Divine Knowledge: Buddhist Mathematics According to The Anonymous Manual of Mongolian Astrology and Divination– By Brian G. Baumann

Abstract

Manual of Mongolian Astrology and Divination.The text deals with divination of various kinds, such as auspicious times for different undertakings. Ancient cultures used a common name for a certain collection of sciences (some now considered pseudoscience), including not only astrology and divination, but also calendrics, astronomy, and mathematics. Baumann uses mathematics for this conglomerate, a usage that is somewhat confusing to the modern reader; the Mongolian text does not contain any computational material (nor does Baumann's study). This aside, the book is a valuable contribution to the study of divination. Baumann's comprehensive study discusses time, metaphysics, divination, and other subjects, contextualizing the Mongolian text and explaining its dependence on other traditions. Especially valuable for a comparative study of omen material are some of Baumann's appendices, such as a list of omen protases from the Mongolian text. Overall, the book is a good starting point for a study of Mongolian divination and also a useful resource for those studying omens in the ancient world.

Mongolian map-making as practice

“…When embedded in a complex matrix with zodiac-signs, celestial movements and constellations, spirits, elements, etc. this was specialist knowledge encoded in divination manuals (Bauman 2008). But these relational patterns applied to everyone, to groups, great rulers, animals, and omens, and also to non-human occurrences, such as floods or epidemics.…”