Oracles of the Dead: Ancient Techniques for Predicting the Future

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 480 pages
• Published by: Destiny Books; First U.S. Edition of Netherworld edition September 18, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1594770859
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1594770852
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Review
Uri Geller, author of Uri Geller's Little Book of Mind-Power : "A uniquely powerful account of a hidden side to the story of mankind, as it affects us still today. Not only has Robert Temple revealed the secrets of the underground Greek Oracle of the Dead, which was lost and forgotten for more than two thousand years, but he has broken the spell that has kept the innermost secrets of the Chinese I Ching hidden for more than three thousand years. His research, whether carried out by crawling through dangerous ancient tunnels or prowling the corriders of the world's libraries like a panther on the track of a scent, is overwhelming."


Nexus Magazine : "Temple suggests modern science is just starting to appreciate the higher-order mathematical structure and geometric framework which are implicit in the I Ching and make it such an interesting system for our times. A fascinating insight into the prophetic underside of history and notions of fate, fortune and probability."


Michael Baigent, author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail : Oracles once ruled the secret life of humanity. This is the best book I have ever read on those mysterious temples and techniques that preserved age-old traditions of seeking knowledge of the future.


Rupert Sheldrake, author of The Presence of the Past and A New Science of Life : A unique journey of discovery, an adventure beyond most peoples wildest dreams. Only someone with Robert Temples originality, persistence, and courage could have undertaken it. This book enables us to accompany him to places where mythology, archaeology, ritual, and spiritual vision meet.


Bonnie Cehovet, Angelfire, Aug 2005 : "For those interested in the history of prophecy as it relates to the I Ching, Oracle-Bones, the Baian prophecy site, and prophecy through entrails, this is a must read book."


Lesley Crossingham, New Dawn, Jan-Feb 2006 : ". . . an amazing history of divination that is both revealing and educational."


Ashé! Journal of Experimental Spirituality, May 2006 : "Temple makes progress in enhancing the understanding and ultimate value of divination by relating a divinatory system to physical reality. His investigation of Greek and Roman ancient divinatory practices could well stand as a book in its own right."


Product Description


An examination of the shadow side of prophecy in human history and our attitudes toward fate and predicting the future

   Explores the divinatory techniques and traditions of classical Greece and Rome as compared with ancient China

   Contains new information concerning the location of the Greek Oracle of the Dead at Baia

   Shows how the latest discoveries in science may validate the system of the I Ching

   First U.S. Edition of Netherworld

Many methods for predicting the future, such as tarot, runes, the I Ching, and other divinatory oracles, can be traced back to ancient cultures. In Oracles of the Dead Robert Temple looks at the Greek and Roman traditions and techniques of divination and compares them to those of ancient China. He reveals the real physical location of the "hell" of the ancient Greeks--known in antiquity as the Oracle of the Dead and used for séances intended to contact the spirits of the dead--and provides photographs from his explorations there.

Relating them to the ancient belief in the Oracle of the Dead, Temple looks at the various mysteries associated with Delphi and the other oracles of the ancient world and explains how they were used to allow visitors to experience contact with the divine. Furthermore, his examination of the Chinese oracular system shows how the latest developments in science are validating the system of the I Ching.


Reader Reviews
I've been an admirer of Robert Temple ever since reading THE SIRIUS MYSTERY back in the late 1970s. Unlike Von Daniken or Zechariah Sitchen, Temple's scholarship is impeccable, and his blistering rebuttal of Carl Sagan's pathetic attempt to "explain away" the Sirius material deserves a place in -- dare I hope? -- a 3rd edition of that terrific book. I've spent more money in the last 30+ years purchasing books that Temple mentioned in the bibliography of THE SIRIUS MYSTERY, just to check and see if he was quoting his sources responsibly, and not just making it all up. No other book has prompted me to buy ever more books than that one! If you haven't read "THE CRYSTAL SUN" yet, go and read it. It, too, is a magnificent bit of scholarship. Which brings us to "ORACLES OF THE DEAD". When I first read the blurb about this book -- the notion that the Journeys into the Underworld taken by the epic heroes of "myth" are based on ritual journeys taken by real people into a real place -- I just about had a heart attack. Long before Masons had their little rituals involving "death"-enactments for the purposes of some sort of initiation into a "mystery" the Ancients had sculpted a landscape meant to serve various functions both for the individual suppliant and for the powers-that-be who controlled their societies, both politically and religiously. The world is poorer for not having become acquainted with the sites Temple discusses, these man-made landscapes of Hades. That "ORACLES OF THE DEAD" isn't being mass-produced and read by the multitudes who devour pot-boilers like "THE DA VINCI CODE" is a travesty. I wouldn't even have known about this book had I not been a fan of Robert Temple's prior work. Lucky for me that I had previously been enthralled by his thought-provoking books, and was easily willing to shell out money for a book that isn't stocked on the shelves at the Barnes & Noble in my home town. Comment | | (Report this)