I PREDICTS!
by Ric Carter
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Divination Methods - specific (original layout)While developing these pages on divination, I found several sources of names of divination techniques, and presented their data in separate groups, as below. But as I gathered yet more info from yet more sources, it became obvious that a master compilation was needed. This is now on the current Divination Methods page. I intend to further expand that page, so what you're looking at here is a historical artifact. When you're done here, head on back to GO! or I PREDICTS! or whatever. |
- From Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology, Robbins, 1959 via Divination:
The Kinds Of Divination | ||
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Aeromancy, or divining by the air Alectryomancy, by cocks or poultry Alphitomancy, by meal, flour or bran Antinopomancy, by the entrails of women & children Arithmancy, by numbers Astragalomancy, by dice Axinomancy, by saws Botanomancy, by herbs Capnomancy, by smoke Carromancy, by the melting of wax Catoxtromancy, by looking glasses Cattabomancy, by vessels of brass or other metal Cephalonomancy, by broiling of an ass`s head Chartomancy, by writing in papers Chiromancy, by the hands Chrystallomancy, by glasses Cleromancy, by drawing lots Coscinomancy, by sieves Crithomancy, by grain or corn Dactylomancy, by rings |
Demonomancy, by the suggestion of evil demons or devils Gastromancy, by the sound of or signs upon the belly Geomancy, by earth Gyromancy, by rounds or circles Hydromancy, by water Icthyomancy, by fishes Idolomancy, by idols, images, figures Lampadomancy, by candles & lamps Lecanomancy, by a basin of water Lithomancy, by stones Livanomancy, by burning of frankincense Logarithmancy, by logarithms Macharomancy, by knives or swords Oinomancy, by wine Omphilomancy, by the navel Oniromancy, by dreams Onomatomancy, by names Onychomancy, by the nails Ornithomancy, by birds Podomancy, by the feet |
Psychomancy, by souls, affections, wills, dispositions Pyromancy, by fire Roadomancy, by stars Sciomancy, by shadows Spatalamancy, by skins, bones, excrements Stareomancy, divining by the elements, weathers Sternomancy, by the area from the breast to the belly Sycomancy, by figs Theomancy, pretending to divine by the revelation of the Spirit & by the Scriptures or Word of God Theriomancy, by beasts Tuphramancy, by ashes Tyromancy, by the coagulation of cheese And in one word for all nagomancy or necromancy, by inspecting, consulting & divining by, with, or from the dead. — John Gaule, Mysmantia (1652) |
- See also Roget's Thesaurus, which lists these methods (and more):
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Aeromancy, Chaomancy- by appearances in the air Alectryomancy (or Alectoromancy)- by a cock picking up grains Aleuromancy, Alphitomancy- by meal Anthroposcopy, Physiognomy- by the features Austromancy- by winds Belomancy, Bolomancy- by arrows Biliomancy- by the Bible Bletonism- by currents Capnomancy- by smoke from the altar Ceromancy, Ceroscopy- by dropping melted wax into water Cleromancy- by dice Coscinomancy, Coskiomancy- by a balanced sieve Crithomancy- by dough of cakes Crystallomancy- by crystal gazing Dactyliomancy- by a suspended ring Dactylomancy- by finger rings |
Extispicy, Hieromancy- by the entrails of animals sacrificed Gastromancy- by ventriloquism Geloscopy- by the mode of laughing Genethliacs- by the stars at birth Geomancy- by dots made at random on paper Ichthyomancy- by the entrails of fishes sacrificed Lithomancy- by precious stones Meteoromancy- by meteors Myomancy- by mice Orniscopy, Ornithomancy- by birds Ophiomancy- by fishes Oneiromancy- by dreams Onychomancy- by nails reflecting the sun's rays Onomancy, Nomancy- by the letters forming the name of the person Oenomancy- by the color and peculiarities of wine |
Pegomancy- by fountains Pessomancy- by colored or marked pebbles Psephomancy- by pebbles drawn from a heap Psychomancy- by ghosts Pyromancy- by sacrificial fire Sciomancy- by shadows or manes Sideromancy- by red-hot iron Theomancy- by oracles — Roget, 1852 |
- See also the Skeptic's Dictionary, which further lists these methods (and more):
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Aelomancy (divination by arrows) Aeluromancy (dropping wheatcakes in water and interpreting the result) Anthropomancy (divination by interpreting the organs of newly sacrificed humans) Bronchiomancy (divination by studying the lungs of sacrificed white llamas) Cartomancy [divination by cards or charts] Catoptromancy, Crystallomancy (using mirrors or lenses) Cleidomancy, Clidomancy (divination by interpreting the movements of a key suspended by a thread from the nail of the third finger on a young virgin's hand while one of the Psalms was recited) Daphnomancy (divination using the laurel branch: how did it crackle when burned?) Extispicy (divination by examining entrails) Fractomancy (interpreting the structures of fractal geometric patterns) Gyromancy (divination by walking around a circle of letters until dizzy and one falls down on the letters or in the direction to take) Haruspicy, Aruspicy, Hieromancy, Hieroscopy (inspecting the entrails of slaughtered animals) Hydromancy (divination by examining what certain things do in water or when taken out of water, such as coffee grounds or tea leaves); Hydatoscopy (if rainwater is used); Pegomancy (if spring-water is used) Hepatoscopy, Hepatomancy (divination by examining the liver of sacrificed animals) Kephalonomancy (burning carbon on the head of an ass while reciting the names of suspected criminals; if you're guilty, a crackling sound will be heard when your name is spoken) Lecanomancy (dropping precious stones into water and listening for whistles) |
Margaritomancy (divination by the pearl: if it jumps in the pot when a person is named, then he is the thief!) Metoposcopy (interpreting frontal wrinkles) Molybdomancy (divination by melted lead: interpreting its noises and hisses when dropped into water) Myrmomancy (divination by watching ants eating) Necromancy (communicating with spirits of the dead to predict the future) Onychomancy (interpreting the reflection of sun rays off fingernails) Ovomancy or Oomancy or Ooscopy (breaking eggs into a container of water and interpreting the shape of the egg white) Papyromancy (divination by folding paper) Rhabdomancy (using the divining rod or magic wand) Rhapsodmancy (divination by a line in a sacred book that strikes the eye when the book is opened after the diviner prays, meditates or invokes the help of spirits) Scrying [divination by gazing into charged objects] Sideromancy (interpreting straws thrown on a red-hot iron) Skatharomancy (interpreting the tracks of a beetle crawling over the grave of a murder victim) Splanchnomancy (reading cut sections of a goat liver) Stichomancy (divination from lines - reading random passages from a book such as the Bible or the I Ching) Tasseography,Tasseomancy (reading tea leaves) Urim v'tumim (reading sacred stones attached to the breastplate of the high priest in ancient Judaism) Uromancy (divination by reading bubbles made by urinating in a pot) — Robert Todd Carroll |
- And of course there are other forms and types and schools of divination, etc:
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Abacomancy: by patterns of dust Ailuromancy: by cats or felines Alomancy, Halomancy: by patterns of thrown salt Amniomancy: by membranes covering newborns' heads Armomancy: by palpating shoulders Aspidomancy: by channeling Satan himself Astragyromancy: by alphanumeric dice Astrology, Astromancy, Horoscopy, Roadomancy: by stars & planets Augury, Apantomancy: by omens & portents Automatic Writing: channel literate spirits Axinomancy, Axiomancy: by heated or thrown axe (quivering!) Biorhythms: by bodily cycles Catoptromancy, Enoptromancy: by turning a mirror to the moon or hanging it over water Causimomancy, Causinomancy: by burning slowly Ceraunoscopy: by thunder & lightning Clairvoyance (Precognition, Retrocognition), Second Sight: by visualization Cledonomancy: by random events & remarks Cromniomancy: by the color, smell, direction and form of onion sprouts Crystalomancy, Crystal Gazing: see Scrying Cyclomancy: by spinning a wheel Dendromancy: by oak & mistletoe Eromanty: by bubbles in water Gematria: by alphanumeric patterns Graphology: handwriting analysis Iatromathematics, Astromedicine: applying astrology to medicine |
Kabbalah: by mystic scribbling Libranomancy: by smoke from incense Lunomancy: by moonlight shadows on the face after silver dust is spread on the diviner's hands and the subject's face Numerology, Arithmancy: by the numbers Ogahm: by ancient Celtic alphabets Ouija: channel marginally literate spirits Palmistry, Cheiromancy, Chiromancy: by lines on the hand Pedomancy: by footprints Phrenology, Cranioscopy: by bumps on the head Premonition: by intuition Psephomancy, Pessomancy: by casting marked pebbles or beans Psychometry: by aura-reading of objects Runes: by ancient Norse-Teutonic alphabets Scapulomancy, Spatulamancy, by roasted shoulder-bones Scatomancy: by shit Scrying: by peering into crystals, clouds, water, etc Sortelige: by throwing objects or drawing lots Spodanomancy, Spodomancy, Tephramancy, Tuphramancy: by writings in ashes Stoicheomancy: bibliomancy / stichomancy using only the books of Homer and/or Virgil Tarot: by artistic cards Urimancy: by urine (taste, color, odor, patterns, etc.) Vaticination: by consulting divine source(s) Xenomancy: by the first stranger Xylomancy: by found wood Zoomancy: by the appearance and/or behavior of animals Zygomancy: by weights — various sources |
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