Why would oracles who can see the future not lead society and governments?

[Erebus]

Oracles are immortal women who can look into the timeline of humanity and see multiple potential futures. They are regarded as wise and are sought out for advice and guidance. They are also unique in that they have given birth to demigods.

A fetus is created in a divine conception, which grows and supplies the mother with divine essence over the course of 9 months. As the mother absorbs more essence, the nutrients she supplies the child become more divine and potent. Eventually she absorbs enough essence that she took becomes a demigod. However, this is rare as most die in the process.

These women are considered wives of the one true god due to their connection with him, and are held in the same regard as a virgin Mary in christianity. As demigods and mothers of demigods of myth, they are a direct manifestation of his power and existence. As such, they are widely revered by society, considering them saints. Their sight which allows them to see the future also allows them to direct society, governments, and religious dogma. Given the facts, it would be strange for this group to not seek power for themselves in these fields, and establishing themselves as leaders.

In ancient myths, oracles are often consulted for advice on the future, but they never use their power to their full potential. How can oracles be the case that they are revered and respected but kept separate from human society and affairs?

 

[Queshire]

Because they can see the future they know just how much of a pain trying to run a country is.

 

[pmmg]

Oracles are notorious for saying things will happen but being fuzzy as to what it really means. Nothing they say can really be trusted.

 

[Queshire]

If you see the future you become bound to it. Mortals create possibilities outside the control of the gods.

 

[Finchbearer]

It has sister wife vibes…but aside from that the concept of divine conception is nothing new and goes way back even to pre-Christian belief, so there must be something in that that humans gravitate towards.

Seers and oracles are also something that humankind gravitate towards because wouldn’t it be so much easier to know what the future holds? Or is it really as easy as it seems? I think there needs to be ambiguity with this one as a seer generally gives just enough information to tantalise and open up possibilities, but not so much that it takes all the fun away from the unknown.

In a group of divine female oracles, you could have one defector - also a common concept in belief systems - where one of them dissents and chooses their own more destructive path?

Running a country takes political prowess and it’s never as simple as ‘let’s do it this way’ and human history proves this. You could have one that wants power for an evil reason and one that wants power for good, and a conflict ensues. I think there’s really endless possibilities with your creation story here.

 

[pmmg]

Maybe when they see the future and take the path where they run things, it always ends in disaster.

 

[skip.knox]

Well, you've defined "oracle" in a particular way for your particular world, so you know the parameters and conditions better. How would you answer your own question?

As for my own take, immortals would be profoundly disinterested in the affairs of mortals. They would make lousy leaders because their decisions would be considered good and wise by mortal standards only coincidentally. By analogy, humans would make poor rulers in the affairs of mayflies.

 

[pmmg]

Suppose you were the ruler and had ambitions, and the oracles started to say someone else should be ruler instead... Might you start wanting to control the messages of the oracles, deny them or call them false? I could see a ruler wanting a type of filter between them and the public at large so as to contain and control their messages. Might a ruler possibly get rid of them, and let people just believe they are still around giving advice?

Might not just the ambitions and pride of men keep them from ever being rulers themselves? Would humanity really want to have all the answers or is there just more value in controlling our own destiny?

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Someone should do an oracle that can see the future and is incredibly accurate...about entirely pointless things.
"You remember when you had oatmeal for breakfast yesterday and decided to add raisins to it?"
"Yes?"
"I predicted that three weeks ago!"
"..."

 

[pmmg]

I mean...I've been sitting right over here, says the magic 8 ball.

 

[skip.knox]

Someone should do an oracle that can see the future and is incredibly accurate...about entirely pointless things.
"You remember when you had oatmeal for breakfast yesterday and decided to add raisins to it?"
"Yes?"
"I predicted that three weeks ago!"
"..."

Monty Python's Life of Brian scene comes instantly to mind. To wit:

There shall, in that time, be rumors of things going astray, erm, and there shall be a great confusion as to where things really are, and nobody will really know where lieth those little things wi-- with the sort of raffia work base that has an attachment. At this time, a friend shall lose his friend's hammer and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers that their fathers put there only just the night before, about eight o'clock.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I mean...I've been sitting right over here, says the magic 8 ball.

I mean kinda yeah lol then some of the nonsensical things they predict, actually wind up helping the protagonist down the line.
And the Oracle is infuriated because he/she had set out to have entirely meaningless predictions that wouldn't help the protagonists.

Monty Python's Life of Brian scene comes instantly to mind. To wit:

There shall, in that time, be rumors of things going astray, erm, and there shall be a great confusion as to where things really are, and nobody will really know where lieth those little things wi-- with the sort of raffia work base that has an attachment. At this time, a friend shall lose his friend's hammer and the young shall not know where lieth the things possessed by their fathers that their fathers put there only just the night before, about eight o'clock.

Hmm, the only monty python I have seen is the holy grail, I assume the characters in the others are just as goofy.

 

[ThinkerX]

In my WIP, there is a group of sorcerers who are technically in charge of a large city and surrounding area that do issue proclamations from time to time based on prophecy. However, these decrees are few and far between (usually years apart) and they are not directly involved in the day to day running of this city. Worth noting - they don't usually give the details of whatever future vision they have glimpsed, just issue decrees based on them.

These decrees are accepted because the sorcerers have reputations as being extremely powerful - which they demonstrate in other ways from time to time.

 

[Genly]

I guess one reason that oracles might remain separate from society and don't seek political power themselves is that while they may be able to predict future events, they may not know how to get there politically. For example, let's say an oracle in 1938 predicted (correctly) that Britain would not be invaded by the Nazis, and that this prophecy was believed by most people. OK, what then? Would British politicians then have sat back, done nothing and waited for the inevitable defeat of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain in 1940? Of course not. They would have set about hastening the refinement of their radar network, beefing up their existing air defenses, and so on. Would the oracle have played a leading role in this process? Very unlikely, because they might very well lack the required political or technical skills. And even if the prophecy of the oracle were believed, that might not help those individuals who ended up dying in the battle -- except to raise their morale while they were still alive. I guess my point is that there is plenty of room for storytelling even when the main outcome is known in advance -- historical novels being an example. In the context of fantasy novels, I suppose the equivalent is a prophecy that frames the main events of the novel, but doesn't say anything about the fate of the main characters. I guess this framing might even add an element of tragic inevitability of the kind that is sometimes found in novels or other media based on historical events.

 

[skip.knox]

There's so much play in our vocabulary. An oracle is not exactly the same as a seer, who is not quite a prophet and not exactly a clairvoyant. And none of them have precise definitions.

In other words, as author I can have them see or not see as serves the plot, and I can have them interpret their visions correctly or incorrectly, and I can have their audience understand or misunderstand. IOW, the only problem I see here is a surfeit of solutions. Which is better than a surfeit of eels.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Also another option that hasn't been brought up yet, is that an Oracle might not even be a 'seer/fortune teller/prophesy deliverer' at all.
Some stories they are the embodiment of something. Like the Oracle of the sun etc
There's a couple of Zelda games that do this (the oracles themselves don't have too much presence story wise, even for game boy games)
They can be a wise/knowing person but in reality they're just slightly smarter than the people that warship them. They do tend to have magical prowess though, like in that Zelda game, there's an oracle of Seasons (who controls/oversees the changing of seasons, shocking I know) and the Oracle of Ages (gee I wonder what she controls)

 

[Queshire]

I like the idea of some sort of governmental agency that deals with divination and prophecy, but I'm still considering what form it would take. I'm currently leaning towards the idea of having it employ investigators that track down stuff like merchants using luck magic to manipulate the markets or tracking down the cause of ripples in fate like demon summoning. I don't know if I want that to be all they do though. Part of me likes the idea of some junior agent normally tasked with predicting the weather suddenly finding herself faced with dealing with a sudden demon outbreak.

 

[Genly]

If you need any technical advice on the weather, I am a meteorologist...

 

[Queshire]

Well, part of being a weather person there involves convincing some very rich and powerful mages that they can't simply shove an inconvenient storm off their land so that they can have their perfect spring day.

 

[pmmg]

I fear to see the accuracy rate of weathermen when wizards can push storms away.