Divination Glossary

 

AEROMANCY: Divination interpreting atmospheric conditions. There are several different forms including:

•  Austromancy (wind); 
•  Ceraunoscopy (thunder & lightning);
•  Chaomancy (aerial visions);
•  Meteormancy (meteors, especially shooting stars).

AILUROMANCY: Divination through interpreting the appearance and behavior of cats. A form of augury.

ALECTORMANCY, ALECTROMANCY, ALECTRYOMANCY:  Divination through interpreting the appearance and behavior of sacred chickens (originally); current versions include the interpretation of fowls eating grain and marking the cock's crow as letters are recited. A form of augury.

ALEUROMANCY: Divination through sortilege of  fortunes written on slips of paper. The fortunes were inserted into balls of dough  that were baked, mixed, and distributed randomly. This form of divination is the origin of Ash Wednesday pancakes and fortune cookies. Another version involves the interpretation of patterns left in a bowl of flour rinsed in water.  Aleuromancy was the domain of Apollo in some traditions.

ALOMANCY: Divination by interpreting salt. The origin of misfortune associated with spilled salt. Also known as Halomancy.

ALPHITOMANCY: A divination practice to identify guilty parties by feeding an individual or group a loaf of barley. Innocent people would feel no ill effect but guilty ones would experience indigestion. Alphitomancy was often used to identify criminals or adulterers. Also known as Cursed Bread.

AMNIOMANCY: Divination by inspecting and interpreting the caul of a baby at birth.

ANTHROPOMANCY, ANTINOPOMANCY: Divination interpreting the entrails of human sacrifice. This practice is obviously illegal and unethical and is not used by pagans today. Recorded instances of anthropomancy are from ancient Egypt and Rome and were documented as heinous acts at the time of their occurrences. Also known as Splanchomancy.

APANTOMANCY: Divination through interpreting any objects (or beings) that happen to present themselves.  A common form of apantomancy is is interpreting the appearance and behavior of animals during chance meetings (a form of augury). The superstition associated with a black cat crossing one's path is apantomancy.

ARACHNOMANCY: Divination by interpreting the appearance and behavior of spiders. A form of augury.

ARIOLATER: Someone who practices divination. Also known as Aruspex, Clairvoyant, Diviner, Haruspex, Seer, Soothsayer. See Also: Oracle, Prophet, Theomancer.

ARIOLATIO: Divining by interpreting altars.

ARITHMANCY, ARITHOMANCY, ARITHMOMANCY: Divination by interpreting numbers.  Greeks used the number and value of the letters in the names of two combatants to predict the victor. This form of divination has been adopted and modified by many cultures over the millennia. One of its evolved forms is the current magickal system of Numerology.

ARITHMOSOPHY: Divination by Bertiaux's method of converting words to numbers. A form of Arithmancy and Numerology.

ARMOMANCY: Divining by inspecting the shoulders of a person. Used originally to determine the suitability of a person for sacrifice to the gods.

ARUSPEX: See Ariolater.

ARUSPICY: Divination by interpreting animal entrails. Aruspicy is sometimes considered to be a form of augury (interpreting form and behavior of animals).   Similar to Anthropomancy (interpretation of human entrails) and Heiromancy (interpretation of sacrificed animals) Also known as Haruspicy, Extispicy, Extispicium

ASPIDOMANCY: Divining by entering casting a circle and summoning an entity.

ASTRAGALOMANCY, ASTRAGYROMANCY: Divination through the sortilege of sheep bones (originally). Now commonly done with dice bearing numbers and letters.

ASTROLOGY, ASTROSOPHY:  Divination by interpreting  the movements of heavenly bodies, particularly the major planets. 

AUGURY: Often used synonymously with divination to mean the interpretation of signs and omens. More accurately, it is divination based on the appearance or behavior of animals. Includes:

•  Alectryomancy (chickens);
•  Arachnomancy (spiders);
•  Entomomancy (insects);
•  Hippomancy (horses)
•  Ichthyomancy (fish);
•  Myomancy (mice);
•  Ophiomancy (snakes);  
•  Zoomancy (any animal);
•  Haruspicy (interpreting animal entrails) is sometimes consider augury.

AUSTROMANCY: Divination by interpreting wind. A form of aeromancy.

AUTOGRAPHY, AUTOMATIC WRITING, AUTOMATIC SPEAKING:  Spirit communication done unconsciously by an individual often in trance, obsession or possession states. Automatic communication has occurred with people in a fully conscious state without their awareness of the action and distinct personality and knowledge variants (e.g.: fluency in an ancient language) have been documented.  Autography and Automatic Writing apply to written communication and are also known as Psychography. They are distinct from Direct Writing where a spirit writes directly without human or mechanical assistance. All forms are distinct from Psychomancy where the diviner summons the spirit consciously for communication.

AXINOMANCY, AXIOMANCY: Divination using an axe or hatchet. Both the handle and the blade are used in various forms.

BELOMANCY:  Divination through interpreting arrows. This type of divination is expressly forbidden in the Koran. Also known as Bolomancy.

BIBLIOMANCY: Originally, the divination used to assess the guilt or innocence of a person accused of sorcery. The person was weighed against the great Bible in the Church and if the person weighed less than the bible they were deemed innocent. Today, bibliomancy refers to divination interpreting randomly chosen passages in books and is also called stichomancy. The most common form is opening a book to a random page to answer a question. The Bible is still the most frequently used book, although any book may be used. Using books by Virgil and Homer specifically is called stoichemancy. The variant of using a book of poetry is called rhapsodomancy. 

BOLOMANCY: See Belomancy.

BOOK OF CHANGES, The: An ancient Chinese system of oracular divination that reveals patterns of subtle forces. The questioner is required to interpret the information provided through deep introspection and intuitive thought. The Book of Changes dates back to about 2852 B.C. Also known as I Ching.

BOOK OF THOTH:  Tarot Cards.

BOTANOMANCY: A form of pyromancy, interpreting burned or burning tree branches and leaves. Originally the branches of brier and vervain were used and the question was carved into the branch. Often used today to refer to divination by the interpretation of plants.

 

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