A prophecy (from the Greek pro = before and phemi = I speak or say) is the announcement of something in advance, with full certainty of when, how, where and why it will occur; and the person who makes it is called a prophet.
In occultism and esotericism, the terms prophecy and prophet are used exclusively to distinguish a message and a messenger who bases his prediction on knowledge of a future event which, being of a physical and cyclical nature, is repeated from time to time; which the messenger has discovered or obtained either by inspiration (revelation), by science (conjecture), or by mouth to ear transmission as a traditional secret; but which, in any case, its existence is not in the public domain.
A divination (from the Latin ad = approach to divus = divine or god and inus = belonging to or coming from) is also a prediction or announcement in advance of something believed or expected to occur, but without full certainty as to when and why it will occur; and the person who makes it is called a soothsayer or a fortune teller.
In occultism and esotericism, the terms divination and fortune teller are used to distinguish between a message and a messenger who bases his prediction on a premonition of a future event, which, being of a psychic origin and nature, sometimes occurs as a result of the conscious or unconscious application of the law of cause and effect.
Divination, then, is the natural ability - conscious or unconscious - of a messenger to have premonitions and visions, or to receive and interpret signs that come to answer his doubts and questions, and whose origin is traditionally attributed to beings or entities of a divine nature, but which are in fact natural mechanisms that exist to guide human beings in the right way to channel their emotions, desires and actions within the framework of universal laws.
It is clear from the above that prophecy is not divination, because prophesying and divination are two very different acts; and that, as we shall see later, a prophet may also be a diviner, but that to be a diviner is not to be a prophet.
The difference between prophecy and divination is that prophecy takes place on the causal plane (the dimension of natural causes and effects, according to occult Kabbalistic teachings) and divination on the psychic plane (or the dimension of human emotions and desires).
Thus, prophecy takes place in an environment of realities and therefore does not admit illusions or manipulations, and a prophet is distinguished by being able to distinguish or separate what is real from what is illusory in this world, hence a prophet must necessarily be an initiate; divination, on the other hand, takes place in an environment where reality is mixed with illusion, the latter being the product of man's idealistic or fanciful desires to create an environment where pain, suffering, injustice, etc. do not exist. That is why it is very easy and very common for the diviner (if he has not received a training that helps him to distinguish what he sees or perceives in order to become clairvoyant) to end up confusing the real with the illusory and the personal with the alien.
Therefore, the act of divination is not always reliable; firstly, because not all diviners are seers, and secondly, because even if what is predicted is the result of possessing the gift of seeing, unless the seer is also clairvoyant, there is no certainty that what he perceives is real or illusory, nor whether it is due to his own actions or omissions or those of others.
Ignorance of this reality has led to the downfall of many seers throughout history, with the unfortunate result of discrediting not only them, but also the sacred things represented by authentic prophecies. But there is more, for uneducated seers not only lose their reputation, but something worse; the possibility that the seer will end up manifesting states of insanity, or schizophrenia as it is now called, and this happens frequently, and especially when born into a family environment that completely ignores that this state is actually a powerful and educable faculty and not a hereditary disease.
Very few initiates are born with the gift of seer, or with fully developed clairvoyance, as this depends on several factors, one being the degree of evolutionary development achieved, another being the work to be done as an initiate in the present existence, and finally, perhaps the most decisive factor, the stock into which one is born. It is not the same to be born into a stock of priests or initiated kings who have preserved the tradition as it is to be born into a lineage that has degenerated over time and retains little trace of its priestly or royal potential. There can be many combinations and therefore many results, which will manifest themselves in the strength, quality and intensity of the gift of seer and clairvoyance.
In our next article, I will talk to you about what the future means.
Prof. Publio S. Colmenares B.