the.com/augury
reading tomorrow in the gut of a bird, with a straight face and a state salary.
means The practice of foretelling the future by interpreting omens or signs, especially the behavior of birds; by extension, any sign or hint of what's to come.
from From Latin augurium, the business of the augur — a Roman official who read the will of the gods in the flight, feeding, and cries of birds before any major public act. The root may tie to avis, 'bird,' or possibly to a sense of 'increase' and divine sanction (related to augere, 'to increase,' source of 'augment' and 'august'). The Romans took it seriously enough that an unfavorable augury could halt an army or an election — the sky was a memo, and the augur read it aloud.
- job title
- Roman augurs were official priests of state divination
- the sky
- They divided the heavens into ritual viewing quadrants
- bird brains
- Eagles, ravens, owls each meant different omens
- word fossil
- Inaugurate literally means consulting the birds first
- chicken oracle
- Sacred fowl refusing to eat foretold doom
the oracle at delphi — greek priestess pythia gave prophecies that influenced military campaigns and politics from 8th century bc to 4th century ad