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- For other uses of the term, see prophecy (disambiguation).
Prophecy in its most general sense is the communication of some revelation of divine will. However, the term is most commonly used to refer to the prediction of future events by supernatural means. (The word is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to any prediction, such as an astrologer's prediction, or even, as drollery, a meteorologist's forecast.) Throughout history, people all around the world have sought advice from individuals and groups (such as the Oracles at Delphi) who were reputed to have the gift of prophecy. Cultures which have contributed to prophecy include the American Indians, Mayans, Celts, Druids, ChineseWhen used as an adjective, Chinese refers to anything that originates from China, e. Chinese cuisine. When the word is used as a noun, it means one of the following: the Chinese language, either in general or specifically Chinese written language, Chinese, ChaldeansChaldeans are a Semitic people from Northern Iraq and Southern Turkey. Historically they centered around the village of Tel Keppe (or Tal Kayf), located near Mosul, Iraq. They predate the Islamic opening, being descended from the original inhabitants of M, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indian Hindus , HebrewsThis article is about the Hebrew people. For the book of the Bible, see Epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews (syns. Heberites Eberites Hebreians descendants of biblical Patriarch Eber; Standard Hebrew Ivrim Tiberian Hebrew Irim also Standard Hebrew Ivriyyim Ti, Christians, Tibetans, GreeksSee The Greeks for the financial term for the set of measures derived from the Black-Scholes option pricing formula, named for the use of the Greek alphabet to denote parameters. Greeks in Ancient History In Latin literature, Graeci (or Greeks in English) and more. Not all these sources of divine information are " prophets" in any usual sense.
1 Nature of reality in prophecy
To understand prophecy and the nature of reality from the mystic's point of view, let's use the analogy of viewing life in the future (or past), to watching a 21st century film. When you create a movie, you capture moments of time through a camera. When you watch a film, you see the film frame by frame, from the perspective of what you think is the beginning to the end. (In reality, film scenes are normally shot "out of sequence" and edited together to present the illusion of a linear sequence) From the everyday human perspective, life appears to occur in a linear sequence of events and responses, just like watching a film. From the mystic's viewpoint, the whole "film of life" is complete (like a DVD or video), and can be experienced in a nonlinear order. What does that mean? Consider viewing life like a DVD or video where you can witness any sequence of events, forwards or backwards in time, and at any point of the "life movie" that you like.
In viewing the past, the seer can witness both the events and the responses, much like watching a full color movie. In viewing the future, the seer may witness events and possible future responses. Based on an individual's past responses, the seer can then determine the individual's possible future responses, and hopefully narrow down the most probable future response. This would be analogous to seeing numerous possible endings to a movie and then picking the most probable. There are a few seers/prophets who have attained a more advanced understanding of reality and themselves, and so can view the probable future responses and know the one definite response that will be chosen. The majority of these people would be considered enlightened mystics.
