called Prophecies of
Merlin. In America, as has been stated,
prophetic utterance took practically the same
forms as in Europe and Asia. Captain Jonathan
Carver, an early traveller in North America,
cites a peculiar instance where the seers of a
certain tribe stated that a famine would be
ended by assistance being sent from another
tribe at a certain hour on the following day. At
the very moment mentioned by them a canoe
rounded a headland, bringing news of relief. A
strange story was told in the Atlantic Monthly
some years ago by a traveller among the Plains
tribes, who stated that an Indian medicine-man
had prophesied the coming of himself and his
companions to his tribe two days before their
arrival among them.
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