Augur, Auguries, and Augurium
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" William
Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.
August 9, 2016 Kevin Dayhoff
I recently misspelled the name of the Delaware-Maryland
Synod vice president, John Auger, in the July 18, 2016 proposed church council minutes
for Grace Lutheran Church.
I misspelled Synod Vice President “Auger” as “Augur,” and
after the mistake was called to my attention, I immediately knew why.
Not to auger myself into the ground over this, but if you
will recall your Old Testament or ancient civilizations classes in college;
during the days of the Roman Empire, an “augur” was a high priest who practiced
the augury or the taking of the augury. According to numerous sources, an augur
“observed natural signs, especially the behavior of birds, interpreting these
as an indication of divine approval or disapproval of a proposed action.”
Another cite notes, “His main role was the practice of
augury, interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds:
whether they are flying in groups or alone, what noises they make as they fly,
direction of flight and what kind of birds they are. This was known as
"taking the auspices." The ceremony and function of the augur was
central to any major undertaking in Roman society—public or private—including
matters of war, commerce, and religion.” For more information, read: “Augur,
Augurium,” by William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray,
London, 1875.
Of course today, the term “augur” is also used in
decentralized economic game theory. The etiology of the concept of mathematical
modeling in conflict analysis between rational political actors dates back to Friedrich
Hayek's “The Use of Knowledge in Society,” first published in September 1945
and later included in the compilation, “Individualism and Economic Order.”
Although Hayek’s concepts are now well-accepted in the analytical world, they
were highly controversial in the early 1970s when the acting church secretary
was in the business of trying college professors who found it highly annoying
to be challenged. I had always argued that tulipmania, which peaked in March
1637, was a great example of a randomized commodity economic bubble which resulted
from government interference in economic markets. Read the 1641 book by British
journalist Charles Mackay, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of
Crowds.”
When in a hole, stop digging. Stick a fork in me, I’m done.
** As for the image of The
Augury between Romulus and Remus, according to Zach Jay on Pinterest, “This
image is a cartoon that is depicting the Augury between Romulus and Remus,
which would decide who is the rightful ruler of Rome. In the image, the
Cartoonist is depicting Romulus spotting 12 birds and Remus spotting 6 birds,
thus making Romulus the winner. This image is representing the story of Romulus
winning the Augury, and thus believing that the Gods chose him as the rightful
ruler of Rome.” Saved from art.famsf.org https://www.pinterest.com/zacharyjay5/romes-foundations/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/538813542902190148/
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