Concept in Definition ABC

A vate is a person who engages in some form of divination. This noun is also used as a synonym for poet. This double equivalence is not strange, since in the past it was believed that poets wrote under the influence of some divinity.

Etymologically this word comes from Latin, specifically from vates and literally means "fortune teller". The word prediction has the same etymological root.

Fortune tellers of the ancient world

In ancient civilizations certain people were attributed special gifts. The vates were considered a mixture of magicians, theologians and sorcerers who had the power of divination.

In Celtic peoples the Vates were the Druids, an order of priests. The Druids practiced astrology and predicted the future through observation of the stars. In their rituals they recited poems, but their verses were transmitted within the context of the tradition oral. The bards were the assistants of the Druids and were dedicated to transmitting the popular poems of Celtic mythology to the people. When the Romans dominated the Celtic peoples, the Druids gradually lost their power.

In the civilization Roman the augur was the vate in charge of interpreting the future and for this he could use some kind of technique (signs of the sky, the flight or the sound of birds and the blood of some animals).

Etruscan soothsayers were called haruspices and were highly regarded by the Roman authorities

His techniques for foreshadowing the future were based on the interpretation from the entrails of slaughtered animals.

In ancient Greece there were also soothsayers or vates. Those who were dedicated to predicting the future were integrated into the priestly class. To answer the questions that the fortune tellers raised, they could use various techniques, but normally the viscera of some animal or directly the interpretation of Dreams.

People with the gift of poetry have something of magicians

From time immemorial poets have been admired for their singularsensitivity creative. The vate or poet is someone with a special gift, because with words he manages to elevate the human spirit.

The poet does not count something as a simple storyteller, since his verses are impregnated with sensitivity, magic and wisdom. With his imagination the vate describes intuitions that go beyond the observable and, in some way, he is a fortune teller.

His divination technique is based on the use of the language and in a strict sense his verses and rhymes do not have any magical and spiritual component. However, some verses convey a suggestive and inexplicable magic with which it is possible to awaken ideas and feelings deep.

Photos: Fotolia - David / Matiasdelcarmine