An omen is a phenomenon, believed to foretell the future signifying the advent of change. People in ancient times believed; these omens include natural phenomena, for example an eclipse, abnormal births of animals and behaviour of the sacrificial lamb on its way to the slaughter. They had the diviners, to interpret these omens, they would use an artificial method, for example, a clay model of a sheep liver, to communicate with their gods in times of crisis. They would expect either yes or no answer, favourable or unfavourable, they did these to take action to avoid disaster. Though the word "omen" is devoid of reference to the change's nature, hence being either "good" or "bad," the term is more used in a foreboding sense, as with the word "ominous"; the origin of the word is unknown, although it may be connected with the Latin word audire, meaning "to hear." The oldest source for this practice in the Ancient Near East came from Mesopos practice attested at the first half of the 2nd millennium BC and it was vigorously pursued by the Asian kings and his son, Ashurbanipal in the 20th century BC.

Omens were interpreted by several methods—e.g. Liver divination and libanomancy. Hepatoscopy—observing irregularities and abnormalities of the entrails of a sacrificial sheep—was used in many royal services. Astrological omens were popular in Assyria in the 7th century BC. Diviners gained influence by interpreting omens and advising the king, how to avoid some terrible fate. Sometimes the Assyrian king hid for a while after he put a substitute king on the throne; the court expected. When they believed the danger was over, they executed the substitute king and the true king resumed the throne; the observations of omens were recorded into series. Some of them dated back to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, these were arranged as conditional statement later; this belief of omens spread out around the Near East and beyond when clay models of sheep livers use for the diviners to learn the craft were found in Boghazkoi, Ugarit and Hazor. Such practice was found in Israel as well. Compared to Israel, they used.

According to the Bible, God did not answer King Saul through dreams, or Urim and Thummim, or prophets, before his final confrontation with the Philistines. Thus, showed that they have a similar belief and practice with their prophets, dreams, similar tool as Urim and Thummim. Letters from the city Mari dated at the latest from the 18th century showed that this divinatory practices were not limited to royal court, but played an important role in everyday life of the people. An oionos was defined in antiquity as the carnivorous vulture a prophetic bird. By careful observation of the bird's cries and the way or direction it flew, the augurs attempted to predict the future, they saw lightning or thunder as omens, sent from Zeus, observed the direction in which they saw or heard them. Omens represented the divine will and the decisions of the gods, their positioning opposite human endeavors, were aimed at being understood by sensitive receivers of the time, who brought the divine charisma to become intermediaries, channels between the world of gods and humans.

Since Homeric times, the Greeks paid special attention to these signs: when they saw vultures from the left, another symbol of Zeus, they considered it a bad omen. The cry of a heron or lightning to the right marked promising omen. In the Greek territory, seers judged good and bad omens from the unwillingness or willingness of a victim to approach the altar and by the state of its offal when slaughtered. In ancient Roman religion, augurs interpreted the flights of birds to ascertain the will of the gods, in response to specific questions, their system was complex. Augurs studied the behaviour of domesticated, sacred chickens before embarking on important enterprises, such as a senatorial meeting, the passage of a new law, or a battle; these formal "divine consultations" by augurs are known as "taking the auspices". Haruspices examined the liver and entrails of animals sacrifice to interpret the will of the gods, again in response to clear and specific proposals; some omens came in the form of prodigies - unnatural, aberrant or unusual phenomena such as meteor showers, hermaphrodite births, or "blood rain", any of which could signify that the gods had somehow been angered.

The meaning and import of reported prodigies were debated and decided by the Roman senate, with advice from religious experts. Threatening signs could be expiated and the gods placated with the appropriate sacrifice and rituals; the interpretation and expiation of omens that suggested a threat to the State was a serious business. In 217 BC the consul Gaius Flaminius "disregarded his horse's collapse, the chickens, yet other omens, before his disaster at Lake Trasimene". Certain natural events lightning strikes and thunder, could be ominous for the public or state, or only for the individual who saw or heard them; when a thunderclap interrupted his election as consul, Marcellus gave up his candidacy. Thereafter he travelled in an enclosed litter when on important business, to avoid sight of

Jean Hani was a French philosopher and Traditionalist author, a professor of Greek civilization and literature at the University of Amiens. Little is known about Jean Hani's personal life other than his year of birth. Jean Borella's mention of the author's modesty and his older age "studious retirement" seem to agree with this scarcity of information. Born in 1917, Hani proved a bright secondary student, pursuing his university studies in Classical Literature, obtaining a doctorate with a dissertation about the influence of Egyptian religion on the thought of Plutarch. Appointed a lecturer at the University of Amiens, he founded the Centre de Recherches sur l'Antiquité Classique, he led for many years a Séminar of History of Greek religion. After his retirement, in addition to his prolific activity as an author of Traditional works, he became a frequent collaborator of journals like Connaissance des Religions and Vers la tradition. Hani has been praised for his studies on Christian symbolism on the mass and the esoterism of Christian architecture.

Three kinds of works may be discerned within Hani's production: works of Classical philology, works dealing with history of religions and works dealing with traditional and sacred symbolism. The first group is represented by his annotated translations of Plutarch, published within the well-known Collection Budé; the second group is represented by his doctoral dissertation mentioned above. And the third group includes works like Le Symbolisme du temple chrétien, Les Métiers de Dieu, La Divine liturgie and La Royauté sacrée where his mastery of traditional hermeneutics and exegesis is established; these books have been translated into several other European languages. According to Jean Borella, the principles expounded in Le Symbolisme du temple chrétien have been put into practice in the establishment of some contemporary monastic foundations. Borella considers Hani to be the first author in academia to marry Guénon's insights to the contemporary study of Hellenistic religions and Christianity.

Le Symbolisme du temple chrétien, Paris, la Colombe: Éditions du Vieux Colombier, 1962. Consolation à Apollonios, texte et commentaire par Jean Hani. Paris: Klincksieck, 1972. La Religion égyptienne dans la pensée de Plutarque. Paris: les Belles lettres, 1976. Plutarque, Oeuvres morales Tome VIII: Traités 42-45. Paris: Editions "Les Belles Lettres", 1980. La Divine liturgie: aperçus sur la messe. Paris: Éditions de la Maisnie, 1981. La Royauté sacrée: du pharaon au roi très chrétien. Paris: Guy Trédaniel, 1984. Reprinted 2010: Paris, l'Harmattan, ISBN 978-2-296-11676-4. Mythes, rites et symboles. Les chemins de l'invisible. Paris, Guy Trédaniel Editeur, 1992. La Vierge noire et le mystère marial. Paris: Guy Trédaniel, 1995. Le monde à l'envers: essais critiques sur la civilisation moderne. Lausanne: l'Âge d'homme, 2001. Plutarque, Oeuvres morales Tome II: Traités 10-14. Paris: Editions "Les Belles Lettres", 2003. Les métiers de Dieu: préliminaires à une spiritualité du travail. Paris: J.-C. Godefroy, impr. 2010.

The Black Virgin: A Marian Mystery. San Rafael, CA: Sophia Perennis, 2007. Divine Craftsmanship: Preliminaries to a Spirituality of Work. New York: Sophia Perennis, 2007; the Divine Liturgy: Insights Into Its Mystery. San Rafael, CA: Sophia Perennis, 2008 The Symbolism of the Christian Temple. San Rafael, CA: Sophia Perennis, 2007 Sacred Royalty. London: The Matheson Trust, 2011. Book excerpt Perennial Philosophy Titus Burckhardt World Wisdom author bio

Itala Film was an Italian film production company. It was founded during the silent era. In 1905 industrialists Carlo Rossi and William Remmert established a company in Turin, recruiting filmmakers from Pathe. Two years they were joined by Giovanni Pastrone who reorganised the company as Itala. Over the next decade the company enjoyed enormous growth, aided by signing up Pathe's most popular comedian André Deed. Further development came with the company's production of historical epic films beginning with The Fall of Troy, allowing the company to open a New York office to sell the films in the American market; this policy was crowned with the success of Pastrone's 1914 epic Cabiria set in Ancient Rome. The company continued to make epics along with literary adaptations while Maciste, the most popular character in Cabiria, appeared in further films; however by 1918 Pastrone had lost control of Itala, the following year the company was absorbed into the conglomerate Unione Cinematografica Italiana which itself collapsed after only a few years.

In 1926 the former Turin studios of Itala, now derelict, were acquired as part of the growing film empire of Stefano Pittaluga who owned the Fert Studios in the city. In the early 1930s Itala Film was relaunched as a Berlin-based company by the producer Alberto Giacalone; the company specialised in Italian versions of German films. In 1937 Giacalone relocated to Rome, with the firm continuing to operate until 1955. Moliterno, Gino; the A to Z of Italian Cinema. Scarecrow Press, 2009