Divination played a vital role in all aspects of Greek and Roman religion. It is seen as prominently in the elite population as it is with those that practice magic (often outcasts and those of the lower class). Members of all levels of Greek and Roman society consulted the gods about private matters through unofficial methods of divination. In the Ancient Greek and Roman world, magic and conventional, polytheistic religions coexist on the basic principle of divination. The elites did not need magic. They already had all the power and influence over society– it was the outcasts needed magic to have control over things that they had no say in.
There were common aspects of conventional religious sacrifice that took place in both magic and conventional Greek and Roman religions. There was the ritualistic sacrifice of one or more beings. Part of the sacrifice was given to the gods, cremated, or eaten by man. Sacrifices would take place in different contexts all over the Greek and Roman world. Whether the sacrifice occurred during a magical or a conventional religious sacrifice, there would usually be a burnt offering and/or a votive offering. There was always a person (be it priest or magician) that pronounced prayers preceding the sacrifice.
There is a significant amount of divination in conventional religion. Elites would make claims of favoritism from the gods to impress the general population, and the population had to be impressed for the claims to be meaningful. They also believed that only their leaders would be spoken to by the gods, but not other people (daughters or slaves). Romans had separate expectations of divination. The first is divine messages that are only addressed to oneself. Context is not always stressed and sometimes these would be recorded in ways that would contradict previously recorded divinations. The second are messages from the divine are about one’s own affairs. Romans would compete with their social superiors for the position of receipt. One man’s dire message could be someone else’s good omen. An example of this includes the story of Anchises when he interpreted Lulus’ blazing head as a positive sign. The recipient’s power lends authority to the interpretation of a divine message. All were interpreted by state magistrates and priests. Unironically, it would be the same people continuously informed about present and future matters.
Political leaders with legitimate power are foresighted. Politicians who had a lot of power were meant to also have a strong relationship with the gods and knowing the turn of events translated into political authority. This system of giving so much power to the elite, required members of the non-elite to cooperate and make the system meaningful. A prime example of this would include the death of Julius Caesar. There were many omens presenting themselves to Caesar leading up to his death. However, his inconsistent attitude in knowing what fate awaited him, and doing nothing about it, disrupted the basis of elite religion. Caesar also ran into problems during his sacrifices. Multiple sacrificed animals did not have a heart, and sacrificial omens were immensely important. It was more important to preserve historical expectations rather than the true story of Caesar. Non-elite cooperation and participation in the ideological systems that the elite put in place work to underlay Roman social and political structures.
Divination is also an essential part of magic. There were three main reasons to take part in a curse or spell: to ensure one’s way in love, to gain vengeance, and to win competitions. This coincides with the motives of the political elite to raise their status with divination and representing a strong connection to the gods. Curses were a crucial part because they tried to mobilize the supernatural power of the gods, the dead or other beings against the living.
Curses could be used against the state. Thus, another reason for the major pushback from the leaders of the state. Magic questioned the basis of both common medicine and common religion. However, the three components all melted into one another and thus, creating a spectrum. There is a spell titled “Love Magic.” It is similar to a religious sacrifice because one life was being given up to help the earthly life of another being. There is a collective idea that most curses turn the norm upside down. The young boy is unwilling, whereas ancient religious sacrifice it would have been a willing and grown individual. Of this, there is a prime example of sympathetic magic being put into use. Curses are not all that different from prayers. Names must be called out, and certain words must be said to validate the connection between an earthly being and a supernatural one. Magic is a coercive practice, whereas religion is less. An example of this includes the Magical Papyri. It is a sacred scribe for acquiring an assistant. The spell, in the text, sounds like a form of persuasion from the gods, though in reality, it is much for of a demand.
There were a number of prominent within the work Magical Hymns from Roman Egypt, one of which is a slanderous and sinister invocation. Within Hymn 13, there is a clear form of blame shifting of the events about to happen once the spell is finished. The phrase pattern consistently uses the word “it” in place of the word “I” in attempt to indicate that something divine was said in place of it. This technique was developed in the late haraonic rituals that help relate sacrifices to the work of demons. Magical hymns such as this one are considered to be “pure” invocations. They are not interrupted by long instructions about ritual procedures. Rituals that are prescribed by the magical papyri take place in a private place and are performed only by the magician. In a similar way as to how a priest would proceed in a sacrifice. Magicians also did work such as this to create a profit. Whereas priests would also create a profit when their status grew as a prominent priest from doing sacrifices.
The Case of Delphi is a crucial aspect of oracles in Ancient Greece. Delphi is unique in of itself because it incorporates aspects of conventional religion and magic. Delphi is a pre-eminent oracle of Ancient Greece, and it happens to be the only case solely associate with spirit possession. Plutarch, a priest of Delphi, had a considerable authority that was a part of the spirit possession and the oracle. The Pythia, when possessed, would give answers with detailed content that she could not have known as a peasant woman. The way in which the oracle worked, is that there was a woman kept from the beds of men, who speaks for him, once in each moon a ewe-lamb is slaughtered at night, she tastes its blood and the god possesses her. This ritualistic slaughter combined with a spirit possession and human-god unification bridges the moral gap between conventional religion and magic.
Despite having completely different reputations in the eyes of those that lived in the Ancient Greek and Roman world, magic and conventional polytheistic religions are not completely separated. There are multiple aspects of sacrificial rituals that occur in both instances and the importance of these sacrifices are equally stressed on both sides. Elites used divination to increase their wealth and raise their political status. Those who practiced magic were willing to go against the law to attain the same things that the elites already had. Divination and ritual sacrifice was accepted when done by the elites and the wealthy, yet criminal and demonized by those that were not.