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Petosiris to Nechepso is a letter describing an ancient
divination
Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...
technique using
numerology
Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...
and a diagram. It is likely to be a
pseudepigraph
A pseudepigraph (also anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the wo ...
.
Petosiris
Petosiris (), called Ankhefenkhons, was the high priest of Thoth at Hermopolis and held various priestly degrees in the service of Sakhmet, Khnum, Amen-Re and Hathor.
Petosiris was the son of Sishu and Nefer- renpet. He lived in the seco ...
and
Nechepso
Almost nothing is known of Nekauba (Ancient Greek: ). He is listed as one of the early kings of the 26th Saite Dynasty in Manetho's Epitome and ruled for six years. However, his status as king is not confirmed by any contemporary documents and h ...
are considered to be the founders of
astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
in some traditions. One translation of this letter into Latin is attributed to
Saint Bede, and can be found in
British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius C. II.
The technique is known by several names, including the Petosiris Circle,
the Sphere of
Apuleius
Apuleius ( ), also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170), was a Numidians, Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman Empire, Roman Numidia (Roman province), province ...
, Columcille's Circle, and
Democritus
Democritus (, ; , ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, Thrace, Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an ...
's Sphere. The attribution of ancient authors is a typical practice of
Neoplatonism and Gnosticism
Gnosticism refers to a collection of religious groups originating in Jewish religiosity in Alexandria in the first few centuries AD. Filoramo, Giovanni (1990). ''A History of Gnosticism''. Blackwell. pp. 142-7 Neoplatonism is a school of Hellen ...
, and the technique may arise from this tradition. Examples of the figure are known from Anglo-Saxon manuscripts.
The technique involves calculating the numerical value of a patient's name, then dividing by 30 or 29, a number derived from the
lunar month
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month.
Variations
In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Euro ...
to find the remainder, which is (mod 29) or (mod 30) in
modular arithmetic
In mathematics, modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic operations for integers, other than the usual ones from elementary arithmetic, where numbers "wrap around" when reaching a certain value, called the modulus. The modern approach to mo ...
. The number is then found on the diagram, to determine the
prognosis
Prognosis ( Greek: πρόγνωσις "fore-knowing, foreseeing"; : prognoses) is a medical term for predicting the likelihood or expected development of a disease, including whether the signs and symptoms will improve or worsen (and how quickly) ...
.
See also
*
Computus
As a moveable feast, the date of Easter is determined in each year through a calculation known as – often simply ''Computus'' – or as paschalion particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after th ...
References
Bibliography
* Fuentes González, Pedro Pablo,
Néchepso-Pétosiris, in R. Goulet (ed.), ''Dictionnaire des Philosophes Antiques'', vol. IV, Paris, CNRS, 2005, p. 601-615.
External links
Numerology
Occult texts
History of Catholicism in England
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