gastromancy

Etymology

Variant Forms

Citations

1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers means..Hydromancy..done either in a glasse bottle full of water, wherein a Childe must looke, (and this is called, Gastromancy of the glasses belly)...

1618 B. Holyday Technogamia, or the Marriage of the Arts II. iii. ll. 56-69 (G1v):
Geom. You'l give me all this in writing Sir, woun't you?
Magus. Yes Sir, yes. Then there are divers kinds of your
 Magicke, as Necromancie, Anthropomancie, Gastromancie,
 Cheiromancie, Coscinomancy....
Geom. I Pray, doe you your self know how many there are
 in all?
Magus. Sir, One and twentie. Ile begin them over againe,
 if you will. Necromancie, Anthropomancie....
Geom. Nay, good Sir hold, we have had enough alreadie:
 But I perceive you Magicians have admirable memories to get
 hard words by heart; I marvaile you doe not turn
 Dictionary-makers: Why? I warrent there's no hard word
 but you can tell the meaning on't: you'd put all their
 noses out of ioynt quite.

1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165: ..Gastromancy, by the sounds of, or signes upon the belly...

a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By Gastromancy, which kind of ventral Fatiloquency was for a long time together used in Ferrara by Lady Giacoma Rodogina, the Eugastrimythian Prophetess.

1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329: [citing Gaule]

1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via Brand)]

1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions 252: Gastromancy, by the sound of, or marks upon the belly. [citing Hone citing Gaule]

1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 323: gastromancy, Or divination from the belly, is now generally explained by ventriloquism, the voice in both cases sounding low and hollow, as if issuing from the ground. Slaverte enforces this opinion, and adds: - "The name of Engastrimythes, given by the Greeks to the Pythiæ (priestesses of Apollo), indicates that they made use of this artifice." The explanation is only partial, and the text of Isaiah - "thy voice shall die as one that hath a familiar spirit" - is inapplicable in such an argument. Those who are experienced in Clairvoyance are aware that the voice is often reduced very low, in consequence of a change in the respiration. This was the case with some of the ancient Pythonesses, though instances may have occurred when ventriloquism was resorted to, as by the wizards of Greenland in our own time. The surprising illusions of Mr. Love, the polyphonist, may be instanced in proof of what may be accomplished in this way. Another method of practising the ancient gastromancy connects it with crystal-seeing, as vessels of glass, round, and full of clear water, were used, which were placed before several lighted candles. In this case a young boy or girl was generally the seer, and the demon was summoned in a low voice by the magician. Replies were then obtained from the magical appearances seen in the illuminated glass vessels.

1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 457: gastromancy - Is a species of divnation, practised among the ancients, and was performed by means of ventriloquism. There is another kind of divination called by the same name, which is performed by means of glasses, or other round transparent vessels, within which certain figures appear by magic art. Hence its name, in consequence of the figures appearing as if in the interior of the vessels. [copied in Daniels & Stevans 1903]

1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662: [text copied from Howitt 1893]

1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 176/2: [copying Rich]

1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361: By gastromancy, which kind of ventral fatiloquency was for a long time together used in Ferrara by Lady Giacoma Rodogina, the Engastrimythian prophetess.

1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 68: Gastromancy: Divination by gazing into a vessel filled with water, or divination by ventriloquist sounds.

1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and Demonology 139: [citing Gaule] Gastromancy, by the sound of or signs upon the belly.

1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 254: The methods [of scrying] varied according to the nature of the shiny object used and the medium employed... Sometimes the term gastromancy ('divination by the belly') was used, because the vessel filled with water was called gastra 'belly-shaped vessel'.

1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 466: GASTROMANCY: An Ancient form of ventriloquism, with the voice lowered to a sepulchral tone as though issuing from the ground. Prophetic utterances were delivered in a trace-like state.

1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) 317: GASTROMANCY: Purported divination through mysterious voices that are actually produced by ventriloquism, as the term itself means "stomach speaker" indicating that such deception was recognized in ancient times. Presumably, the voices came from trees, rivers, deep in the ground, or wherever else the diviner pointed. Modern spirit mediums have improved on this by going into pretended trances or working in complete darkness to convey the impression that the voices come from another world.

1993 McCormack Q&A 70: GASTROMANCY - ventriloquism.

In Dictionaries

[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng. Tongues Gastromantie: f. Diuination by the bellie.]

1656 Blount Glossographia: gastromancy (gastromantia) divination by the belly.

1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Gastromancy, g. Divination by the Belly.

1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i: GASTROMANCY [yàcçpoæàvçià, of yàcnp, the Belly, and manteia, Gr. Divination] the Manner or this was thus, they filled certain round Glasses with fair Water, about which they placed lighted Torches, and then invoked a Dæmon, praying in a low, murmuring Voice, and proposed the Question to be solved; a chaste, unpolluted Bot, or a Woman big with Child was appointed to observe with greatest Care and Exactness all the Alterations of the Glasses; at the same Time desiring, beseeching, and also commanding an Answer, which at Length the Dæmon used to return by Images in the Glasses, which by Reflection from the Water represented what should come to pass.

1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.: gastromancy or gastromantia (s.) a sort of divination practised by the Ancients, by means of words seeming to come out of the belly, or by the pretended appearance of certain figures raised by magick in the bottom of a glass or other transparent vessel.

1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th ed.): GASTROMANCY [gastromantia, L. of yàcçpoæàvçià, of gaser, the Belly, and manteia, Divination, Gr.] Divination by the Belly.

1852 Roget Thes. § 511: ..by ventriloquism, Gastromancy...

1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.: gastromancy..A kind of divination among the ancients by means of words seeming to be uttered from the belly.

1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.: gastromancy..1. Divination words issuing, or seeming to issue, from the belly. 2. A species of divination by means of glasses or other round transparent vessels, in the centre of which certain figures are made to appear by magic art. Brande.

1888 New Sydenham Society's Lexicon III: 1898 OED

1899 Century Dict. (1902) III: gastromancy.. In antiq.: (a) A kind of divination among the ancients by means of words which seemed to be uttered from the belly; divination by means of ventriloquism. (b) A species of divination by means of large-bellied glasses or other round transparent vessels, in the centre of which figure were supposed to appear by magic art.

1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.: gastromancy..Antiq. 1. Divination by ventriloquism. 2. Divination by means of large-bellied vessels, within which figures were supposed to appear by magic. gastronomancy.

1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) III

1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: gastromancy .. (a) divination by ventriloquism. (b) divination by crystal gazing. [minor words list]

c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.: gastromancy..Divination by means of words seemingly spoken from the belly, that is, by ventriloquism; divination by means of large-bellied glasses in which magical figure were supposed to appear.

1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: gastromancy, (1) rumbles of the belly - a sort of "fatiloquency," said Rabelais (1533), long practiced in Ferrara (2) ventriloquism (3) a child looking into the "belly" of a glass bottle of water.

1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.: gastromancy..fortunetelling by ventriloquism or cystal-gazing.

1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 210: gastromancy 1. a form of divination involving listening to stomach sounds. 2. a form of divination by gazing into a crystal ball or a glass full of water. Cf. crystallomancy. Also called crystal-gazing. - gastromantic, adj.

1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.

gelomancy

Not in OED. Gives, as does Imperial, Roget, Shipley, Cent., Cassell's, geloscopy, the more common word.
1730-6 Bailey (folio): Geloscopy, a sort of divination preformed by means of laughter; or a divining any persons qualities or character, by observation of the manner of his laughing.
Also, in the form gelatoscopy - 1697 Evelyn Numism. ix. 337: Made Divinations by Gelatoscopy. 1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult.

1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) 318. GELOMANCY: Predictions gained by translating hysterical laughter into tangible terms. Probably a carry-over from the ancient oracles, where persons inhaled natural gas from volcanic fissures and babbled incoherent utterances which gifted listeners interpreted as prophecies that determined the fate of nations. A useful device for political conventions.

geomancy

Variant Forms

Etymology

Citations - Middle English

c1400 (a1376) Piers the Plowman A(1) (Trin-C) 11.156 (MED): Geometrie & geomesie [vrr. gemensye, gemessie, geemessye] is gynful of speche.

?a1425 Mandev. (Eg) 115/9 (MED): At a syde of pe emperour table sittez many philosophers and grete clerkez of diuerse sciencez, sum of astronomy, sum of nigromancy, sum of geomancy, sum of pyromancy, sum of ydromancy.

c1500 (?a1475) John Lydgate Assembly of the Gods ll. 862--70:
These folowyd Konnyng & thedyr with hym came,   With many ooñ moo offryng her seruyce To Vertew at hat nede; but natwithstandyng than   Some he refusyd and seyde in nowyse   They shuld with hym go, and, as I coude auyse,     These were her names: fyrst, Nygromansy,     Geomansy, Magyk, and Glotony,

Adryomancy, Ornomancy, with Pyromancy,   Fysenamy also, and Pawmestry, And all her sequelys, yef I shult nat ly.

Citations - modern

1594 Greene Frier Bacon & Frier Bongay:
Bungay. Let it be this, whether the spirites of piromancie or Geomancie, be most predominant in magick.
Vander. I say of Piromancie.
Bungay. And I of Geomancie.

1597 King James Daemonologie (1924) 14: Of this roote last spoken of [sc. astrology], springs innumerable branches; such as the knowledge of natiuities; the Chiromancie, Geomantie, Hydromantie, Arithmantie, Physiognomie: & a thousand others: which were much practiced, & holden in great reuerence by the Gentiles of olde.

[1608 John Day Law-Trickes or who would have thought it IV. ii (OED):
  Deep Eromancy, or the pretious soule
  Of Geomantique spells and Characters.]

1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie of God 294: Diuination generally was done by diuers means: either by Earth, Geomancy...

1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 69: Sometimes they answer to that they are called for, by divers figures Men or Women set in polisht Stone, Iton, Brasse, Steele, Glasse, or the Nayles of ones hand; and this is called by the generall Name of Geomancie: And most commonly to such as these, they chuse out Women and Children.

1650 French tr. Paracelsus Nine Books Of the Nature of Things (1674) ix. 297: And you must know, that the Stars of Geomancy impress their signs upon the earthy Bodies of the whole Universe, and that divers ways. For they change the Earth, and cause Earthquakes and Gapings, they produce Hills and Valleys, and bring many new Vegetables, they produce also Gamaheaus with naked Figures and Images, having wonderful vertues and powers, which indeed they receive from the seven Planets, as the But or Mark receives the Arrow from the Archer.

1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165: ..Geomancy, by earth...

1655 Gerard Cremonensis Of Astronomical Geomancy 155: Because Astronomy is so transcedent [sic] and subtil an Art in it self, that therein a man ought to have respect unto so many things before he can attaine to true judgment thereby, because the eye of the understanding will not pierce unto the half thereof, and few Doctors of out later time have been found so experienced therein that they know sufficiently how to judge thereby; Therefore I have composed this work, which I will have to be named, Astronomical Geomancy; wherein, I will sufficiently teach how to judge with less labour and study. For in this present science it is not requisite to be hold neither the Ascendant, nor the hour in a [ta]ble, as it is in Astrology. It is expedient therefore, to make four unequal lines, by the points casually set down; and to joyne together those points; and out of the points which are not joyned together, which do remain in the heads of the lines, (as is done in Geomancie) extract one figure; and the signe of the Zodiacke that answereth to that figure, put for the Ascendent, for the words sake.

1655 Robert Turner tr. Agrippa Of Geomancy 1: Geomancy is an Art of Divination, whereby the judgement may be rendred by lot, or destiny, to every question of every thing whatsoever, but the Art hereof consisteth especially in certain points whereof certain figures are deducted according to the reason or rule of equality or inequality, likenesse or unlikenesse; which figures are also reduced to the C§lestiall Figures, assuming their natures and properties, according to the course and forms of the Signes and Planets; notwithstanding this in the first place we are to consider, that whereas this kinde of Art can declare or shew forth nothing of verity, unless it shall be radicall in some sublime vertue, and this the Authours of this Science have demonstrated to be two-fold: the one whereof consists in Religion and Ceremonies; and therefore they will have the Projecting of points of this Art to bee made with signes in the Earth, wherefore this Art is appropriated to this Element of Earth, even as Pyromancy to the fire, and Hydromancy to the Element of Water: Then whereas they judged the hand of the Projector or Worker to be most powerfully moved, and directed to the terrestriall spirits; and therefore they first used certain holy incantations and deprecations, with other rites and observations, provoking and alluring spirits of this nature hereunto. Another power there is that doth direct and rule this Lot of Fortune, which is in the very soule it selfe, and of necessity hath efficacy and is moved to that which the soule it self desires, and this way is by far more true and pure; neither matters it where or how these points are projected; therefore this Art hath the same Radix with the Art of Astrologicall Questions: which also can no otherwise bee verified, unlesse with a constant and excessive affection of the Querent himselfe: Now then that wee may proceed to the Praxis of this Art; first it is to be knowne, that all Figures upon which this whole Art is founded are onely sixteen, as in this following Table you shall see noted.

1656 R. Turner tr. Paracelsus Occult Philosophy 29: In this booke we do intend to treat of the greatest and most occult secrets of Philosophy, and of those things which do appertain to Magicke, Nigromancy, Necromancy, Pyromancy, Hydromancy, and Geomancy.

a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 130: Hard by here, in the Brown-wheat-Island, dwelleth Her Trippa; you know how by the Arts of Astrology, Geomancy, Chiromancy, Metopomancy, and others of a like stuff and nature, he foretelleth all things to come...

1664 John Heydon Psonthonphanchia 34: The Astromancy and Geomancy of the Hebrews have not as yet lost any of their lustre, so long as they were practised by those of the Nation only.
Ibid. 39. The Persians, or if you please, the Babylonians that boardered upon the River Euphrates, were the first, as Rabbins report, that found out the secret power of the Figures of Geomancy.

1665 John Heydon El Havarevna 2: In his Phylosophy you must know he makes a harmony of all things, the 7 Angels guide the 7 Planets, the 7 Planets move continually in the Signs, the 7 Rulers run in the 12 Ideas over the face of the whole Earth, and with the Elements project 16 Figures, these have their influence upon the 7 Mettals, which you must prepare for the diseases of mankind, as for example, if Mars cause the disease or Barzabel, Venus and Kedemel will cure it, and you must make your Medicine of Copper, as you are taught in the Holy, Guide, if Saturn and Zazel, then Jupiter and Hisamael in Tin prepared will lend you their influence to cure the party, as you may find by the Figures of Astromancy and Geomancy, as you are taught at large in the Harmony of the World, The Temple of Wisdome, and the Holy Guide.

1696-7 John Aubrey Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme (19..) 212: When I was a Boy in North-Wilts (before the Civill-warres) the mayd-servants were wont at night (after Supper) to make smoothe, the Ashes on the Hearth, and then to make Streakes on it with a stick; such a streake signified privately to her that made it such an unmarried man, such a one such a mayd: the like for men, then the men and the mayds were to chose by this kind of way, their Husbands and wifes: or by divination to know whom they should marry. The maydes I remember were very fond of this kind of Magick: which is clearly a Branch of Geomantie. Now the Rule of Geomantie is, that you are not to goe about your divination, but with a great deale of seriousnes, and also prayers; and to be performed in a very private place; or on the sea Shore. See....de Pisis or Cattan's Geomantie: who affirme that the points being thus sett downe, it is æquivalent to a Scheme sett to a Horary Question. Another Remainder of Geomancy to divine whether such a one will returne this night or no, or whether such a one will come to their house this night or not, is by the Sheath of a knife [most commonly], or an arrow, which one holds at the great end with his two fore fingers, and says, he comes, then slips downe his upper finger under his lower, and then the lower under that and sayes, he comes not, and sic deinceps till he come to the bottome of his sheath, which gives the Answer. 'Tis a common way of Divination in the Countrey, Every one has seen it.

1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329: [citing Gaule]

1797 Encyc. Brit. (3rd ed.) VII 66: Geomancy was a divination made by observing of cracks or clefts in the earth. It was also performed by points made on a paper, or any other substance, at a venture; and they judged of future events from the figures that resulted from thence. This was certainly very ridiculous; but it is nothing less so to pretend to predict future events from the inspection of the grounds of a dish of tea or coffee, or by cards, and many other like matters. - Thus have designing men made use of the four elements to deceive their incredulous brethern [sic].

1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: [citing Gaule (via Brand)]

1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions 251: Geomancy, by earth. [citing Hone citing Gaule]

1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 314: Geomancy, from two Greek words, ge, the earth, and manteia, divination, is an art connected with astrology, and is called by an old writer on the subject, "the daughter, and abbreviation thereof." An ancient method of practising it was by casting pebbles on the ground, from which conjectures were formed much the same as from the chance lines of dots made on paper; in later times, scratches made in the earth were found to answer the same purpose. The Arabian Geomancy, said to have been first practised by Almadul, was more recondite, being founded on the effects of motion under the crust of the earth, the chinks thus produced, and the noises or thunderings heard; its foundation was the dogma of Aristotle, that "the moving of the heaven is everlasting, and is the beginning and cause of all inferior movings." The essential principle of geomancy, in whatever form practised, is the lot or chance; it is fully described by Cornelius Agrippa, and as it determines the scheme of the heavens without the necessity of astronomical observation, it may be considered a royal road to astrology. A famous professor of Geomancy, in the sixteenth century, was one 'Maister Christopher Cattan,' a translation of whose work was published by Sparry in 1591. In the following century the art is graced by the name of William Oughtred, a distinguished mathematician, and minister of the Church of England, who died in 1660. for a general idea of the method, we may refer to the well-known `Book of Fate,' said to have been in the possession of Napoleon, and translated (the title-page avers), "from an ancient Egyptian MS. found in the year 1801 by M. Sonnini, in one of the royal tombs near Mount Lybicus, in Upper Egypt." The geomantic figures obtained by inspecting the chance lines or dots were supposed to represent a certain situation of the stars, and the diviner then proceeded as in astrology, as if the configuration of the stars really was such.

1868 Chambers's Encyc. III 599: ..Geomancy (this was anciently practised by casting pebbles on the ground, from which conjectures were formed; but the Arabian geomancy was more recondite, being founded on the effects of motion under the crust of the earth, the chinks thus produced, and the noises or thunderings heard)...

1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 457: geomancy - Was performed by means of a number of little points or dots, made at random on paper, and afterwards considering the various lines and figures which these points present; thereby forming a pretended judgment of futurity, and deciding a proposed question. Polydore Virgil defines Geomancy as a kind of divination performed by means of clefts or chinks made in the ground, and he takes the Persian Magi to have been the inventors of it. Geomancy is formed of the Greek meaning earth and divination; it being the ancient custom to cast little pebbles on the ground, and thence to form their conjecture, instead of the points above mentioned. [copied in Daniels & Stevans 1903]

1895 A. Lanyard (ed.) John Maundevile Kt. xxii. 290: And at one Side of the Emperor's Table sit many Philosophers that be proved for wise Men in many diverse Sciences, as of Astronomy, Necromancy, Geomancy, Pyromancy, Hydromancy, of Augury and of many other Sciences.

1897 (tr. Agrippa) Three Bks Occult Phil. lvii. 177: The first..is Geomancy, which foreshows future thing by the motions of the earth, as also the noise, the swelling, the trembling, the chops, the pits, and exhalation, and other impressions thereof, the art of which Almadel, the Arabian, sets forth. But there is another kind of Geomancy which divines by points written upon the earth by a certain power in the fall of it, which is not of present speculation, but of that we shall speak hereafter.

1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662: [text copied from Howitt 1893]

1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery (1963) viii. 301: Geomancy is divination by earth; it was also known as the Art of the Little Dots, which was formerly confused with cartomancy. It consisted in throwing a handful of earth on the ground and examining the figure thereby formed, or even marking dots at random on a sheet of paper and interpreting their position.

1939 J. Trachtenberg Jewish Magic 217: Geomancy..was well known to the Jews as well as Christians.

1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 358: Hard by here, in the Brown-wheat [Bouchart] Island, dwelleth Her Trippa. You know how by the arts of astrology, geomancy, chiromancy, metopomancy, and others of a like nature, he foretelleth all things to come; let us talk a little, and confer with him about our business.
Ibid. 359 Afterwards, he with a white lead pen swiftly and hastily drew a certain number of divers kinds of points, which by the rules of geomancy he coupled and joined together, then said: Truth itself is not truer, than that it is certain, thou wilt be a cuckold, a little after thy marriage.

1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 70: Geomancy: Divination by the shapes resulting from throwing a handful of soil on a flat surface.
Ibid: Geomancy, astrological: A system of divination, employing a map containing twelve divisions, in which are placed symbols of geomancy, in conjuction with the ruling planets and signs.

1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and Demonology 139: [citing Gaule] Geomancy, by earth.

1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Geomancy - by dots on paper, marks on the earth, or particles of earth.

1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 466: GEOMANCY: Occult practice which began with tracing figures in the ground and later was extended to include random dots made with a pencil. These were interpreted according to accepted designs, a predecessor of our modern doodles.

1971 K. Thomas Relig. & Decline of Magic viii. 255: The cunning men, however, were often equipped with more sophisticated techniques. Some purported to operate by astrology and would produce a description of the thief after setting a figure. Others engaged in geomancy - interpreting the meaning of the pattern of dots produced by the random doodlings of the wizard in a state of semi-trance.

1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iv. 61: In geomancy, the enquirer himself was asked to stab the earth at random with a pointed stick. The soothsayer then read the dots.

1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) 318: GEOMANCY: This runs the gamut from tracing mystic figures in the sand to throwing stones on the ground and studying the patterns that they form. Such figures have been classed as signs of the zodiac, with the stones representing positions of the planets, thus linking geomancy with astromancy, but those may be regarded as exceptional cases. Geomancy's contribution to divination is probably more random in nature, forming the basis of the mystic oracle.

1973 N. Pennick Geomancy [book title]

1974 Feuchtwang An Anthrop. Analysis of Chinese Geomancy 4: It will by now be clear that we are not dealing with what is usually defined as geomancy. ..Chinese geomancy may be described as the divination of earthly signs, but not random lines or dots or marks on a sand tray produced by the figures of cast beads which is the common form of African geomancy, and which in China itself was a mechanism for spirit mediums. Topomancy may be a better word for feng-shui, divination from the forms of the physical environment. But since "geomancy" has by the majority of authors on feng-shui been the term used I will conform.
Ibid. Geomancy is no longer practised on mainland China, except in Hong Kong and the New Territories.

1976 Journal of Geomancy vol. I, no. I.

1977 Proceedings of the First Cambridge Geomancy Symposium

1978 M. Edwardes Dark Side of History 12: There was..a striking similarity between Mesopotamian and Chinese thinking - if not method - in the concept of feng-shui, the Chinese system of geomancy, or divination by topographical features.

1978 N. Pennick Ancient Science of Geomancy 7: ..the practice of geomancy, which may be roughly defined as the science of putting human habitats and activities into harmony with the visible and invisible world, was at one time universal, and vestiges of it remain in the landscape, architecture, ritual and folklore of almost all countries in the world.
Ibid. Although geomancy and its effects have been largely destroyed in the West, enough remains to have enabled researchers past and present to reconstruct survivals elsewhere, to gain an insight into the ethos behind the practice. To our ancestors, the properties of the earth were understood - and used.

c.1983 S. Rossbach Feng Shui: The Chinese Art of Placement 3: In practice, feng shui is something between a science and an art. Westerners call it geomancy but the two are not really identical. Feng shui encompasses more than geomancy.

1983 Complete Bk Predictions 146: Although geomancy properly means divination by the earth, the "earth" in question is usually sand, dust, or dry soil. Arab geomancers have interpreted the patterns made when a handful of sand or dust was cast onto a smooth surface; Navaho wise men have allowed the sand to trickle through their fingers into prophetic patterns on the ground; and some African witch doctors have read marks made by a crab scrambling around in a bowl of wet sand. Newer methods involve the interpretation of random marks made in sand with a pointer - a process similar to automatic writing.
Ibid. In the absence of sand, marks can be made on paper with a pen or pencil. In paper geomancy, the diviner exerts the minimum control over his pencil while it makes four groups of four rows of random points.

1983 D & J Parker Hist. Astrology vii. 96: Silvester's Experimentarius was a verse translation of a work on astrological geomancy (a means of prediction by which a number of points were dashed down at random, and then joined together by lines, creating a number of shapes then used as a key to certain constellations or sets of tables; the resident astrologer of an hotel in Agra, India, was using it still in 1982).

1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 254: Geomancy was the art of divining by means of lines formed by throwing earth on a surface.

1987 Bruce Chatwin The Songlines (1988) xxxvi. 313: Sinologists were reminded of the `dragon-lines' of feng-shui, or traditional Chinese geomancy...

1988 Francis X. King Encyc. of Fortune-Telling 18: ..it is almost certain that geomancy had its origins in a type of sand divination used in ancient Arabia. The form in which geomancy reached Western Europe in the twelfth century and the way in which it is still practised today bears a certain relationship to both numerology and astrology. Sixteen random numbers are derived by the fortune-teller by any one of a number of methods - for example by throwing dice or picking up sixteen handfuls of pebbles and counting each handful. From these are then obtained, by a time-consuming but simple process, a 'geomantic shield'...

1989 Guiley Encyc. Witches & Witchcraft 104: Another ancient Chinese divinatory method, which is still in use, is feng-shui, or geomancy, the siting of buildings, tombs and other physical structures by determining the invisible currents of energy coursing through the earth.

1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel xxv. 307: Then he took up a pen and quickly plotted out a series of unrelated points, matching them up by means of geomancy, and said: 'There's not a doubt in the world: it's quite certain that, right after you're married, you'll be cuckolded.'

1990 Schwei & Pestka Complete Bk of Astrological Geomancy xi: Astrological geomancy is directly related to horary astrology. The ancients instructed people to draw marks in the earth. The geomantist then combined the numerological and symbolic meanings of these markings with the positions of the planets, signs and houses at that moment. The principle behind horary astrology is that the planetary influences affect the querent's framing of a specific question, and his or her seeking guidance at that particular moment. The deeper principle behind this is that we hold, within ourselves, the necessary keys to answering the question, or to discovering the best course of future action.

1991 R.J. Smith Fortune-tellers & Philosophers iv. 131: Geomancy, or 'siting'---the Chinese art of selecting auspicious locations for tombs, houses, and other structures---took many forms and went by a variety of names in the Qing period. The best-known modern term in Chinese is fengshui (lit. 'wind and water'), but practitioners in late imperial times generally favored descriptive names with a longer more distinguished pedigree, such as kanyu (lit. 'cover and support').
Ibid. Geomancy shared with traditional Chinese medicine a concern with maintaining a harmonious yinyang equilibrium in the midst of constant change.

1993 McCormack Q&A 70: GEOMANCY - dots made at random on paper.

1994 P. Proudfoot Secret Plan of Canberra i. 4: Inspiration for the Griffith's original Canberra design is drawn from both ancient spiritual ideas and the Griffith's understanding of geomancy - an ancient science placing man in harmony with the earth, which is common to both Eastern and Western cultures.
Ibid.: This concept reflects the principle of the five sacred mountains in feng shui (Chinese geomancy). 1995 A Handbook of Geomancy Internet site, California.

Dictionaries

1613 Robert Cawdrey A Table Alphabeticall (3rd ed.): geomancie (g) sorcerie by circles and pricks in the earth.

1616 Bullokar An English Expositor: s.v. divination. The third and last manner of Diuination, is that which wee called superstitious, whereof there hath among the Gentiles beene diuers different kinds, namely Auguration..Geomancy...
Ibid. Geomancie, is a kinde of diuination practised by making prickes and lines in the earth; as the name in Greeke signifieth.

1626 Cockeram The English Dictionary (2nd ed.): Geomancy, Diuination by circles in the earth.
Ibid. (reverse dictionary) Diuination by making of prickes and holes in the earth, Geomancy.

[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng. Tongues: Geomantie: f. Diuination by points, and circles made in the earth: Rab.]

1650 French Chymical Dictionary (1674) 327: Geomancy is the most known Art of the earth, but in this place it is taken for the stars of the earth, manifesting themselves to men, so that thereby they may take some ground for presaging.

1656 Blount Glossographia: s.v. divination. The third and last manner of Divination is that which we call Superstitious, whereof there has been among the Gentiles divers different kinds. As namely..Geomancy, by making certain circles and lines in the earth.
Ibid: Geomantie (geomantia) divination by points and Circles made on the earth, or by opening of the earth.

1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words: Geomanty, (Greek) a kinde of divination, by certain Circles made on the Earth.

1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Geomanty, g. Divination by Circles drawn on the Earth, or opening of it.

1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum: Geomancy, a Sooth-saying by certain Points or Circles made on the Earth.

1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.: geomancy ...

1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th ed.): GEOMANCY [geomance, F. geomantia, L. of yîwmanteia, of yn, and manteia, Divination, Gr.] a kind of Divination by Points and Circles made on Earth, or by opening the Earth.

1852 Roget Thes. § 511: ..by dots made at random on paper, Geomancy...

1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.: geomancy..A kind of divination by means of figures or lines, formed by little dots or points, originally on earth and afterwards on paper.

1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.: geomancy..(Astrol.) Divination by points or circles made on the earth, or by casting figures.

1888 New Sydenham Society's Lexicon III: 1898 OED.

1899 Century Dict. (1902) III: geomancy.. The pretended art of divining future events, or of ascertaining the luckiness or unluckiness of any event or locality, by means of signs connected with the earth, as from the figure indicated by points taken at random on the surface, or from the disposition of the particles of a handful of dust or earth thrown down at random, or, as in China, from the configuration and aspect of a particular region in its relation to some other. Also geomanty.

1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.: geomancy..Divination by means of some aspect of the earth, particularly by observation of points and lines on the earth, or on paper, or by means of the figures formed by pebbles or particles of earth thrown down at random.

1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) III

1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: geomancy [main words list] - cites Howitt (Ennemoser)

c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.

1930 Winston Simplified Dict.

1932 Wyld Universal Dict.: Divination by means of figures formed by handfuls of earth or gravel thrown on the ground, or of points dotted at random upon paper &c.

1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: geomancy, digging.

1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict.: geomancy

1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.): geomancy..divination by means of the figure made by a handful of earth thrown down at random, or, by figures or lines formed by a number of dots made at random.

1984 Macquarie Thes. § 268.6: geomancy (earth or dot patterns)

1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult

1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 210: geomancy a form of divination that analyzes the pattern of a handful of earth thrown down at random or of dots made at random on paper. - geomancer, n.

1987 Random House Dict.

1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.

giromancy

graphomancy

From the ancient Greek grapho-, combining form of graphe writing.

1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: graphomancy, handwriting. 1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x.

graptomancy

1818-60 Whately Comm pl Book (1864) 187 (OED): To convinve those who deride graptomancy..that there must be something in it.

1900 OED.

1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii. [suppl.]: graptomancy..Divination by means of handwriting.

1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 210: graphology 1. a form of divination involving analysis of handwriting. Also graptomancy. 2. a technique of personality analysis involving the examination of handwriting.

gyromancy

Etymology

In New Latin - Cælius Calcagninus, Compendium amatoriæ magiæ (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Gyromantia, quotiens ex circulis in lævam dextramve declinantibus futura conjiciunt."

Variant Forms

Citations

[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xv.: gyromanteia]

1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166: ..Gyromancy, by rounds or circles...

a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: By Giromancy, if thou shouldst turn round Circles, thou mightest assure thy self from me, that they would fall always on the wrong side.

1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 330: [citing Gaule]

1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via Brand)]

1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions 252: Gyromancy, by circles. [citing Hone citing Gaule]

1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 334: gyromancy Was performed by going round continually in a circle, the circumference of which was marked by letters. The presage was drawn from the words formed by the letters on which the inquirers stumbled when they became too giddy to stand. The object of this circumcursation was simply to exclude the interference of the will, and reduce the selection of letters to mere chance. In some species of enchantment, however, the act of turning round was to produce a prophetic delirium. The religious dances, and the rotation of certain fanatics on foot, with their arms stretched out, are of this nature. These cases really indicate a magical secret, of which, however, the deluded victims rarely possess any knowledge. In the phenomenon known as St. Vitus's Dance, and the movements of the convulsionaries, manifestations of spiritual intelligence were quite common. The tendency of the spiritual force is to act spirally, rhythmically, whether in the use of language or of the bodily members.

1868 Chambers's Encyc. V 174: GYROMANCY..was a method of divination by means of a circle, and was generally performed in the following manner: the soothsayer described a circle, and marked it all round with letters; then he commenced to walk round the circle, repeating his incantations, and at the places where he stopped the letters were carefully noted, and by the interpretation put upon these letters, the answer of the god was obtained.

1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 162: By giromancy...

1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662: gyromancy - Consists in the whirling of a nicked coin in a circle of letters. Words are spelled out by taking those letters toward which the nick in the coin points in its various falls.

1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel III. xxv. 153: By giromancy...

1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 199/2: [copying Rich]

1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361: By gyromancy, if thou shouldest turn round in circles, thou mightest assure thyself from me, that they would fall always on the wrong side.

1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 74: Gyromancy: Divination by having a person walk around a chalked circle until he collapses and observing the position of his body relative to the circle.

1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: gyromancy, spinning in a circle.

1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and Demonology 139: [citing Gaule] Gyromancy, by rounds or circles.

1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Gyromancy - by whirling round until dizziness causes a fall.

1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 466: GYROMANCY: This was performed by persons walking in a circle marked with letters until they became dizzy and stumbled at different points, thus, they were spelling out a prophecy.

1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iv. 61: Other ancient methods involved arranging the letters of the alphabet in a circle. They were then chosen by various methods. In gyromancy, the soothsayer danced round and round until he became so giddy that he fell on one.

1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) i. 3: In later centuries, alectryomancy was revived along with other ancient divinatory arts, and mention is made of it by various writers of the Middle Ages. In the course of time, it underwent many minor changes. Among its most striking offshoots, gyromancy was a standout.
Ibid. With alectryomancy, the rooster was hungry; with gyromancy, the people were giddy.
Ibid. 318: GYROMANCY: Originally performed by persons moving around a circle marked with letters or symbols, until they became dizzy and stumbled, thus spelling out words or enabling a diviner to intepret [sic] the symbols. From this, according to some authorities, developed wild, whirling dances by fanatics who uttered prophecies after collapsing in a state of complete exhaustion. Rolling down the side of a hill can produce a similar state of ecstasy for those who care to try it.

1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult

1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult

1993 McCormack Q&A 70L GYROMANCY - walking in a circle until dizzy.

In Dictionaries