Dice have been used for divination and prediction for thousands of years. Long before tarot cards, astrology, rune stones, etc, dice were cast to gain an insight into the future and the unknown. The term for divination by casting dice, or small objects as lots, is cleromancy. African witch doctors of certain tribes use dice for this purpose, although their dice are not the standard ones we use. Indian Hindu's use an ancient divining science called Ramala and the dice used are very similar to standard dice except they are spun on a rod. Both ancient Egypt and Rome used dice for divination.
The Greek term for divining by dice is astragalomancy from the Greek word for knucklebone dice astragalus's. There are dice especially marked with mystic symbols specifically used for fortune telling and divining.
Rune dice are a common type but standard dice may just as easily be used. Tibetan monks practise a dice divination technique called Sho-Mo using three ordinary standard spotted dice.Astrological dice are a specialized set of three 12-sided dice for divination, using the concepts of astrology and containing astrological symbols for the planets, the zodiac signs and the astrological houses. The first die represents planets, the Sun, the Moon, and two nodes (North Node and South Node). The second die represents the 12 zodiac signs, and the third represents the 12 houses.
In simplified terms, the planets, etc. could represent the 'actor'; the zodiac signs could represent the 'role' being played by the actor; and the house could represent the 'scene' in which the actor plays.
Rune dice are a specialised set of dice for divination (runecasting), using the symbols of the runes printed on the dice.
Rune dice are a common type but standard dice may just as easily be used. Tibetan monks practise a dice divination technique called Sho-Mo using three ordinary standard spotted dice.Astrological dice are a specialized set of three 12-sided dice for divination, using the concepts of astrology and containing astrological symbols for the planets, the zodiac signs and the astrological houses. The first die represents planets, the Sun, the Moon, and two nodes (North Node and South Node). The second die represents the 12 zodiac signs, and the third represents the 12 houses.
In simplified terms, the planets, etc. could represent the 'actor'; the zodiac signs could represent the 'role' being played by the actor; and the house could represent the 'scene' in which the actor plays.
Rune dice are a specialised set of dice for divination (runecasting), using the symbols of the runes printed on the dice.