Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Poe divination
Summary
Poe divination (from the 'poe' (桮) in the Hokkien , Min Dong BUC: buăk-bŭi, "cast moon blocks", also called as "bwa bwei", Mandarin ) is a traditional Chinese divination method in which the diviner throws or drops two little wooden pieces on the floor and interprets the divine answer using the positions of the pieces. This method can be used to tell whether the future course of action the diviner is considering is recommended or not. The pieces, called "Poe" (Bwei) in Taiwanese or Jiaobei in Mandarin, look somewhat like two shells of a clam or bivalve mollusk.
Upon throwing the wooden pieces, poe divination often results in three answering positions.
The first is , when one the of blocks has its flat side facing up and the other has its flat side facing down; this shows the Deity's agreement with the devotee's question or plea.
The second is , is when both blocks have their curved sides facing up; this shows the Deity's disagreement with the devotee's question or plea. This position may also indicate anger in some cases.
The last would be , when both blocks have their flat sides facing up; this shows the Deity's amusement at the devotee's question or plea.
A unique, rare result would be the , which occurs when one of the blocks stands with both its flat and curved sides facing in a horizontal position.
This uncommon position often means the deity is sending a strong message; in this case, devotees sometimes invite temple staff or mediums to determine the meaning of the message.
Poe divination can be observed at Taoist and Chinese temples, such as Guangdi temples and Mazu temples, and is common in China and Taiwan, but is also practiced in the rest of the world.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.