Time.

It isn't what we think it is.

Well, actually, it is, and that's part of the problem. There's no consensus on what time is, how it works. Science and the lay person are far apart, and non-scientific cultures are even further different.

“Time is a river.”

“Time is a line on which one can only move forward, not back.”

“Time is the fourth dimension, with length, width and depth as the other three.”

“Time is an illusion.”

“Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.”

Time, basically, keeps shifting according to the strongest current wind blowing toward a specific interpretation.

Enough of the preamble. We're not actually here to talk about time. Well, sort of. We’re here to talk about divination, seeing the future, and prophecy. These are all related but not identical fields.

First, divination. Literally, it means to determine the will of the gods. Many methods are used, from tarot to throwing the bones. They can give guidance as to likely future trends and the will of great and powerful spirits and 'gods'...but this should not be confused with seeing the future. Of note here, is necromancy, in which one speak to the spirits of the dead for knowledge. Sometimes this does verge on seeing the future as described below, because often the dead are seen as being outside time as we understand it.

Seeing the future is a misunderstood idea. Dreams and visions are granted or gotten, that show how the future will play out. But they are all just possible futures. Nothing is set in stone. You can't see the future, because there isn't one. Only the outcome of millions and millions of choices. You might see the most likely one as measured from that moment.

And here's where people get really confused. “If you can't see the future, how can you make an accurate prophecy?” And that's the thing. You can't. Prophecies aren't accurate...they are potent.

Let me explain.

The misconception is basic. People think that prophecy is the art of piercing the veils of time, and seeing what is to come, setting that down in rhyme or print for future generations to remember and be ready for.

That's not it at all. It does usually involve looking forward to a possible future. That might involve time.

But once that future is found, a prophecy is actually a way of recording it, and way of encoding it, in words and rhymes and cadences and syllables of power. A prophecy is a recorded spell, of a very specific kind. It is a spell that involves Fate, and Mind, and Time, and sometimes other arcana or spheres. A possible future is seen. That future is chosen. It is then encoded in the prophecy, and the prophecy then manipulates Fate and the minds of those sapient beings forming the consensus, subconsciously, of course, with the aim of making that prophecy come true. Truly potent prophecies might weave in almost any other Sphere or Arcana, as they are often geasa or curses that affect everyone, or at least all subjects of the prophecy. And often, they are made more potent by convincing the consensus of their validity with propaganda, religion, social engineering and other technically non-magical methods. Their power is cemented after the death of the creator by binding the Fate of the prophecy itself to the Fates of those described, and by making the texts and tablets that bear it into enchanted anchors for the words they bear.

As the great mage Neil Gaiman once said, “Magic is a way of speaking to the universe in words in cannot ignore.” Prophecy is perhaps the most sterling example of this principle.