Sortes Virgilianae

This site provides an online experience for those looking to try out the ancient divination practice of the Sortes Virgilianae.

Hold a question in your mind. A decision you face, a situation unresolved, something you seek guidance on. When the question is clear, press Cast Your Lot. The oracle will return a passage from Virgil's Aeneid: a few lines in Latin with an English translation beneath.

Read the passage slowly. The oracle does not answer directly... it offers an image, a scene, a voice from the epic. The meaning is yours to draw out. Cast again as often as you like; each lot is drawn at random from the full twelve books of the Aeneid, roughly 9,900 lines in all.

Any passage can be shared: after casting, the page URL updates to preserve your exact lot. Copy the link or use the Share button to send it to someone else.