I don't know of too many people who don't get a delicious sense of excitement in their stomachs or spooky shivers of delight up their spine when they think about 'having their fortune told'.

Whether it's by a gnarled old gypsy woman with piercing eyes and a worn deck of cards on her table, a turbaned psychic in a dimmed room gazing into a crystal ball, or a shaman tossing strange and wonderful herbs into a small fire while he peers intently into the smoke - the mysteries of prediction fascinate almost all of us.

Oracles have been used in probably every culture and every religion since the beginning of time. In the days of the nature religions, every element and every thing in our daily lives had a god or spirit attached to it, and these spirits communicated with humans through oracles. Technically, an oracle is a method of divination or prophecy where spirits speak to mankind through a human being in a trance-like state. The Oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece is one of the most well-known - where a priestess who dwelled with snakes in a cavern would take questions - for a fee - from the public. (A major component of this oracle however, was that all concerned were induced into a trance-like state through food and sleep deprivation as well as natural drugs, etc. - to get just that 'wonky' feeling of otherworldliness which gave real pizzazz to the pronouncements).

Even Nostradamus, the most famous seer of the current era, would burn various herbs and smudge to enter a meditative, perhaps trance-like state before beginning his scrying.

Although there are many who still rely on drug or meditation induced altered states to access the realm of prophecy, it is widely accepted that a 'psychic' can simply open up their inherent intuitive channels, and with the use of tools or magical systems, access a knowledge of the future.

Our fascination with oracles shows no signs of dimming even as we enter the new millenium, with all the technology and scientific knowledge and advancements readily available to mankind. In fact, technology is increasingly being used to create new types of oracles, from on-line tarot readings, computerized astrology reports, and so on. Popular methods of predicition include everything from dream oracles, crystal balls, runes, tarot, pendulums, dowsing, I-Ching, palmistry, astrology, channelings, etc.

There is definitely an oracle (and probably many) for everyone, for every possible question or situation. From the ever-popular pastime of finding shapes in the clouds, to all manner of superstitions, to the words of the prophets of many religions and cultures - we all believe - at least just a little bit.