Riven by Lust: Incest and Schism in Indian Buddhist Legend and Historiography – By Jonathan A. Silk (original) (raw)

2009, Religious Studies Review

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.

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