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"Oracle" is the old name for the much more common "prophecy" -- a rare and random phenomenon that occurs in witches, gifting (and cursing) them with a painful, highly volatile vision of something -- not necessarily the future, or even the truth.[break][break]

While divination has long since died out as a practiced art, "prophecies" seem to be the remnants of a stubborn kind of mana anomaly, appearing and disappearing like waves of sickness that threaten witch kind. Though rare at the onset, prophecies are known to "spread," typically beginning in one random occurrence and then being observed in two-three other witches before the "wave" totally dies out, only to happen again tens of years later. [break][break]

It was long since thought that such "Oracles" heralded the beginning of something cataclysmic, an awful omen from the Gods themselves to signify the beginnings of a dark period in witch history.
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Because the events are so rare and random, it's been very difficult to do any kind of in-depth scientific study on it. However, the general consensus among the scholarly community is that random waves of prophecies are just that: random.
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It is now seen as something likely to do with odd concentrations of mana in the inner strata bending time and space, whose anomalies are picked up by sentient, magical lifeforms (such as witches).

elementalists and scrying

Though the history is debated and unclear, it appears that "divination," if such a thing ever existed, has broken down into various traditions of scrying, or attempting to see the future through various elements. [break][break]

Scrying is a deeply emotional form of magic, typically only accessible to elementalists. It comes easier to natural-born elementalists, or those that take quickly to the emotions of their domains. Essentially, elementalists can look into their element in its most natural state (a non magical source of water, fire, darkness, air, or stone), and occasionally "see" a vision that is more guided (they can choose what to scry for) and far less potent than a prophecy. [break][break]

Scrying spells are currently unavailable but may be unlocked depending on the progression of the site plot...

modern "divination"

It must be at least somewhat ironic for witches to dismiss magic as unrealistic, but it happens anyway.[break][break]

In the modern era, Divination is thought of largely as a scam-- a true "seer" has not existed since ancient legend, and the wildly inaccurate spells for scrying that do exist don't exactly help this reputation. Indeed, many historians now look back at divination and legends of seers as simply false. It was simply a title awarded to great visionaries and the occasional rare correct prediction of events, they say.
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However, many witches, irrespective of their domains and magical inclinations, will often go to seers as a social or even ritual act. It's not uncommon for seers to just be very shrewd witches (sometimes, even clever humans posing as witches) that use their psychological, economic, or political knowledge to give counsel to anyone: from lovesick teenagers to powerful noble families. [break][break]

The title of "seer" was last awarded to an unnamed aide of Minerva Crestwalker, the wartime leader of Cerberus. It was rumored that Minerva's ruthless rule over the Wolves was aided by an unknown but incredible strategist whose political and military forethought seemed to border on prophecy...These kinds of counselors are also called "Oracles," though this terminology is out of date.[break][break]

In addition to being a common practice for nobles to keep their own "seers," going to a "seer" (however fake) is sometimes a fun group activity for young witches who want to be told their futures -- it isn't uncommon, for example, for a group of young friends to ask a seer about their futures just before pledging to their covens.
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