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prophecy

Good Omens...And Bad: Prophecy in Theory and Practice, Class Six

Monday, October 9, First Period

Since it would be the first sign of the apocalypse if there wasn't a table laden with breakfast pastries and tea...there is indeed a table laden with breakfast pastries and tea. There is also a pile of review handouts for the students to pick up on their way in.

"Good morning everyone. I hope you all had an enjoyable time at the Homecoming festivities. Before we begin, I'd like to remind Miss Halliwell to please turn in your take-home test from the Lab." He smiled at Phoebe.

"Today we're going to have a review of the material we've covered in the first five weeks of class, followed by a test on that material. Your handouts should help you in reviewing, and this is the time to ask any questions you might have."

REVIEW:
Review of Class One: Definitions, categories of divination, prophecy in daily life
Review of Class Two: major historical figures
Review of Class Three: prophecy in legend and folklore
Review of Class Four: interpreting prophecy
Review of Class Five: dream symbolism

TEST: ~~Test can be found in the OCD threads, handwavey or real answers as you like.~~

HOMEWORK:
"Your homework assignment is to consider how you would react to the following scenario: You have an acquaintance who is the subject of a personal prophecy. They are aware of this prophecy, and are unhappy with the predicted outcome. What sort of advice would you offer them, and how would you support them in their decision to either accept or reject their role in the prophecy? This assignment is only for personal contemplation, you are not required to submit any sort of written answers."

Syllabus
Class Roster
Classes Linkdrop

[ooc: ~~Please wait for~~ OCD threads are up and ready to be tagged!]

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In a manner like that which collapses.

Here's the place to ask any questions you might have during the test review.

SHORT ANSWER
1. Define prophecy.

2. What was the Delphic Sibyl?

3. Describe one work of written literature that contains prophetic work.

4. There are six dream types that nearly everyone experiences at some point. One of these is Flying. What are the other five?

SHORT ESSAY
5. Explain three of the eleven Principles of Interpreting Prophecy that were discussed in class.

6. Michel de Nostradamus never accepted the title of Prophet, and was considered by many of his peers to be incompetent in the field of astrology. His written prophecies are filled with references to earlier literary works. In fact, the work that he is most famous for is titled The Prophecies by M. Michel Nostradamus, not The Prophecies of M. Michel Nostradamus. Despite all of this, he continues to be revered as one of the foremost prophetic figures in Earth history. In your opinion, should Nostradamus be considered a seer, a charlatan, or something in between. Explain.

7. BONUS: Do you feel that the subject of a prophecy should be informed of what that prophecy says? Why or why not?

Not during the test!

He's on his way to office hours, but if you need him briefly you can catch him on the way out.

Because without it, all the other threads would slide off the bottom of the screen.

Belthazor

Nadia Santos

Joxer

1. Saying things that are going to happen which haven't actually happenend yet.

2. The Oracle at Delphi? She's a prophet from my time, actually. At Delphi.

3. Pat the Bunny

4. Falling, Eating, Dancing, Hunting, and Drowning.

5. I don't think I can.

6. He had to be pretty smart to write all those words. But the fact that I don't understand any of them, well, that'd probably makes him extra smart. So, he's probably a seer. I think.

7. Maybe? If you really like them?

Pippi Longstocking

1. A pronouncement of future events drawn from some divine or mystic source.

2. The priestess who would breathe in natural gasses that came up through a crack in the earth at Delphi and answer questions about the future.

3. Accurate Prophecies of the Nice Witch Agnes Nutter

4. Falling, Naked, Test, Chase, and Teeth.

5.
- 1. Understand the point of prophesy. ((Pippi wasn't sure what that meant actually but she knew it was the right answer.
- 2. Remember the prophesy doesn't negate free will. When giving the prophesy, try to make sure your audience understands that as well.
- 3. Give careful consideration to the meaning of the words. As words are tricky things even when not dealing with prophesy.
- 4. Understand what kind of prophesy you're dealing with.
- 5. Is the prophesy concerned with long term or short term?
- 6. Keep in mind the source of the prophesy, as cultural influences may come into play.
- 7. Understanding the "voice" of the prophesy. Is it poetic, musical, rambling? Punctuation can make the words mean different things, is the way the words are parsed a result of what the prophesy is trying to say? Or because it's being made to fit a certain cadence? This goes back to #3.
- 8. Is the prophesy conditional? Despite #2, the prophesy may be telling you that you have a better chance of avoiding or bringing about an event if certain other events happen or do not happen.
- 9. Has the prophesy already been fulfilled? Is the prophesy about a recurring event?
- 10. Just because something important has happened, doesn't mean there was a prophesy about it. Some prophesies could be about events that would be insignificant to all but one or a few people.
- 11. Interpreting a prophesy is tricky, watch yourself.

6. I could not say that Nostradamus was a charlatan. Going by information we have about his work in other areas, such as medicine, and things written about him by his family and associates, he seems to have been an earnest fellow. The humility shown in the use of the word "by" rather then "of", while I suppose it could be false, is refreshing. I would call him a seer. Though I would not venture a guess as to if everything he saw was genuine.

7. In many ways, this is the question that prompted me to join this class. There is not room nor time for me to express my feelings, though they are somewhat clearer then they had been.

Bridge Carson

John Connor

SHORT ANSWER
1. Prophecy is the prediction of future events as if by divine inspiration..

2. The Delphic Sibyl was a legendary figure who gave prophecies in the sacred precinct of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.

3. J. R. R. Tolkein's The King of the Bracelets

4. Naked, Chase, Teeth, Falling, and Exam.

SHORT ESSAY
5. *handwavey*

6. *handwavey*

7. Maybe they should know, but maybe they'll just waste their time and energy trying to change what they can't change.

Marty Blank

Eric Weiss.

Phoebe Halliwell

1. Knowledge of the future usually obtained from a divine or mystical source

2. A legendary figure who gave prophecies in the sacred precinct of Apollo at Delphi.

3. The Bible.

4. Being chased, Sex, Naked in front of the entire school, Sex and Sex in front of the entire school naked.

SHORT ESSAY
5. Start with an understanding of the primary purposes of prophecy: A method of sharing information. that serves to inform, convince and motivate the recipients.

Emphasis on prophecy must be properly directed: Misinterpreted and misused prophecies can cause more harm than never having had the information at all.

Understand what the words mean: Interpretation is a bitch.

6. Whack Job. Sure he got some things right but really isn't he a figure that's just been popularized by the media? Honestly I'm thinking he's just a hoax.

7. Sure. Nothing like knowing you're going to either save or doom a bunch of people. Otherwise what's the point of a prophecy.

Blair Sandburg

Dawn Summers

1. Prophecy can be defined as using mystical means to gather information about the future.

2. The Delphic Sibyl was a prophtess. Legend says that she was the daughter of sea monsters and an immortal nymph. She apparently lived for a long time and might have propheised the birth of Christ.

3. The Bhavishya Purana is an ancient Sanskrit text authored by Rishi Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedic texts. It is one of the 18 major Puranas and it contains the prophecies of important events of the world.

4. Naked, chase, teeth, falling and exam.

SHORT ESSAY
5. ~~Handwaved answer that explains everything.~~

6. ~~Look, here's another handwavy answer that talks about how Nostradamus is a hack~~

7. BONUS: Do you feel that the subject of a prophecy should be informed of what that prophecy says? Why or why not?

7. Yes. I think that if the subject wasn't supposed to know what the prophecy said then the universe wouldn't have allowed it to be heard. It's kismet.

S.T. Anders

Anders turned in a ~~totally handwaved because his player's brain is just not at all in it~~ test with answers that were vague and a bit too general, but in the general vicinity of correct. Right about where the radio signals from the metropolitan center of Correctness start to go a wee bit fuzzy. His short essays? About three sentences long, but at least they were compound sentences.

He did, however, note that he had once known a girl named Sibyl back home in Delphi, who pushed his face into a mud pie when he was five and she was seven.

But what about comments underneath the OOC thread? Aren't we in danger of..

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*PLOP*

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