It may seem that the document edited by the leader of the Australian Federal Opposition, entitled: 'Using a different approach to questions of discourse and the State: a policy statement', and the predictions of a magazine astrologist have little in common. But the author demonstrates that both texts rely upon an oracular and divinatory discourse, with some relatively stable characteristics across a surprising historical span. Drawing upon linguistic, semiological and anthropological traditions, this article describes some of the generic ways of speaking about the future, apparently recognisable to many.