This reconstruction of dice oracles combines the practice of rolling dice and associating them with a divine text, along with the practice of praying and receiving an answer by selecting a random page from a divine text and reading a verse from it. This technique is executed through a computer, laptop, smartphone, or any device with an interface and internet connection. When the client accesses the web page, they will encounter a black page featuring a line and a square. In the line, the client will input their question and then click on the empty square. This action will prompt the system to roll five dice and return a random verse from Paradise Lostby John Milton. Subsequently, a button labeled “Ask” will appear. Upon clicking this button, the client will receive a divine answer.
This reconstruction considers three divination elements that have historical significance. The first element is the dice. As noted by Grottanelli in his introduction to Sorte Unica pro Casibus Pluribus Enotata: Literary Texts and Lot Inscriptions as Sources for Ancient Kleromancy, lot divination was a crucial mantic system. While there hasn’t been sufficient study on this type of divination, evidence exists in inscribed sortes and texts authored by philosophers and thinkers of that era (Grotanelli, 129). Dice divination appears in various sortes such as Sortes Homericae, Sortes Virgilianae, and Sortes Sanctorum. The dice oracles from Anatolia contain dice rolls that correspond to a fixed array of verses and deities. Graf notes that there is no correlation between the rolls and the divinity they are assigned to. However, there is the “dog throw” related to Zeus, which is an uncommon roll associated with the most powerful god (Graf, 64). This is where the reconstruction draws inspiration for mapping to the distribution of frequencies of the sum. The rarer the roll, the more it seems the divine forces are favoring the client’s life.
Among the sortes, there is one called Sortes Sangalenses, in which the client would express their query to the diviner. It was the diviner’s job to understand the client and guide them. Klingshirn explains that this process was necessary to correctly interpret the client’s query; understanding who the client was and the motivation behind their questions influenced the interpretation (Klingshirn, 109). The diviner would also assist the client in obtaining a divine number using a dodecahedral dice, and Klingshirn proposes a method by which this number would help provide an answer (Klingshirn, 109). The result of the interpretation depends on the motivations behind the client’s query and the input from the diviner. This is where the second and third elements come into play. The second element is the divine text, and the third is the diviner itself. The divine text is a verse open to interpretation, but it requires direction. In the reconstruction, the diviner won’t sit down with the client to guide the interpretation, but rather will consider the query and the roll; the latter will offer a positive or negative perspective on the interpretation.
With that said, there is one last thing to add. In class, the evolution of divination was mentioned. Initially, it was a practice that involved rituals and was very formal, with a diviner and a set of objects acting as the medium between the divine forces and the message. The diviner would interpret the message and deliver it to the client. Later, it became more informal, where individuals could roll a dice and find the associated verse themselves, without the need for a diviner. Eventually, it became pocket-sized, with rituals condensed onto scrolls, or individuals could pray and randomly receive a verse from a divine text. This reconstruction follows that evolution, where the divine forces operate through technology. Human interaction is no longer necessary, and it remains pocket-sized. The diviner has evolved, and so have the mediums. The mediums are ones and zeros, and the diviner is artificially created with the same data humans use to make decisions.