SORTES ASTRAMPSYCHI - The Oracles of Astrampsychus

DE ORAKELS VAN ASTRAMPSYCHUS ΟΙ ΧΡΗΣΜΟΙ ΑΣΤΡΑΜΨΥΧΟΥ THE ORACLES OF ASTRAMPSYCHUS	SORTES ASTRAMPSYCHI
ORIGINELE ROMEINSE VERSIE INLEIDING GODEN ORAKELS		CHRISTELIJKE BYZANTIJNSE VERSIE INLEIDING ORAKELS
ΑΡΧΗΓΙΚΗ ΡΩΜΑΙΚΗ ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΠΡΟΟΙΜΙΟΝ ΘΕΟΙ ΧΡΗΣΜΟΙ		ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΙΚΗ ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΗ ΕΚΔΟΣΙΣ ΠΡΟΟΙΜΙΟΝ ΧΡΗΣΜΟΙ
ORIGINAL ROMAN VERSION INTRODUCTION GODS ORACLES		CHRISTIAN BYZANTINE VERSION INTRODUCTION ORACLES

Papyrus fragment THE ORACLES OF ASTRAMPSYCHUS

Sortes Astrampsychi or the "Oracles of Astrampsychus" is the Latin title of a 3rd century AD Greek-language oracle book, attributed to the Egyptian magician Astrampsychus. The magical papyrus text allows you to ask the gods of the Roman world all kinds of questions. In late Antiquity the pagan oracles were forbidden, but the immensely popular Sortes Astrampsychi remained the only ancient oracle still in use during the Middle Ages, as Byzantine monks turned the pagan document into a Christian scripture.

The oracle book consists of an introduction and the actual oracles. The original Roman as well as the Christian Byzantine version can be consulted in full online.

The Oracles of Astrampsychus somewhat resemble the more famous Chinese Yi Jing, but provide clear answers to practical questions instead of vague Eastern profundities.

More about the Sortes || The oracle book | The introduction | The oracle gods | The oracles

Consult the original Roman version of the Sortes || Introduction | Gods | Oracles

Consult the Christian Byzantine version of the Sortes || Introduction | Oracles

THE ORACLE BOOK

Sortes Astrampsychi is the Latin title of a 3rd century AD Greek-language Roman oracle book, named after the Egyptian magician Astrampsychus. The document provides clear answers to practical questions about all kinds of personal subjects. Nowadays the oracle book is one of the least known ancient texts, but in late Antiquity it was very popular in the entire Roman empire. Yet, only in the Egyptian desert some fragments of several 3rd to 6th century AD copies were recovered. After all, papyrus is but preserved in exceptionally dry conditions. Consequently, at the beginning of the 21st century AD the complete text was merely reconstructed with the help of the later Byzantine version. Like most ancient texts, the oracle book is chiefly known from handwritten copies from the Middle Ages. Several 13th to 16th century AD Byzantine manuscripts on parchment have been preserved in full. Nevertheless, as early as 385 AD Valentinianus and Theodosius forbade all oracles in the Roman empire. Therefore the Christian monks who saved the Sortes Astrampsychi from oblivion, first had to turn the pagan document into a Christian scripture. In South Gaul a Latin-language Christian edition of the oracle book appeared as well. These so-called Sortes Sangallenses or "Sankt Gallen Oracles" from the 4th century AD, are just known from one incomplete 7th century AD manuscript from Sankt Gallen abbey. Furthermore in Medieval Western Europe the Sortes Sanctorum of "Oracles of the Saints", Sortes Apostolorum or "Oracles of the Apostles" and Sortes XII Patriarcharum or "Oracles of the 12 Patriarchs", all of which are now merely known by name, were consulted in spite of repeated condemnations by the church. Later on so-called books of fate, Sortes Astrampsychi based oracle books in vernacular, like Napoleon's Book of Fate, appeared as well.

When the Sortes Astrampsychi came into existence, the Roman world already knew numerous oracles. Every people in the vast empire had its own methods to consult the gods. The most prestigious were the Greek temple oracles and the sibyls of Apollo, where the incoherent gibberish of a doped medium was translated by temple priests into oracular sayings in verse, like the oracles of Delphi and Didyma and the sibyl of Cumae. Countless other Greek temple oracles made use of the most diverse divine signs. At Dodona Zeus gave oracles by means of the rustle of the wind and the behaviour of pigeons in his holy grove and in Olympia the priests read his answer from the entrails of sacrificial animals. At another group of oracle sites the deity appeared directly in dreams or visions. In Epidaurus and Pergamon sick pilgrims spent the night in the sanctuary of Asclepius, after which the temple priests prescribed a remedy based on their dreams. At the oracles of the dead or necromantia, like those near the Acheron and the Avernus lake, the shades of the deceased appeared. Egypt and the Near East knew temple oracles as well. The Libyan oracle of Ammon in the Siwa oasis rivalled with the most famous Greek oracles. Originally even the Jews consulted Jahweh in the temple of Jerusalem and in the Coptic churches of Egypt God gave oracles as late as the 8th century AD.

Papyrus fragment What all of these oracles have in common, is that the temple priests always phrased the final answer. In Greek antiquity the most important oracles were impartial institutions which were consulted on state affairs by Greek and even foreign state leaders and as a result played some sort of international mediatorial role. In the course of the Hellenistic period they lost their political significance because the mighty Hellenistic kings tried to manipulate them with varying success. The masses stil visited the oracles though, but in Roman times they lost more and more of their status and credibility. Even the ordinary people now thought the gods were withdrawing from the oracle sites because their cults were neglected in a new, Christian world. When the Roman emperor Julianus Apostata consulted the oracle of Delphi one last time in the middle of the 4th century AD, he received the answer Apollo had left the oracle and the age of the ancient gods was over.

Instead of temple oracles many peoples knew a special class of priests who, amongst other things, consulted the oracles on behalf of the community and/or its leaders. They arose from the shamans, shadowy figures who mediated between the community and the spirit world everywhere. They were held in high esteem for their wisdom, but were feared because of their knowledge of the occult. In Etruria and Rome the haruspices examined the intestines, particularly the liver, of sacrificed animals (hepatomancy), while the fulguratores interpreted the will of the gods by means of the lightning (astrapomancy) and other weather phenomena. Furthermore in Rome a college of augures studied the flight of birds (ornithomancy). The Celtic druids, the Medean or Persian magi and the Mesopotamian Chaldaeans chiefly looked at the entrails of sacrificial animals. After the conquest of the Persian empire by Alexander the Great, huge numbers of Eastern magicians found their way to the West. Persians, Medes, Chaldaeans, Syrians, Armenians, Arabs and Egyptians offered their services in the Hellenistic and Roman world as travelling sorcerers. Their fortune-telling was based on astrology, dream interpretation (oneiromancy), conjuring spirits (necromancy) and the interpretation of reflections and shadows in mirrors (catoptromancy), crystals (crystallomancy), liquid filled bowls (lecanomancy) or lamps (lychnomancy). In Rome they were repeatedly outlawed or bannished from the city because they had become so influential they were regarded dangerous to the state.

In impirial Roman times the so-called lot oracles appeared. Characteristically these do-it-yourself oracles, like the Sortes Astrampsychi, could be consulted without any intervention from priests or magicians and the answer was directly determined by lot. Sortes Astrampsychi for that matter, litterally means the "Lots of Astrampsychus". At the oracle of Pharae for example, one whispered a question into the ear of the cult statue of Hermes, after which the first thing one heared someone saying outside the sanctuary was considered to be the answer. In Greece and Asia Minor numbered oracular sayings were engraved on several temples, for intance at Bura and Olympos, so the visitors could cast themselves an oracle with dice. In some Italic temples one could consult the sortes, like the Sortes Praenestinae in the sanctuary of Fortuna in Praeneste. Here an answer was drawn from a collection of oracular sayings engraved on little plates. Outside the temples bibliomancy was practiced as well. One opened an authoritative book of choice by chance and the first verse that leapt into the eye was interpreted as an oracle. Pagans preferred the Aeneis of Vergil for their so-called Sortes Vergilianae or "Vergilian Oracles", while Christians consulted the Sortes Biblicae or "Biblical Oracles". This method was not new at all. In republican Rome a special college was responsable for the Libri Sibyllini or Sibylline books, a collection of oracular sayings from the sibyls kept in the Capitoline temple. Only in exceptional emergency situations, as in the case of an epidemic, famine or natural disasters, they were consulted by means of bibliomancy on the explicit request of the Roman senate. With all of these lot oracles the questioner still had to interpret the answer and apply it to his question. Thanks to an unique system the Oracles of Astrampsychus do give a clear unambiguous answer to every question though. Here the oracular sayings are sorted by subject and therefore fit closely to the question. The Egyptian temple oracles also gave crystal clear answers. Here one wrote on two different notes a positive and a negative answer to a yes/no question and afterwards it was determined by lot which was the right one.

THE INTRODUCTION

The introduction of the Sortes Astrampsychi appears as a letter. In the opening words Astrampsychus salutes king Ptolemy. Ptolemy was a general of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king who was able to conquer the Persian empire between 336 and 323 BC. After Alexander's death, his empire was divided between his generals. Ptolemy obtained Egyptian rule and remained Egypt's first Hellenistic king till his death in 282 BC. Astrampsychus is a legendary Egyptian or Persian magician whom an astrological book, a dream book and a love spell are attributed to as well. Nevertheless, in his letter Astrampsychus himself says the Oracles were invented by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who lived approximately from 580 till 500 BC. Nowadays he is mainly known because of his famous theorem, but above all Pythagoras was the charismatic leader of a philosophico-religious sect in the South Italian Greek colonies Croton and Metapontum. The Pythagoraeans thought everything was determined by numbers, not only mathematically, but als numerologically. After all, as mentioned by Astrampsychus himself, the Sortes Astrampsychi are essentially a method of divination by numbers.

However, Astrampsychus' letter, as is the rest of the oracle book, was written in the 3rd century AD. Most magical papyrus texts from imperial Roman times have a similar introduction. Usually there is a link with Egypt, which was strongly associated with magic, and the text is made out much older than it really is. Often a notorious occult character is mentioned as the author and a famous historic leader as a succesful user. It is interesting this is still the case with a Sortes based book of fate from 1822 AD, which has the following full title: The Book of Fate, Formerly in the Possession of the Emperor Napoleon, and Now First Rendered English, from a German Translation, of an Ancient Egyptian Manuscript, Found in the Year 1801, by M. Sonnini, in One of the Royal Tombs, Near Mount Libycus, in Upper Egypt. Creating this kind of atmosphere is typical for any form of oracle anyway. Oracles were usually consulted in a somewhat mysterious setting and often involved bizarre rituals to make the questioner more susceptible and to create an atmosphere of authenticity and credibility.

Further, the introductory letter of Astrampsychus gives a lot of attention to the oracle book's operation instructions. The roundabout procedure of consulting the oracles is of little importance here though. In the digital online versions the process has been computerized by the use of hyperlinks and JavaScript. In the Byzantine version the letter was also supplemented with a Christian prayer and rules about when the oracles can be consulted. The prayer is obviously an additional element to Christianize the originally pagan manuscript and thus to legitimize why it was not simply destroyed in the first place. The time restrictions are likely to be added just to prevent excessive use. It is noteworthy the ancient lunar calendar is used here, which was already limited to the sphere of magic even in Roman times. The complex calculations to find out when the oracles may be consulted, are insofar as possible automatized in the online version.

THE ORACLE GODS

The oracle book makes use of a concordance list. The only existing ancient fragment of this list, contains the names of gods from the Roman world. As a consequence, every answer from the Sortes Astrampsychi is given by one of these oracle gods. Of course, in the Medieval manuscripts the pagan gods have been left out, but in several copies they have been replaced by biblical names. Since neither of them are mentioned in the introduction, the Sortes Astrampsychi were originally probably purely numerological. Therefore not every ancient copy might have had a list of gods. In that case one probably asked the deity of his choice his questions. The prayer from the introduction shows God himself gives the oracles in the Christian version. For that reason the biblical names, among which are a Babylonian king and even several place-names, are not included in the online text. Obviously they do not act as oracle givers and therefore they are rather irrelevant.

The preserved fragment of the ancient list of gods comprises 31 Greek and 9 Eastern deities, particularly 6 Egyptian, one Phrygian, one Phoenician and one Persian. The two remaining deities are dubious, but can be interpreted as the Judaeo-Christian God and (the genius of) the Roman emperor. All of these gods were well-known throughout the Roman empire, with the possible exception of some obscure deities whose presence can be explained by their close relation with divination. Since the Sortes Astrampsychi are written in Greek, all gods are from the Greek speaking eastern half of the Roman empire though. Gods from the Latin speaking West, the actual Roman gods in particular, are completely absent. They are represented by the Greek ones though. The Roman gods were identified with the Greek ones to that extent that, when translated into Greek, their names were simply replaced by those of their Greek counterparts. Besides, the Eastern gods are listed under their hellenized names as well. In the online version the merely partially preserved list is completed with Greek and Eastern gods, including several Syrian and a Nubian one. An important Roman deity without a Greek counterpart and even some Celtic gods are added as well. Undoubtedly these last ones were not in the missing part of the original list, but as a result the principal ethnic groups of the Roman empire are represented. Probably several different lists of gods were in circulation anyway, because they were more or less tuned to the local pantheon. The preserved fragment for instance, seems to be drawn up in Alexandria.

THE ORACLES

The most important part of the Sortes Astrampsychi consists of 920 oracular sayings, the actual sortes. A list of 92 basic questions the questioner has to choose from, precedes the oracles. In spite of the fixed list of questions, an infinite number of different questions can be asked. The basic questions can be modified in the mind at will by adding the necessary details or making changes. This way general or specific yes/no questions can be asked on about every personal subject. The answers are not restricted to a simple yes or no either, all the more since these words do not even exist in Ancient Greek. After choosing a question, the interrogator is allotted a number from 1 to 10. By adding this number to the number of his question, he gets a third number. In the concordance list this number is followed again by yet another number. This fourth and last number indicates which decade the answer can be found in. Every decade has 10 numbered oracular sayings and the one that matches the number the questioner drew by lot, is the answer to his question. In short, the Sortes Astrampsychi consist of 92 questions with 10 potential answers each. The unnecessary complicated number based system, which is elaborately described in the introduction, of course has been replaced by hyperlinks and JavaScript in the online versions. After all, it suffices to draw one of the 10 potential answers to each question. The concordance list and the decades make the book look more complicated than it really is, so it appears more mysterious to its users. It also prevents the user from seeing the 9 other potential answers while looking up the right one, because they are all in different decades. Papyrus fragment Thanks to the unique system of basic questions, the answers of the Sortes Astrampsychi are always directly related to the question. Other ancient lot oracles, including the famous Chinese oracle book Yi Jing (I Ching) or "Book of Changes", do not take the question into account, so their answers are open to interpretation.

Strictly speaking, an oracular saying represents the will of a deity. Although oracles usually refer to the future, they are not simply forecasts of the future. The deity was often asked for advise on a concrete plan, so he would give his blessing or advise against it. The reasoning was that the gods, however not almighty or all-knowing, had more information at their disposal than ordinary mortals and were therefore the perfect advisors. As a result, in Antiquity the oracle was consulted prior to every important decision. With respect to content, the Sortes Astrampsychi are characteristic for Roman, and more in general, Western culture. In comparison with the complex and typically Eastern, open to interpretation profundities of the Yi Jing, the Oracles of Astrampsychus provide simple and clear answers to specific practical questions about familial, financial, legal, medical and other every day personal affairs. As a matter of fact, numerous ancient sources proof the Greek and Egyptian temple oracles were asked exactly the same questions. It is therefore no coincidence the oracle book appeared in a period the traditional oracles were in decay and closing down one by one. Yet the success of the Sortes Astrampsychi, even among Christians, clearly shows there was still a need for oracles.