thread on ornithomancy (bird divination) in medieval kabbalah /0

while divination is forbidden in lev. 19:26, ornithomancy is understood to have been popular with jews beginning at the latest in late antiquity -- chrysostom among other church fathers was known to warn against the "jewish" custom of listening too intently to bird cries /1

in terms of rabbinic background there are several aggadic references to ornithomancy throughout the talmud bavli. one early rabbi notes that a colleague who "understood the language of birds" was able to escape captivity by listening to the advice of a dove (TB gittin 45a) /2

the rabbis also explain that king solomon was himself a skilled diviner, and that his wisdom of ornithomancy surpassed even that of the "children of the east" -- a reference to pre-islamic arabs, who were thought to be masters of the practice /3

indeed it was probably under arab influence that medieval jewish mystics living in spain refamiliarized themselves with ornithomancy -- the 12th c kabbalist jacob sheshet relates ornithomantic techniques that are found in earlier arabic sources /4

nachmanides, a contemporary of sheshet, thought that birds were able to listen to angelic utterances and heavenly secrets which they would then repeat to humanity in their calls. birds thus functioned for the kabbalists as an intermediary between sefirotic and earthly realms /5

terrestrial events were thought by N to be known to heaven some time (usually 30 days) before their occurrence. dragons and birds, by virtue of their gift of flight, were understood to be proximate to the moon (shekhinah)--"from here the raven receives its knowledge" /6

this sentiment is repeated in the zohar (13th c.), which in its conservatism generally condemns the practice: "why is someone who watches birds called "nahash" [serpent]? ... because it [the birds' knowlege] comes from the sitra ahra, the realm of evil and impurity" (1:126b) /7

a famous zoharic discourse on ornithomancy appears in its discussion of bala'am, the gentile sorcerer from parshat balak, who is said to have received his (forbidden) wisdom from the mouth of a magical metal bird called Yadua who in turn drew its power from the sun and moon /8

by the time of the tsfat kabbalists (16th c) the zoharic condemnation of ornithomancy had been reinterpreted to refer exclusively to impure birds (ravens) whereas divination with pure birds (doves--a symbol of the people israel) was thought to be permitted /9

this works out well for r. luria, who was acclaimed by his students for his comprehension of the speech of birds (along with the speech of trees and angels). he even understood birds that are mute, particularly vultures. /10

while certainly being vehicles of divination (luria is said to have had knowledge of his own death three days in advance through listening to bird calls) birds also serve as conduits for secrets of torah in lurianic cosmology /11

according to luria's student, hayyim vital, birds clear a path through which heavenly decrees are able to penetrate the air of the physical world -- birds are also said to communicate secrets of heaven through both their calls and wing movements /12

this dramatic reversal of the zohar's position (which as aforementioned stated that birds received their knowledge from the demonic side) is revitalized in the hasidic tradition through the teaching of the baal shem tov /13

to end with the words of the besht: "the language of each animal of the upper chariot [heaven] descends to the lower animals, beasts, and birds. the wise man who can understand everything in heaven will be able to understand the origin and details of the speech of the birds" /14

caveat: i've glossed over most of the halachic history concerning the legality of ornithomancy & divination generally. the takeaway from this thread should be that jewish mysticism has had a complex and tumultuous relationship with divination, not that it's a widespread practice

for more on this please read gerrit bos' "jewish traditions on divination with birds" where i drew most of the info for this thread