Only one actual example of this variant exists, namely:
c1500 (?a1475) Lydgate
Assembly of the Gods 869 (MED): These folowyd Konnyng
&..came..offryng her seruyce To Vertew..but..Som he refusyd..These
were her names: fyrst, Nygromansy, Geomansy, Magyk, and Glotony,
Adryomancy, Ornomancy, with Pyromancy.
Etymology Variant Forms Citations In Dictionaries
Variant Forms Middle English: aermacye, aeromance, aeromancye, aeromauncie, aerymancie. Modern: aeromancie, \aeromancy, a\"eromancy, aeromanty, eromancy, heromanty. New Latin: aeromantia, a\"eromantia.
Citations a1475 Lydgate Pilgr. 20706 (MED): My secounde scoler in the hayr..doth devyne..Hyr name ys callyd Aermacye.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.: aeromanteia]
1594 Greene Frier Bacon & Frier Bongay (I. ii. ll. 13-18): Burden. Bacon we hear, that long we have suspect, That thou art read in Magicks mysterie; In Piromancie to diuine by flames; To tell by Hadromaticke, ebbes and tides; By Aeromancie, to discouer doubts, To plaine out questions, as Apollo did.
1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 69: If these apparitions are in the Ayre, then it is called Aeromancie.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165. ..Aeromancy, or divining by the ayr...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: Have you a mind (quoth Her Trippa) to have the truth of the matter yet more fully and amply disclosed unto you by..Aeromancy, (whereof Aristophanes in his Clouds maketh great estimation)...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329. [citing Gaule]
1797 Encyc. Brit. (3rd ed.) VII 66: Aeromancy was the art of divining by the air. This vain science has also come to us from the Pagans; but is rejected by reason as well as Christianity, as false and absurd.
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: [citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions 251. Aeromancy, or divining by the air. [citing Gaule]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 333: aeromancy, meteoromancy, Includes every kind of divination by the phenomena of the air, particularly those of thunder, lightning, and fiery meteors.
1897 (Agrippa) Three Bks Occult Phil. lvii. 179: After the same manner, also, doth Aeromancy divine by airy impressions, by the blowing of the winds, by rainbows, by circles round about the moon and stars, by mists and clouds, and by imaginations in clouds and visions in the air.
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii. xxv. 161. ..by aeromancy...
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci. (1971) iii. 1663. aeromancy - Divination by appearances in the air.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 153. ..by aeromancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 4/1: Aeromancy: The art of foretelling future events by the observation of atmospheric phenomena, as, for example, when the death of a great man is presaged by the appearance of a comet. Fran\c cois de la Tour Blanche says that aeromancy is the art of fortune-telling by means of spectres which are made to appear in the air, or the representation by the aid of demons, of future events, which are projected on the clouds as if by a magic lantern "As for thunder and lightning," he adds, "these are concerned with auguries, and the aspect of the sky and of the planets belong to the science of astrology."
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery (1963) viii. 301: Aeromancy was divination by examining the variations and different phenomena of the air; its nature is not very clear.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 360 Have you a mind, quoth Her Trippa, to have the truth of the matter yet more fully and amply disclosed unto you by..aeromancy, whereof Aristophanes in his Clouds maketh great estimation..?
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 6: Aeromancy: Divination by observing atmospheric conditions or ripples on the surface of water.
1955 Cohen tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 357. ..by aeromancy...
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Aeromancy, or divining by the air.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii. 219: Aeromancy is a method that observes atmospheric conditions.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural 41: In North America, the Navaho Indians draw fortune-telling pictures on sand, magical puzzle-pictures. Everything soon becomes an omen to be read. In this way were born: aeromancy (divination by the air)...
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Aeromancy - by atmospheric phenomena; weather predicting.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 463: AEROMANCY: The divination of the future from the Air and sky. This goes beyond the range of weather prognostications and concentrates upon cloud shapes, comets, spectral formations, and other phenomena not normally visible in the Heavens. Even in modern times such visions have caused much speculation and consternation among human viewers.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) 311. aeromancy: Divination from atmospheric conditions ranging from halos around the sun or moon to the unexpected appearance of heavenly bodies such as the comet of 44 B.C., which presaged the death of Julius Caesar, and that of a.d. 1066, which preceded the Norman Conquest of England. Mirages have also been responsible for omens of this type, as were the famous "Bowmen of Mons," huge spectral figures seen by British soldiers during World War I, which encouraged them to hold off the attacks of superior German forces, a phenomenon still not fully explained by natural means.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 148. All the elements had an important part to play in the divination arts of the ancient world. But many of the details of aeromancy (divination by atmospheric conditions) and hydromancy (divination by water) have become obscure, leaving us with a few ways of using these arts in foretelling our future today. Winds, storms, clouds, rainbows - almost anything occurring in the sky - could be interpreted in aeromancy. The Etruscans and Babylonians were especially concerned with thunder and lightning; the Hindus interpreted the castles in the air formed by the shapes of clouds.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 4/1: Aeromancy. Divination from the air and sky, using cloud shapes, comets, and other aerial formations.
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 253. Aeromancy consisted in casting sand or dirt into the wind and studying the shape of the resulting dust cloud; or in throwing seeds into the wind, allowing them to settle on the ground, and interpretting their pattern (though this is also considered a form of aleuromancy).
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 69 aeromancy (chaomancy) - appearances in the air; weather forecasting. In Dictionaries
1616 Bullokar An English Expositor s.v. divination. Besides these there were also other diuinations, as namely Aeromancie, that which is gathered by apparitions in the aire.
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.) (reverse dictionary) Diuination of things by the ayre, Aeromancy.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng. Tongues Aeromantie. Diuination by the ayre.]
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..Aeromancy, by the Air.
Ibid. Aeromancy (aeromantia) a kind of divination by
the air.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words: Aeromancy, (Greek) a foretelling of things, by some certain signs in the air.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: A\"eromancy, g. divining by air.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum: Aeromancy, a Fore-telling of Things by certain Signs in the Air.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i. ‘romancy ['ànpomanteia of 'ànp, the Air, and manteia, Prophesy, Gr.] a foretelling future Events from certain Spectres or other Appearances in the Air, and sometimes thus; they folded their Heads in a Napkin, and having placed a Bowl full of Water in the open Air, they proposed their Question in a small whispering Voice, at which Time if the Water boiled or fermented, they thought what they had spoken of was approved and confirmed.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th ed.) aeromancy [of 'Anp and manteia, Divination, Gr.] a divining or foretelling of Things by certain Signs in the Air. aeromantick, belonging to Divination by the Air.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840) Aeromancy..The art of divining by the air. Dict.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by appearances in the air, Aeromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. aeromancy..Divination by means of the air and winds.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang. aeromancy..A mode of divination from certain appearances in the air. Cotgrave.
1884 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) i. a‰romancy..by means of the air and winds or atmospheric phenomena: now sometimes used to denote the practice of forecasting changes in the weather.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i. aeromancy..The art of divination or augury by atmospheric phenomena; hence, a forecasting of the weather or of atmospheric changes.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) i aeromancy, aeromantie or aeromance..Divination by means of the air and its movement. A‰romanty is the spelling by Cotgrave; a‰romancy that by Kersey and in modern books of reference.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. aeromancy [main words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict. aeromancy..Divination by means of aerial phenomona; forecasting the weather. [marked obsolete]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 15. aeromancy. Divination - foretelling events, predicting the future - by appearances in the air.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. aeromancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.) aeromancy..divination relating to the air and sky.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 aeromancy (divination by air)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 208. aeromancy 1. the art or science of divination by means of the air or winds. 2. Humorous. weather forecasting. Cf. austromancy.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1393. Cockeram - in main dict?
NL Cornelius Agrippa De Occult Philosophia lvii. "Aeromantia
prognostica pr\aeebet per impressionnes aereas, per ventorum flatus, per
irides, per halones, per nebulas et nubes, perque imaginationes in
nubibes et visiones in aere."
aichmomancy
A method of divination utilising sharp points, as pins, etc.
This word, derived from the ancient Greek aichme point of a spear, is one of the numerous terms appearing in Shipley only. To which specific method of divination it is meant to refer to is not clear.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 15: aichmomancy, by sharp points.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 136: Common
omens and superstitions 2. 1 HORSES (HIPPOMANCY)... 2 CATS
(AILUROMANCY) A cat washing its face or ears - Rain. A cat
washing one ear three times - Expect visitors from the direction in
which the cat is looking. A cat following you - Money...[etc.]
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng. Tongues Alebromantie. Diuination by barley meale mixed with wheat.]
1656 Blount Glossographia s.v. divination.
Alebromancy, by Barly meal mixed with Wheat.
Ibid.
[alphabetised according to this spelling] Alebromancy
(Greek) divination by barley meal mixed with wheat.
1704 E. Cocker English Dict. (OED)
1884 OED.
This word is of the same vintage as alectryomancy, and arises from a slightly different Greek word, namely: alektor a rooster (as opposed to alektryon). Variant Forms: alectromanchy (rare), alectromancy (showing elision, and electromancy. Also the New Latin form alectoromantia is commonly seen.
1758 Ann. Reg. 275/2 (OED): The mysteries of chyromancy, alectromanchy and catoptromanchy. 1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 330: Alectromancy [citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Alectromancy [citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions 252: Alectromancy, by cocks. [citing Hone citing Gaule]
1855 Edward Smedley in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 325: alectromancy, Or Alectoromantia, an ancient method of divination with a cock. In practising it, a circle must be made in a good close place, and this must be divided equally into as many parts as there are letters in the alphabet. Then wheat-corn must be placed on every letter, beginning with A, during which the depositor must repeat this verse, Ecce enim veritatum, &c. This must be done when the sun or moon is in Aries or Leo. A young cock, all white, should then be taken, his claws cut off, and these he should be forced to swallow with a little scroll of parchment made of lambskin upon which has been previously written [heb chars]. The diviner holding the cock should repeat, O Deus Creator omnium, qui firmamentum pulchritudine stellarum formƒsti, constituens eas in signa et tempora, infunde virtutem tuam operibus nostris, ut per opus in eis consequamur effectum. Next, on placing the cock within the circle, he must repeat these two verses of the Psalms: Domine, dilexi decorum dom–s tu‘ et locum habitationis tu‘. Domine Deus virtutum, converte nos et ostende faciem tuam, et salvi erimus. These are exactly the midmost of the seventy-two verses mentioned under the head of Onimancy, and it is to be noted on the authority of an ancient Rabbi, that there is nothing in these seventy-two which is not of some cabalistic secret. The cock being within the circle, it must be observed from what letters he pecks the grains, and upon these others must be placed, because some names and words contain the same letters twice or thrice. These letters should be written down and put together, and they will infallibly reveal the name of the person concerning whom inquiry has been made; it is said, though the story is doubted, that the magician Jamblicus used this art to discover the person who should succeed Valens C‘sar in the empire, but the bird picking up but four grains, those which lay on the letters th, e, o, d, left it uncertain whether Theodosius, Theodotus, Theodorus, or Theodectes, were the person designed. Valens, however, learning what had been done, put to death several individuals whose names unhappily began with those letters, and the magician, to avoid the effects of his resentment, took a draught of poison. (`Zonaras iii., Valens.') A kind of Alectromantia was also practised upon the crowing of the cock, and the periods at which it was heard.
1880 J. Grant Mysteries of all Nations xl. 368: There was an art among the Greeks known as Alectoromantia, by which future events were made known by means of a cock's movements. A circle was made on the ground, and divided into twenty- four equal parts, in each of which spaces was written one of the letters of the alphabet, and upon each of these letters was laid a grain of wheat. This done, the fowl was turned loose, and watched to ascertain the order in which the grains were picked up. The letters corresponding to those grains were formed into words, and supplied an answer to important questions.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 453: alectoromantia - is a kind of divination performed by means of a cock, which was used among the Greeks...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 13/1: [copying Smedley]
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: Alectoromancy, or alectryomancy, is divination by a cock; it is a famous and very ancient method.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural 41: In North America, the Navaho Indians draw fortune-telling pictures on sand, magical puzzle-pictures. Everything soon becomes an omen to be read. In this way were born: ..alectromancy (from a cock), alectryomancy and alphitomancy (divination from grains of wheat) and also alveromancy (divination from barley).
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Alectromancy - by a cock picking up grain.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iv. 61: In electromancy, a grain of wheat was placed by each letter and a cock set in the centre of the circle. A note was made of the letters from which the cock ate the grain.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult Alectromancy.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70: alectromancy - a
cock picking up grain.
It is one of the few -mancys that Johnson bothered to record. The word "Dict." after his definition means that Johnson took this word (in its alternate form) from the dictionary he used as a base, namely Bailey.
1731 Bailey Dict. (OED): Alectoromancy, an ancient divination, in which they made use of a cock in discovering secret and unknown transactions of future events.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840): Alectryomancy, or Alectoromancy. n.s. [alektryon, and manteia.] Divination by a cock. Dict.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511: ..by a cock picking up grains, Alectryomancy (or Alectoromancy)...
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.: alectoromancy..Alectryomancy.
1884 OED. Note.
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I: alectoromancy.. Same as alectryomancy. [marked obsolete]
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.: alectoromancy..Same as alectryomancy.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: alectoromancy [minor words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 15: alectromancy, by a cock's picking up grains.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. [as variant]
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.: aeromancy..fortunetelling by air or wind; weather forecasting.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 208: alectoromancy, alectryomancy - a form of divination by recording the letters revealed as a cock eats kernels of corn that cover them.
1987 Random House Dict.: [as variant]
2. (loosely) any divination involving a rooster. (specifically) a. a once common mode of divination in which, firstly, a circle of letters (originally twenty-four in number, since j, v are the same as i, u) is laid out with some sort of grain placed on each letter. Next a rooster is let pick at the grains, thus selecting letters to create a divinatory message or sign. The chosen letters could be either read in order of selection, or rearranged to make an anagram. b.the observing of chickens feeding in order to gain omens. c. divination by the crowing of a rooster.
[1656 Blount]
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: ..or yet by Alectryomancy.
1684 Phil. Trans. XIV. 706 (OED): The author singles Alectryomancy for the subject of this book.
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii. xxv. 163: ..by alectryomancy...
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154: ..by alectryomancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 13/2: In the fourth song of the Caquet Bonbec, of Jonquieres, a poet of the fourteenth century, the details of an operation in alectryomancy are exactly and curiously set forth.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: Alectoromancy, or alectryomancy, is divination by a cock; it is a famous and very ancient method.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361: Or yet by alectryomancy.
1955 Cohen tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 359: Or perhaps by alectryomancy.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and Demonology 139. [citing Gaule; but altering spelling] Alectryomancy, by cocks or poultry.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii. 220: Alectryomancy employs a cock that pecks grain placed on letters of the alphabet.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural 41: In North America, the Navaho Indians draw fortune-telling pictures on sand, magical puzzle-pictures. Everything soon becomes an omen to be read. In this way were born: ..alectryomancy and alphitomancy (divination from grains of wheat) and also alveromancy (divination from barley). Note.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 463: ALECTRYOMANCY: A bird, a black hen or white gamecock, is allowed to pick grains of corn from a circle of letters, thus forming words with Prophetic significance. Another method is to recite the letters of the alphabet, making note of those at which the cock crows.
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.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 142: Alectryomancy Predicting from the eating patterns of sacred chickens.
1984 Bill Hartson & Jill Dawson The Ultimate Irrelevant Encyclopedia: Divination by cock is called alectryomancy. Grains of corn are arranged in a circle, each grain covering one letter of the alphabet. A cock is placed at the centre of the circle and spells out its prediction according to which grains it pecks at. The succession of the Roman Emperor Theodosius was thus predicted by a couple of smart alectryomancers.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 8/1: Alectryomancy. Divination through the actions of birds, often a black hen or a gamecock. In Africa, where this is practised, the diviner sprinkles grain on the ground and allows the birds to peck at it. When the bird has finished, the seer interprets the patterns that remain on the ground.
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 251: Alectryomancy
was another method by which the Romans explored the will of gods. It
consisted in consulting the sacred chickens that were carried along on
military campaigns. If, before a battle, the chickens ate the food so
greedily that some of it fell from their beaks, this was considered an
excellent omen.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng. Tongues: Alectryomantie: f. Diuination by a Cocke; or by the Cocke stone.]
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..Alectryomancy, by a Cock.
Ibid.: Alectryomancy (Greek) divination by a Cock or
by the Cock-stone. Cotgr.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words: Alectryomancy, (Greek) a certain kinde of divination among the ancients, which was done by a Cock.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Alectryomancy, g. Cock-divination.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.: alectryomancy [Alectryomantia, L. of 'Alektryomantiea of 'Alektor a Cock, and manteia, Gr. Divination] a very mysterious Divination, in which they made use of a Cock in discovering secret and unknown Transactions or future Events. The Method was this; they first wrote on the Dust the 24 Letters of the Alphabet, and laid a grain of Wheat or Barley upon every one of them; then having prepared a Cock magically, they let him loose among them, and those Letters out of which he picked the Corns being put together, were thought to declare whatever they had a Mind to know.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.: alectryomancy (s.) an ancient sort of divination...
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th ed.): alectryomancy [of 'Alektor and manteia, Prophecy, Gr.] a Divination by Cocks.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840) Alectryomancy, or Alectoromancy. n.s...Divination by a cock. Dict.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511: ..by a cock picking up grains, Alectryomancy (or Alectoromancy)...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.: alectryomancy..An ancient practice of foretelling events by means of a cock. The twenty-four letters were laid on the ground, and a grain of corn on each; a cock was then permitted to pick up the grains, and the letters under the grain selected, being formed into words, were supposed to foretel the event desired.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.: alectryomancy.. Divination by a cock; attempting to foretell by a cock. Bailey.
1884 OED.
1899 Century Dict. (1902) i.: alectryomancy..An ancient practice of foretelling events by means of a cock. The letters of the alphabet were traced on the ground in squares within a circle, and a grain of corn was placed on each; a cock was then permitted to pick up the grains, and the letters under them, being formed into words in the order of their selection by the cock, were supposed to foretell the event. Sometimes written alectoromancy.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.: alectryomancy..Divination by the order in which grains covering letters of the alphabet traced on the ground were eaten by a cock.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I:
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. alectryomancy [main words list]
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict.: alectryomancy.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.) alectryomancy..a form of divination whereby a bird, usually a black hen or a white gamecock, is allowed to pick grains of corn from a circle of letters, thus forming words.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6: alectryomancy (cocks picking up grain)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 208: alectoromancy, alectryomancy - a form of divination by recording the letters revealed as a cock eats kernels of corn that cover them.
1987 Random House Dict.
The assertation that the use of fortune cookies is a modern-day
survival is as prevalent as it is wrong. In much of the
literature of folk-lore, superstition, witch-craft, the occult, etc.,
there is made a habit of finding some analogous practice from ancient
times and thence stating that the modern-day practice is a
survival. The term survival implies a continuation of
the practice throughout the intervening years, presumedly unrecorded
and underground. It is as though the idea that the two similar practices
may have had separate geneses, one ancient, the other modern, is out
of the question, though this is often more likely to be the case. In this
instance the proposition that the ancient Greek aleuromancy continued
beyond the end of the Grecian period, was somehow transported to China,
then lost to the Chinese, except to those who emmigrated to North
America and took up the restaurant trade, is ludicrous. Similarly
impossible is the alternate proposition that the whole of
humanity, (or at least the Greeks as well as the Chinese) in
ancient times practised some common form of aleuromancy, of which
the making of fortune cookies is the only vestige remaining.
This practice of guilelessly identifying supposed survivals is quite old.
That it is still common is no wonder since many influential books
and authors have indulged in it quite freely. It can be seen
throughout Brand's Popular Antiquities, a hugely
popular book that went in to numerous editions, and it occurs
in much of the literature on witchcraft due to the theories and works
of Margaret Murray. Sir James Fraser's all-important Golden Bough
constantly cites connections between ancient beliefs and more recent
practices, but, at least in the examples I am familiar with, is cautious
in doing so and always cites numerous instances to back up his assertions.
Other examples of this "survival" notion in this document are to be seen
at: alomancy, ceromancy,
chartomancy, ovomancy
and xylomancy.
Caelius Calcagninus, Compendium amatoriae magiae (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Aleuromantia, per tritici ac farinae excussiones."
[1656 Blount]
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: By Alentomancy, mixing the Flower of Wheat with Oatmeal.
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 329: aleuromancy , or alphitomancy, Was a method of divination, or rather ordeal by flour or bread. Probably, it differed very little from the corsned or cursed bread of the Anglo-Saxons [see Note]. "Another species of purgation," says Blackstone, "probably sprung from a presumptuous abuse of revelation in the dark ages of superstition, was the corsned, or morsel of execration - being a piece of cheese or bread, of about an ounce in weight, which was consecrated with a form of exorcism, desiring the Almighty that it might cause convulsions and paleness, and to find no passage if the man was really guilty; but might turn to health and nourishment, if he was innocent" (`Commentaries,' vol. iv., p.345). It is stated by several authorities that Earl Godwin was choked by the corsned. For the form of the exorcism, another writer has referred to Spelman's `Glossarium,' p.439, and he adds, "barley bread was used in preference to any other, apparently for no reason but that, being more difficult of mastication, it had more chance of choking."
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. Magic ii. 461: Among the various other kinds of divination not here mentioned may be enumerated Chilomancy performed with keys; Alphitomancy or Aleuromancy, by flour; Keraunoscopia, by the consideration of thunder; Eychnomancy, [sic] by lamps; Ooscopy, by eggs; Licanomancy by a basin of water; Palpitatim, Salisatio, by the pulsation or motion of some member etc.
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii. xxv. 161: By alentomancy, mixing the flour of wheat with oatmeal.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 153: By alentomancy...
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662: aleuromancy - Was the means of picking out a guilty person. He was given a piece of barley bread and cheese an ounce of which he must swallow at once. If he choked he was guilty, otherwise innocent.
1913 Halliday Greek Div. ix. 185: ..aleuromancy..was of sufficient importance to create for Apollo the cult title aleuromantis...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 13/2: Aleuromancy: A species of divination practised with flour. Sentences were written on slips of paper, each of which were rolled up in a little ball of flour. These were thoroughly mixed up nine times, and divided amongst the curious, who were waiting to learn their fate. Apollo, who was supposed to preside over this form of divination, was surnamed Aleuromantis. So late as the nineteenth century the custom lingered in remoter districts.
c1928 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua and Pantagruel iii. xxv. 486: By Alentomancy...
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: Aleuromancy and alphitomancy were almost analogous processes; cakes were made of wheat or barley flour which could not be swallowed by anyone guilty of a given misdeed.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361: By aleuromancy, mixing the flour of wheat with oatmeal.
1955 Cohen tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 358: ..by aleuromancy, mixing wheat with flour...
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii. 220: Messages, enclosed in balls of dough, become prophetic of the future. This method, known as aleuromancy, is still in use among the Chinese.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural 41: In North America, the Navaho Indians draw fortune-telling pictures on sand, magical puzzle-pictures. Everything soon becomes an omen to be read. In this way were born: ..alectromancy (from a cock), alectryomancy and alphitomancy (divination from grains of wheat) and also alveromancy (divination from barley).
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 463: ALEUROMANCY: This requires slips with answers to questions which are rolled in balls of dough and baked. These are mixed up and one is chosen at random and presumably will be fulfilled. Our modern 'fortune cookies' are a survival of this Ancient ritual.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Aleuromancy...flour
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) 311: ALEUROMANCY: Divination by predictions written on slips of paper and baked in cakes that are chosen at random by interested persons, like Chinese fortune cookies. This has also survived in the custom of baking a coin or ring in a large cake, which is then divided among guests, one of whom is lucky and finds the gift.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 104: Aleuromancy This is said to have been in common practice until the ninth century. All the possible answers to a specific question were written on slips of paper, and these were then rolled up and baked inside small balls of dough. The querant chose a ball at random, and broke it open to find the answer. The tradition survives today in the "fortune cookies" available in some Chinese restaurants. Customers choose one of the small hollow pastries, and break it open to find the slip of paper that tells their fortune.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 8/1: Aleuromancy. Divination practised with flour. Among the ancient Greeks, the procedure was as follows: sentences were composed, written on small pieces of paper, and rolled up in balls of flour. The balls were then mixed up nine times and distributed to those who were eager for information on their destiny. Apollo presided over this form of divination. Aleuromancy is not widely practised today, but modern-day fortune cookies are a form of this type of fortune-telling.
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 253:
Aeromancy consisted in casting sand or dirt into the wind and
studying the shape of the resulting dust cloud; or in throwing seeds into
the wind, allowing them to settle on the ground, and interpretting their
pattern (though this is also considered a form of aleuromancy).
Ibid. ..if flour is thrown on the flames, this is a form of
aleuromancy...
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 69. ALEUROMANCY - with flour or meal.
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..Alebromancy, [sic] by Barly
meal mixed with Wheat.
Ibid. [alphabetised according to
this spelling] Alebromancy (Greek) divination by barley
meal mixed with wheat.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Alevromancy,
g. Divination by Barly and Wheat.
Ibid. Aleuromancy,
g. Cake-Divination.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum: Aleuromancy, a kind of Sooth-saying, by Bread, or Cake-Paste.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th ed.) ALEUROMANCY [of 'Aleuron Meal and manteia, Gr. Prophecy] a Divination by Cake or Paste.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511: ..by meal, Aleuromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.: aleuromancy..A kind of divination by meal, used by the ancients.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.: aleuromancy.. Divination by means of flour. Craig.
1884 OED.
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I: aleuromancy.. A method of divination by meal of flour, practised by the ancients.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.: aleuromancy..Divination by the agency of meal or flour.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: aleuromancy [minor words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 15: aleuromancy, by dough.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict.: aleuromancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.: aleuromancy..fortunetelling with flour or meal.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.): aleuromancy..a form of divination in which fortune cookies are used.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6: aleuromancy (fortune cookies)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 208: aleuromancy an old form of divination using meal or flour. - aleuromantic, adj.
1987 Random House Dict.
The word itself, appears to be only recorded only in dictionaries and
books on the occult. The OED records it as a variant of halomancy, but
when that word is consulted only one citation appears, Websters (1864),
where the form is indeed alomancy. Since it is not labelled
rare-0 then one must assume that the OED had citations of the
h form, though ones later than 1864. OED misses the fact that
in 1852 the h form appears in Roget's Thesaurus, even
though this source is cited in other OED -mancy entries.
What is remarkable is the fact that, in a time of prescriptive
dictionaries, the lexicogrpahers of the day did not mark the form
alomancy as incorrect or erroneous.
Presumably Roget and Webster had original sources for the words, or perhaps they both had the same source and Roget etymologically normalised the form. As yet I have not been able to discover a 19th century primary source.
1864 Websters (OED): alomancy.
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.: alomancy..Divination by salt.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.: alomancy.. Divination by salt. Ogilvie.
1884 OED. [cross-referenced to halomancy]
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I: alomancy.. Same as halomancy.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: alomancy [minor words list]
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.: alomancy..Same as halomancy.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I: alomancy..Imagined divination by salt.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 16/1: Alomancy: Divination by means of salt, of which process little is known. It is this science which justifies people in saying that misfortune is about to fall on the household when the salt cellar is overturned.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii. 220: Salt is used in alomancy...
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 463: ALOMANCY: The divination by salt, which accounts for some of our modern superstitions.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) 311: ALOMANCY or HALOMANCY: Use of salt in various divinations, probably dating from its ancient use as an offering to pagan gods, because of its scarcity and necessity. From that developed other rites in which salt played a significant part; hence any careless waste of such a precious substance was sure to rouse the wrath of the presiding deities[.] This has survived in the modern superstition that spilling salt brings bad luck.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.): alomancy..divination be means of salt.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 9/1: Alomancy. Divination by sprinkling salt. The diviner interprets future events by analyzing the patterns made by this action. Alomancy has probably given rise to the superstition that spilling salt is unlucky. Misfortune is averted by casting a small amount of the salt over the left shoulder.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208: alomancy halomancy.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.: alphitomanteia]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166. ..Alphitomancy, by meal, flower, or branne...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: By Alphitomancy, cried up by Theocritus in his Pharmeketria.
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. Alphitomancy, by meal, flour, or bran. [citing Hone citing Gaule]
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. Magic ii. 461: Among the various other kinds of divination not here mentioned may be enumerated Chilomancy performed with keys; Alphitomancy or Aleuromancy, by flour; Keraunoscopia, by the consideration of thunder; Eychnomancy, by lamps; Ooscopy, by eggs; Licanomancy by a basin of water; Palpitatim, Salisatio, by the pulsation or motion of some member etc.
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii. xxv. 161. By alphitomancy...
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 153. By alphitomancy...
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662. [copied from Howitt 1893]
1913 Halliday Greek Div. ix. 185. Ooskopy..libanomancy..and aleuromancy..belong to the same order of sub-rites. [footnote] Also phyllomancy, alphitomancy, krithomancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 16/2:
Alphitomancy: A method of divination carried out with the help of
barley, which has been practised since the earliest days.
Ibid.
There was said to be near Lavinium a sacred wood, where
Alphitomancy was practised in order to test the purity of
women. The priests kept a serpent, or, as some say, a dragon, in a
cavern in the wood. On certain days of the year the young women were
sent thither, blind-folded, and carrying a cake made of barley flour and
honey. The devil, we are told, led them by the right road. Those who
were innocent had their cakes eaten by the serpent, while the cakes of
the others were refused.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: Aleuromancy and alphitomancy were almost analogous processes; cakes were made of wheat or barley flour which could not be swallowed by anyone guilty of a given misdeed.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By alphitomancy, cried up by Theocritus in his Pharmaceutria.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 9: Alphitomancy: An ancient form of divination of the guilt or innocence of an accused individual by making him swallow a piece of barley loaf, which was supposed to produce indigestion in the guilty.
1955 Cohen tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 358. By alphitomancy, described by Theocritus in his Pharmaceutria...
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Alphitomancy, by meal, flour, or bran.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii. 220: ..wheat or barley cakes, used in a kind of trial by ordeal in the Middle Ages, constituted alphitomancy.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural 41: In North America, the Navaho Indians draw fortune-telling pictures on sand, magical puzzle-pictures. Everything soon becomes an omen to be read. In this way were born: ..alectromancy (from a cock), alectryomancy and alphitomancy (divination from grains of wheat) and also alveromancy (divination from barley).
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden Knowledge 463: ALPHITOMANCY: A form which utilizes special cakes which are digestible by persons with a clear conscience, but are distasteful to all others.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. & Prophecy (1989) 311. ALPHITOMANCY: Determining an accused person's innocence by having him swallow a piece of a specially baked barley loaf, with choking or other ill-effects marking him as guilty. In the year 1053, Earl Godwin of Wessex, England, collapsed while taking this test to support a false oath, and died a few days later. This case has frequently been cited as a strong argument in favor of alphitomancy as a divinatory process.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 140. Alphitomancy enabled the seers to detect lies or dishonesty with special cakes made of wheat or barley flour - these were supposed to be swallowed easily by those of a clear conscience, but to choke liars or wrong-doers. A similar ordeal was known in medieval English law, but the special cakes were replaced by a consecrated "trial slice" of bread or cheese.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 9/1: Alphitomancy. Divination by means of a leaf of barley, used to identify a culprit. Pieces of the leaf would be given to a group of accused persons. The innocent would suffer no ill effects, but the culprit would have an attack of indigestion and thereby identify himself.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70 ALPHITOMANCY - with barley meal. In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng. Tongues Alphitomantie. Diuination by barley meale.]
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..Alphitomancy, by Barly meal.
Ibid. Alphitomancy (Gr.) divination by barley meal.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words: Alphitomancy, (Greek) a divination by Barley meal.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Alphitomancy, g. Divination by barley-meal.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. ALPHITOMANCY of 'A^íiçà Barley Meal, and manteia, Gr. Divination,] a sort of Divination by Barley-Meal.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th ed.) ALPHITOMANCY, Divination by Barley-meal. Gr.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by meal, Aleuromancy, Alphitomancy...
1855 See aleuromancy.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang. alphitomancy.. Divination by means of barley-meal. Ogilvie.
1884 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I alphitomancy.. Divination by means of barley-meal.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i. alphitomancy..Divination with barley-meal.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. alphitomancy [minor words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 15. alphitomancy, by barley meal.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict. alphitomancy..fortunetelling with barley meal.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.) alphitomancy..a means of divination using special cakes that are said to have a pleasant taste only for persons with a clear conscience.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 alphitomancy (barley meal)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.) 208. alphitomancy a form of divination involving the examination of barley.
1987 Random House Dict.
NOTES: OED Gaule 1652. Then Urquhart, then Bailey and mod dicts.
OED adds 'divining' into cit. unbracketed. Naughty. cit 1855 equates
this with aleuromancy.
In New Latin - C‘lius Calcagninus, Compendium amatori‘
magi‘ (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Alphitomantia, quam ceu digito
Theocritus signavit in Pharmaceutria." - evidently Rabelias was
taking from Calcagninus.
amathomancy: divination by dust. [Gk 'àæàéoc
(amathos) sand]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
amathomancy, dust.
NOTES: Not in OED.
ambulomancy: divination involving walking. [L
ambulare to walk]
1816 in Monthly Magazine xlii. 22. (OED) His
Ambulomancy, and many other foolish observances.
1884 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
ambulomancy.. Divination by walking. [Rare.]
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
ambulomancy..[Rare.] Divination by walking.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. ambulomancy [minor
words list; labelled rare]
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208. ambulomancy a form of divination involving walking,
usually in circles. Cf. gyromancy.
NOTES: in OED as above. labelled 'rare'.
amniomancy: divination by the examination of the caul
on a baby's head.
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 410:
Amniomantia, divination per amnium s[ive] membranam tertiam
embryonis.]
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. amniomancy [minor
words list]
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 23/1:
Amniomancy: Divination by means of the caul, or membrane which
sometimes envelopes the head of a child at birth. From an inspection of
this caul, the wise women predict the sort of future the baby will have.
If it be red, happy days are in store for the child, or if lead-coloured, he
will have misfortunes.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: The caul on a child's head, at birth, was examined in
amniomancy.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural
41: The amniotic membrane, which occasionally envelops the head of
the newborn, led to amniomancy.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Amniomancy -
by a caul.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy
iii. 42. In amniomancy, the ancient Greeks inspected the caul at
birth. If it was pinkish, the baby would be lucky; if bluish, unlucky.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312. AMNIOMANCY: A term applied to
traditional predictions made regarding a child that is born with a
membranous caul over its head.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208. amniomancy a form of divination by examining the
embryonic sac or amniotic fluid.
[NL amniomantia, from Gk 'àæviov (amnion) caul]
NOTES: Not in OED.
anagramalectryomancy: (nonce)
alectryomancy in which the letters chosen are rearranged to form a
word. [anagram + alectryomancy]
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) i. 6. This could very well be titled
"anagramalectryomancy," for that is exactly what it is, but the shorter
term of "anagrammatic divination" is preferable, as it is more
understandable. Either way, it adds up the same.
NOTES: Not in OED.
anthomancy: divination by flowers. [Gk 'àvéoc
(anthos) flower]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
anthomancy, flowers (She loves me, she loves me not!)
NOTES: Not in OED.
anthracomancy: divination by burning coal. Only
recorded in dictionaries.
1885 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
anthracomancy.. Divination by means of burning coals.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
anthracomancy..Divination by observation by burning coals.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. anthracomancy [minor
words list]
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
anthracomancy..fortunetelling with burning coal.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208. anthracomancy the art of divination through the study of
burning coals. - anthracomantic. adj.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70.
ANTHRACOMANCY - burning coal.
[Gk 'àvépàk- (anthrak-) stem of 'àvépàî (anthrax)
coal]
NOTES: OED defines and says merely (In mod. Dicts.) labels rare-0.
anthromancy: Apparently an error for anthropomancy,
however the term anthroscopy is sometimes seen? Blount
copies Cotgrave.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Anthromantie. Diuination by the raysing of dead men.]
1656 Blount Glossographia
Anthromancy (Gr.) divination by the raising of dead men.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Antromancy,
g. Divination by consulting the dead. [alphabetised between
Amian and Anzigues, but far away from other words
beginning ant-]
NOTES: See 'anthroscopy' - d. by the features. (Q&A)
anthropomancy: divination by the inspection
of the entrails of sacrificed people.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
1618 B. Holyday Tîxvoyàæià, 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.
..Antinopomancy, [sic] by the entrails of men, women
and children...
1656 See prev.
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By
Anthropomancy, practised by the Roman Emporer Heliagabolus; it is
somewhat irksom, but thou wil endure it well enough, seeing thou art
destinated to be a Cuckold.
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
Antinopomancy [citing Gaule].
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Holiday, via
Brand]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Anthropomancy, by the entrails of human
beings. [citing Hone citing Gaule]
1891 John G. Bourke Scatalogic Rites of all
Nations xl. 272: The Romans were addicted to this mode of
divination [sc. urinomancy], which Schurig incorrectly styles
"Anthropomancy."
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 163. By anthopomancy...
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By anthropomancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 27/1:
Anthropomancy: Divination by the entrails of men or women. This
horrible usage is very ancient. Herodotus said the Menelaus, detained in
Egypt by contrary winds, sacrificed to his barbarous curiosity, two
children of the country, and sought to discover his destiny by means of
anthropomancy. Heliogabalus practised this means of
divination. Julian the Apostate, in his magical operations, during his
nocturnal sacrifices, cause, it is said, a large number of children to be
killed, so that he might consult their entrails.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 12:
Anthropomancy: The ancient art of divination by examining the
intestines of a dead person - specifically, of a human sacrifice.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
anthropomancy, practised by the Roman Emperor Heliogabalus. It is
somewhat irksome, but thou wilt endure well enough, seeing thou art
destined to be a cuckold.
1955 Cohen tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 358. By anthropomancy, which was employed
by Heliogabalus, Emperor of Rome.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Antinopomancy, by the entrails of
women and children.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: The Roman Emperor Julian, the Apostate, is said to have
consulted the intestines of sacrificed children: a method known as
anthropomancy.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 463: ANTHROPOMANCY: An Ancient and long-
outlawed form of human sacrifice.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) xiii. 312. ANTHROPOMANCY: A form of
divination used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks, involving human
sacrifice and the dissection of bodies. It continued intermittently
through the period of the Roman Empire and was probably revived by
notorious practitioners of black arts during the Middle Ages.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 12/2:
Anthroposophy. Barbaric form of divination using human entrails -
usually of virgins or young children. According to legend, the magician
Julian the Apostate sacrificed a number of children during his ritual
workings, in order to evaluate their entrails. Anthropomancy was also
practiced in ancient Egypt.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
[? 1656 Blount - see anthromancy]
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
anthropomancy (s.) a kind of divination performed by inspecting the
entrails of a dead man.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by the entrails of a
human sacrifice, Anthropomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
anthropomancy..Divination by inspecting the entrails of a human
being.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
anthropomancy.. Divination by the inspection of a human
body. Dunglison.
1885 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
anthropomancy.. Divination by inspecting the entrails of a
human being.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
anthropomancy..Divination by inspection of human entrails.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I - cites Webs.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. anthropomancy [minor
words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
anthropomancy, human entrails.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. anthropomancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
anthropomancy..divination using human entrails.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 anthropomancy
(human entrails)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208. anthropomancy a form of divination using the entrails of
dead men. - anthropomantist, n. -
anthropomantic, adj.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70.
ANTHROPOMANCY - the entrails of a human sacrifice.
[NL anthropomantia; from Gk 'àvépoãoc (anthropos)
human being; cf. F anthropomancie]
NOTES: OED cites Holyday 1618, as the earliest citation, yet gives no
actual reference or quotation. Clearly this information was taken,
without saying so, from Brand. Thus relying on Brand and not checking
the state source for verification. Also Gaule 1652 (p.376), Urq, 1731
Bailey, and mod dicts. OED ignores Gaule's erroneous form. Brand, for
his part, does not actually identify the typographical error in Gaule's
list, and thus lists 'anthropomancie' as a word "not in the above ample
list". Hone copies Brand without correction, however Mackay corrects
the error.
antinopomancy: a ghost word, beginning as a mistake
in Gaule for anthropomancy. Evidently Gaule's typesetter
misread the manuscript, reading 'hr' as 'in' thus creating the curious
form antinopomancy. This mistake was then copied
literatum by Brand, Hone, Robbins, etc., as though the word
was a separate divinatory method.
[1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Antinopomancy, [sic] by the entrails of men, women
and children...]
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329
[citing Gaule] ..Antinopomancy, by the entrails of men, women
and children...
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Antinopomancy, by the entrails of
women and children.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) xiii. 312. ANTINOPOMANCY: Similar to
anthropomancy but somewhat more gruesome, as children were among
the principal victims.
NOTES: There are not many copies of Gaule extant, and it has not, to
my knowledge, ever been reprinted, thus in all likelihood, most of the
later recorders of Gaule's words have taken them from Brand. Mind
you Brand was not totally accurate in his own transcription. Evidently
Brand did not understand that there was a typographical error in Gaule.
The Gibson's, who very likely did not get their evidence from an
original copy of Gaule, continue the error to the point of defining it
separately. OED did not bother to record this error, but perhaps it
would have been wise to in order to nip such ghost words in the bud.
apantomancy: divination by chance meetings with
things, especially animals, as a black cat.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 13:
Apantomancy: Divination by means of any object that happens to meet
the eye.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: Even objects that lie about haphazardly were fit for mantic
purposes. The prcatice was called apantomancy.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 463: APANTOMANCY: A method which forecasts
from chance meetings with animals, birds, and other creatures. It may
be said to include modern omens of the 'black cat' variety. The classic
was the founding of Mexico City on the spot where Ancient Aztec
soothsayers saw an eagle flying from a cactus and carrying a live
snake. This omen represents the Mexican coat-of-arms of today.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312. APANTOMANCY: Divination from omens
depending on observations of chance objects, meeting certain types of
animals, or other unusual occurrences. In ancient times such events
were frequently interpreted by oracles, and their importance persisted
through the Middle Ages, even up to modern times. From them have
stemmed countless superstitions that many people still believe may
bring them good or bad luck, though the interpretations may vary in
different localities.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
apantomancy..forecasting from chance meetings with animals,
as a black cat.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 apantomancy
(meetings with animals)
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
[from Gk 'àãàvçoæài (apantomai) to meet]
NOTES: Not in OED.
arachnomancy: divination by spiders. [Gk 'àpàxvn
(arachne) spider]
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 136. Common
omens and superstitions 2. 1 HORSES (HIPPOMANCY)... 2 CATS
(AILUROMANCY)... 3 SPIDERS (ARACHNOMANCY) Seeing a
spider in the morning - Grief. Seeing a spider at noon - Anxiety. Seeing
a spider in the evening - Financial loss. Seeing a spider spinning a web
- Some sources say this indicates that there is a plot against you, others
that you will receive a gift, probably new clothes. ...[etc.]
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xiii.:
arythmanteia]
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.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Arithmancy, by numbers...
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. Arithmancy, by numbers. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 36/1: Arithmancy:
(Sometimes called wrongly Arithmomancy). Divination by
means of numbers. The Greeks examined the number and value of the
letters in the names of two combatants, and predicted that he whose
name contained most letters, or letters of the greatest value, would be
the victor.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Arithmancy, by numbers.
1969 Vincent Foster Hopper Medieval Number
Symbolism 125. Divination and the Black Arts took numerous
forms on which it is not necessary to dwell further, unless it be to
remark that all of them utilized the magic properties of number in their
rituals and that one of them, arithmancy, relied entirely on the
mysteries of the decimal system.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Arithmancy -
by numbers.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: ARITHMANCY or ARITHMOMANCY: The
Ancient form of Numerology that applies chiefly to divination through
numbers and letter values...
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312. ARITHMANCY or ARITHMOMANCY:
Fortunetelling by numbers.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 117. Numerology,
which was also known as numeromancy or arithomancy, used to be
practiced as a form of general divination; today its practitioners are
mainly concerned with character analysis and potential.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 16/1:
Arithmancy. Greek and Chaldean method of divination by numbers.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. ARITHOMANCY -
numbers.
In Dictionaries
1656 Blount Glossographia Arithmancy
(Gr.) Divination made by number, which hath consideration and
contemplation of Angelic vertues; of names, signacles, Natures, and
Conditions, both of divels and other Creatures.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Arithmancy, (Greek) a divination by numbers.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Arithmancy, g.
Divination by numbers.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
arithmancy (s.) a sort of prophesying, or divination by certain
numbers.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) ARITHMANCY [of 'àpiéæoc Number, and manteia
Divination, Gr.] Divination by Numbers.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840)
Arithmancy..A foretelling future events ny numbers. Dict.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by numbers,
Arithmancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
arithmancy..Divination or the foretelling of future events by the use
or observation of numbers.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
arithmancy.. Divination by numbers; foretelling by numbers.
Bailey.
1885 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
arithmancy.. Same as arithmomancy.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
arithmancy..Divination by numbers. arithmomancy.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. arithmancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
arithmancy..[more correctly arithmomancy..] Divination by means of
numbers.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
arithmancy..fortunetelling by numbers.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208. arithmancy numerology.
1987 Random House Dict.
[NL arithmantia (Agrippa), from Gk 'àpiéæoc
(arithmos) a number. According to the OED this is "contracted
for arithmomancy, but earlier". However this earlier form is
most probably directly from the NL, itself a blend of
arithmetica and -mantia. Notice that the form also
occurs both Sp aritmancia, and Pg arithmancia. This
pattern of formation (ie without -o- before -mancy) is
followed by the two other words referring to divination by number,
namely, logarithmancy and mathemancy. The variant
form arithomancy is a later formation (1983) with the
connective -o- added in to conform the usual pattern of other -
mancys] Variant Forms: arithmancie, arithomancy, ???? arythmancy.
NOTES: OED 1577 Holinshed Descr. Brit., 1878. Quot. 1983 has
'arithomancy', adding the -o- connective to match other forms. The
Imp. dict suppl. gives the entry: ar'rithmancy or arith'mancy. - a
note on the pron.
arithmomancy: arithmancy. (arithmomantia,
arithmomanty)
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
1660 in OED.
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 328
arithmomancy, To which head belongs the magical operation of
numbers and magical squares, is derived from the doctrines of the
Pythagoreans and Platonists. In estimating these doctrines, it must be
remembered that all movement, proportion, time, and, in a word, all
idea of quantity and harmony, may be represented by
numbers: hence, whatever may be attributed to the latter, may also be
expressed by numbers, as the signs of occult virtues and laws. It is
known to philosophers that the movements of nature are rhythmical;
physicians have observed this in the periodicity of diseases; and the
appointment of the seventh day as the Sabbath, has added a religious
obligation to this law of nature. The three, the ten, and
the twelve are also members of well known import, and
one is the most divine of all, as expressing the unity of God,
and the comprehension of all things in perfect harmony. The use of
numbers in divination has assumed many curious forms. It may suffice
to mention here the Gematria, or first division of the Cabbala,
which teaches how to cast up the letters of particular words as
numerals, and to form conclusions from the proportion between the
sum of one text and the sum of another. This method converts the
Bible into a book written solely by numbers, and some curious results
are obtained, probably as near the truth as the rabbinical astrology (see
note to Geomancy). Some curious properties of perfect, amicable, and
other numbers have been elucidated by the late Platonist, Thomas
Taylor. The most valuable remains of antiquity connected with this
subject are contained in the `Chaldean Oracles' of Zoroaster. For the
various arrangements of magic squares we may refer to a curious work
entitled `Qanvon-E-Islam; or, the Customs of the Moosulmans of
India,' by Jaffur Shareef. The Pythagorean doctrine is noticed by
Ennemoser, who quotes some interesting passages from Plato on this
subject.
1863 William Smith Dict. of the Bible i. 442/2.
The other kind of divination was artificial (çîxvikn), and probably
originated in an honest conviction that external nature sympathised with
and frequently indicated the condition and prospects of mankind...
When once this feeling was established the supposed manifestations
were infinitely multiplied, and hence the numberless forms of imposture
or ignorance called kapnomancy, pyromancy, arithmomancy,
libanomancy, botanomancy, kephalomancy, &c. of which there are
abundant accounts...
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 453:
arithmomancy - Is a kind of divination or method of foretelling
future events by means of numbers. The Gematria, which makes the
first species of Jewish Cabala, is a kind of Arithmomancy.
[text copied in] 1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc.
Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 36/1: Arithmancy:
(Sometimes called wrongly Arithmomancy).
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: ARITHMANCY or ARITHMOMANCY: The
Ancient form of Numerology that applies chiefly to divination through
numbers and letter values...
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Arithmomancy
(Numerology)...numbers
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
1885 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
arithmomancy.. Divination by numbers. Also
arithmancy.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
arithmancy..Divination by numbers. arithmomancy\ddag
.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. arithmomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
arithmancy..[more correctly arithmomancy..] Divination by means of
numbers.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
arithmomancy..an ancient form of numerology.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 arithmomancy
(numbers)
1987 Random House Dict.
[from NL arithmomantia, from Gk 'àpiéæoc
(arithmos) a number]
NOTES: OED 1621 Burton Anat. Mel., 1660.
This method of divination was formerly very common and occurs in many
disparate cultures. Its popularity is in some way indicated by the
amount of terms designating the practice, such as omoplatoscopy,
scapulimancy, and
spatulamancy. In Scotland it was known as
'reading the speal-bone', hence the term
spealomancy.
This word is derived from the Latin word armus a shoulder
blade. And, although appearing in some early dictionaries, and being
recorded in OED, has for some reason not met with approval among later
lexicographers. Perhaps this is because it is from a Latin, rather
than Greek, root.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Armomancy,
divining by the shoulders of beasts.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.:
ARMOMANCY [of armus, L. a Shoulder, and manteia, Gr.
Divination] Divination by Shoulders of Beasts.
1885 OED [giving Blount's definition, but
offering no citations]
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 36/1: Armomancy:
A method of divination which is effected by the inspection of
shoulders. The ancients judged by this means whether a victim was
suitable for sacrifice to the gods.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16:
armomancy, shoulders of beasts.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312: ARMOMANCY: A long-forgotten mode of
divining suitable candidates for sacrificial rites by inspecting them
physically. Any modern survival of such practices is probably
computerized rather than divinatory.
Note
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 16/2:
Armomancy. Divination by means of the shoulders. Subjects were
inspected to see whether they were suitable candidates to be sacrificed
to the gods.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208: armomancy a form of divination involving the shoulders
of animals. Cf. spatulamancy.
An uncommon term, not recorded by OED nor other standard dictionaries.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 37/1:
Aspidomancy: A little known form of divination practised in the Indies,
as we are told by some travellers. Delancre says that the diviner or
sorcerer traces a circle, takes up his position therein seated on a
buckler, and mutters certain conjurations. He becomes entranced and
falls into an ecstasy, from which he only emerges to tell things that his
client wishes to know, and which the devils has revealed to him.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: Sitting on a shield, within the magic circle, and pronouncing
conjurations, the karcist falls into a trance during which he makes
mantic revelations. This is aspidomancy.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312: ASPIDOMANCY: A primitive form of
divination in which an entranced sorcerer, seated in a magic circle,
becomes inspired by the devil and upon awakening recounts the
predictions revealed to him from that source.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208: aspidomancy a form of divination involving examination
of a shield.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xiii.:
astragalomanteia]
1640 in Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 337.
Dr. Ferrand, in his Love Melancholy, 1640, p. 177, mentions the "kinde
of divination by the opening of a booke at all adventures..." He
adds, "I shall omit to speak here of astragalomancy, that was
done with huckle bones; ceromancy, and all other such like
fooleries."
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166.
..Astragalomancy, by dice...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: By
Astragalomancy, whereof I have the Plots and Models all at hand ready
for the Purpose.
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. Astragalomancy, by dice. [citing Hone
citing Gaule]
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 161. By astragalomancy...
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 153. By astragalomancy...
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Astragalomancy, or astragyromancy, was
performed, among the ancients, with knucklebones marked with letters
of the alphabet. Later on dice were substituted for the bones, the figures
from one to twelve upon them representing the twelve principal
divisions of human language. This latter method was even turned into a
complicated art pertaining at once to polite diversion and divination,
which was expounded at length in a book by Maistre Laurens l'Esprit,
Le Passe-temps de la fortune des dez, ing‚nieusement
compil‚ pour response … vingt questions.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 18:
Astragalomancy: Foretelling the future by means of dice marked with
letters of the alphabet.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
astragalomancy, whereof I have made plots and models all at hand
ready for the purpose.
1955 Cohen tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 358. By astragalomancy. I have the pictures
ready.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Astragalomancy, by dice.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: ASTRAGYROMANCY: This was divination with
dice bearing letters and numbers. It has developed into the modern
Fortune Telling by Dice.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312. ASTRAGALOMANCY or
ASTRAGYROMANCY: Divination with dice, ranging from crude
bones with primitive markings to cubes bearing spots, letters, or
cabalistic symbols, all interpreted by the bone caster.
1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult astragalomancy - a
form of divination using the astragalus or ankle bone of certain
animals. The bone has two rounded ends and four more or less flat
faces upon which appropriate symbols may be marked... The use of
rune sticks in divination stems from the astragalus, the sticks being
either a substitute for or a development of the astragali. The term is
sometimes used loosely, and incorrectly, to refer to any form of
divination involving the use of bones.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 108.
Astragalomancy Today this is a form of divination using two
dice, but originally a pair of astragals (probably the left and right ankle-
bones of a sheep) would have been used.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 18/1:
Astragalomancy. Divination using knuckle bones, stones, or small
pieces of wood marked with letters or symbols.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70
ASTRAGALOMANCY - dice.
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Astragalomantie. Diuination by huckle bones.]
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
[supplement] astragalomancy..Divination by means of small
bones or dice.
1885 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
astragalomancy.. Divination by means of huckle-bones or
dice.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
astragalomancy..Divination with dice or the astragalus-bones
or quadrupeds.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. astragalomancy [minor
words list]
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. astragalomancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
astragalomancy..fortunetelling using dice.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208. astragalomancy a form of divination involving dice or
knuckle-bones, in which letters are marked on the faces of the dice and
the future is foretold from the words formed as the dice fall. Also
called cleromancy.
[NL astragalomantia, (F astragalomantie), from Gk
'àpçpàyà^oc (astragalos) one of the vertebrae, or (usu. in
the plural 'àpçpàyà^oi (astragaloi)) a type of dice, made
from knuckle-bones of sheep. Cf Gk 'àpçpàyà^oæàvçic
(astragalomantis) a diviner with 'àpçpàyà^oi] Variant
Forms: astragyromancy (first recorded 1931 - apparently arising from a
typographical error).
NOTES: OED Gaule & Urquhart only. defines as both dice &
hucklebones. Pre-dated, if Brand can be trusted.
In New Latin - C‘lius Calcagninus, Compendium amatori‘
magi‘ (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Astragalomantia, ex astragalorum
jactu in picturarum libellum, qua imprimis nostrates f§min‘ uti solent."
This method of divination, involves taking note of the heavens both
when a person is born, and at the present, and forming judgements about
that person's character, luck, future, etc., based on the influence
exerted by the Sun, the Moon, and the eight planets as they travel
through the twelve zodiacal constellations.
Originally, the planets Neptune, Uranus and Pluto formed no part of
astrology, since they are not visible to the naked eye and were not
discovered until after the 17th century. In the pre-Copernican,
geocentric view of the cosmos there were only seven planets or
wandering stars, namely: the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn. Their ancient importance is demonstrated by
the fact the the seven days of the week
are named after these seven planets.
Astrology is recorded throughout the world and clearly dates back to
pre-historical times. European astrology is partly derived from Arabic
and Egyptian astrology and also owes much to the astrological
traditions of the ancient Babylonians, Akkadians and Sumerians.
In the 17th century this method of divination was accepted by many
as basic fact, but at the same time a fierce debate raged about its
verity, with many authors denouncing it as irreligious, especially
as it seemed to negate the doctrine of free will.
The term astrology dates back to the 16th century. In earlir
times a distinction was made between natural astrology - the
prediction of the weather and other natural phenomena, and judicial
astrology - prediction of the future of individuals. The term
horary astrology refers specifically to divination based on
the stars at birth, the major method still in practice. This was
previously known as astronomy (now obsolete in this sense), and
is also sometimes referred to by casting horoscopes, casting
nativities, genethliacs and horoscopy. See also
sideromancy and roadomancy.
Etymology and Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
The term essentially died out after the 17th century. However, it
reappears in the 19th century in a few sources. It occurs in
Mackay where it is used as a substitute for
Gaule's etymologically obscure roadomancy. Its appearance in
Sir Richard Burton's translation of the
Arabian Nights' Entertainments is not
surprising as the use of archaic terms in this translation is a
stylistic feature (for a further apposite example see
egromancy). It is also to be met with in
James Murray's definition of the term astrology in the
OED.
The assertion in Gaynor and
Gibson that the term astromancy refers
to an ancient form of astrology, and not the modern day practice
is based on conjecture rather than evidence. Certainly there were
many astrological methods and practices that are now lost, but it
is clear from the 16th century citations that the term
astromancy is equivalent to the modern astrology.
1650 N. Homes Daemonologie and Theologie ix.
110: Or thirdly, if we entertaine those other tearmes and title that
Alfred, and Doctor Willet, Etc. give to Astrologie,
calling it..Astromancy, and Genethliaca, that is, the
calculation of Nativities, a Magick; all these are disgraceful termes; and
so unuseful to insinuate a lawfull Astrology.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165. What
difference betwixt Astromancy, Magomancy, or
Magastromancy (as touching a sorcerous both superstition, and
operation) and all these after-named?
1663 John Heydon Theomagia, or The Temple of Wisdome:
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.
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.
1852 Mackay Memoirs of
Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Astromancy, by stars. [supposedly citing
Hone citing Gaule (who both rather have 'roadomancy' at this point)]
1885 Burton Bk. of Thousand
Nights i. 305:
'Allah hath bounteously bestowed on thee a Barber who is an
astrologer, one learned in alchemy and white magic; syntax, grammar,
and lexicology; the arts of logic, rhetoric and elocution; mathematics,
arithmetic and algebra; astronomy, astromancy and geometry; theology,
the Traditions of the Apostle and the Commentaries on the Koran.'
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 19:
Astromancy: A system of divination by means of the stars. (Not
synonymous with astrology.)
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 312: ASTROMANCY: The ancient forerunner of
astrology, as developed in Babylon and later carried to Greece,
ascribing heavenly thrones to gods as represented by the sun, moon,
and planets. From their movements, wise men divined the purposes of
such deities, taking into account the phases of the moon, eclipses, the
proximity of planets to the brighter fixed stars, and other phenomena,
including the positions of constellations other than those forming the
signs of the zodiac. As examples, the new moon rising in a cloudy sky
presaged victory in a coming battle, while, if it failed to rise at an
anticipated time, it became an omen of defeat. With the advance of
astrology as a science, the casting of horoscopes and other exact
calculations supplanted the old traditions and astromancy dwindled in
importance. Its systems are largely obsolete, but its lore has survived as
modern superstitions, such as expecting bad luck if you look at the
moon over your left shoulder, or making a quick wish when you see a
shooting star.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 20/1:
Astromancy. An ancient method of divination by the stars.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult Astronomancy
1885 OED.
Note
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I:
astromancy.. Divination by means of stars; astrology.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
astromancy..Divination by the stars; astrology.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.: astromancy..
divination by means of the stars.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. astromancy: [main
words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17:
Astrology has many terms, including astromancy,
[divination by] the position of the stars...
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
208: astromancy divination by observation of the stars. Also
called sideromancy.
1987 Random House Dict.
Note
Basically a dictionary word, occuring mainly, and originally
in dictionaries and thence other language reference books, laterly
being found also in lists in books on the occult and magic. No
record exists of it ever being in use.
It is interesting to note that in the earliest occurences of this
term the practice is ridiculed. This is common to many other
terms ending in -mancy.
The OED gives Blount as the first citation, but Blount cites the
eariler "Chym.Dict.", which has a New Latin form, and perhaps
was not included for this reason.
1656 Blount Glossographia:
Austromancy (austromantia) is a kind of invented
superstition, concerning the observation of winds; as when the stars of
the winds break forth into great vehemency, contrary to their custom,
whence men, that are more idle than rational, pronounce a presage of
something to come. Chym.Dict.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Austromancy, (Greek) a kinde of divination by observing the
South-winde.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Austromancy,
g. divination by the South-wind.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by winds,
Austromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
austromancy..Soothsaying, or prediction of future events, from the
observations of the winds.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
austromancy.. Divination by the winds. Dunglison.
1885 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I:
austromancy.. Divination from observation of the winds.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.:
austromancy..Divination by observation of the wind.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. austromancy [minor
words list]
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 21:
Austromancy: Foretelling the future by using the winds as sources of
divinatory data.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
austromancy, winds.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Austromancy -
by the winds.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: AUSTROMANCY: The divination by a study of
the winds.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 313. AUSTROMANCY: Divining the future by a
study of winds. Where weather forecasts are concerned, this is a solid
science in its own right. As to foretelling the fate of individuals or
nations, it is less certain but still worthy of consideration. Human
affairs are often related to weather conditions.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
austromancy..divination by a study of the winds.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 148.
Austromancy Divination by the study of winds.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6: austromancy
(winds)
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 21/2:
Austromancy. Divination by means od interpreting the wind.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. austromancy divination by observing the winds,
especially the south wind. Cf. aeromancy.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. AUSTROMANCY -
winds.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
axinomanteia]
1601 in OED.
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers means...by
hatchets, Axinomancy.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Axinomancy, by Sawes...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By
Axionomancy, we want only a Hatchet and a Jeat-stone to be laid
together upon a quick Fire of hot Embers. O how bravely Homer was
versed in the Practice hereof towards Penelope's Suitors!
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Axinomancy, by
saws. [citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. axinomancy, by saws. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 328
axinomancy, Was performed by balancing an axe on an upright stake,
and the names of suspected persons being pronounced, it was supposed
to point out the guilty by its motion. Another method was by laying an
agate stone upon a red hot hatchet.
1868 Chambers's Encyc. I 585. axinomancy..a
mode of divination much practised by the ancient Greeks, particularly
with the view of discovering perpetrators of great crimes. An axe was
poised upon a stake, and was supposed to move so as to indicate the
guilty person; or the names of suspected persons being pronounced, the
motion of the axe at a particular name was accepted as a sign of guilt.
Another method of A. was by watching a red-hot axe.
1880 J. Grant Mysteries of all Nations xl. 368.
One species of divination was performed by laying an agate stone on a
red-hot hatchet. This is known as Axinomancy.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 453:
axinomancy
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By axionomancy; we want only a hatchet and a jet-stone to
be laid together upon a quick fire of hot embers.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By axionomancy...
1913 Halliday Greek Div. x. 219. To the same
species of divinatory rites [i.e. those involving a swinging pendulum]
belong..the minor rites of axinomancy and sphondylomancy.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 57/1: Axinomancy:
Divination by means of a hatchet or a woodcutter's axe. It is by this
form of divination that the diviners predicted the ruin of Jerusalem, as
is seen from Psalm LXXIII.
c1928 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua and
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 487. By Axionomancy...
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: Then there was axinomancy, or divination
by the hatchet, "which," says de l'Ancre, "they struck into round stake,
and by the quivering or movement that it made they judged of thefts or
other great crimes."
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
axionomancy; [sic] we want only a hatchet and a jet-stone to be
laid together upon a quick fire of hot embers. O how bravely Homer
was versed in the practice hereof towards Penelope's suitors!
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Axinomancy, by saws.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural
41: There was also axinomancy (axe and hatchet)...
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Axinomancy -
by a balanced axe, or by a stone on a red-hot axe.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: AXINOMANCY: This requires an ax or hatchet
which answers questions by its quivers, or points out the direction
taken by robbers or other miscreants.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Axiomancy...axe,
floating or turning
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy
iii. 41. Axinomancy. For finding hidden treasure. A round stone
was balanced on the edge of a red-hot axe. If it stayed in place, there
was no treasure. If it rolled off, the enquirer should dig where it came
to rest. If it landed on a different spot each time, he should try
somewhere else.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 313. AXINOMANCY: Primarily used as a mode
of finding a guilty person, this consisted of heating an ax head, setting
it upright, placing a marble on it, and turning it slowly until the marble
rolled in someone's direction. Treasure can presumably be uncovered
by the same procedure. Another way is to suspend a hand ax or hatchet
from a string attached to its handle, start it twirling and see to whom it
points when it stops. A third and perhaps the best method is to drive
the ax blade into the top of a post and let it waver there, while a group
dances around the post. When the ax finally falls, its handle is sup-
posed to point to the culprit if he is still around. If he has gone, it will
point to the direction that he took.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel
xxv. 308: And then there's ax-onomancy, which requires only an ax
and a chunk of onyx: we can burn some of the gemstone or else tune
into the subtle, lingering vibrations of the ax.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70 AXINOMANCY - a
balanced axe.
In dictionaries
No dictionary records Gaule's definition "..by Sawes", despite the fact
of its existence in Gaule and it's copying by Brand, etc.
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Axinomancy, Diuination done by hatchets.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Axionomantie: f. Diuination by a hatchet, and Ieat burnt.
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..Axiomancy, [sic] by
Hatchets.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Axinomancy, (Greek) a divination by hatchets.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Axinomancy,
g. a divination by hatchets.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
AXINOMANCY [axinomantia, L. of 'Aîivomanteia, Gr. of
'Aîivn, a Hatchet, and manteia, Gr.] Divination by an Ax or
Hatchet, which they fixed so exactly upon a round Stake, that neither
End might outpoize or weigh down the other; then they pray'd and
repeated the Name of those they suspected; and the Person, at whose
Name the Hatchet made any the least Motion, was pronounced guilty.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) AXINOMANCY [of 'Aîivn and manteia Gr.] Divination by
Hatchets. Gr.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by a balanced
hatchet, Axinomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
axinomancy..Among the ancients, a species of divination, by
means of an axe or a hatchet, performed by laying an agate-stone on a
red-hot hatchet, or by fixing a hatchet on a round stake, so as to be
poised; then the names of those suspected were repeated, and he at
whose name the hatchet moved, was pronounced guilty.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
axinomancy.. A kind of divination in which axes were used.
Crabb.
1885 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
axinomancy.. An ancient kind of divination for the detection
of crime by means of an ax or axes.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
axinomancy..Divination by means of an ax.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. axinomancy [minor
words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
axinomancy, a balanced hatchet.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. axinomancy
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. axinomancy a form of divination involving the use of an
axhead. - axinomantic, adj.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1601, 1693 Urq, 1870. I cannot account for Gaule's
definition - presumably it is an error. Liddle & Scott mention no such
sense. Cotgrave cites Rabelais. Urquhart follows Cotgrave's error.
In New Latin - C‘lius Calcagninus, Compendium amatori‘
magi‘ (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Axinomantia belle ab Homero
indicata, dum per secures experitur procos."
belomancy: divination by arrows; sortes
sagittari‘. Often considered to be a subtype of rhabdomancy.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
1646 (1st ed.) in OED. 1650 Browne
Pseudodoxia Epidemica (2nd ed.) 232. As for the Divination or
decision from the staff, it is an Auguriall relique... Of this kinde of
Rhabdomancy was that practised by Nabuchadonosor in the Chaldean
miscellany, delivered by Ezekiel. A like way of Belomancy or
Divination by Arrowes hath been in request with Scythians, Alanes,
Germans, with the Africans and Turks of Algiers.
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 329
belomancy, The method of divination by arrows, dates as far back as
the age of the Chaldeans. It existed among the Greeks, and still later
among the Arabians. The manner in which the latter practised it is
described on another page (Divination), and they continue its use
though forbidden by the Koran. Another method deserves mention. This
was to throw a certain number of arrows into the air, and the direction
in which the arrow inclined as it fell pointed out the course to be taken
by the inquirer. Divination by arrows is the same in principle as
Rhabdomancy.
[1863 William Smith Dict. of the Bible i. 444/3.
Belomants. alluded to in Ez. xxi. 21, where Nebuchadnezzar, at the
parting of two ways, uses divination to decide...]
1868 Chambers's Encyc. II 20. belomancy..a
mode of divination by arrows, practised among the Arabs and other
nations of the east. A number of arrows being shot off with sentences
written on labels attached to them, an indication of futurity is sought
from inscription on the first arrow found. This is only one of many
ways of divining by arrows.
1880 J. Grant Mysteries of all Nations xl. 368.
Belomancy was a kind of divination by arrows, practised among
various nations in the East, but chiefly among the Arabians.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 453:
belomancy - Is a method of divination by means of arrows, practised
in the East, but chiefly among the Arabians. Belomancy has been
performed in different manners; one was to mark a parcel of arrows,
and to put eleven of more of them into a bag; these were afterwards
drawn out, and according as they were marked, or otherwise, they
judged of future events. Another way was to have three arrows, upon
one of which was written, "God forbids it me;" upon another, "God
orders it me;" and on the third nothing at all. These were put into a
quiver, out of which one..was drawn at random; if it happened to be
that with the second inscription, the thing they consulted about was to
be done; if it chanced to be that with the first inscription, the thing was
left alone; and if it proved to be that without inscription, they drew
over again. Belomancy is an ancient practice, and is probably that
which Ezekiel mentions, chap. xxi. v. 21; at least St. Jerome
understands it so, and observes that the practice was frequent among
the Assyrians and Babylonians. Something like it is also mentioned in
Hosea (chap. vi.), only that staves are mentioned there instead of
arrows, which is rather Rhabdomancy than Belomancy. Grotius, as well
as Jerome, confound the two together, and show that they prevailed
much among the Magi, Chaldeans and Scythians, from whom they
passed to the Scandinavians, and thence to the Germans, whom Tacitus
observes to make use of Belomancy. [copied in Daniels & Stevans
1903]
1898 Hastings Dict. of the Bible i. 612.
Rhabdomancy or xylomancy (Hos 412) and belomancy (Ezk 2121) are
but forms of divining by the aid of a tree-god.
1899 Cheyne & Black Encyclop‘dia Biblica i.
1117/1. Belomancy..a development of rhabdomancy, is
mentioned in Ezek. 21 23 ff., where the Babylonian king is
said..to have 'shaken the arrows to and fro.'
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. [text copied from Howitt 1893]
1913 Halliday Greek Div. x. 226. Rhabdomancy
or belomancy does not concern the student of Greek divination. Its
mention here is rendered necessary solely by the fact that careless
writers are often to be found referring to the Hellenic art of
rhabdomancy, or even to "the divining rod" of Greece.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 67/1: Belomancy...
Another method deserves mention. This was to throw a certain number
of arrows into the air, and the direction in which the arrow inclined as
it fell, pointed out the course to be taken by the inquirer.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 304: Belomancy, dear to soldiers of former
time, was divination by arrows, onychomancy by means of nails
reflecting the sun's rays...
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
227: The name of the enemy was inscribed on the arrow. Shaking up
the arrows in the quiver, the king directed the arrow at the enemy
whose name was inscribed thereon. This technique is known as
belomancy.
1969 T. Witton Davies Magic, Divination, &
Demonology ii. 74. Belomancy was practised among the Arabs, and
also among the Chaldeans.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Belomancy -
by arrows.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: BELOMANCY: One of the most Ancient types of
divination and requires the tossing or balancing of arrows.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 313. BELOMANCY: Dating from the time of
ancient Babylon, this type of divination depended on tossing arrows to
determine the direction a person was to take. Later, the arrows were
handled like divining rods and the famous historian Herodotus (450
b.c.) tells how Scythian soothsayers spread bundles of such rods upon
the ground and interpreted each in turn. In still another form of
belomancy, arrows bearing various inscriptions were drawn at random,
so their advice could be followed. In its simplest form, three arrows
were used to answer any direct question; one for "Yes" another for
"No" and the third a blank, which meant to mix them and try again.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 104. Belomancy is
divination by arrows. The specially marked arrows could be cast on the
ground or drawn from a container. This form of divination probably
dates back to the Babylonians, and was also practiced by the Scythians,
Arabs, and some North American Indians.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 26/2:
Belomancy. Divination by analyzing the path of arrows in flight.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. BELOMANCY -
arrows.
In Dictionaries
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..Belomancy, by arrows.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Belomancy, g.
Divination by arrows.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840)
Belomancy..[no definition, instead cites Browne]
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by arrows,
Belomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. belomancy..A
kind of divination practised by the ancient Scythians, Babylonians, and
other nations, and by the Arabians. A number of arrows being marked,
were put into a bag or quiver, and drawn out at random; and the marks
or words on the arrow drawn, determined what was to happen: see
Ezek. xxi. 21.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
belomancy.. Divination by means of the flight of an arrow.
Brande.
1887 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I belomancy..
A kind of divination by means of arrows, practised by the Scythians,
Babylonians, Arabians, and other ancient peoples.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
belomancy..Archeol. Divination by means of arrows.
..bellomancy\dag .
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. belomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
belomancy..Divination by means of arrows.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
belomancy, arrows.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. belomancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict. belomancy..fortuentelling
with arrows.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 belomancy
(arrows)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. belomancy divination in which marks or words are
placed on arrows which are then drawn from a quiver at random.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1646 Browne, 1883. Apparently Blount was going to put
in the Greek original, but didn't, but the space was still left. Or the
typesetter was going to. Blount cites Browne as his source for the
word.
bibliomancy: 1. a. (\it originally\/\rm
) divination by means of a book in which a passage chosen at random
carries the omen; sortes. The ancients used the works of Homer
(\it sortes Homeric\ae\/\rm ) and Virgil (\it sortes Virgilian\ae\/\rm ) for
this purpose. Moslems have similarly used the Koran. b. In
Christian times the Bible was used for this purpose (\it sortes
Biblic\ae\/\rm ). 2. a form of divination in which a person was
weighed against the great Bible of the church, those weighing less
being innocent as charged.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
1753 in OED.
1868 Chambers's Encyc. II 84. bibliomancy..a
mode of divination much practised during many ages, by opening the
Bible, and observing the first passage which occurred, or by entering a
place of worship and taking notice of the first words of the Bible heard
after entering it. The application was often very fanciful, and depended
rather upon the mere sound of the words than upon their proper
signification, or the scope of the passage. Prayer and fasting were
sometimes used as a preparation for a mode of consulting the divine
oracles, than which nothing could be more contrary to their purpose and
spirit, and which was in harmony only with the notions and practices of
heathenism. B. was prohibited, under pain of excommunication, by the
Council of Vannes, 465 a.d., and by the Councils of Agde and Orleans
in the next century. It continued, however, to prevail for centuries
thereafter, and is said to have been introduced into England at the
Norman Conquest. It was essentially the same as Sortes
Virgilian‘, the only difference being in the book employed.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 68/1: Bibliomancy:
A method of discovering whether or not a person was innocent of
sorcery, by weighing him against the great Bible in the Church. If the
person weighed less than the Bible, he was innocent.
1939 J. Trachtenberg Jewish Magic 216: The
familiar use of Scripture in divining (Bibliomancy) was not unknown to
the Jews.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 26:
Bibliomancy: Divination by means of chapters and verses taken at
random in a book.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Bibliomancy -
by random passages in books.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: BIBLIOMANCY: This involves divination by
books.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy
iv. 62. Books have often been used for this purpose (bibliomancy),
especially Virgil and the Bible.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 313. BIBLIOMANCY: A traditional divination in
which anyone can be his own consultant by simply opening a book at
random, pointing to a paragraph, reading it, and following its advice by
his own interpretation. Originally, religious books were used and still
are, but later, consultants swung to the classics - Homer, Vergil,
[sic] and eventually Shakespeare. In recent years, all
inspirational books have filled the purpose, and now all sorts of
publications may suggest the course to follow.
1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult bibliomancy -
because of the name bibliomancy many people think that the book
should be the Bible and indeed in Christian communities it often is.
..Bibliomancy is sometimes known as stichomancy, itself a branch of
sortilege.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 105.
BIBLIOMANCY Allow your intuition to direct your choice of book.
Close your eyes, concentrate on your question, and open the book at
random. Open your eyes: the first words you read should form an
answer to your question. You may prefer to use some form of pointer -
your finger will do - to indicate the words of your omen before you
open your eyes to read them.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 29/1:
Bibliomancy. Divination by means of a book, often the Bible.
..Moslems use the Qur'an for this purpose...
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. BIBLIOMANCY -
random passages from the Bible.
In Dictionaries
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by the Bible,
Bibliomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. bibliomancy..A
kind of divination, performed by means of the Bible; consisting in
selecting passages of Scripture at hazard, and drawing from them
indications concerning things future.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
bibliomancy..Divination by the Bible, or by a book.
Crabb.
1887 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
bibliomancy.. A kind of divination performed by means of a
book; specifically by means of the Bible, consisting in selecting
passages of Scripture at hazard and drawing from them indications
concerning the future. Another kind of bibliomancy...consisted
in appealing to the very first words heard from any one when reading
the Scriptures. Encyc. Metropolitana.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
bibliomancy..Divination in which a verse of the Bible taken at
hazard is regarded as an augury: anciently applied also to other books.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. bibliomancy [main
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
bibliomancy..Divination by means of books or verses of the Bible.
1930 Winston Simplified Dict. s.v. ..the art or act
of foretelling the future by means of books, especially by passages
from the Bible.
1932 Wyld Universal Dict. Divination by opening
a Bible at random and taking the first verse to meet the eye as a
prophecy of future events, guide to conduct, &c.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
bibliomancy, the Bible.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. bibliomancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
bibliomancy..fortunetelling by random Bible-passage picking.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
bibliomancy..a method of divination by means of a book, as
the Bible, opened at random at some verse taken as significant.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 bibliomancy
(Bible)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. bibliomancy a form of divination using books or the
Bible in which passages are chosen at random and the future foretold
from them.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: 1753 Chambers, 1864.
bolomancy belomancy
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 75/2: Bolomancy:
(See Belomancy).
botanomancy: divination by plants, esp. by the burning
of tree branches and leaves. Hence, used to refer to tea-leaf reading, or
tasseomancy.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
botanomanteia]
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers means...or by
Hearbes, Botinomancy, the witches magicke.
1640 in Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 307.
Dr. Ferrand, in his Love Melancholy, 1640, p. 176, tells us: "We have
sometimes among our silly wenches some that, out of a foolish
curiosity they have, must needs be putting in practice some of those
feats that they have received by tradition from their mother, perhaps, or
nurse, and so, not thinking forsooth to doe any harme, as they hope,
they paganize it to their own damnation. For it is certain that
botanomancy, which is done by the noise or crackling that
kneeholme, box, or bay-leaves make when they are crushed betwixt
one's hands, or cast into the fire, was of old in use among the Pagans,
who were want to bruise poppy flowres betwixt their hands, and by this
means thinking to know their loves..."
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Botanomancy, by herbs...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By Botomancy,
for the nonce I have a few Leaves in reserve.
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Botanomancy, by herbs. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1863 William Smith Dict. of the Bible i. 442/2.
The other kind of divination was artificial (çîxvikn), and probably
originated in an honest conviction that external nature sympathised with
and frequently indicated the condition and prospects of mankind...
When once this feeling was established the supposed manifestations
were infinitely multiplied, and hence the numberless forms of imposture
or ignorance called kapnomancy, pyromancy, arithmomancy,
libanomancy, botanomancy, kephalomancy, &c. of which there are
abundant accounts...
1868 Chambers's Encyc. III 599.
Botanomancy, or divination by means of plants and flowers (it
was practised by the ancients, who were wont to bruise poppy-flowers
betwixt their hands, under the conviction that they could thereby
discover their loves. Hence Theocritus calls the poppy
Teliphilos, quasi Deliphilos; i.e., a tell-love.
Goethe has made a beautiful use of another form of this superstition,
which existed among the Teutonic races no less than among the old
Greeks. The child-like Marguerite, in Faust, seeks to discover
whether or not Faust loves her by plucking the leaves from a star-
flower, murmuring alternately, 'He loves me,' 'He loves me not,' and
finds to her joy that the last leaf comes away while she is
saying, 'He loves me').
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By botanomancy, for the nonce I have some few leaves in
reserve.
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1663. botanomancy - Conjuring with herbs. Sometimes fig-
leaves were used, and then it was called Sycomancy. The diviners
wrote names and questions on leaves, which were then exposed to the
winds. Those remaining furnished the answers sought.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By botanomancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 78/1: A method of
divination by means of burning the branches of vervein and briar, upon
which were carved the questions of the practitioner.
c1928 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua and
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 487. By Botomancy...
1939 J. Trachtenberg Jewish Magic 219: Plants
were also utilized (Botanomancy): 'On Monday evening, after sunset,
go into a field and find the yellow, broad-leaved mallow, face the east
and dig a hole there, bow, encircle the spot once, bow again to the
east,' and recite a charm which concludes, 'If my venture is to prove
successful, then you must remain in bloom; if not, then must you droop
to the earth.' Return in the morning and learn how your undertaking
will turn out.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
botanomancy, for the nonce I have some few leaves in reserve.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Botanomancy, by herbs.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: When the wizard burned branches of brier and vervain, on which
were inscribed questions to be answered, the procedure was called
botanomancy.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Botanomancy -
by herbs.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: BOTANOMANCY: This requires the burning of
tree branches and leaves to gain the desired answers.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 313. BOTANOMANCY: The ancient magi
ascribed mystic properties to various plants and herbs, some of which
were later used for purposes of divination. The practice of
botanomancy, as this is termed, includes inscribing questions on
branches of brier or vervain, which were burned with due ceremony so
that answers could be revealed by the seer.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 144.
Botanomancy Divination by the burning of leaves and
branches.
1989 C.S. Alvina & F.S. Maria Halupi 323.
Botomancy - divination by leaves - at least allows for a pleasant cup of
black or green tea.
1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel
xxv. 309: 'Or botono-nomancy? I have some sage leaves right here.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. BOTANOMANCY -
herbs.
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Botanomantie: f. Diuination, or witchcraft by the vertue of
hearbs.]
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..Batanomancy, [sic] by
vertue of hearbs. Botonomancy (botonomantia)
divination by hearbs.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Botanomancy,
g. herb-divining.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
BOTANOMANCY [Boçàvomanteia of Boçàvn an Herb, and
manteia Divination, Gr.] a Divination by Herbs, and
especially by those of Sage or the Fig-tree. The persons that consulted,
wrote their own Names, and their Questions upon Leaves, which they
exposed to the Wind, and as many Letters as remained in their own
Places were taken up, and being joined together, were accounted an
Answer to the Question.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by herbs,
Botanomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. botanomancy..An
ancient species of divination by means plants, especially sage and fig
leaves. Persons wrote their names and questions on leaves, which they
exposed to the wind, and as many of the letters that remained in their
places were taken up, and being joined together, contained an answer to
the question.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
botanomancy..Divination by means of plants. Crabb.
1887 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
botanomancy.. An ancient method of divination by means of
plants, especially by means of the leaves of the sage and fig. A
person's name and the question to which an answer was desired were
written on the leaves, which were then laid out exposed to the wind; as
many of the letters as remained in their places were taken up and
joined together to form some word, which was supposed to be an
answer to the question.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
botanomancy..Divination by plants.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) I
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. botanomancy [minor
words list]
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
botanomancy..a method of divination entailing the burning of
tree branches and leaves.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 botanomancy
(herbs)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. botanomancy a form of divination involving the
examination of plants.
NOTES: OED 1610 Healey, 1640, 1653 Urq, 1861. notes botomancy as
'erroneous'. The curious form 'botomancy' appears first in Urq and
surprizingly turns up again in 1989! Chambers' Encyc. takes from
Ferrand.
NL Pictorius Vigillanus "Botanomantici salvi‘ folia pro scopo su‘
divinationis habebant."
brizomancy: divination by the prophetic inspirations of
the goddess Brizo.
[1696-9 Potter Arch‘ologia Gr‘ca (1804) I. xii.
336: There was another deity also, to whom the care of dreams was
committed, called Brizo, from the old Greek word brizein, to sleep:
C§lius saith she was worshipped in the island Delos, and that boats full
of things were offered to her, except fish. But she was thought rather to
assist at the interpretation of dreams, than to be the efficient cause of
them, and is therefore by Hesychius called Brizomantis.]
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: The very fact that each specific method, or variant, had a name,
testifies to the prevalence and widespread recognition of divinatory
practices. The prophetic inspiration of Brizo, a goddess of sleep, gave
rise to brizomancy.
NOTES: Not in OED. Not in other sources.
brontomancy: divination by thunder. [Gk ápovçn
(bronte) thunder]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
brontomancy, thunder.
NOTES: Not in OED.
capnomancy: divination by the study of smoke rising
from a fire.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
kapnomanteia]
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers means...by
smoake, Capnomancy.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Capnomancy, by smoak...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By
Capnomancy; O the gallantest and most excellent of all Secrets!
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. Kapnomancy, by smoke. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 334
capnomancy, Was the observation of smoke, which consisted in two
principal methods. The more important was the smoke of the sacrifices,
which augured well if it rose lightly from the altar, and ascended
straight to the clouds; but the contrary, if it hung about. Another
method was to throw a few jasmine or poppy seeds upon burning coals.
There was yet a third practice by breathing the smoke of the sacrificial
fire.
1863 William Smith Dict. of the Bible i. 442/2.
The other kind of divination was artificial (çîxvikn), and probably
originated in an honest conviction that external nature sympathised with
and frequently indicated the condition and prospects of mankind...
When once this feeling was established the supposed manifestations
were infinitely multiplied, and hence the numberless forms of imposture
or ignorance called kapnomancy, pyromancy, arithmomancy,
libanomancy, botanomancy, kephalomancy, &c. of which there are
abundant accounts...
1868 Chambers's Encyc. II 592. capnomancy, a
word formed from the Greek capnos, smoke, and
manteia, divination. The ancients practised it in two different
ways - either they threw grains of jasmine or poppy on the burning
coals, and watched the motions and the density of the smoke that rose
from them, or they watched the smoke of sacrifices. This latter kind of
C. was most generally employed, and that to which the greatest
importance was attached. If the smoke was thin, and ascended in a right
line, instead of being blown back by the breeze, or spreading over the
altar, the augury was good. It was also believed that the inhalation of
the smoke rising from the victims or from the fire which consumed
them, gifted the priests with prophetic inspiration.
1880 J. Grant Mysteries of all Nations xlii. 382.
Divination by means of smoke (Capnomancy) was in use among the
ancients in their sacrifices.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 455:
capnomancy - Is a kind of divination by means of smoke, used by the
ancients in their sacrifices. The general rule was, when the smoke was
thin and light, and ascended straight up, it was a good omen.; if on the
contrary, it was an ill one. There was another species of Capnomancy,
which consisted in observing the smoke arising from poppy and
jesamine seed cast upon burning coals. [copied in Daniels & Stevans
1903]
1897 (Agrippa) Three Bks Occult Phil. lvii. 179:
To these is also added Capnomancy, so called from smoke, because it
searcheth into the flame and smoke; and thin colors, sounds and
motions when they are carried upright, or on one side, or round...
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By capnomancy...
1899 Cheyne & Black Encyclop‘dia Biblica i.
1119/1. Me`nn is one who divines by observing the clouds, a
mode of divination well known among the ancients; or perhaps, one
who brings clouds, or causes storms (capnomancy).
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. [text copied from Howitt 1893]
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By capnomancy.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
capnomancy, O the gallantest and most excellent of all secrets!
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Capnomancy, by smoke.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Capnomancy -
by smoke.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: CAPNOMANCY: The study of smoke rising from
a fire and is performed in varied ways.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy
iii. 41. Capnomancy. Divination by the smoke of burning poppy
seeds.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314. CAPNOMANCY: Early wise men, observing
the smoke from sacrificial fires, noted that if it rose straight, clear
weather was in order, hence they pronounced it as a good omen; while
if it hung low, a storm threatened, so they called it a bad omen. Such
was the origin of capnomancy, which up until modem times was still
practiced by the European peasantry, who lighted bonfires on special
occasions and let the direction of the smoke decide whether the
harvests would be good or bad. The indoor version of this divinatory
game was to throw various substances upon a hearth fire and study the
resulting smoke or fumes, interpreting them according to stipulated
rules.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 144.
Capnomancy..was, of course, associated with pyromancy. The smoke
from the burnt offerings could be interpreted, or the gods' intentions
could be discovered from the smoke produced by burning incense. The
appearance and behaviour of the smoke were considered important, as
was its smell.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 36/2:
Capnomancy. Divination by means of interpreting patterns in smoke...
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel
xxv. 308: 'And then there's capnomancy: we put poppy seeds and
sesame seeds on hot charcoal...oh, what a marvelous thing, reading
those smells, those colors, those crackling sounds!'
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. CAPNOMANCY -
smoke.
In dictionaries
1616 Bullokar An English Expositor s.v.
divination. Capnomancie, by the flying of smoake.
\CIT:1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd
ed.) s.v. Capnomancy, Diuination by flying of smoake.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Capnomantie: f. Diuination by smoake rising from an
altar, whereon Incense, or Poppie seed is burned.]
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..Capnomancy, by the flying of
smoak.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Capnomancy, (Greek) a divination by smoak.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Capnomancy,
g. divination by observing the Altar-smoak.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Capnomancy, Divination, or South-saying [sic.] by Smoak.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
capnomancy (s.) a kind of divination used by the ancients in their
sacrifices; as when smoak was thin, light, and went up straight, the
omen was good, when the contrary, bad. There was also another species
of it, which consisted in observing the smoak rising from poppy and
jessamine seeds cast upon lighted coals.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) CAPNOMANCY [of kàãvoc Smoak, and manteia Divination,
Gr.] Divination or Soothsaying by Smoak, arising from an
Altar where Incense and Poppy-seed are burnt.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by smoke from the
altar, Capnomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
capnomancy..Divination by the ascent and motion of smoke.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
capnomancy..Divination by smoke.
1888 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
capnomancy.. Divination by the ascent or motion of smoke.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
capnomancy..Divination by the motions of forms of smoke, it
being counted a favorable indication when it rose vertically.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. capnomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
capnomancy..Divination by means of smoke. [marked obsolete]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
capnomancy, altar smoke.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
capnomancy..fortunetelling with smoke.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
capnomancy..the study of smoke rising from a fire for
divination.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 capnomancy
(smoke)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. capnomancy a form of divination involving smoke.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED - Healey, then 1663, 1883. Cit 1899 seems incorrect.
carromancy var. of ceromancy in Gaule. See cits
1652, 1777 (carramancy), 1832, 1852.
NOTES: OED doesn't list as var.
cartomancy: divination by cards, whether a standard
pack or a special one such as the tarot pack.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
1871 Tylor Primitive Culture (1891) i. iv. 126. In
cartomancy, the art of fortune-telling with packs of cards, there is a sort
of nonsensical sense in such rules as that two queens mean friendship
and four mean chattering, or that the knave of hearts prophesies a brave
young man who will come into the family to be useful, unless his
purpose be reversed by his card being upside down. But of course the
pack can only furnish a limited number of such comparatively rational
interpretations, and the rest must be left to such arbitrary fancy as that
the seven of diamonds means a prize in the lottery, and the ten of the
same suit an unexpected journey.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) vii. 297: Cartomancy has been practised by persons
belonging to the most varied of classes od society.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 33:
Cartomancy: Divination by cards.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy
iv. 61. There are, of course, many..systems of cartomancy...
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Cartomancy -
by cards.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: CARTOMANCY: Fortune telling with cards.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314. CARTOMANCY: Divination by traditional
tarots or modern playing cards.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 92-103.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 37/2:
Cartomancy. Divination by means of cards, for example Tarot cards or
the Zener cards used by Professor J.B. Rhine in testing precognition.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1988 Francis X. King Encyc. of Fortune-Telling
21. By the middle of the eighteenth century, perhaps much earlier,
cartomancy - the use of playing cards for fortune-telling purposes - was
being employed in England. The cards which were used were of the
type with which we are all familiar - the 52 card pack used for such
games as bridge and poker. At that time the 78 card tarot deck was
unknown in England, although, it had been used in gambling games
during the reign of King James I of England. In France cartomancy
seems to have been practised at a much earlier date than it was in
England and it was the tarot deck that was used, particularly by
gypsies.
In Dictionaries
1888 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
cartomancy.. Divination by means of playing-cards. [with cit.
from Tylor]
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
cartomancy..Divination, or fortune-telling, means of cards.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. cartomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
cartomancy..Divination or fortune-telling by cards.
1932 Wyld Universal Dict. Art, or pretended art,
of telling fortunes, and predicting future events, from the fall of playing
cards.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. cartomancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
cartomancy..divination by cards, whether a standard pack or a
special one such as the tarot pack.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. cartomancy a form of divination involving playing cards.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1871 Tylor, 1886.
catoptromancy: divination by the use of mirrors,
looking glasses or other similar reflective surfaces.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
katoptromanteia]
1613 in OED.
1650 N. Homes Daemonologie and Theologie
viii. 80: First, It is evident that it is common with Diabolicall Artists, to
use Catoptromancy, to divine by Looking-glasses,
therein shewing to their enquiring Clyents the shape of ???? and things
which they would know.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Catoxtromancy, by looking glasses...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: Her Trippa
going on in his Discourse, said by Catoptromancy, likewise held in
such account by the Emperor Didius Julianus, That by means thereof,
he ever and anon foresaw all that which at any time did happen or
befal unto him: Thou shalt not need to put on thy Spectacles; for in a
Mirror thou wilt see her as clearly and manifestly Nebrundiated, and
Billibodring-it, as if I should shew it in the Fountain of the Temple of
Minerva near Parras.
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
Catoxtromancy [citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Catoxtromancy...
[citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1834 J.G. Dalyell Darker Superst. of Scotland
520: Catoptromancy was practised with a mirror, or by a phial
and candle, and other means of reflection. On the continent, to divine
theft, a damsel approached a phial of holy water, with a taper of
sanctified wax, saying, "Angelo bianco, angelo santo, per la tua santita
et per le mia virginita mostra mi, che ha tolto tal cosa." The querent
beheld a diminutive figure of the offender in the phial.
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Katoptromancy, by looking-glasses. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 321
catoptromancy, or enoptromancy, Is a species of divination by the
mirror, which Pausanius describes in these terms: - "Before the temple
of Ceres at Patras there was a fountain, separated from the temple by a
wall, and there was an oracle, very truthful, not for all events but for
the sick only. The sick persons let down a mirror, suspended by a
thread, till its base touched the surface of the water, having first prayed
to the goddess and offered incense. Then, looking in the mirror, he saw
the presage of death or recovery, according as the face appeared fresh
and healthy, or of a ghastly aspect." Another method of using the
mirror was to place it at the back of a boy's or girl's head, whose eyes
were bandaged. In Thessaly, the response appeared in characters of
blood on the face of the moon, probably represented in the mirror. The
Thessalian sorceresses derived their art from the Persians, who always
endeavoured to plant their religion and mystic rites in the countries they
invaded.
1868 Chambers's Encyc. II 687.
catoptromancy, divination by the mirror or looking-glass. At Patras,
in Greece, the sick foretold their death or recovery by means of a
mirror let down with a thread until its base touched water in a fountain
before the temple of Ceres. The face of the sick person appearing
healthy in the mirror, betokened recovery; if it looked ghastly, then
death was sure to ensue. More modern superstitions attach ill-luck to
the breaking of a looking-glass, and to seeing one's face in a glass by
candle-light.
1880 J. Grant Mysteries of all Nations xlii. 382.
Catoptromancy was a species of divination performed by the aid of a
mirror. This..was common among the Achaians.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 455:
catoptromancy - is another species of divination used by the
ancients, performed by means of a mirror. Pausaias says that this
method of divination was in use among the Achaians, where those who
were sick, and in danger of death, let down a mirror, or looking-glass,
fastened by a thread, into a fountain before the temple of Ceres; then,
looking into the glass, if they saw a ghastly disfigured face, they took it
as a sure sign of death; but on the contrary, if the face appeared fresh
and healthy, it was a token of recovery. Sometimes glasses were used
without water, and the images of future things, it is said, were
represented in them. [copied in Daniels & Stevans 1903]
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 161. By catoptromancy...
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. [text copied from Howitt 1893]
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 153. By catoptromancy...
1913 Halliday Greek Div. viii. 150. The most
important and best known type of lekanomancy is, or course, divination
by the reflection in a bowl of water, ink, or fluid of some kind. Many
instruments may be used; divination by a mirror (katoptromancy) and
crystal-gazing are only variants of the same superstition.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 95/1:
Catoptromancy, or Enoptromancy is a species of divination by the
mirror, which Pausanius describes: "Before the temple of Ceres at
Patras, there was a fountain, separated from the temple by a wall, and
there was an oracle, very truthful, not for all events, but for the sick
only. The sick person let down a mirror, suspended by a thread, till its
base touched the surface of the water, having first prayed to the
goddess and offered incense. Then looking in the mirror, he saw the
presage of death or recovery, according as the face appeared fresh and
healthy, or of a ghastly aspect." Another method of using the mirror
was to place it at the back of a boy's or girl's head, whose eyes were
bandaged. In Thessaly, the response appeared in characters of blood on
the face of the moon, probably represented in the mirror. The
Thessalian sorceresses derived their art from the Persian, who always
endeavoured to plant their religion and mystic rites in the countries they
invaded.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 304: A special place must be given to the
divination known as catoptromancy, or crystallomancy, which was
performed with a magic mirror or lens. It is one of the most ancient
forms of divination.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 360 By
Catoptromancy, likewise held in such account by the Emperor Didius
Julianus, that by means thereof he ever and anon foresaw all that which
at any time did happen or befall unto him.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Catoxtromancy, by looking
glasses.
c.1965 D. Garman tr. Flaceliere Greek
Oracles i. 15. According to Andr‚ Delatte there were, strictly
speaking, two kinds of divination by mirrors, or catoptromancy. 'The
one made no appeal to any supernatural power, but relied upon the
more or less magical property of any glittering surface... The other kind
of catoptromancy had a very clear religious character, and employed
invocations to both gods and demons.'
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Catoptromancy
- by mirrors.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 464: CATOPTROMANCY: An early form of crystal
gazing, utilizing a mirror which was turned to the Moon to catch the
lunar rays.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314. CATOPTROMANCY or
CATOXTROMANCY: Divination with the aid of a magic mirror. This
originated in Persia and spread throughout the ancient world. Two
techniques were used: In one, the mirror was suspended in a pool of
water; in the other, it was turned to catch the light of the moon. Either
way, it showed mysterious reflections revealing future events. This
practice increased through the years, reaching its peak during the
Middle Ages with such remarkable results that it is highly probable that
concave mirrors were used to reflect distorted images or other scenes.
However, simple magic mirrors are still used, their surface being
painted a glossy black, and some persons who gaze into their depths
claim to see visions there.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 150. Mirror-gazing
(catoptromancy) is another form of scrying.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 39/1.
Catoptromancy. Divination by means of a mirror.
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 254. At least two
methods of scrying were used in antiquity. In one the translucent object
was a mirror - not necessarily in the modern sense of the word, but a
highly polished metal surface, a soldier's shield for instance. This
method is called catoptromancy.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. CATOPTROMANCY
- mirrors.
In Dictionaries
1616 Bullokar An English Expositor s.v.
divination. Catoptromancie by visions shewne in a glass. All
which beeing euen by the Pagans themselues accounted deceitfull and
vaine, it remaineth that of Christians they by vtterly reiected and
abhorred.
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Catoptromancie, Diuination by visions shewne in a glasse.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Catoptromantie: f. Diuination by a looking glasse.]
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..Catoptromancy, by visions in a
glass.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Catoptromancy,
g. divination by visions in a glasse.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
catoptromancy (s.) divination, or pretending to fortel things by
looking into a glass.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) CATOPTROMANCY, Divination by Vision, or by looking in a
Glass.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by mirrors,
Catoptromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
catoptromancy..A species of divination among the ancients, which
was performed by letting down a mirror into water, for a sick person to
look at his face in it. If his countenance appeared distorted and ghastly,
it was an ill omen; if fresh and healthy, it was favourable.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
catoptromancy..A sort of divination by the ancinet Greeks,
performed for one sick, by looking at his face as reflected in a mirror.
Roget.
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) I
catoptromancy.. A species of divination among the ancients,
performed by letting down a mirror into water for a sick person to look
at his face in it. If the countenance appeared distorted and ghastly, it
was an ill omen; if fresh and healthy, it was favorable.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
catoptromancy..Gr. Antiq. Divination by means of a
mirror let down into water.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. catoptromancy [main
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
catoptromancy..Divination by look into a mirror placed in a vessel of
water.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
catotromancy, [sic] mirrors.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. catoptromancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
catoptromancy..fortunetelling with mirrors.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 captromancy
[sic] (mirrors)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. catoptromancy a form of divination involving a crystal
ball or mirrors.
NOTES: OED 1613 Purchas, a1693 Urquhart, 1758, 1855
Smedley. OED this time puts in the ante before the date of
1693. Usually it doesn't recognise this fact.
The word was coined by Gaule from the Greek kottabos the game
of kottabos, also the metal basin used in the game. It has not been
recorded in the OED or any other dictionary, and appears in Gaule and
his copyists. The only modern book on divination to record it is
Gibson who gives a catch-all definition and seems unaware of the
ancient Greek game. As far as I know none of the popular books
on divination or the occult mention the Greek game of kottabos.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Cattabomancy, by vessels of brass, or other metall...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Cattabomancy, by vessels of brass
or other metal.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314. CATTABOMANCY: Use of brazen vessels
for special forms of divination.
Derived from thr Greek kausimos fit for burning, from
kausis a burning, burning heat. Not recorded in OED or
other dictionaries except the Macquarie, where it appears in the
erroneous form causinomancy.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CAUSIMOMANCY: This involves divination from
objects placed in a fire. If they fail to ignite, or burn slowly, it
is a good omen.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314: CAUSIMOMANCY: A form of divination in
which articles are thrown into a fire. If any fail to burn when they
should, it is regarded as a good omen.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.):
causinomancy..divination from objects placed in a fire.
Note
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 144:
Causinomancy Divination from objects cast into a fire.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6: causinomancy
(objects in a fire)
Derived from cenero-, a rare, early modern English combining
form of Latin cinerem ashes.
This word, along with a number of words listed by Shipley, is not
recorded elsewhere. The form of the word is consistent with 17th
century spelling. The OED records cenereous and
ceneritious as "erroneous" forms of cinereous and
cineritious. Perhaps Shipley knew of some source that I
have not yet discovered.
The fine distinction drawn between this and tephramancy in
the citation is probably illusory.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17:
ceneromancy, ashes; tephramancy, tracings in ashes.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
kephalaionomanteia]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Cephaleonomancy, by brayling of an Asses head...
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 413:
Cephalonomantia, ex capite asini tosto.]
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. Cephaleonomancy, by asses' heads. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1663. cephalonomancy - Divination by broiling an ass's
head on coals. The jaws were said to move at the name of the guilty
person.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Cephalonomancy, by broiling an
ass's head.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 140/2:
Kephalonomancy. Bizarre method of divination among the Lombards in
which lighted carbon would be poured on the baked head of a goat, and
the names of those accused of crimes would be called out. If crackling
occurred, it was assumed that the person whose name had been called
was guilty as accused. This form of divination was also practised using
the head of an ass.
In Dictionaries
Blount admits to taking this word from Cotgrave's dictionary, in which
it exists as a French not English word. This clearly shows the practice
of the early hard word dictionary makers of including foreign words
that were not at the time part of English. Many of the original ``hard
words'' in hard-word dictionaries were actually words that the
lexicogrpahers thought would be useful or good words to have in
English. Coles follows Blount. Cotgrave duly notes that he had come
across the word in Rabelais, where the form was indeed
'cephaleonomantie'. Curiously Urquhart did not follow either of these
French sources for his form, see next.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Cephaleonomanie. [sic] Diuination by an asses
head broyled on coles.
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..Cephaleonomancy, by an Asses
head broiled on coals.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Cephaleonomancy,
g. Divination by a broil'd Asses head.
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
cephalonomancy.. A kind of divination formerly practised in
detecting guilt. Lighted coals having been placed on the head of an ass,
prayers were recited, the names of suspected persons pronounced at
random. The one whose name happened to be called at the moment that
the ass brayed with pain was assumed to be guilty.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
cephalonomancy...fortunetelling by boiling an ass's head.
NOTES: OED Gaule, then 1807 Southey. Notes a 'erron.' form
'cephalonomancy' though offers no cit. The 'erron.' form of OED is
that of the Cent. Dict.
cephalomancy: 1. cephaleonomancy. 2.
divination by study of the shape of the skull or head, esp. of a
donkey or goat.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By
Cephalomancy, often practised amongst the High-Germans, in their
boiling of an Asse's Head upon burning Coals.
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 413:
Cephalomantia, ex capite s[ive] cranio mortui.]
1863 William Smith Dict. of the Bible i. 442/2.
The other kind of divination was artificial (çîxvikn), and probably
originated in an honest conviction that external nature sympathised with
and frequently indicated the condition and prospects of mankind...
When once this feeling was established the supposed manifestations
were infinitely multiplied, and hence the numberless forms of imposture
or ignorance called kapnomancy, pyromancy, arithmomancy,
libanomancy, botanomancy, kephalomancy, &c. of which there are
abundant accounts...
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By cephalomancy, often practised amongst the High
Germans, in their boiling of an ass's head upon burning coals.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. [as above]
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: Cephalomancy was divination by a
donkey's head...
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
cephalomancy, often practised amongst the High Germans, in their
boiling of an ass's head upon burning coals.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CEPHALOMANCY: Divinatory procedures using
the skull or head of a donkey of goat.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy
iii. 41. Kephalomancy. Divination by the crackling of a
donkey's head when burnt.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314. CEPHALOMANCY: A weird and
long-obsolete rite of boiling a donkey's head for divinatory purposes.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 142.
Cephalomancy Predicting from the skull or head of a donkey
or goat.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70 CEPHALOMANCY -
boiling an asses head.
In Dictionaries
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
CEPHALOMANCY [cephalomantia, L. of kîíà^omanteia
Gr. kîíà^oc the Head and manteia Divination] a Divination by the
Head of an Ass, which they broiled on the Coals, and after having
muttered a few prayers, they repeated the Persons Names or the Crime,
in Case only one was suspected, at which if the Jaws made any Motion
and the Teeth chattered against one another, they thought the Person
that had done the ill Deed sufficiently discovered.
1889 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
cephalomancy..Divination by means of a head, as by boiling
or by placing coals of fire upon an ass's head.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp. - cites OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. cephalomancy [minor
words list]
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
cephalomancy..divination by study of the skull or head of a
donkey or goat.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 cephalomancy
(skull shape)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. cephalomancy a form of divination involving the head.
NOTES: OED Urquhart, then 'cephalomant' 1860. In all likelihood the
word 'boiling' in Urquhart is a typographical error for 'broiling', since
the method required viewing the falling or movement of the donkey's
jaw-bone and the precise time this happened, a thing not easily
determined whilst boiling. Further the boiling of something 'upon hot
coals' is nonsense, one boils something 'in some liquid'. This error has
been copied in later editions of Urquhart, and also found its way into
later -mancy lists. This form of the word literally means 'divination by
a head' and would thus apply to any sort of head divination, whereas
'cephaleonomancy' literally means 'divination be an ass's head'.
Interestingly the French sources I have of Rabelais give the French
word 'cephaleonomantia' - but why did Urquhart change it? Needs
checking.
cephalonomancy cephaleonomancy
ceraunomancy: divination by thunder and lightning.
[Gk kîpàvvoc (keraunos) thunder, a thunderbolt]
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. ceraunomancy a form of divination involving thunder or
thunderbolts.
NOTES: Not in OED. This is not the usual term, ie ceraunoscopy, from
Gk kîpàvvoåkoãià (keraunoskopia).
ceromancy: divination in which melted wax is poured
into cold water, forming bubbles which are then interpreted.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
keromanteia]
1640 in Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 337.
Dr. Ferrand, in his Love Melancholy, 1640, p. 177, mentions the "kinde
of divination by the opening of a booke at all adventures..." He
adds, "I shall omit to speak here of astragalomancy, that was
done with huckle bones; ceromancy, and all other such like
fooleries."
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Carromancy, by melting of Wax...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By Ceromancy,
where, by the means of Wax dissolved into Water, thou shalt see the
Figure, Poutrait and lively Representation of thy future Wife, and of her
Fredin Fredaliatory Belly-thumping Blades.
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
Carramancy [citing Gaule, though changing spelling]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Carromancy, by
melting of wax. [citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Ceromancy, by the melting of wax. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By ceromancy...
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1663. ceromancy - Divination by the forms assumed by
melted wax dropped into water.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By ceromancy...
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
ceromancy, where, by the means of wax dissolved into water, thou shalt
see the figure, portrait, and lively representation of thy future wife, and
of her fredin fredaliatory belly-thumping blades.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Carromancy, by melting of wax.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Ceromancy -
by molten wax dropped into water.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Ciromancy...wax
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314. CEROMANCY: A time-honored divination
performed by melting pure wax in a brass bowl and pouring it slowly
into another bowl filled with water, so that it forms various shapes,
which are duly interpreted by the diviner. Special listings were made of
those, so that ceromancy became a widespread art, which fortunately
has survived in the form of tasseomancy, as described in Chapter V.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 154. In
ceromancy, melted wax is allowed to drip into a shallow dish of cold
water, and the resulting shapes are interpreted. Ceromancy was very
popular in the eighteenth century, when correspondence was normally
fastened with sealing wax.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 40/2:
Divination by means of inspecting melted wax. In the Middle Ages, the
magician would melt wax in a brass vessel and then pour it onto cold
water in another container. The congealed wax globules would then be
symbolically interpreted.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. CEROMANCY -
melted wax dropped in water.
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Ceromantie: f. Diuination, or soothsaying, by wax, gum,
or other cleauing simples.]
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..Ceromantie, by wax put into water.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Ceromancy,
divination by wax in water.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
CEROMANCY [ceromantia, L. of kîpomanteia of kîpoc
Wax, and manteia Divination] Divination by Wax. The Manner was
thus, they melted Wax over a Vessel of Water, letting it drop within 3
Definite Spaces, and observed the Figure, Situation, Distance and
Concretion of the Drops.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by dropping melted
wax into water, Ceromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
ceromancy..Divination by dropping melted wax into water.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
ceromancy..Divination by melted wax. Crabb.
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
ceromancy.. Divination from the forms assumed by drops of
melted wax let fall into water.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
ceromancy..Divination by inspection of melted wax dropped
into water.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. ceromancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
ceromancy..Divination from the forms assumed by melting wax
dropped into water.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
ceromancy, melted wax on water.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. ceromancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict. ceromancy..fortunetelling
with melted wax dropped in water.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 ceromancy
(melted wax)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. ceromancy a form of divination involving dropping
melted wax into water.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Gaule, Blount, Urquhart. That's all. Not labelled Obs.
Pre-dated, if Brand can be trusted.
chalcomancy: divination by striking brass or copper
vessels. Mackay's word for Gaule's 'cattabomancy', which see. [Gk
chalkos copper]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Chalcomancy, by vessles of brass, or other
metal. [supposedly citing Hone citing Gaule]
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
chalcomancy..Divination with a copper cup.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. chalcomancy [minor
words list]
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 314. CHALCOMANCY: Divination by striking
bowls of copper or brass. Such tones were given definite interpretations
at the ancient Oracle of Dodona.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. chalcomancy a form of divination involving brass
vessels.
NOTES: Not in OED. In Mackay's list as a word from Gaule, but
actually replacing Gaule's cattabomancy. Uses Gaule's def.
chaomancy: a Paracelsian term for divination by the
air. = aeromancy.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
1650 French tr. Paracelsus Nine Books Of the Nature
of Things (1674) ix. 300: Chaomancy shews its Signs by the Stars
of the Air and Wind, by the discolouring, destroying of all tender and
subtil things, to which the Wind is an enemy, by beating off the
Flowers, Leaves, Boughs and Branches. If the Stars of Chaomancy are
moved, Spirits fall from the superiour Air, and Voices and Answers
were often heard: Also Trees are pulled up by the Roots, and Houses
are thrown down. There are seen Hobgoblins, Household Gods, airy
Spirits, and Woodmen, \it\& \it c\/\rm . also a heavenly Dew and
Manna falls upon Trees and Herbs.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 99/2: Chaomandy:
(See Ceraunoscopy.) [= "Divination practised by the ancients by the
examination of the phenomena of the air."]
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 35:
Chaomancy: Divination by observing and interpreting atmospheric
appearances.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 315. CHAOMANCY: A medley of ancient
divinations based on atmospheric conditions in general, some of which
survive as modern superstitions.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 148.
Chaomancy Divination from aerial visions.
In Dictionaries
1650 French Chymical Dictionary (1674) 317:
Chaomancy is an Art of presaging by the Air.
1656 Blount Glossographia
Chaomancy; a kind of divination by air.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Chaomancy,
divination by the air.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) CHAOMANTIA [of Xàoc Chaos, and manteia Divination,
Gr.] the Skill of Prognosticating by Observations of the Air.
CHAOMANTICA Signa [among Paracelsians] those
Prognoticks that are taken from Observations of the Air.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by appearances in
the air, Aeromancy, Chaomancy...
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
chaomancy..Divination by appearances in the air.
Roget.
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
chaomancy.. Divination by means of the atmosphere or by
a‰rial visions; clairvoyance; second sight. [marked obsolete]
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
chaomancy..Fortune-telling by aerial apparitions.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. chaomancy [minor
words list; labelled rare]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
chaomancy, clouds.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 chaomancy (gas)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. chaomancy a form of divination involving aerial visions.
NOTES: OED Blount, then 'chaomantia' in Chamber's Encyc. 1753,
then "1775 Ash, etc." Labels 'rare-0'. Pre-dated.
chartomancy: divination by interpreting inscriptions
written on paper or cards. A Gaulean word. The "choosing Valentines"
mentioned by Brand refers to a custom of choosing valentines by
writing names of a group of males and females on pieces of paper and
selecting them at random. This parenthetic information added by Brand
is found in Hone, proving his reliance upon Brand. Robbins, on the
other hand, actually quotes from Gaule's original text. [Gk
chartes a leaf of paper]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Chartomancy, by writing in papers...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule] ..Chartomancy, by writing in papers [adding]
(this is retained in choosing Valentines, &c.)...
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Chartomancy, by
writing in papers; as in choosing valentines, &c. [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Chartomancy, by writing in papers, and by
Valentines. [citing Hone citing Gaule]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Chartomancy, by writing in papers.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Chartomancy
(Cartomancy)...cards, usually the Tarot
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 315. CHARTOMANCY: Divination by writing or
interpreting inscriptions, sometimes of mysterious origin. Predictions
written in invisible ink, which appears when papers are heated, come in
this general category. So do greeting cards.
In Dictionaries
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
chartomancy.. Divination or fortune-telling by means of cards
or written papers.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
chartomancy..Same as cartomancy.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. chartomancy [minor
words list]
NOTES: OED Gaule only. Labelled Obs.
cheiromancy chiromancy. See 1618, 1650, 1868,
1970, 1973, 1988.
This curious word was sometimes (faithfully) copied into later editions
of Urquhart. Most editions of Urquhart silently correct the mistake, and
later translations of Rabelais follow the French and give
cleromancy - see citations 1951, 1955. However, some alter
it to cheromancy, an equally spurious form.
Neither form is recorded in OED, though this would have made a
nice story, and explained the word to some undoubetdly mystified
English readers of Rabelais.
The original passage in Rabelais read:
Urquhart had made mention of this custom in an earlier
work. According to Brand Popular Antiquities i. 23:
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By cheromancy, as the bean is found in the cake at the
Epiphany vigil.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Five Books of the Lives,
Heroic Deeds and Sayings of Gargantua and his son
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By cheromancy, as the bean is found in
the cake at the Epiphany vigil.
c1928 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua and
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 487. By Cheromomancy, as the Bean is found
in the Cake at the Epiphany Vigil.
The element 'chilo-' is normally used in scientific compounds to
signfy 'lip', from New Latin chilo-, from Greek
cheilos lip.
[text copied in] 1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc.
Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662.
a1440 Palmistry 44. (MED) This lytill
tretis draw owt of the sciens of Ciromanci.
c1450 Metham Palm. 84/3. (MED)
Thales Mylesyes..fyrst dyd wryte the syens off cyromancy in the
langage of Parce.
a1475 Lydgate Pilgr. 21158 (MED)
Cyromancye, To telle the dysposiciouns Off ffolk and ther condyciouns.
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.
1603 Christopher Heydon A Defence of Ivdiciall
Astrolgie 356 ..sure I am that it is altogether impertient, and his
iudgement quite out of tune, in comparing Astrologie with
Aruspicie, Hydromancie, Chiromancie,
Choschinomancy, and such like.
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers means...or by
lines in the hand, Chiromancy.
1618 B. Holyday Tîxvoyàæià, 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.
1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 71: If they fore-tell
things that shall happen by signes that they see in lines of a mans hand;
then it is called Chyromancie...
1621 R. Burton Anatomy of Melancholy I. ii. i.
iv. (1827) I. 84: Other signs there are taken from physiognomy,
metopscopy, chiromancy, which because Joh. de Ingadine, and Rotman
(the landgrave of Hassia his mathematician) not long since in his
Chiromancy, Baptista Porta, in his celestial Physiognomy, have proved
to hold great affinity with astrology, to satisfie the curious, I am more
willing to insert.
1650 Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica (2nd ed.)
230 [we] are not ready to admit..that there is much considerable in that
doctrine of Cheiromancy, that spots in the top of nailes doe signifie
things past; in the middle, things present; and at the bottome, events to
come.
1650 French tr. Paracelsus Nine Books Of the Nature
of Things (1674) ix. 276: Now Chiromancy is an Art, which doth
not only look into the hands of men, and make judgement by their lines
and wrinkles, but also considers all hearbs, woods, hard stones, earths,
and rivers, and whatsoever hath lines, veins, or wrinkles. Neither does
this Art want its errours, which those Astronomers were guilty of. For
they assigned the fingers of the hands to the planets, and chiefest stars,
whereas there are but five fingers in one hand, and in both ten, yet
these planets are reckoned but seven. How then can these things agree
amongst themselves?
1651 J. Ingadine tr. Fabian Withers Bk of Palmestry
& Physiognomy a6v: The Ancient Greeks, who (as it may appear
by the long and old use of the wand) did use this sort and kinde of
Divination which is gathered by the beholding of mans hand, called it
by the proper name of Chyromancia.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Chiromancy, by the hands...
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...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1797 Encyc. Brit. (3rd ed.) VII 66.
Chiromancy is the art which teaches to know, by inspection the
hand, not only the inclination of a man, but his future destiny also. The
fools or imposters who practice this art pretend, that the different parts
or the lines of the hand have a relation to the internal parts of the body,
as some to the heart, others to the liver, spleen, &c. On this false
supposition, and on many others equally extravagant, the principles of
chiromancy are founded: and on which, however, several authors, as
Robert Flud an Englishman, Artemidorus, M. de la Chambre, John of
Indagina, and many others have written large treatises.
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Chiromancy, by the hands. [citing Hone
citing Gaule]
1855 Henry Thompson in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 296 Among the Arabs the science of prognostication (Ilmi
fir set) or art of discovering secret objects by the interpretation of
mysterious indications, known only to adepts, is subdivided into twelve
branches: 1. Physiognomy, (fir sah;) 2. Phantasmognomy,
(kha‹latwa-sham t;) 3. Chiromancy, ( s s¡r;)...
1868 Chambers's Encyc. II 787.
cheiromancy..or palmistry, a form of divination that professes to
read the destiny of an individual by the lineaments of the hand. In the
middles ages, C. occupied the attention of Cardan, Paracelsus, and other
eminent men, who elaborated it into a system. It is now, however, the
exclusive property of the gipsies, who still find among maid-servants
sufficient credulity to make its practice profitable.
1871 Tylor Primitive Culture (1891) i. iv. 125.
Chiromancy traces in the marking of the palm a line of fortune and a
line of life, finds proof of melancholy in the intersections on the
saturnine mount, presages sorrow and death from black spots in the
finger-nails, and at last, having exhausted the powers of this childish
symbolism, it completes its system by details of which the absurdity is
no longer relieved by even an ideal sense.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 456:
1939 J. Trachtenberg Jewish Magic 216: Among
these [\it sc\/\rm . divinatory methods] were the rather technical skills
os Anthroposcopy (divining by the features) and Chiromancy (by the
hand), still as widely pursued today as ever.
1947 N.K. Basu Art of Love in Orient iii. 78:
Astrology, Astronomy, Palmistry and Chiromancy, not to speak of other
branches of art, science and metaphysics, attained a high degree of
perfection in India long before and the advent of Christ.
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.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Chiromancy, by the hands.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Cheiromancy -
by the hands.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 315. CHEIROMANCY or CHIROMANCY:
Divination from the palm and hand.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 12. The experts
prefer more resonantly impressive terms like "chirognomy,"
"chirology," or "chiromancy"...
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel
xxv. 306: 'You know how, using astrology, geomancy, chiromancy,
physiognomy, and other such stuff, he predicts everything that's going
to happen.'
1993 McCormack Q&A 70 CHIROMANCY,
PALMISTRY - the hand.
In Dictionaries
1613 R. Cawdrey A Table Alphabeticall (3rd ed.)
chiromancie (g) telling of fortunes by the lines in the hand.
1616 Bullokar An English Expositor s.v.
divination. Palmistry or Chiromancie, is a diuination
practised, by looking vpon the lines of the fingers and hands, an art still
in vse, among fortune tellers, Egyptians, and iuglers.
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Chyromancy, Diuination by the palme of the hand.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Chiromantie: Palmistrie; a ghessing at ones fortune by the
markes, or making, of his hand.]
1650 French Chymical Dictionary (1674) 319:
Chiromancy according to Paracelsus doth not treat of
the lineaments of the hands only, but also the whole body, and not only
of men, but all natural things besides.
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..Palmistry or Chiromancy,
by looking on the lines of the fingers and hands.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Chiromancy...
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Chiromancy,
Palmestry, divination by the hand-lines.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Chiromancy...
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
chiromancy...
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
CHIROMANTICALLY..by Chiromancy or Palmistry.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) CHIROMANCER [of Xîipoæàvçnc, Gr.] a Person skilled in the
Art of Chiromancy. CHIROMANCY [Xîipomanteia, of xîip a
Hand, and manteia Divination, Gr.] a ridiculous Divination,
pretending to discover the Constitutions and Tempers of Persons, and to
foretel Events by the Wrinkles, Lines, and Marks in the Hand.
CHIROMANTICAL [Xîipoæàvçikoc, Gr.] belonging to
Chiromancy.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840)
Chiromancy..The art of foretelling the events of life, by inspecting the
hand.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by the hand,
Palmistry, Chiromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
chiromancy..Divination by the hand; the art or practice of attempting
to foretell events, or to discover the dispositions of a person, by
inspecting the lines and lineaments of his hand.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
chiromancy..Divination by inspecting the lines of the hand;
palmistry. Burton.
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
chiromancy.. Divination by the hand; the art or practice of
attempting to foretell the future of a person by inspecting the line and
lineaments of his hand; palmistry practised with reference to the future;
also, palmistry in general.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
chiromancy...
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. chiromancy [main
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
chiromancy..Divination by means of the hand; palmistry.
1932 Wyld Universal Dict.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
chiromancy, palm reading.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. chiromancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
chiromancy..the art of telling a person's fortune and character
by the hand.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 chiromancy (hand)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. chiromancy, cheiromancy palmistry.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1528 Skelton, 1610 B. Jonson, 1830 Scott, 1883. MED
pre-dates.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
Not recorded in Randle Cotgrave's Dict. of the French & English
Tongues, which cites many Rabelaisian words and was that used
by Urquhart when translating.
For some reason the word was omitted by OED. This is strange since
the OED records many other -mancy words on the basis of a
single quotation, and even records stichomancy with the sole
citation being that of Urquhart's Rabelais. The word does not
appear in any other occult/divination texts.
Variant Forms
The variant form, namely: choeromancy, choeromancy,
and choiromancy, all show editorial substitution of the normal
connective -o-, where Urquhart has -a-.
Citations
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel III. xxv. 134: By
Choiramancy: Let us have a great many Hogs, and thou shalt have the
Bladder of one of them.
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162: By choeromancy, let us have a great many hogs, and thou
shalt have the bladder of one of them.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154: By choiromancy...
c1928 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua and
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 487: By Choiramancy...
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361: By
choeromancy, let us have a great many hogs, and thou shalt have the
bladder of one of them.
This rare word, not recorded elsewhere, is derived from the
Greek chresmos an oracular pronouncement, a prophecy.
Itself a derivative of the Greek chrao to pronounce,
to proclaim, to give a needful answer, stemming from a basic
meaning "to furnish what is needful". The given definition is
referring to the fact that ancient Greek oracles used to go
into a state of divine frenzy in order to gain information
from the gods so that they might make an oracular statement. A
better definition would seem to be "oracular divination".
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 315: CHRESMOMANCY: Divination from the
utterances of a person in a frenzy. This dates back to the famous Greek
Oracle of Delphi.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict.: chronomancy ..
formerly esp. in China.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209: chronomancy a divination to determine the precise time
for action.
1855 Edward Smedley in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 327 cledonism, Or, in full, Cledonismantia, is good or
evil presage of certain words uttered without premeditation when
persons come together in any way; it also regulated the words to be
used on particular occasions. Cicero says the Pythagoreans were very
attentive to these presages; and according to Pausanius, it was a
favourite method of divination at Smyrna, where the oracles of Apollo
were thus interpreted.
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. cledonismancy - Relates to the first words uttered
upon meeting, after the salutations.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 105/1: [copying
Smedley]
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 37:
Cledonismantia; cledonism: The belief in and divination of the good or
evil portent of certain spontaneously spoken words when meeting
another person or other persons.
NOTE: Not in OED, OED2, Cent, Webs3, - not elsewhere recorded.
Neither is the more common word cledonism (except in Webs2)
cledonomancy: divination by chance remarks
overheard. [Gk k^nëwv (kledon) omen, presage contained in a
word, sound or chance utterance] (cledomancy)
1911 Encyc. of Religion & Ethics (1967) iv.
797/1: The consultant whispered his questions into the god's ear, then
stopped his own ears, went out, and, when he got beyond the market-
place, listened for chance words from passers-by. These were construed
into an answer. This form of divination (cledonomancy)
remained popular at all periods.
1913 Halliday Greek Div. x. 229. One of the
most important of the methods of divination of the kleromantic order is
kledonomancy. We have earlier had occasion to notice the importance
which attaches to the spoken word. Kledonomancy is originally nothing
more than the acceptance of the fatal word or of the spoken omen.
c.1965 D. Garman tr. Flaceliere Greek
Oracles i. 9. Cledonomancy was particularly concerned with the
etymological meaning of words, especially of names, in which the
Greeks always showed a marked interest.
1970 B.I. Rakoczi in Man, Myth & Magic v.
659/1: Pausanias (2nd century AD) gives an example of cledonomancy.
A man was not sure weather to marry a young woman of his own clan
or a rich woman of more exalted rank. While thinking over the
problem, he heard a child at play with his fellows shout, 'Take care of
yourself' which he at once understood to mean that he should marry the
rich one!
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 44/2:
Cledonomancy. Divination by heeding chance remarks or events.
NOTES: Not in OED. Orig. source of 'cledomancy' still lost!
cleidomancy: divination by means of a dangling key.
[NL clidomantia, from Gk k^îië-, k^îic (kleid-,
kleis) key] Variant Forms: clidomancy, chilomancy (err.),
kleidomancy.
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 413:
Clidomantia, qvando clavi inscribitur nomen furis.]
1855 Edward Smedley in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 326 clidomancy Should be exercised when the sun or moon
is in Virgo, the name should be written upon a key, the key should be
tied to a Bible, and both should be hung upon the nail of the ring-
finger or a virgin, who must thrice softly repeat Exurge Domine,
adjuva nos et redime nos propter nomen sanctum tuum. According
as the key and book turns or is stationary, the name is to be considered
right or wrong. Some ancients added the seven Psalms with litanies and
sacred prayers, and then more fearful effects were produced upon the
guilty; for not only the key and book turned, but either the impression
of the key was found upon him, or he lost an eye, whence came the
Proverb, Ex oculo quoque excusso hodie for cognoscitur.
Another method of practising with the Bible and key is to place the
street door key on the fiftieth-psalm. close the volume and fasten it
very tightly with the garter of a female; it is then suspended to a nail
and will turn when the name of the thief is mentioned. By a third
method, two persons suspend the Bible between them; holding the ring
of the key by their two forefingers.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 105/2: [copying
Smedley]
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Cleidomancy was performed with a key
suspended from a thread from the nail of a young virgin's third finger,
this verse from the Psalms being repeated meanwhile: "Exurge,
Domine, adjuva nos, et redime nos propter nomen sanctum tuum." The
key would revolve if the thing asked could be affirmed.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 37:
Clidomancy: Divination using a Bible and a hanging key, interpreting
the movements of the latter.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural
41: There was also..clidomancy (key)...
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CLIDOMANCY (CLEIDOMANCY): This is
worked with a dangling key which answers questions.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Cleidomancy...keys
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 315. CLEIDOMANCY or CLIDOMANCY: A
very mysterious form of divination in which a key is suspended by a
thread several inches in length, which in turn is wrapped about a
person's finger, so that the dangling key can rotate, swing back and
forth or become immobile. Upon questions being asked, mentally or
verbally, the answers are interpreted according to the actions of the key.
From this has developed a popular modern device termed the
"exploratory pendulum," which consists of a ball hanging from a string,
which should revolve for "Yes" and swing for "No" - or vice versa,
according to tests with individual operators. The pendulum is also
supposed to swing in the correct direction when looking for a lost
article or missing person in the actual locality or when held above a
map. In earlier forms of cleidomancy, more elaborate measures were
used, one favorite method being to open a Bible at a certain Psalm or
at the first page of a specific gospel. A large key was inserted there,
with its loop extending up from the pages, and the book was firmly tied
with string to hold the key in place. The loop of the key is then hung
upon the third finger of a girl's left hand and either she or a diviner
recites scriptural quotations according to an established formula. In
another variant, the key is held in place by two persons, each pressing a
forefinger against an opposite edge. Either way, names of persons are
finally called off, and if one happens to be guilty of some theft or other
crime, the key is supposed to turn at mention of his name.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 66. Other forms of
the art [sc. radiesthesia] included divination with a suspended
key (cleidomancy) or a suspended ring (dactylomancy) - methods that
are still in use today.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
clidomancy.. Divination by means of a key, especially by
means of a key fastened in a Bible or other book, the object being to
ascertain who is to be one's lover or sweetheart. When the right name
is mentioned or the initial letter uttered, the book and key are expected
to move in the hands of the person who holds them. Formerly this
method was used to detect those guilty of theft. Also
cleidomancy.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
cleidomancy..Divination by means of a key and a book,
especially the Bible. clidomancy\ddag .
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp. - clido-
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. s.v. cleido-, clido-
[main words list]
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. s.v. cleid-
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
clidomancy..divination by means of a dangling key that
supposedly answers questions.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 clidomancy (key)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. cleidomancy, clidomancy a form of divination involving
a key or keys.
NOTES: OED Smedley only. Although OED gives 'cleido' as hwd, it
offers no citation for this form. Further the form 'clido' does not get
separate hwd status. Also, it changes the type (of 'clidomancy') from
small caps to ordinary.
cleromancy: 1. (generally) divination
by casting lots. 2. (specifically) a. divination
by throwing of dice, or other marked objects, such as beans, bones or
pebbles. b. used to denote a specific divination involving a
bean baked in a cake - see cheromancy. [NL
cleromantia, MF cleromancie, medL
cleromantia, from Gk k^npoc (kleros) lot; cf. F
cl‚romancie, Sp cleromancia] Variant Forms:
kleromantia.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xiii.:
kleromanteia]
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers means...or by
lottes, Cleromancy.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Cleromancy, by lotts...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel - see cheromomancy.
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. Kleromancy, by lots. [citing Hone (citing
Gaule)]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 334
cleromancy, Was practised by throwing black and white beans, little
bones or dice, and, perhaps, stones; anything, in short, suitable for
kl‚roi or lots. A method of practising cleromancy in the streets
of Egypt is mentioned under the head of Sortilege, and the same
thing was common in Rome. The Thri‘an lots, named on the same
page, meant indifferently the same thing as cleromancy: it was nothing
more than dicing, only that the objects used bore particular
marks or characters, and were consecrated to Mercury, who was
regarded as the patron of this method of divination. For this reason an
olive leaf, called "the lot of Mercury," was generally put in the urn in
order to propitiate his favour.
1880 J. Grant Mysteries of all Nations xl. 369.
Cleromancy was performed by the throwing of dice.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 454:
cleromancy - Is a kind of divination performed by the throwing of
dice or little bones; and observing the points or marks turned up. At
Bura, a city of Achaia, a celebrated Temple of Hercules, where such as
consulted the oracle, after praying to the idol, threw four dice, the
points of which being well scanned by the priest, he was supposed to
draw an answer from them. [copied in Daniels & Stevans 1903]
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais -
see cheromomancy.
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. [text copied from Howitt 1893]
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. - see cheromomancy.
1913 Halliday Greek Div. x. 205. kleromancy
[chapter heading] The appeal in cases of doubt or uncertainty to the fall
of the lot is familiar in modern life.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 105/2: [copying
Rich]
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
cleromancy, as the bean is found in the cake at the Epiphany vigil.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Cleromancy, by lots.
c.1965 D. Garman tr. Flaceliere Greek
Oracles i. 17. Cleromancy was practised not only at Dodona but at
the majority of the oracles in Greece; even..at Delphi. The reason for
this is more easily understood when we realize that in the opinion of
the ancients the drawing of lots was governed, not by chance, but by
the will of the gods.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Cleromancy -
by dice or lots.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CLEROMANCY: A form of lot casting, akin to
divination with dice, but simply using pebbles or other odd objects,
often of different colors instead of marked cubes.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 315. CLEROMANCY: An ancient mode of
casting lots, with pebbles, beans, or other objects of different shapes,
colors, or markings. As a variation, slips of paper were used, each
bearing a different symbol, which persons picked at random for
appropriate interpretation.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 104. Cleromancy
was also used to supplement prophecy: the oracle at Delphi used beans
as lots.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel
xxv. 309: 'Or might you prefer cleromancy--the way you hunt for the
bean hidden in the cake, on Epiphany Eve?
In Dictionaries
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
(reverse dictionary) Diuination by lots, Cleromancy.
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..Sorcery or Cleromancy, by
lots.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Cleromancy, (Greek) a divination by lots.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Cleromancy,
g. Divination by lots or dice.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Cleromancy, (G.) a Sooth-saying, or fortune-telling by lots, or the
throwing of Dice.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
cleromancy...
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) CLEROMANCY [of K^npoc, a Lot, and manteia, Gr. a
Prophecy] Soothsaying, or telling Fortune by Dice, or by throwing Lots.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by dice,
Cleromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
cleromancy..Divination by throwing dice or little bones, and
observing the points or marks turned up.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
cleromancy..Divination dice or by casting lots. Crabb.
1889 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
cleromancy.. Divination by throwing dice or lots, and
interpreting according to certain rules the points or marks turned up.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
cleromancy..Divination with dice or beans; sortilege.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. cleromancy [minor
words list; labelled rare]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
cleromancy..Divination by casting lots with dice.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
cleromancy, dice.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. cleromancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
cleromancy..fortunetelling with dice.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 cleromancy (dice)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. cleromancy astragalomancy.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Healey, then Gaule, then Smedley. Labelled ?Obs.
Cockeram - in main dict?
clidomancy cleidomancy
cock-omancy alectryomancy
1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel
xxv. 309: '...Or perhaps cock-mancy? I'll draw a perfect cicle right here
and, while you're watching, I'll divide it into twenty-four equal
portions. Under each one I'll put a letter of the alphabet; under each
letter I'll put a grain of wheat; and then I'll let a good virgin cock go
across: you'll see, I swear it, how he-ll eat the grains under the letters
C U C K O L D...
NOTES: a new form, invented by Raffel to translate Rabelais'
'alectryomantie'
conchomancy: divination by shells. [L concha,
from Gk koyxn (konche) muscle, cockle, shell]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
conchomancy, shells.
NOTES: Not in OED.
More information
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
The term comes into English via both New and medieval Latin
coscinomantia, and is derived from the Greek koskinomantis
a diviner using a sieve, from koskinon a sieve.
There has been much speculation about the manner in which the sieve
was to be held by the shears, with some writers throwing up their
hands at the problem (see cit. 1868), and
other suggesting that a piece of thread was used. Fortunately in
the 1567 edition of Agrippa's works there is a beautiful
picture showing exactly this. It is
clear that sieve was suspended from the shears in such a way that
the cutting edges of the shear-blades made tangents to the outer
rim of the sieve. Thus suspended the sieve is capable of some
sideways movement, or even of dropping. The holding of the shears
by only the two middle fingers would make it almost impossible to
keep the sieve still for any length of time, thus ensuring a
prognostication. The complicating factor is that in the Latin text
accompanying the picture the sieve is said to "turn around"
(circum agatur), which clearly it cannot do unless held
at two diametrically opposite points on the outer rim.
Agrippa believed that the movement of the sieve was performed by
a demon, and that the conjuration dies, mies, jeschet,
benedoefet, dowima, enitemaus actually compelled the
demon to perform the task. He further notes that the words of this
conjuration were understood neither by the speaker nor anyone else
(nec sibi ipsis, nec aliis intellectua). Here Agrippa is
asserting one of the most venerable notions of magic, i.e. that
there is a language in the spirit world and that this language
is powerfully efficacious. The co-called "Enochian language" of
the 16th century magician Edward Kelly, later revived by Alister
Crowley, is such a language. Kelly would communicate Enochian
messages to his cohort, Dr. John Dee, backwards, for to say
them directly would unleash powers beyond control. This concept
can futher be seen in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments where
a sorceress takes some lake water in hand and over it speaks
"words not to be understood" (tr. Burton I. xi. 80).
1603 Christopher Heydon A Defence of Ivdiciall
Astrolgie 356: ..sure I am that it is altogether impertient, and his
iudgement quite out of tune, in comparing Astrologie with
Aruspicie, Hydromancie, Chiromancie,
Choschinomancy, and such like.
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294: Diuination generally was done by diuers means...by a
siue, called Coscinomancy.
1618 B. Holyday Technogamia, or the Marriage of
the Arts II. iii. ll. 89-146 (G2v):
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165:
..Coseinomancy, [sic] by seives...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: By
Coscinomancy, most religiously observed of old, amidst the Ceremonies
of the ancient Romans. Let us have a Sieve and Shiers, and thou shalt
see Devils.
1722 Athenian Oracle ii. 309:
Q. 'A
Gentlewoman having lost several Things out of her House, she
suspected one of her Maids; whereupon she try'd this Experiment to
find out the Truth; she call'd the suspected Person, and holding a Key
upon her Finger, being put in a Bible, she repeated the following
Words; which are not thought fit to be printed, lest the same ill use
might be made of them by others; naming the Person's Christian and
Sirname, whereupon the Bible immediately turn'd round, which makes
the Lady believe the suspected Person guilty. Pray your thoughts upon
it, whether any Certainty in it, or such a Practice lawful?' A.
This is near a-kin to the Trick of the Sieve and Scizzors, the
Coskniomancy of the Ancients, as old as Theocritus's Eipe kai
'Agroio talathea koskinomantis, A lesser sort of Ordeal,
tho' not so dangerous as those formerly used, both among Christians
and Heathens...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329:
Coseinomancy [citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Coseinomancy
[citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1844 Brand Popular Antiquities iii. 351:
[misquoting Athenian Oracle] In the Athenian Oracle, ii. 309, the
divination by sieve and shears is called "the trick of the Sieve and
Scissors, the coskiomancy of the ancients, as old as Theocritus."
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Koskinomancy, by sieves. [citing Hone
citing Gaule]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 324
coscinomancy Is practised with a sieve, and a pair of tongs or shears,
which are supported upon the thumb nails of two persons who look one
upon the other, or the nails of the middle finger may be used.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist.
of Magic ii. 455:
coscinomancy - As the word implies, is the art of divination by
means of a sieve. The sieve being suspended, after repeating a certain
form of words, it is taken between two fingers only, and the names of
parties suspected repeated; he at whose name the sieve turns, trembles
or shakes, is reputed guilty of the evil in question. This doubtless must
be a very ancient practice. Theocritus, in his third Idyllion, mentions a
woman who was very skillful in it. It was sometimes also practised by
suspending the sieve by a thread, or fixing it to the points of a pair of
scissors, giving it room to turn, and naming, as before, the parties
suspected; in this manner Coscinomancy is still practised in some parts
of England. From Theocritus it appears that it was not only used to find
out persons unknown, but also to discover secrets. [copied in 1903
Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662]
1913 Halliday Greek Div. x. 219: To the same
species of divinatory rites [i.e. those involving a swinging pendulum]
belong the koskinomancy of Theokritos, familiar in England as the
consultation of the sieve and shears, and the minor rites of axinomancy
and sphondylomancy.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 110/2: [copying Rich]
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 300: A form of divination much used from the
earliest years of the Middle Ages down to our own day, in some French
provinces, is coscinomancy, or divination by a balanced sieve. The
early phrase was "spinning the sas" - an old word which means
sieve or strainer.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361: By
coscinomancy, most religiously observed of old amidst the ceremonies
of the ancient Romans. Let us have the sieve and shears, and thou shalt
see devils.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule; fixes spelling] Coscinomancy, by
sieves.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658:
Coscinomancy - by sieve and shears.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: COSCINOMANCY..utilizing a hanging sieve.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 316: COSCINOMANCY: A forerunner of
cleidomancy, in which a sieve or strainer is clipped between the spread
blades of a pair of shears, or large scissors. The handles of the shears
are then pressed in opposite directions by two different persons, using
their respective thumbs or fingers until the sieve begins to turn. For
sure results, the operator should pronounce the words Dies, Mies,
Jeschet, Benedoefet, Dowima, Enitemaus. That will
promptly bring a demon to his aid.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 66. The earliest
form of radiesthesia seems to have been coscinomancy, or divination by
sieve.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Cosinomancy, Diuination by a siue.
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..Coscinomancy, by a Sieve.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Coscinomancy, (Greek) a divination by a sieve.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Coscinomancy,
Coski-, g. divination with a sieve.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Coscinomancy, (G.) a kind of Divination or sooth-saying by a Sieve.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) COSCINOMANCY [Koskinomantis, of Koskinon a Sieve,
and manteia Divination, Gr.] Divination by Sieve or Riddle.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
(1840): Coscinomancy..The art of divination by means of a sieve. A very
ancient practice, mentioned by Theocritus, and still used in some parts
of England, to find out persons unknown. Chambers.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511: ..by a balanced
sieve, Coscinomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.:
coscinomancy..The art or practice of divination, by suspending a sieve
and taking it between two fingers, or by fixing it to the point of a pair
of shears, then repeating a formula of words, and the names of persons
suspected. If the sieve trembles, shakes, or turns, when any name is
repeated, the person is deemed guilty. This divination is mentioned by
Theocritus, and is said to be still practised in some parts of England.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.:
coscinomancy..Divination by a sieve.
1893 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II:
coscinomancy.. An old mode of divination, consisting in
suspending a sieve, or fixing it to the point of a pair of shears, then
repeating a formula of words and the names of persons suspected of
some crime or other act. If the sieve moved when a name was repeated,
the person named was deemed guilty.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.:
coscinomancy..Divination by sieve and shears. A sieve was
suspended on the points of shears and the name of a suspected person
was spoken. If the sieve trembled he was deemed guilty. A similar
divination is still practised on the Guinea coast and by negroes in
southern parts of the United States.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: coscinomancy [minor
words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16:
coscinomancy, a sieve.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict.: coscinomancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.:
coscinomancy..fortunetelling with a sieve suspended on shears
(Voodoo).
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209: coscinomancy a form of divination involving a sieve and
shears. - coscinomantic, adj.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166.
..Crithomancy, by grain, or corn...
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. Krithomancy, by corn, or grain. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1913 Halliday Greek Div. ix. 185.
Ooskopy..libanomancy..and aleuromancy..belong to the same order of
sub-rites. [footnote] Also phyllomancy, alphitomancy, krithomancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 110/2: Critomancy:
Divination by means of observing viands and cakes. The paste of cakes
which are offered in sacrifice, is closely examined, and from the flour
which is spread on them, omens are drawn.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Crithomancy, by grain or corn.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: An exhaustive listing would become overwhelming. Let there be
mentioned hepatoscopy and critomancy, daphnomancy and
empyromancy, ichthyomancy and lampadomancy, margaritomancy and
molybdomancy.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CRITOMANCY: The study of barley cakes in
hopes of drawing omens from them.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 316. CRITHOMANCY or CRITOMANCY:
Opinions vary regarding this mode of divination. All agree that it
involves corn or other grain used in sacrificial rites, but the procedure
may range from forming patterns with the kernels, or the flour ground
from them, to a study of the dough used for baking cakes, or the actual
cakes themselves.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 140.
Crithomancy..involved reading the markings on freshly baked bread or
cakes.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult Critomancy
1993 McCormack Q&A 70 CRITHOMANCY -
cake dough scattered over sacrificial victims.
In Dictionaries
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by dough of
cakes, Crithomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. crithomancy..A
kind of divination by means of dough of cakes, and the meal strewed
over the victims, in ancient sacrifices.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
crithomancy..(Ant.) Divination by examining the
dough or matter of the cakes offered in sacrifices, and the meal strewed
over the victims to be killed. Craig.
1893 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
crithomancy.. A kind of divination practised among the
ancients by means of cakes offered in sacrifice, or of meal spread over
the victim.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
crithomancy..Divination by means of barley-meal or dough.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. crithomancy [main
words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
crithomancy, cake dough, barley.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
crithomancy..fortunetelling with cake dough, scattering it over
sacrificial victims.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 erithomancy
[sic] (cake dough)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. crithomancy a form of divination involving the strewing
of grain over the bodies of sacrificed animals. - crithomantic,
adj.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Gaule, 1884.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Crithe, Barley, a sort of Grain.
cromniomancy: divination by onions. [Gk kpoævoc
(kromyon) onion] (crommyomancy, cromnysmantia)
1660 Burton Anatomy of Melancholy in Brand
Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 356. Burton..speaks of
"cromnysmantia," a kind of divination with onions laid on the
altar at Christmas Eve, practised by girls, to know when they shall be
married, and how many husbands they shall have.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: ..cromniomancy consisted of laying onions
on which certain names had been written upon the altar on Christmas
Day; when these were planted the one which sprouted first would give
the required indication.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural
41: There was also..clidomancy (key), cromniomancy (onion)...
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CROMNIOMANCY: This finds significance from
onion sprouts.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 316. CROMNIOMANCY: Onions figure in this
long-range divinatory process. Names or other significant items are
written on different onions, which are planted with due ceremony.
Careful check is kept of each, and the first onion that sprouts will
represent the person or thing chiefly concerned. A good way to predict
next year's election or the winner of a pennant race.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
cromnyomancy...fortunetelling with onions.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 140. ONIONS
(CROMNIOMANCY) [heading]
1993 McCormack Q&A 70
CROMNYOMANCY - onions.
NOTES: Not in OED.
cryptomancy: divination by unrevealed means. [Gk
kpvãçoc (kryptos) secret, hidden]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
cryptomancy, by unreveled means.
NOTES: Not in OED.
crystallomancy:
(a) divination by means of a crystal
ball (b) divination by a transparent body such as a precious stone, or
mirror; crystal-gazing; crystal-seeing; scrying. [Gk kpvåçà^^oc
(krystallos) crystal, cf. F cristallomancie, NL
crystallomantia] Variant Forms: chrystallomancy,
cristallomancy, cristallomantia, crystallomancie, crystalomancy.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
krystallomanteia]
1613 in OED.
1621 P. Camerarius tr. Molle Walking Library 2:
In our time Coniurers use christall, calling the diuination
chrystallomantia, or Onchyomantia, in the which, after they have
rubbed one of the nayles of their fingers, or a piece of Chrystall, they
utter I know not what words, and they call a boy that is pure and no
way corrupted, to see therein that which they require...
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Chrystallomancy, by glasses...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Chrystallomancy...
[citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Crystallomancy, by crystals. [citing Hone
citing Gaule]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 322
crystallomancy May be understood to include every variety of
divination by means of transparent bodies - a crystal globe, a fragment
in a ring, or a precious stone. The Arabians and the Hindoos use a cup
of treacle, or a little ink poured into the palm of the hand, as mentioned
under the head of Hydromancy. The crystal has been the most
popular of all oracles, the Cardan repeatedly tried the charm without
effect. The favourite stone was a beryl. The custom was to
consecrate, or "charge" them, as the modern term is, for which purpose
set forms were used. Scott, in his `Discovery of Witchcraft,; xii., 17,
gives that for St. Helen, whose name was to be written upon the crystal
with olive oil, under a cross marked in the same manner, while the
operator was turned eastward. A child born in wedlock, and perfectly
innocent, was then to take the crystal in his hands, and the operator,
kneeling behind him, was to repeat a prayer to St. Helen, that
whatsoever he wished might become evident in that stone. In fine, the
saint herself would appear in the crystal in angelic form, and answer
any question put to her. The practice was essentially the same in the
case of other spirits, and it was even held possible to make a compact
with a condemned criminal, that he should appear in a crystal after
death, and answer questions, of course upon certain conditions.
..Crystal-seeing has now become very common; a short time ago it was
considered one of the `nine-days wonders' of the metropolis. It has
been admitted as an undoubted truth in Lancashire for many years past,
and numbers of persons, whose veracity could not be questioned,
declare that events have been exactly foreshown by this medium. Some
crystal-seers can discover nothing unless certain magical words are
pronounced by the operator.
1868 Chambers's Encyc. III 349.
crystallomancy, a mode of divination by means of transparent
bodies, at one time very popular. A precious stone, crystal globe, or
other transparent object, was employed, but a beryl was deemed most
effective. In using it, the operator first muttered over it certain formulas
of prayer, and then gave it into the hands of a young virgin - none
others were pure enough to discern its revelations - who beheld in it the
information required. Sometimes the desiderated facts were conveyed
by means of written characters on the crystal; sometimes the spirits
invoked appeared in the crystal to answer the questions asked.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 111/2: Precious
stones were much used by crystallomancers in the past, the favourite
stone being the beryl in pale sea green or reddish tints. By the ancients
crystallomancy was practised with a view to the invocation of
spirits, and very elaborate preparations and ceremonials were
considered necessary.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 42:
Crystallomancy: Srying..using a mirror for the shiny surface gazed at.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Chrystallomancy, by glasses.
1970 R. Deacon in Man, Myth & Magic v. 618/2:
His interest in crystallomancy was undoubtedly stimulated by his
meetings with Renaissance Cabalists and by his genuine and scientific
desire to explore the possibilities of spiritualism and telepathy.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CRYSTALLOMANCY: A term for Crystal gazing.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Crystallomancy...crystal
gazing
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 315. CHRYSTALLOMANCY or
CRYSTALOMANCY: Generally known as "crystal gazing," this
consists of divining future events by interpreting signs or scenes
visualized in a crystal ball. Dating from remote antiquity, it is more
popular than ever today and may be regarded as a higher development
of catoptromancy, as visions from a crystal ball are often clearer and
more realistic than those seen in a magic mirror.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 150. ..the most
widespread and popular form of scrying is crystallomancy - crystal-
gazing.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 53/1:
Crystalomancy. Divination by means of a crytal ball or a mirror-like
pool of water.
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 255. Crystal gazing
(crystallomancy) is not referred to by this name before
Byzantine times, but the practice itself seems to be older. The favourite
mineral used by the ancient diviners was the beryl, a transparent stone
pale green in colour and passing into a light blue, yellow, and white;
the green variety of the transparent beryl is the emerald, while the pale
bluish-green variety is the aquamarine. All these stones were used in
antiquity, but in modern times 'crystal balls' made of glass have been
substituted.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
crystallomancy (s.) a method of foretelling future events by means
of a mirror, wherein that which is wanted to be known, is pretended to
br represented.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by spirits seen in a
magic lens, Cristallomantia...
1893 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
crystallomancy.. A mode of divining by means of a
transparent body, as a precious stone, crystal globe, etc., formerly in
high esteem.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
crithomancy..Divination by gazing into a crystal globe,
precious stone, or bright metal.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. crystallomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
crystallomancy..Divination by means of a crystal or other transparent
body. [marked obsolete]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
cristallomancy, crystallomancy, images in a crystal ball.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. crystallomancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
crystallomancy..divination by means of a transparent body,
such as a crystal ball, precious stone, or mirror.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 cristallomantia
(spirit in lens), crystallomancy (crystal or gemstone)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. crystallomancy a form of divination involving
crystal-gazing.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1613 Purchas, Gaule, Smedley.
cubomancy: divination by dice. [F cubomancie,
from cubo- cube, from Gk kváoc (kubos) a die,
kváoi (kuboi) dice]
[1696-9 Potter Arch‘ologia Gr‘ca kubomanteia]
1893 New English Dictionary vol. II
Cubomancy. rare-o. Divination by throwing of dice. In
mod. Dicts.
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
cubomancy.. Divination by means of dice; dice-throwing.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
cubomancy..Divination by means of dice.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. cubomancy [main
words list]
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. cubomancy
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. cubomancy Rare. a form of divination involving
thrown dice. - cubomantic, adj.
NOTES: All the OED had to say about this word was that it was only
known from modern dictionaries. Of course, that was 'modern' back in
1893. The second edition of the OED carries this same note, though
how one is to know (without seeking out and cross-checking the first
edition) whether 'modern' means late twentieth century, or late
nineteenth century, is a mystery. The word appears in my copy of the
Century, so I assume it was in the first ed. of that work. Cent's def.
paraphrase 'dice-throwing' is queer.
[cyathomancy: cup divination, as described at
cattabomancy. [L cyathus, Gk kvàéoc (kyathos) a cup]
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 413:
Cyathomantia.]
1863 William Smith Dict. of the Bible i. 445/1.
This kind of divination [sc. kv^ikomanteia] must not be
confused with Cyathomanteia (Suid. s.v. koççàáizîiv).
NOTES: OED not in.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Cyathus, a Cup, or Glass.]
cyclomancy: divination by revolving objects.
[NL cyclomantia, Gk kvk^oc (kyklos) circle]
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 414:
Cyclomantia.]
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 465: CYCLOMANCY: Pertains to divination from a
turning wheel.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 316. CYCLOMANCY: Divination depending upon
a revolving device. Dating from time immemorial, this has its modern
counterparts in the "jury wheel," from which listed names are drawn to
determine the members of a jury panel; and the so-called "wheel of
fortune," seen at county fairs, which stops on prize-winning numbers.
In both cases, the decision of the wheel is automatically fulfilled, so it
is not surprising that many people believe that questions concerning
their future can be answered by a similar contrivance. Spinning arrows
may be used instead of revolving wheels for telling fortunes; and, on
the lighter side, cyclomancy has survived in various parlor games, such
as "spin the bottle."
NOTES: Not in OED.
cylicomancy: divination by a cup.
1911 Encyc. of Religion & Ethics (1967) iv.
819/1: The regular forms of divination among the Iranians were
astrology, oneiromancy, cylicomancy, and rhabdomancy.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
daktylomanteia]
1613 in OED.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Dactylomancy, by rings...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
Dactalomancy [citing Gaule, though changing spelling]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Dactylomancy, by rings. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1855 Edward Smedley in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 326 dactylomancy, Or divination by rings, is performed in
several different ways. One method is to suspend the ring (a wedding
ring is generally preferred) by a thread or a hair, either within a glass
tumbler or within reach of it by swinging, and it will strike the glass -
once for yes, twice for no, &c., as previously determined. Suspended
over a sovereign it will indicate certain persons among those sitting
round the table, and if a hair is used taken from one of the company, it
will swing towards that individual only. An ancient method of divining
by the ring is similar in principle to the modern table-rapping. The edge
of a round table was marked with the characters of the alphabet, and
the ring stopped over certain letters, which being joined together,
composed the answer. Ammianus Marcellinus relates this method at
great length, and states that it was used to discover the successor of
Valens, when the first four letters of the name of Theodosius were
indicated; the rite was religiously performed, the diviner, entirely
clothed in white linen, and with his head shaven, held in his hand a
piece of vervain, which is well known protection against evil spirits;
the ring also was consecrated. In another method of practising
Dactylomancy, rings were put on the finger nails when the Sun entered
Leo, and the Moon Gemini; or the Sun and Mercury were in Gemini,
and the Moon in Cancer; or the Sun in Sagittarius, the Moon in
Scorpio, and Mercury in Leo. These rings were made of gold, silver,
copper, iron, or lead, and magical characters were attached to them, but
how they operated we are not informed.
1871 Tylor Primitive Culture (1891) i. iv. 127.
These mystic arts..are rude forms of the classical dactyliomancy, of
which so curious an account is given in the trial of the conspirators
Patricius and Hilarius, who worked it to find out who was to supplant
the emperor Valens. A round table was marked at the edge with the
letters of the alphabet, and with prayers and mystic ceremonies a ring
was held suspended over it by a thread, and by swinging or stopping
towards certain letters gave the responsive words to the oracle.
Dactyliomancy has dwindled in Europe to the art of finding out what
o'clock it is by holding a ring hanging inside a tumbler by a thread, till,
without conscious aid by the operator, it begins to swing and strikes the
hour.
1880 J. Grant Mysteries of all Nations xlii. 383.
Dactyliomancy was divination by means of a ring. The ring was
suspended by a thread above a round table, on the edge of which letters
of the alphabet were marked. The ring, in shaking or vibrating over the
table, stopped over certain of the letters, which, on being connected,
supplied the answer asked.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 456:
dactyliomancy - Is a sort of divination performed by means of a
ring. It was done as follows: - viz. by holding a ring, suspended by a
fine thread, over a round table on the edge of which were made a
number of marks with the 24 letters of the alphabet. The ring, in shak-
ing or vibrating over the table, stopped over certain of the letters,
which, being joined together, composed the required answer. But this
operation was preceded and accompanied by several superstitious
ceremonies; for, in the first place, the ring was to be consecrated with a
great deal of mystery; the person holding it was to be clad in linen
garments to the very shoes, his head was to be shaven all round and he
was to hold vervain in his hand. And before he proceeded to anything
the gods were first to be appeased by a formulary of prayers, etc. The
whole process of this mysterious rite is given in the 29th book of
Ammianus Marcellinus. [copied in Daniels & Stevans 1903]
1897 ???? Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of
Rabelais iii. xxv. 163 [footnote] Ammianus Marcellinus pretends
with Sozomenus, that the exploration..was by dactyliomancy.
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. [text copied from Howitt 1893]
1913 Halliday Greek Div. x. 218.
Daktyliomancy [heading] A very favourite kleromantic method of
divining the future is to consult the automatic swinging of the
pendulum. ..I have even assisted at a solemn consultation of the ring by
superstitious ladies.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 112/1:
Dactylomancy: A term covering various forms of divination practised
with the aid of rings.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Dactylomancy was performed by means
of rings put on the fingernails...
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 44:
Dactyliomancy; dactilomancy: An ancient form of divination by means
of a ring.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Dactylomancy, by rings.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Dactyliomancy
- by a finger-ring.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 466: DACTYLOMANCY: The early form of
Radiesthesia, where a dangling ring indicates words and numbers by its
swings.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Dactylomancy...pendant
ring
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy
iv. 61. In dactylomancy, a ring was suspended by a thread, which was
set on fire. When the ring fell, the soothsayers noted which letters it
rolled over.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 316. DACTYLOMANCY: Broadly, this covers
divinations utilizing finger rings, but that should exclude cases where
such rings are used chiefly as adjuncts to some cabalistic ritual, as in
necromancy. Greek and Roman rings supposedly produced divinatory
results when inscribed with words suited to their times. By the Middle
Ages, the names of the Three Wise Men - Caspar, Melchior, and
Balthasar - were popular as inscriptions. Later, the custom was applied
to wedding rings, which had the words "Love and Obey" engraved on
the inside, but such a positive prediction could be nullified if the bride
crossed her fingers. Gems, too, had power when set in rings, but they
promised a vast variety of benefits, ranging from invisibility to
immunity from snakebite, so only a few were specifically associated
with divination. Of those, the turquoise was outstanding, and a popular
procedure was to attach a turquoise ring to a string and dangle it within
a goblet, where it would begin to swing and tell the hour by clicking
against the sides of the glass, or even spell out words, if letters of the
alphabet were recited in order until the final clink. Since the diviner
holds the string between his thumb and forefinger, this is practically a
form of cleidomancy, with a ting being used instead of a key, hence
almost any type of ring will do unless the diviner finds that it takes one
set with a turquoise to put him in the proper mood. There was also an
ancient form of dactylomancy practiced with rings composed of
different metals, which were placed on certain fingers according to
planetary conditions then prevailing; hence it might more properly be
termed a form of astromancy.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 66. Other forms of
the art [sc. radiesthesia] included divination with a suspended
key (cleidomancy) or a suspended ring (dactylomancy) - methods that
are still in use today.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult Dactyliomancy
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. DACTYLIOMANCY
- a suspended ring DACTYLOMANCY - finger rings.
In Dictionaries
Though recorded by Cotgrave, this was not taken on board by Blount,
and does not on the whole appear in the early hard word dictionaries,
despite its obvious existence in the 17th century. Clearly Gaule was not
a source known by the early English lexicographers.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Dactiliomantie: f. Finger-Magicke.]
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
dactyliomancy (s.) a kind of divination, performed by holding a ring
suspended to a thread, over a round table, on the edge of which were
marked the letters of the alphabet; the ring, by its vibrations, pointed to
certain letters, which being joined together in words, gave the answer to
what was asked: But this was preceded by a great deal of superstitious
ceremony; for first, the ring was consecrated with a great deal of
mysterious stuff; next, the person who held it was to be clad in linen
down to his shoes, his head was to be shaved all round; and he was to
hold vervain in his hand; lastly, before any thing was done, a formulary
of prayers, made for that purpose, was repeated, in order to render the
gods favourably disposed.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by a suspended
ring, Dactyliomancy..by finger rings, Dactylomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. dactyliomancy,
or dactylomancy..The pretended art of divining by rings.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
dactyliomancy..Divination by means of finger-rings.
Maunder.
1894 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
dactyliomancy.. Divination by means of a finger-ring.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
dactyliomancy..Divination by means of a finger-ring.
dactylomancy\ddag .
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. dactyliomancy [main
words list]; dactylomancy [minor words list; labelled erroneous]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
dactyliomancy..Divination by finger-rings. [marked obsolete]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
dactyliomancy, a suspended ring; dactylomancy, finger
rings.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. dactyliomancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
dactyliomancy..divination by means of finger-rings.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 dactyliomancy
(suspended rings)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. dactyliomancy a form of divination involving finger
rings.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict. dactyliomancy
NOTES: OED 1613 Purchas, Gaule, Tylor. List var. 'dactylo-' as erron.
Defines as 'by means of a finger-ring'. This being etymologically
correct. And also states "(For methods see E.P. Tylor Prim.
Culture I. 115.)" The OED gives a hwd 'dactalomancy' and
defines it as an error for 'dactyliomancy', yet offers no citations. Is this
an example of citations having been deleted without Murray's
knowledge? Also on this page, under 'dactylio-', there are only two
citations to illustrate eight secondary headwords.
(According to some sources (eg Shipley, Roget's
Thesaurus) there is a distinction between the two forms with
'dactyliomancy' = a suspended ring, and 'dactylomancy' = a finger-
ring. However considering that Gk ëàkçv^ioc (daktylios)
means 'finger-ring' and Gk ëàkçv^oc (daktylos) simply
means 'finger', this distinction cannot really hold true)
daphnomancy: divination by laurel trees. [Gk ëàívn
(daphne) laurel tree, cf. NL daphnomantia]
In Dictionaries
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
daphnemanteia]
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Daphnomantie. Diuination by a Lawrell, of Bay tree.]
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..Daphnomancy, by a Lawrel or Bay
tree.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Daphnomancy,
g. Divination by Laurels.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
[supplement] daphnomancy..Divination by means of the
laurel.
1894 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
daphnomancy.. Sooth-saying by means of the laurel.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
daphnomancy..Divination by means of the laurel.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp. - cites Blount.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. daphnomancy [minor
words list; labelled obsolete]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
daphnomancy, a laurel tree, or branch therefrom.
In other texts
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 114/1:
Daphnomancy: Divination by means of a laurel. A branch is thrown in
the fire, if it crackles in burning it is a happy sign, but if it burns
without doing so, the prognostication is false.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Dactylomancy was performed by means
of rings put on the fingernails, and daphnomancy by means of a branch
of laurel, which announced a fortunate augury if it crackled in burning.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 44:
Daphnomancy: Divination by interpreting the crackling of a laurel
branch thrown into the fire.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: An exhaustive listing would become overwhelming. Let there be
mentioned hepatoscopy and critomancy, daphnomancy and
empyromancy, ichthyomancy and lampadomancy, margaritomancy and
molybdomancy.
1963 M. Bessy Pict. Hist. Magic & Supernatural
41: There was also..clidomancy (key), cromniomancy (onion) and
daphnomancy (laurel); besides others.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 466: DAPHNOMANCY: This requires listening to the
laurel branches crackling in an open fire; the louder the crackle, the
better the omen.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 317. DAPHNOMANCY: An ancient Greek
divination in which questions of great moment were answered in
varying degrees of "Yes" or "No" by throwing laurel leaves on a fire.
The louder the leaves crackled, the better the omen; the more profound
the silence, the worse. Since the laurel had to be plucked from a grove
sacred to Apollo and tossed on an equally sacred fire, it is doubtful that
the process would work now, even if it did back then.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 144.
Daphnomancy Divination by the burning of laurel leaves. The
louder the sound made by the leaves burning, the better the omen.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
NOTES: OED gives no cit., but uses Blount's def. 'Divination by a
Lawrel Tree.' Labels Obs.-0.
Bailey 1727 gives the def. DAPHNOPHAGI..certain Prophets or
Diviners in antient Times, that pretended to be inspired after the eating
of Bay-leaves.
1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 414:
Daphnomantia, per lauri ramum in ignem conjectum, qvalent
ille strpeitum ediderit.
demonomancy: divination through the aid of demons.
A Gaulean word. [F demonomancie, from New Testament Gk
ëàiæwv (daimon) demon] (d‘monomancy)
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..D‘monomancy, by the suggestions of evill D‘mons or
Devills...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: D‘monomancy...
[citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 251. Demonomancy, by the aid of devils and evil
spirits. [citing Hone citing Gaule; but modernising spelling]
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 120/2:
Demonomancy: Divination by means of demons. This divination takes
place by the oracles they make, or by the answers they give to those
who evoke them.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule; but modernising spelling]
Demonomancy, by the suggestion of evil demons or devils.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 466: DEMONOMANCY: Divination through the aid of
demons.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 317. DEMONOMANCY: Divination through
questions put to demons and the answers that they give. To do this,
demons must first be evoked. This should not be difficult, if we accept
the figures of medieval authorities, who claimed that exactly
1,758,064,176 lesser devils are constantly at large and ready to appear
in some strange shape or form at anyone's mere wish. The problem is
how to recognize demons when they do appear; and even then, how to
know if their answers are correct, as they delight in deceiving those
who summon them.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
1895 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1902) II
demonomancy.. Divination while under the influence or
inspiration of the devil or of demons.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
demonomancy..Divination by inspiration of the devil or of
demons.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) II
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. demonomancy [minor
words list; labelled obsolete]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
demonomancy, with the help of demons.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
demonomancy..divination through the aid of demons.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. demonomancy a form of divination involving a demon or
demons.
NOTES: OED Gaule only. labelled obs.
dendromancy: divination by leaves and branches of
plants. [Gk ëîvëpov (dendron) tree]
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 466: DENDROMANCY: This is associated with both
the oak and the mistletoe.
NOTES: Not in OED.
I have a feeling that this is probably a ghost word originally
arising from a misconstruing of drymimancie.
The juxtaposition in Reade of this word with
the rare word scatomancy (for which the sole source is
Agrippa, and where it appears alongside drymimancie)
is very suspicious.
If this is indeed a ghost word, then this form and definition would
be based on the etymological conjecture: - from driry, a
16th & 17th century form of dreary, representing Old English
dreorig, a derivative of dreor gore, falling blood!
This etymology involves a number of problems: the word driry
never had the meaning "(pertaining to) dripping blood"; the Old
English word dreor did not continue into the Middle English
period, let alone modern English; a hybrid compound of an obsolete
native English word with a Greek ending is unlikely (though see
spealomancy); and generally -mancy
compounds take a noun as their first element, not an adjective.
If this is wrong, then I am unable to suggest any other etymon, as
driri- corresponds to no Greek or Latin word recorded in the
major dictionaries of those languages. That it may represent a word
of some other langauge is highly unlikely.
The OED does not record this word, though it does appear in the
second citation for the word scatomancy.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16:
dririmancy, dripping blood.
1569 Sanford tr. Agrippa Of the vanitye and
uncertainties of atres and sciences lxxxiii, 145 b: Doo you not
daylie see howe they [sc. physicians] goo about the Citie with
ringed fingers, and dirtie gownes, with a sadde countenaunce, and
alwayes pale, and with a quicke pace, for hope of veray vile gayne,
renne from one Apothecaries shoppe to an other, seekinge and begging,
if in any place a man wil offer them urine, or a ball of ordure to looke
upon, & as the hooded vultures are beste nosed about deade bodies, so
these men, are best nosed of al about excrements: which
they say: Hippocrates was wont also to taste, that thereby he
might the better preceive the notion of the sicknesse: whiche thinge
also many doo attribute to Esculapius: who for this cause was of
Aristophanes called Scatophagos, in whiche worde they
be signified, which feede upon the superfluities of meates, which name
afterwards was derived to all Phisitians, in such wise, that w\'ee call
them Scatophagians and Scatomanters, that is ordure
eaters, and lookers on ordure. For this cause Scatomancie,
Oromancie, Drymimancie, be called the diuinations or Prognostications
of Phisitians, gathered by ordures and urines.
1603 Christopher Heydon A Defence of Ivdiciall
Astrologie 9: Others also in derision name them, [sc.
physicians] Scatomantes, Ouromantes,
Drymimantes, to signify that their chiefest divination
and living is by base matters; as by excrements, vrine, and
the like, according to the verse: Stercus & vrina,
Medicorum fercula prima.
Etymology
Citations: Middle English
Citations: modern
In Dictionaries
It is essentially a variant of
negromancy with loss of initial n. A
similar process happen in Old French where the word
igromancie appears. The loss of the initial
n may be the result of metanalysis, i.e. the
mis-analysing of a negromancy as an egromancy,
however the use of word as a count noun is less common.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin 176
(MED): A feire mayden...suster to Hardogebrant that moche knoweth of
egremauncye.
a1500 Methodius(3) 869 (MED): Thus
antecryst xall wondyrly be noryschyd vp with Iogulars, With
wytchecraft & with sorcery...He xall lere Igramansy.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: egromancy [minor
words list; defined as corrupted form of necromancy]
It is presumedly derived from the Greek elaion) olive-oil,
though the usual, "regular", combining forms from this Greek root
are elaio-, elaeo- and eleo-. Often oil was
dropped into water when used for divining, and a mixture of water
and oil (called in ancient Greek chytla) for rubbing into
the skin after bathing, was possibly used in divination.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
233: Divination by observation of a liquid surface is known as
elaeomancy.
1911 Encyc. of Religion & Ethics (1967) iv.
798/2: Empyromancy was also practised, i.e. the
observation of the fire consuming the sacrificial flesh.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: empyromancy [minor
words list]
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: An exhaustive listing would become overwhelming. Let there be
mentioned hepatoscopy and critomancy, daphnomancy and
empyromancy, ichthyomancy and lampadomancy, margaritomancy and
molybdomancy.
1970 B.I. Rakoczi in Man, Myth & Magic v.
659/2: Another method, favoured by the Pythagorenas, who disliked
bloodshed and therefore would not practise the inspecton of the entrails
common in antiquity, was called empyromancy. In this the seer
concentrated on the smoke which rose from the burning of the incense
or of laurel leaves or other sacred plants.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Pyromancy
(Empyromancy)...fire
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 253:
Pyromancy (or empyromancy) is divination by fire or
signs derived from fire...
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209: empyromancy a form of divination involving a fire-and
smoke.
NOTES: Not in OED.
enoptomancy: -> next. [Gk 'îvoãçoc
(enoptos) visible in a thing, seen in] See cits...
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
enoptomancy..Divination means of a mirror. Smart.
1899 Century Dict. (1902) III
enoptomancy.. Divination by means of a mirror.
Smart.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i. [see
next]
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) III.
enoptomancy, s. [Gr. îvoãçoc (enoptos) =
visible in a thing, and manteia (manteia) = prophecy,
divination. Perhaps we should read enoptromancy, from Gr. îvoãçpov
(enoptron) = a mirror.] Divination by means of a mirror.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.
enoptomancy/enoptromancy [minor words list]
NOTES: See notes for next.
enoptromancy: divination by a mirror. [F
enoptromancie, from Gk 'îvoãçpov (enoptron)
mirror]
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci. 321
catoptromancy, or enoptromancy, Is a species of divination by the
mirror, which Pausanius describes in these terms: - "Before the temple
of Ceres at Patras there was a fountain, separated from the temple by a
wall, and there was an oracle, very truthful, not for all events but for
the sick only. The sick persons let down a mirror, suspended by a
thread, till its base touched the surface of the water, having first prayed
to the goddess and offered incense. Then, looking in the mirror, he saw
the presage of death or recovery, according as the face appeared fresh
and healthy,or of a ghastly aspect." Another method of using the mirror
was to place it at the back of a boy's or girl's head, whose eyes were
bandaged. In Thessaly, the response appeared in characters of blood on
the face of the moon, probably represented in the mirror. The
Thessalian sorceresses derived their art from the Persians, who always
endeavoured to plant their religion and mystic rites in the countries they
invaded.
1891 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
enoptromancy..Divination with a mirror.
..enoptomancy\ddag .
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) III.
enoptomancy, s. [Gr. îvoãçoc (enoptos) =
visible in a thing, and manteia (manteia) = prophecy,
divination. Perhaps we should read enoptromancy, from Gr. îvoãçpov
(enoptron) = a mirror.] Divination by means of a mirror.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.
enoptomancy/enoptromancy [minor words list]
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 95/1: [copying
Rich]
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. enoptromancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
enoptromancy..fortunetelling with a mirror.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
209. enoptromancy a form of divination involving a mirror
and its reflections.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. ENOPTROMANCY -
a mirror.
NOTES: OED Smedley only. Says "In Dicts. erron. enopto-."
According to OED there is a French word 'enoptromancie', but is there
a Fr 'enoptomancie' ??
entomomancy: divination by insects. [Gk 'îvçoæoc
(entomos) insect]
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 142.
Entomomancy Predicting from the appearance and behavior of
insects.
NOTES: Not in OED.
eromancy aeromancy.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 149/1: Eromanty:
[sic] One of the six kinds of divination practised among the Persians by
means of air. They enveloped their heads in a napkin and exposed to
the air a vase filled with water, over which they mutter in a low voice
the objects of their desires. If the surface of the air [sic] shows bubbles
it is regarded as a happy prognostication.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 317. EROMANCY: An Oriental form of
divination in which a person covers his head with a cloth and mutters
questions above a vase of water. Any stirring of the surface is regarded
as a good omen.
NOTES: NOTES: OED says "bad form of aeromancy. Cites 1608
Day, 1623 Cockeram.
See Gk eroskopia ?? - where did I get this word?
eychnomancy: a misspelling of lychnomancy.
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. Magic ii. 461:
Among the various other kinds of divination not here mentioned may
be enumerated Chilomancy performed with keys; Alphitomancy or
Aleuromancy, by flour; Keraunoscopia, by the consideration of thunder;
Eychnomancy, by lamps; Ooscopy, by eggs; Licanomancy by a basin of
water; Palpitatim, Salisatio, by the pulsation or motion of some member
etc.
[text copied in] 1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc.
Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662.
NOTES: Not in OED.
felidomancy: divination by cats. [NL felid‘,
the cat genus, from L felid-, stem of felis cat]
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 317. FELIDOMANCY: Divination involving the
behavior or actions of a cat, ranging from changes in weather to
unexpected visitors, or other occurrences. Dating from the Middle Ages,
many of these have survived as popular superstitions.
NOTES: Not in OED.
fiznomancy physiognomancy which see 1955.
NOTES: Not in OED.
floromancy: divination involving flowers. [L flor-,
flos flower]
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 317. FLOROMANCY: Any interpretation of
future prospects through the study of flowers or plants, including their
colors, petals, time of planting, and where planted. Many omens
concerning the gathering of flowers at Midsummer's Eve have survived
to modern times; and the "good luck" commonly attributed to the
finding of a four-leafed clover falls in this category.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 90/2:
Floromancy. Belief that flowers radiate vibrations and have curative
properties in healing disease. According to practitioners of floromancy,
flowers are said to respond to a sympathetic or hostile environment and
are affected by electric shocks. Professor Jagadish Chandra Bose of
Calcutta's Presidency College experimented with the effects of
electrical currents on plants around the turn of the century and was
convinced that plants possess a life-force or soul. The most recent
proponent of floromancy is American lie-detector specialist Cleve
Backster, who wired three philodendrons to galvanometers on different
occasions to see how the plants respond to nearby trauma. Backster
monitored the plants as he placed a brine shrimp in boiling water
nearby, resulting in its instant death. ..Backster's galvanometer reading
showed significantly higher electrical resistance when the brine shrimps
were being killed, than on other occasions - suggesting that the plants
were responding "emotionally" to the traumas occurring nearby.
Unfortunately, attempts to reduplicate Backster's experimental results
have so far proved unsuccessful.
NOTES: Not in OED.
foliomancy: divination by leaves. [L folio,
ablative of folium leaf]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
foliomancy, leaves (of a book; later, tea leaves).
NOTES: Not in OED.
gastromancy: (a) divination by words spoken in the
belly, or by signs on the belly. (b) divination by peering into large-
bellied, bulbous glasses and noting magical visions appearing in them.
(c) (rare) ventriloquism. [NL gastromantia (Agrippa), F
gastromancie, from Gk yàåçnp (gaster) a) the belly,
b) the wide part of a bottle. Cf Gk yàåçpoæàvçîvoæài
(gastromanteuomai) to divine by the belly] Variant Forms:
gastromantia, gastronomancy.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
gastromanteia.
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 Tîxvoyàæià, 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 Pythi‘ (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
This word is often defined as "divination by ventriloquism" - first eg
Roget's - a definition which rests upon the original meaning of
'ventriloquism' ie the practice of having spirits speak through the belly.
See these words: 1626 H. COCKERAM The English
Dictionary (2nd ed.) Ventriloquie, Diuination by the inwards of
beasts: a hollow speech of a deuill in a possessed body. 1755
N. Bailey An Universal Etymological English Dict.
GASTROMYTH, [...] one who speaks inwardly, as out of the Belly.
VENTRILOQUIST, [Ventriloquus, L.] a Person who speaks
inwardly, or as it were from the Belly, as those who are possessed with
an Evil-Spirit.
[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 D‘mon, 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 D‘mon 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 yàcnp, the Belly, and manteia, Divination, Gr.] Divination by the
Belly.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 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.
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.
NOTES: OED has two defs. 1. 1610 Healey, 1613 Purchas. 2. 1652
Gaule, 1693 Urquhart, 1836 Smedley (1855).
Bailey, 1755, gives the Greek as 'gaser', not 'gaster' ?
gelomancy: divination by laughter. [Gk yî^wc
(gelos) laughter]
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.
NOTES: Not in OED. Gives, as does Imperial, Roget, Shipley, Cent.,
Cassell's, geloscopy, the more common word.
geloscopy 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.
gelatoscopy - 1697 Evelyn Numism. ix. 337: Made Divinations by
Gelatoscopy. 1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult.
geomancy: I. (generally) Any
divination involving earth, dirt, or the ground. In defs 1 to 3 stochastic.
II. (specifically) 1. A mode of divination by
interpreting random dots, pricks and/or lines made on the ground. This
meaning is the earliest to appear in English. It dates back to Middle
English times.
2. A mode of divination which uses figures and lines formed
by a number of dots made at random. This was prevalent in the 17th
century, and within the Renaissance world view was held as a science,
having the same status as alchemy and astrology, being incorporated
into the prevailing concepts of natural philosophy then in existence.
Many different systems existed, most of which were intimately related
to the sciences of alchemy and especially astrology. In most
geomantical texts the dots were represented by asterisks. Curiously this
practice is quite removed from any association or actual working with
the soil, being done wholly on paper. Its relationship to the previous
definition is due to the transferral of the dots on the ground to paper.
This was done in order to raise it to a 'scientific' or 'intellectual'
pursuit by taking away the feel of 'magic' involved in the earlier open-
air practice. (1655)
3. A method of divination by means of the figure made by a
handful of earth or pebbles thrown down at random. (1855)
4. The Chinese practice of feng shui. Not actually a
form of divination, but rather, a system whereby the relationship (of a
building, structure, etc.) to the surrounding geographical features
determines the prospects of that thing and the people associated with it,
both the living and the dead. This is a very ancient practice in Chinese
culture and is still prevalent. The Century Dictionary was the first to
attempt to incorporate this meaning into its definition of geomancy.
This is an admirable effort which also attempts to relate the literal
sense of the word geomancy (earth divination) to all meanings
at once. As yet, no dictionary actually offers a separate definition to
cover this important and quite distinct sense. Also called Chinese
geomancy. (1899)
5. Any harmonious relationship between humans and the
landscape, especially that which influences building, town planning,
and, in particular, the construction and placement of ancient
monuments, such as ancient stone circles, pyramids, etc. This meaning
arises from a contemporary movement which has seen a revival of
earlier occult arts, and a synthesis of these with other New Age
concepts. Texts dealing with this subject maintain the notion that the
ancients possessed a now-lost knowledge of harmony with the earth.
(1973)
a1392 Gower CA 6.1295-8 (MED) The
craft which that Saturnus fond, To make prickes in the Sond, That
Geomance cleped is, Fulofte he useth it amis; And of the flod his
Ydromance, And of the fyr the Piromance, With questions echon of tho
He tempteth ofte.
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) Lydgate
Assembly of the Gods 869 (MED) These folowyd Konnyng
&..came..offryng her seruyce To Vertew..but..Som he refusyd..These
were her names: fyrst, Nygromansy, Geomansy, Magyk, and Glotony,
Adryomancy, Ornomancy, with Pyromancy.
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.
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.
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 ‘quivalent 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. 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 (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.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 70:
Geomancy: Divination by the shapes resulting from throwing a handful
of soil on a flat surface.
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.
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.
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.
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').
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.
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...
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionary (2nd ed.)
Geomancy, Diuination by circles in the earth.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Geomantie: f. Diuination by points, and circles made in
the earth:
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.
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. sect. 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.
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. sect. 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.
NOTES: OED 1362 Langland, 1386 Chaucer, 1400 Maundeville, 1477,
1569 Sanford's Agrippa, 1591, 1622, 1774, 1820, 1878. This last cit.
referring to feng shui. The quot. Agrippa 1655 draws a distinction
between def 1 (theomantic in nature) and def 2 (thumomantic).
No current dict gives the current meaning, ie the translation of the
similar Chinese system of divination, feng shui. The Cent. Dict tries to
incorprate the two meanings into the one long-winded def.
The "Gamaheaus" in cit. 1650 are stones that naturally have an image
of some kind on them - formerally valued as talismens.
Also, the usual defs are completely inexplicable and unhelpful. See
Macquarie, Wyld, etc. Since this is one of the most important it is
queer that it is so badly defined. Very popular in 17th cent.
[OF geomancie, L geomantia, LGk geomanteia,
from Gk yn, yno- (ge, geo-) the earth, the ground, land]
Variant Forms: ME and Early Scottish - geomance, geomanci,
geomansi, geomansy, geomanty, geomensie, geomensy, geomensye,
geomese, geomesie, geomessie, gemensye, geemessye. Surviving into
Early modE - geomancie, geomantie. NL geomantia.
giromancy a Middle English var. of gyromancy.
NOTES: hwd in OED.
graphomancy - see next. [Gk ypàío-, ypàín (grapho-
, graphe) writing]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
graphomancy, handwriting.
NOTES: Not in OED.
graptomancy: divination by handwriting. [Gk
ypàãçoc (graptos) written]
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 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.
NOTES: in OED 'graptomancy' labelled rare-1.
gyromancy: 1. divination where people walk
on a circle of letters until dizzy, the letters they stumble on being
significant. Hence identical in form to alectryomancy.
2. divination by whirling a nicked coin on a circle of letters.
[prob. MF gyromancie, NL gyromantia, from MedL
*gyromantia, from Gk yvpoc (gyros) ring, circle,
spiral] (gyromancye, giromancy, giromantie)
1557 in OED.
[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.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. GYROMANCY -
walking in a circle until dizzy.
In dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Giromantie: m. Diuination by circles:
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by walking in a
circle, Gyromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. gyromancy..A
kind of divination performed by walking round in a circle or ring.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
gyromancy..A sort of divination performed by walking in, or
round, a circle. Chambers.
1899 Century Dict. (1902) III
gyromancy.. A kind of divination said to have been practised
by walking round in a circle or ring until the performer fell from
dizziness, the manner of his fall being interpreted with reference to
characters or signs previously placed about the ring, or in some such
way.
1900 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
gyromancy..Divination from observation of the fall of a
person made dizzy by constant turning in a circle.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) IV
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. gyromancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict. [marked
obsolete]
1932 Wyld Universal Dict. Divination by walking
in a circle till one becomes giddy and falls, place or direction of fall
being considered significant.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. gyromancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
gyromancy..fortunetelling by walking in a circle until dizzy; the fortune
is determined by where the person falls.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 gyromancy
(walking in a circle)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. gyromancy a form of divination involving walking in a
circle. Cf. ambulomancy.
NOTES: OED 1557, 1693 Urquhart, 1855 Smedley. Why is MedL form
in etym asterisked?
In New Latin - C‘lius Calcagninus, Compendium amatori‘
magi‘ (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Gyromantia, quotiens ex circulis in
l‘vam dextramve declinantibus futura conjiciunt."
Also in the erroneous form alomancy.
1864 Websters (OED): alomancy.
1898 OED. [citing Websters; missing Roget as the earliest
example]
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV:
halomancy.. Divination in some manner by means of salt.
Also written, less properly, alomancy.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.:
halomancy..Divination with salts.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.: halomancy..Divination
by means of salt. (A better form of Alomancy, I. 151.)
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.: halomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.:
halomancy..Divination by salt.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16:
halomancy, salt.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict. halomancy..fortunetelling
with salt.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6: halomancy (salt)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210: halomancy a form of divination involving the use of salt.
Also called alomancy.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 466: HALOMANCY: Another term for Alomancy, or
divination by salt.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 311: See alomancy.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 144:
Halomancy Divination by casting salt into a fire.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult:
1993 McCormack Q&A 70: HALOMANCY - salt.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210: hematomancy, haematomancy divination by means of
blood.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Hepatomancy...animal
livers
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. hidromancy [minor
words list]
NOTES: Not in OED.
hidromancy
a Middle and early modern English
var. of hydromancy.
hieromancy: divination by sacred things, as sacrificial
offerings, esp. by inspection of their entrails; haruspicy. [modL
heiromantia, Gk `iîpwoæàvçià (hieromantia), from
`iîpwc (hieros) holy, sacred]
[1696-9 Potter Arch‘ologia Gr‘ca]
1753 in OED.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Hieromancy -
by observation of sacrificed things.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 466: HARUSPICY, HIEROMANCY, HIEROSCOPY:
These all had to do with observing objects of Ancient scarifice
[sic] and drawing prophetic conclusions.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 318. HIEROMANCY: Divination through various
forms of sacrifice, or preparation for such, especially when performed
by adepts in accordance with accepted rituals.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70.
HIEROMANCY/HARUSPICY - appearance of sacrifices or entrails.
In Dictionaires
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by sacrificial
appearances, Aruspicy (or Haruspicy, Hieromancy,
Hieroscopy, by the entrails of animals sacrificed, Hieromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
hieromancy..Divination by observing the various things offered in
sacrifice.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
hieromancy..Divination by sacrifices. Todd.
1898 OED
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV
hieromancy.. Divination by observing the objects offered in
sacrifice.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
hieromancy..The art of divination by observing things offered
in sacrifice.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) IV
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. hieromancy ..
Divination by observing the objects offered in sacrifice. [minor words
list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
hieromancy..Divination by things offered in sacrifice.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
hieromancy, entrails of sacrificed animals.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
hieromancy..fortunetelling by observing and interpreting various
sacrifices.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 pieromancy
[sic] (animal entrails)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. hieromancy a form of divination involving sacrificial
remains or sacred objects. Also called hieroscopy.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1753 Chambers 'hieromantia', 1775 Ash. That's all.
Then def 2 "Jugglery with sacred things" 1811.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
hieroscopy ...
Derived from New Latin hippomantia, from Greek
hippos a horse.
1911 Encyc. of Religion & Ethics (1967) iv.
820/1: There is also a trace of hippomancy in Persia. According to
Herodotus (iii. 84-87), after Darius and six other Persian nobles had
slain the pseudo-Smerdis, they agreed that he should be king whose
horse should first neigh after sunrise, when they had mounted their
steeds.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 210/1:
Hippomancy: A method of divination practised by the ancient Celts,
who kept certain white horses in consecrated groves. These were made
to walk immediately after the sacred car, and auguries were drawn from
their movements. The ancient Germans kept similar steeds in their
temples. If on leaving these on the outbreak of hostilities they crossed
the threshold with the left foot first, the presage was regarded as an evil
one, and the war was abandoned.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 78:
Hippomancy: Divination by observing the gait of horses.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 466: HIPPOMANCY: This was a form of divination
from the stamping and neighing of horses.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iii. 41.
Hippomancy Divination by the neighing of sacred horses.
Alternatively, by noting whether the horse left the temple right hoof
first (lucky) or left hoof first (unlucky).
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 318. HIPPOMANCY: Observation of the gait of
horses during ceremonial processions, as a means of divination. Now
outmoded, but some modern prognosticators apply similar systems at
race tracks.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 136. HORSES
(HIPPOMANCY) [heading]
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 118/2:
Hippomancy. Form of divination, practiced among the Celts in which
the gait of white horses was symbolically interpreted.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. hippomancy a form of divination involving the
observation of horses, especially by listening to their neighing.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
hydromanteia]
1594 Greene Frier Bacon & Frier Bongay (I. ii.
ll. 13-18): Burden. Bacon we hear, that long we have suspect,
That thou art read in Magicks mysterie; In Piromancie to diuine by
flames; To tell by Hadromaticke, ebbes and tides; By Aeromancie, to
discouer doubts, To plaine out questions, as Apollo did.
1594 in OED.
1595 Polimanteia: But I intend not to entreat
particularlie of many other kindes of Diuinations, as Orneomantie,
Hieroscopie, Hidromantie, and many like kindes,
because these properly cannot serue to iudge of the change, or ruine
of Common wealths, contenting my selfe to note out those which
concerne the subiect of this particular matter.
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.
1603 Christopher Heydon A Defence of Ivdiciall
Astrolgie 356 ..sure I am that it is altogether impertient, and his
iudgement quite out of tune, in comparing Astrologie with
Aruspicie, Hydromancie, Chiromancie,
Choschinomancy, and such like.
1610 J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie of
God 293. For Numa him-selfe, being not instructed by any
Prophet or Angell or God, was faine to fall to (d)
Hydromancie: making his gods (or rather deuills) to appeare in
water, and instruct him in his religious institutions. Which kinde of
diuination saith Varro, came from Persia, and was vsed
by Numa, and afterwards by (b) Pythagoras, wherein
the vsed bloud also, and called forth spirits infernall,
Necromancie the greekes call it, but Necromancie or
Hydromancie, whether ye like, there it is that the dead seem to
speake. Vives in
1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 69: If these
apparitions appeare in the Water, then it is called Hydromancie. These I
have heard are very incident to Catch-poles, Bum-baylies, and the like,
when they are duckt under Water at high Tyde at one of the Temples.
1650 French tr. Paracelsus Nine Books Of the Nature
of Things (1674) ix. 300: Hydromancy gives its Signs, by the Stars
of the Water, by their overflowings, their scarcity, discolourings,
commotions, new streams, and washings away of earthly things: in
Magick and Necromancy by Nymphs, Visions and supernatural
Monsters in the Waters and Sea.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Hydromancy, by water...
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. 133: Have you a mind (quoth
Her Trippa) to have the truth of the matter yet more fully and amply
disclosed unto you..by Hydromancy...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1797 Encyc. Brit. (3rd ed.) VII 66. Hydromancy
is the supposed art of divining by water. The Persians, according to
Varro, invented it; Pythagoras and Numa Pompilius made use of it; and
we still admire the like wonderful prognosticators.
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1834 J.G. Dalyell Darker Superst. of Scotland
507: Common water, poured into a vessel, was believed to be adapted
by conjurations, so that a demon of earthly form gave responses. After
entering the water, an obscure sound issued from it; or on moving it,
words faintly heard afforded the divination. Traces of similar
hydromancy subsisted here. - Stones heated or boiled, and set apart for
a period: then, from the sound emitted on immersion in water, it could
be divined what was the nature of a spirit inflicting disease.
1844 Brand Popular Antiquities ii. 377. Very
anciently a species of hydromancy appears to have been practised at
wells.
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 251. Hydromancy, by water. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1855 Henry Thompson in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 296. Among the Arabs the science of prognostication (Ilmi
fir set) or art of discovering secret objects by the interpretation of
mysterious indications, known only to adepts, is subdivided into twelve
branches: 1. Physiognomy, (fir sah;) 2. Phantasmognomy,
(kha‹latwa-sham t;) 3. Chiromancy, ( s s¡r;) 4.
Onomancy, (akt f;) 5. Ichnomancy, (iy fah;) 6.
Schematomancy, (kiy fah;) 7. The art of discovering the road
in a desert, (ihtid… bi 'l ber r wa'l acf r;) 8. Of finding
springs, (riy fah;) 9. Minerals; 10. The prognostication of
storms, (nuz£li gha‹th;) 11. Hydromancy, (cr fah;)
Spasmatomancy, (ikhtil j.)
Edward Smedley in
Elihu Rich in
1868 Chambers's Encyc. III 599.
..Hydromancy divination by water or by a mirror, in which the
diviner shews the image of an absent person, what he is doing, &c.
(this mode of divination plays an important part in the Arabian
romances)...
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. of Magic ii. 457:
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 (Agrippa) Three Bks Occult Phil. lvii. 178:
Now hydromancy doth perform its presages by the impressions of
waters, their ebbing and flowing, their increases and depressions, their
tempests, colors, and the like; to which, also, are added visions which
are made in water.
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. hydromancy - Divination by the images or other
appearances caused to appear in water, as of a fountain. It was
performed thus: Round vessels were filled with clear water, about
which were placed lighted torches; they then invoked the demon, in a
low, murmuring voice, and proposed the question to be solved. A
chaste boy or a pregnant woman was appointed to observe with the
greatest care and exactness all the alterations in the glasses, at the same
time desiring, beseeching and also commanding an answer, which at
length the demon used to return by images in the glasses, which by re-
flection from the water represented what should come to pass. There
can be no doubt that Joseph had learnt this sort of divination from the
Egyptians. It was his divining cup or bowl which was found in
Benjamin's sack. "Is not this it (the bowl) in which my lord drinketh,
and whereby indeed he divineth?" (Gen. XLIV 5.). Again when brought
back, Joseph himself said to his brethren: "What deed is this that ye
have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?"
(Gen. XLIV 15). He evidently took it for granted that his brethren
would believe he could ascertain by magic who had stolen the money
and the cup.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 301: Hydromancy - also known as
hydatoscopy, if he augury was drawn from the examination of rain-
water, or pegomancy, if spring-water is used - comprised of many
different experiments. Practitioners would dangle a ring from a thread
into still water, or would study the circles formed by three little stones
thrown into still water, or would throw a drop of oil into water and see
future events in it as in a mirror.
1939 J. Trachtenberg Jewish Magic 219: Other
methods, equally well known in Christian Europe, were to interpret the
shapes assumed by drops of oil or melted wax floating on the surface
of a basin of water, and to suspend a ring of pure gold over a goblet of
water and divine by the sounds it makes as it strikes against the sides
of the goblet (departments of Hydromancy).
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 360 Have you a
mind, quoth Her Trippa, to have the truth of the matter yet more fully
and amply disclosed unto you by..hydromancy, by lecanomancy, of old
in prime request amongst the Assyrians, and thoroughly tried by
Hermolaus Barbarus?
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Hydromancy, by water.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Hydromancy -
by water.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: HYDROMANCY: Divination by water and covers
a wide range of lesser auguries, such as the color of water, its ebb and
flow, or the ripples produced by pebbles dropped into a pool, an odd
number being good, an even number, bad. Our modern 'tea leaf' and
'coffee ground' readings date from this.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iii. 41.
Hydromancy. Divination by the noise or eddies of a river
pouring over falls of rapids.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 318. HYDROMANCY: This relates to forms of
divination with water, which naturally figures in other types of
predictions involving various objects, which are therefore listed under
separate heads. In some cases, however, water plays such an important
part that they must be regarded as hydromancy despite the presence of
those other factors. One method is to study the depths of a placid
pool, noting any images or symbols that appear therein, interpreting
them as seems most fit. This is similar to using a magic mirror (as with
catoptromancy) or gazing into a crystal ball (as with chrystallomancy)
but on a large scale. However, if results are slow, another type of
hydromancy may be used; that of dropping three stones into the pool
and noting any figures or other effects caused by the ripples. For best
results, the first stone should be round, the second triangular, the third
square. Diviners who used this method generally referred to special lists
that told the proper interpretations to be given to various types of
ripples. Another time-honored method was to invoke any evil spirit
that dwelled in the neighborhood of a pool or stream. This demanded
knowledge of cabalistic ceremonies, with all the danger accompanying
such work, putting it into the realm of demonomancy. However, it still
depended on hydromancy to a marked degree, since the demon's mode
of answering questions was by inscribing words on the surface of the
water. Often, these were visible to the seer alone, and they had to be
read quickly while they lasted, as they were invariably written
backward, to prove that they were the devil's work. Methods of
hydromancy that were both simpler and safer included casting
offerings, such as bread, into a pool. If they remained there, it was a
good omen; if they drifted ashore before they sank, it boded ill. This
may account for the still popular custom of throwing coins into a
fountain for good luck, as they are sure to sink and stay there. Where
names of persons are involved, the old way of picking one through
hydromancy was to write each name on a separate stone and toss them
all in a pool. Later, the stones were fished out and if all the names
were washed off, or nearly so, with the exception of one, that name
represented the person to whom the question pertained. A modern
combination of these methods, which is simpler, easier and more
convenient, is the Floating Slip. See Chapter I.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 148.
Hydromancy..could involve drinking the water from sacred springs,
which were said both to induce prophetic visions and to cause madness.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 254.
Hydromancy, like many other methods of divination, seems to
have originated in Babylonia and reached the Greco-Roman world via
Egypt, in the first century b.c. or earlier.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. HYDROMANCY -
observing the tide.
In Dictionaries
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..Hydromancy... Ibid.
Hydromancie, is a diuination made by some apparition in
water, as Varro writeth, that a Boy saw in water, one bearing
the forme of Mercurie, who foretold in one hundred and fiftie
verses, the euents of the warre which the Romans had with King
Mithridates.
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Hydromancy, Diuination by calling damned spirits to appeare in the
water.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Hydromantie: f. Diuination by the obseruation of water, or
by spirits appearing in it.]
1650 French Chymical Dictionary (1674):
Hydromancy is an Art taken from the stars of the water, when
they manifest themselves to men, as from unusual inundations, and the
like.
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..Hydromancy, by some apparition in
water.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Hydromancy...
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Hydromancy, -tie,
g. divination by water, or raising Spirits in the Water.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
HYDROMANCY [hydromantia, L. of `Yëpomanteia of
`vëwp Water, and manteia, Divination, Gr.] a manner of divining or
making Conjectures by Water, in which the Victims had been wash'd,
and some Parts of them boiled; also a Divination by common Water, in
which they observed the various Impressions, Changes, Fluxes,
Refluxes, Swellings, Diminutions, Colours, Images, &c. of the
Water: Sometimes they dipt a Looking Glass into the Water, when they
desired to know what would become of a sick Person; for as he look'd
well or ill in the Glass, accordingly they conjectured as to his future
Condition: Sometimes they fill'd a Bowl with Water, and let dow into
it a Ring, equally poised on both Sides, and hanging by a Thread tied
to one of their Fingers; and then in a Form of Prayer, requested the
Gods to declare or confirm the Question in Dispute; whereupon, if the
Thing were true, the Ring of its own Accord would strike against the
side of the Bowl a set Number of Times. Sometimes they threw Stones
into the Water, and observed the Turns they made in sinking.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
hydromancy ...
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) HYDROMANCY [hidromancie, F. hydromantia, L.
of `vëpomanteia, of `vëwp, and manteia, Divination, Gr.]
Divination by Water.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840)
Hydromancy.. Prediction by water. Divination was invented by the
Persians: there are four kinds of divination; hydromancy,
pyromancy, aeromancy, and geomancy. Ayliffe.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by water,
Hydromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i. hydromancy..A
method of divination..by water; invented, according to Varro, by the
Persians, and practised by the Romans.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
hydromancy..Among the ancients, a method of divination by
water. Brande.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV
hydromancy.. Divination by some use or from some
phenomenon of water.
1899 OED
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) IV
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. hydromancy [main
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict. [marked
obsolete]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
hydromancy, ydromancy, water (in many ways).
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. hydromancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
hydromancy..fortunetelling by observing the tide.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
hydromancy..divination by means of water.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 hydromancy
(water)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. hydromancy a form of divination involving observations
of water or of other liquids.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED [1400 Maundeville, 1496 Dives & Paupers
'ydromancy'], then 1594, 1601. 'hydromantie', 1610 Healey, 1777
Brand, 1877. Also give hwd 'hydromance' 1390 (one cit only). Check
out 1797 cit. Can it be that I have pre-dated OED on this form? Or did
they not bother to give the 'earliest' eg they had of every form?
I could not find in Liddel & Scott the ãà^omanteia mentioned by
Smedley...perhaps a mistake for 'pegomancy'.
NL Cornelius Agrippa De Occult Philosophia lvii.
"Hydromantia vaticina pr‘stat per impressiones aqueas, illarumque
fluxes at refluxes, excrescentia et depressione, tempestates et colores et
similia: ejus junguntur etiam visiones qu‘ in aquis fiunt."
hyomancy: divination by the tongue bone, or by the
wagging of a tongue. [NL hyo-, referring to the hyoid bone, a
bone running from the root of the tongue to the larynx, from NL
hyoides, from Gk 'oåçîwv `voîië^c (osteon
hyoeides) hyoid bone (so named since it is shaped like the Greek
letter upsilon (v))]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
hyomancy, the tongue bone; as the tongue wags.
NOTES: Not in OED.
ichnomancy: divination by footprints. [Gk 'ixvoc
(ichnos) a track, footprint]
1855 Henry Thompson in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 296 Among the Arabs the science of prognostication (Ilmi
fir set) or art of discovering secret objects by the interpretation of
mysterious indications, known only to adepts, is subdivided into twelve
branches: 1. Physiognomy, (fir sah;) 2. Phantasmognomy,
(kha‹latwa-sham t;) 3. Chiromancy, ( s s¡r;) 4.
Onomancy, (akt f;) 5. Ichnomancy, (iy fah;)...
1899 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii. [suppl.]
ichnomancy..Occult. Divination of the characteristics
and occupations of men or beasts, through their posture, position, and
footprints.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. ichnomancy [minor
words list]
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. ichnomancy the analysis of the personality and
appearance of people by studying their footprints. -
ichnomantic, adj.
NOTES: OED Smedley.
ichthyomancy: divination by means of fish, esp. their
entrails. [NL ichthiomantia (Agrippa), F ichthyomantie,
from Gk 'ixévo-, 'ixévc (ichthyo-, ichthys) fish. Cf. Gk
'ixévoæàvçic (ichthyomantis) a diviner by fish] Variant
Forms: ichyomancy, icthiomancy (Urquhart), icthyomancy,
ichthyonomancy (Blount).
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
ichthyomanteia]
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers means..by
fishes, Ichthyomancy (this Apuleius was charged with)...
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Ichthyomancy, by Fishes...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By Icthiomancy, in
ancient times so celebrated, and put in use by Tiresias and Polydamus,
with the like certainty of event as was tried of old at the Dina-ditch
within that Grove consecrated to Apollo, which is in the Territory of
the Lycians.
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Ichthyomancy, by fishes. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By icthyomancy...
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By icthiomancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 223/1:
Ichthyomancy: Divination by the inspection of the entrails of fish.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
ichthyomancy, in ancient times so celebrated, and put to use by Tiresias
and Polydamus, with the like certainty of event as was tried of old at
the Dina-ditch, within that grove consecrated to Apollo, which is in the
territory of the Lycians.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Ichthyomancy, by fishes.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: An exhaustive listing would become overwhelming. Let there be
mentioned hepatoscopy and critomancy, daphnomancy and
empyromancy, ichthyomancy and lampadomancy, margaritomancy and
molybdomancy.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658:
Ichthyomancy - by fishes.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: ICHYOMANCY: This involved fish as factors of
divination.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iii. 41.
Ichthyomancy. Divination by examining the entrails of a fish.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 319. ICHTHYOMANCY: Divination by the
examination of fish offered for a sacrifice. This can be extended to
include the actions of living fish, which have many traditional
interpretations, some still popular with present-day fishermen.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 142.
Ichthyomancy Predicting from the shape and entrails of fish.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. ICHTHYOMANCY -
fish offal.
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Ichthyomantie: f. Diuination by fish.
1656 Blount Glossographia
Ichthyonomancy (ichthyonomantia) a divination by
fishes.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Ichthyonomancy,
g. a divination by Fishes.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
ICHTHYOMANCY [ixévomanteia Gr.] Divination by the Entrails
of Fishes, for which Tiresias is said to have been famous.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by the entrails of
fishes, Ichthyomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. i.
ichthyomancy..Divination by the heads of fishes.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
ichthyomancy..A species of divination by the examination of
the entrails of fishes. Roget.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV
ichthyomancy.. Divination by means of the heads or the
entrails of fishes.
1899 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
ichthyomancy..Divination by means of heads or entrails of
fishes.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) IV
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. ichthyomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
ichthyomancy..Divination by means of the entrails or heads of fish.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
ichthyomancy, the next fish caught.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
ichthyomancy..fortunetelling with fish offal.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
ichthyomancy..divination by means of fish.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 ichthyomancy
(entrails of fish)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. ichthyomancy a form of divination involving the head or
entrails of fishes.
NOTES: OED Blount, Gaule, 1847 Craig (presum. a dict.). OED
missed this quite significant pre-dating. I cannot account for Blount's
spelling. The Imp. dict suppl. gives the entry: ichthyom'ancy or
ich'thyomancy. - a note on the pron.
iconomancy: divination by images. [Gk 'îikwv
(eikon) likeness, image]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
iconomancy, images.
NOTES: Not in OED.
idolomancy: divination by idols. [LL idol-um,
from Gk 'îiëw^ov (eidolon) a false god, an idol]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Idolomancy, by Idolls, Images, Figures...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/1: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 251. Idolomancy, by idols, images, and figures.
[citing Hone citing Gaule]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Idolomancy, by idols, images,
figures.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 319. IDOLOMANCY: Use of idols or images for
purposes of divination. The answers may come through dreams, by
drawing lots, or anything else that believers may attribute to the power
of such images. Some ancient oracles belonged in this category, and
pagan priests often spoke from within hollow statues to give direct
replies to questions regarding the future. In many cases, idolomancy has
been closely identified with demonomancy, in as much as the idols
simply represent the demons who are supposed to inhabit them when
properly invoked.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
1899 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. idolomancy [minor
words list]
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. idolomancy a form of divination involving idols.
NOTES: OED Gaule. Under hwd 'idolo-'. Badly, ie mistakenly, set out
for it says Idolomancy [Gr. manteia divination by idols]. It
should have read Idolomancy [Gr. manteia divination], by
idols.
idromancie a Middle English form of hydromancy.
igramancie a Middle English form of nigromancy.
(igramansie, igramansy, igrimansie)
kapnomancy capnomancy.
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Kapnomancy, by smoke. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
katoptromancy catoptromancy
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Katoptromancy, by looking-glasses. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
kephalomancy cephalomancy
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
kephalonomancy cephaleonomancy
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 243/1:
Kephalonomancy: A method of divination which is practised by making
divers signs on the baked head of an ass. It was familiar to the
Germans and the Lombards substituted for it the head of a goat. The
ancients placed lighted carbon on an ass's head, and pronounced the
names of those who were suspected of any crime. If a crackling
coincided with the utterance of a name, the latter was taken as being
that of the guilty person.
[keptolomancy: a ghost word appearing in Cassell's Encyc.
Dict. 1909 s.v. botanomancy, quoting W Smith Dict. of the
Bible i. 442. The actual passage has 'kephalomancy']
kledonomancy cledonomancy
kleidomancy cleidomancy
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. KLEIDOMANCY: The same as
cleidomancy.
NOTES: Not in OED as a variant.
kleromancy cleromancy
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Kleromancy, by lots. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
knissomancy: divination by the burning of incense. See
libanomancy. [Gk kviååà (knissa) the fatty smoke of a burnt
sacrifice, the smell of a victim]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Knissomancy, by the burning of incense.
[purportedly citing Hone (citing Gaule)]
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
knissomancy..fortunetelling by incense-burning.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. KNISSOMANCY -
incense burning.
NOTES: Not in OED. This form was probably concocted as a 'better'
rendering of Gaule's 'livanomancy'.
koskinomancy coscinomancy
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Koskinomancy, by sieves. [citing Hone
citing Gaule]
krithomancy crithomancy
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Krithomancy, by corn, or grain. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Kypomancy...tea
leaves in a cup
1686 Plot Staffordsh. 288. (OED) So..skill'd was
she in this Art (which we may call Labiomancy)..that..when in bed, if
she might lay but her hand on their lipps so as to feel the motion of
them, she could perfectly understand what her bedfellows said.
1812 Europ. Mag. lxii. 287. (OED) [Title of an
article] Labiomancy.
1901 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. labiomancy [minor
words list]
NOTES: OED, as above. The only one not referring to a type of
divination.
lampadomancy: divination by lamps and appearances
in their flames. [medL *lampadomantia, from Gk ^àæãàë-,
^àæãàc (lampad-, lampas) torch]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166.
..Lampadomancy, by candles and lamps...
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 415:
Lampadomantia.]
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. Lampadomancy, by candles and lamps.
[citing Hone citing Gaule]
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: A divination based on the observation of
the movements of the flame of a lamp was called lampadomancy.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
lampadomancy, candles; what burns (and how it burns or the
wick floats about) in a lamp.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Lampadomancy, by candles and
lamps.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
228: Divination by means of lamp flames is known as Lampadomancy.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658:
Lampadomancy - from the flame of a candle or torch.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: LAMPADOMANCY: This signified omens from
lights or torches.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Lampadomancy...lamps
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. LAMPADOMANCY: Use of lighted lamps
for divinatory purposes, according to the appearance or duration of their
flames. The ancient Egyptians held a "Feast of Lamps," at which many
rites were performed, including divination; and its modern counterpart
in India is held in honor of the goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi, on the
new moon of the month of Kartik, which begins about the middle of
our October. During the Diwali, as this festival is termed, lighted lamps
are set on floats that are sent downriver or out to sea; and the longer
they remain alight, the better the omen.
1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult lampadomancy - a
form of divination by interpretation of the actions of a torch flame. It is
a branch of pyromancy.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 138.
LAMPADOMANCY This involves taking the omens from a single oil
lamp, or from a torch flame.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70.
LAMPADOMANCY - the flame of a torch.
In Dictionaries
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV
lampadomancy.. An ancient method of divination from the
variations in the color and motions of the flame of a lamp or torch.
1901 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
lampadomancy..The art of divining by the flame of a lamp or
torch.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. lampadomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
lampadomancy..Divination by the flame of a torch or lamp.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
lampadomancy..fortunetelling with the flame of a torch.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
210. lampadomancy a form of divination involving
observation of the flame of a torch or lamp. Cf. lychnomancy.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Gaule, Syd. Soc. Lex. 'Lampado-', and hence 'lamp' in
the early defs, refer to a flaming torch. In which case the recent defs
are misleading.
lecanomancy: divination by water in a basin, performed
by various means as by dropping gems in the water, or by staring into
the water's surface in order to see prophetic images. [NL
lecanomantia, leconomantia (Agrippa), LL
lecanomantia, Gk ^îkàvomanteia (lekanomanteia),
from ^îkàvn (lekane) dish, pan] Variant Forms: lecanomancie,
lecaunomancy, leconomancy, leucanomancy, licanomancy.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
lekanomanteia]
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers
means..Hydromancy..done..in a basen of water, which is called
Lecanomancie, in which Strabo sayth the Asians are singular.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Lecanomancy, by a basin of water...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: Have you a mind (quoth
Her Trippa) to have the truth of the matter yet more fully and amply
disclosed unto you..by Leconomancy, of old in prime request amongst
the Assyrians, and thoroughly tried by Hermolaus Barbarus.
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. Lecanomancy, by basins of water. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. Magic ii. 461:
Among the various other kinds of divination not here mentioned may
be enumerated Chilomancy performed with keys; Alphitomancy or
Aleuromancy, by flour; Keraunoscopia, by the consideration of thunder;
Eychnomancy, by lamps; Ooscopy, by eggs; Licanomancy by a basin of
water; Palpitatim, Salisatio, by the pulsation or motion of some member
etc. [copied into Daniels & Stevans 1903]
1897 (Agrippa) Three Bks Occult Phil. lvii. 178:
There was of old a kind of Hydromancy had in great esteem amongst
the Assyrians, and it was called Lecanomancy, from a skin full of
water, upon which they put plates of gold and silver and precious
stones written upon with certain images, names and characters. To this
may be referred that art by which lead and wax, being melted and cast
into the water, do express manifest marks of images of those things we
desire to know. There were also in former years fountains that did
foretell things to come, as the father's fountain at Achaia, and that
which was called the water of Juno, in Epidaurus...
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 161. By leucanomancy...
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. [copied from Howitt 1893]
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 153. By lecanomancy...
1913 Halliday Greek Div. viii. 150. The most
important and best known type of lekanomancy is, or course, divination
by the reflection in a bowl of water, ink, or fluid of some kind.
c1928 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua and
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 486. By Leconomancy...
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 302: I may mention further lecanomancy,
which was performed by letting precious stones drop into water; a
mysterious little whistling resulted which announced the thing desired.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 360 Have you a
mind, quoth Her Trippa, to have the truth of the matter yet more fully
and amply disclosed unto you by..hydromancy, by lecanomancy, of old
in prime request amongst the Assyrians, and thoroughly tried by
Hermolaus Barbarus? Come hither, and I will show thee in this platter
full of fair fountain water, thy future wife, lechering and
sercroupierising it with two swaggering ruffians, one after another.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Lecanomancy, by basin of water.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Leconomancy -
from the shape taken by oil poured on water.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: LECANOMANCY: Requires a basin of water in
the divinatory process.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. LECANOMANCY: A method of recognizing
good or bad omens by dropping various gems in water.
1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult lecanomancy - a
form of divination in which a cup, bowl or similar open vessel is an
important accessory.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 255. At least two
methods of scrying were used in antiquity. In one the translucent object
was a mirror... In the other a glass or bowl of water was used, and for
this the terms lecanomancy 'divination by bowl' and
hydromancy 'divination by water' are attested.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. LECANOMANCY -
looking at water in a basin.
In Dictionaries
Elisha Coles' definition is an amazing example of the terse style of
defining adopted by lexicography as a whole. By putting the word
``water in'' in brackets he preserves the original definition (lifted from
Blount) and at the same time points out the words etymology.
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Leconomancy, Diuination by water in a bason.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Leconomantie: f. Diuination by water in a Bason.
1656 Blount Glossographia [alphabetised at lec-]
Licanomancy (licanomantia) a kind of divination by
water in a Bason.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Lecanomancy...
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Lecanomancy,
g. Divination by [water in] a bason.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Lecanomancy...
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
LECANOMANCY [^îkàvomanteia, Gr.] Divination by Water in a
Bason.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) LECANOMANCY [lecanomantia, L. of
^îkàvomanteia, of ^îkàvn, a Bason, and manteia, Divination,
Gr.] Divination by Water.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
lecanomancy..Divination by means of water in a basin.
Crabb.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV
lecanomancy.. Divination by throwing three stones into water
in a basin and invoking the aid of a demon.
1902 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
lecanomancy..Divination by throwing three pebbles into a
basin of water and invoking the aid of a demon.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) IV
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. lecanomancy [minor
words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
lecanomancy, a bowl of water reflecting candle flames - a
practice still current in some Slavic lands, especially at Christmastide.
The Psychoanalytic Review in 1913 reported that testing with free
association shows "the divinations are merely the results of the
medium's own complexes."
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. lecanomancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
lecanomancy..fortunetelling by looking at water in a basin.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. lecanomancy a form of divination involving the
examination of water in a basin.
NOTES: OED Healey, 1613 Purchas, Blount, Urquhart, 1783 T.
Wilson.
NL Cornelius Agrippa De Occult Philosophia lvii. "Erat etiam
olim apud Assyrios in magno precio Hydromanti‘ species,
Lecanomantia nuncupata, a pelvi aqu‘ plena, cui imponebantur aure‘
at argente‘ lamin‘ et lapides preciosi, certis imaginibus, nominibus et
characteribus inscript‘."
lekanomancy - see prev.
[letnomancy: a spurious word, punning on 'let no man
see'. n.d. W.H. Cremer (ed.) The Magician's Own Handbook
ii. 186. On either side of your little stage whereon you exercise your art
the decorations may comprise a shield, ornamented in mock heraldry
with the jugglers' insignia - cups, wand, sword, cards, hieroglyphical
signs, &c., and a comic placard, founded on the following assertions: -
"By Desire, there will appear Signor Puscellino, native of Whangfobia,
Doctor of Pyrotechny, A.Z.X. and R.S.V.P., Professor of
Chiromancy and Letnomancy, known as Light-fingered Hieronimus,
who has passed all degrees in every Academy of Europe, Asia, Africa,
America, and the Isle of Man, for alegbra, mineralogy, topography,
middleography, hydrodynamics, and lowdrodynamicalogismatics, as
well as the occult, mystic, and transcendental sciences, such as
cabalistics, busology, astrology, superstitions, animal magnetism,
alchemy, and divination."]
libanomancy: divination by incense. [NL
libanomantia (Agrippa), F libanomantie, from Gk
^iáàvoæàvçic (libanomantis) a diviner by incense, from
^iáàvoc (libanos) frankincense] Variant forms: livanomancy
(Gaule).
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
libanomanteia]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Livanomancy, [sic] by burning of Frankincence...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: By Libanomancy, for
the which we shall need but a little Frankincense.
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1863 William Smith Dict. of the Bible i. 442/2.
The other kind of divination was artificial (çîxvikn), and probably
originated in an honest conviction that external nature sympathised with
and frequently indicated the condition and prospects of mankind...
When once this feeling was established the supposed manifestations
were infinitely multiplied, and hence the numberless forms of imposture
or ignorance called kapnomancy, pyromancy, arithmomancy,
libanomancy, botanomancy, kephalomancy, &c. of which there are
abundant accounts...
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By libanomancy...
1913 Halliday Greek Div. ix. 185. Ooskopy,
naturally popular when Orphism was in the ascendant, libanomancy
dear to the vegetarians, who abhorred the slaughter of animals, and
aleuromancy..belong to the same order of sub-rites.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Libanomancy was performed by means of
the smoke of incense...
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
libanomancy, for the which we shall need but a little frankincense.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Livanomancy, by burning of
frankincense.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: LIBRANOMANCY: Requires incense as a means
of interprting omens.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. LIBANOMANCY or LIVANOMANCY:
Forms of divination involving the burning of incense and the smoke
arising from it.
1985 G. Luck Arcana Mundi 253. ..if incense is
placed on fire, we speak of libanomancy...
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Libanomantie: f. Diuination by incense, or frankincense.]
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..Libanomancy, by Incense or
Frankincense.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Libanomancy,
g. Divination by | Libanus, g. Frankinsense.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
LIBANOMANCY [^iáàvomanteia, Gr.] a Divination by
Frankincense, which if it presently catch'd Fire, and sent forth a
grateful Odour, was esteemed an happy Omen; but if the Fire would
not touch it, or any nasty Smell, contrary to the Nature of Frankincense
proceeded from it, it was thought to forebode ill.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV
libanomancy.. Divination by the burning of frankincense.
1902 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
libanomancy..Divination by burning frankincense.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. libanomancy [minor
words list; labelled obsolete or rare]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
libanomancy, burning of incense (so the Fates are not incensed.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
libanomancy..the use of incense as a means of interpreting
omens.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 libanomancy
(incense)
NOTES: OED Gaule, Blount, Urquhart. Labels Obs. Labels Gaule's
spelling with [sic], but not 'erron'. - however, labels it 'erron.' at hwd
livanomancy. Says it is from French (Rabelais). Gaule's spelling
probably a typesetting error due to a misreading of 'b' for 'v' in
manuscript.
libanomancy: divination by the pouring out of water.
[L libans, pp of libo to pour out]
NOTES: Probably a mistake for prec., by ... mistaking the root for L
rather than Gk.
licanomancy var. of lecanomancy.
lithomancy: divination by means of stones, either
precious stomes or gems, pebbles, or a load-stone. [F
lithomantie, from Gk ^iéoc (lithos) a stone]
1646 in OED.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Lithomancy, by stones...
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1853 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Lithomancy, by stones. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1855 Edward Smedley in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 315. lithomancy. A species of divination performed by
stones, but in what manner it is difficult to ascertain. Gale, in a 'Note
upon Jamblichus,' (de Mysteriis, sec. iii. c. 17, p. 239,)
confesses that he does not clearly understand the nature of it; whether it
refers to certain motions observable in idols, or to an insight into
futurity obtained by demons (familiars) enclosed in particular stones.
1868 Chambers's Encyc. III 599.
..Lithomancy, a species of divination performed by stones, but
in what manner it is difficult to ascertain...
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1663. lithomancy - Divination with a precious stone called
siderites. By a stone of this kind, Helenus is reported to have foretold
the destruction of Troy. Precious stones were not only used for the
purpose of divination, but were in themselves held in the highest
esteem as amulets or charms against the evil eye chiefly, but also
against diseases. Of all relics of the occult arts perhaps the beliefs
attaching to famous stones, from the Scone stone under the English
Coronation Chair, to the moonstones and toadstones of fable, are in
these days as conspicuous as any. How many stories we find nowadays
turning upon the safe keeping of some mystic stone,or precious gem,
whose loss is fatal to its possessor or his family. Another subsidiary
divination was by the well-known crackling sound made by laurel
leaves in burning.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Libanomancy was performed by means of
the smoke of incense, and lithomancy by means of precious stones.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Lithomancy, by stones.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Lithomancy -
by stones.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: LITHOMANCY: Utilizes precious stones of
various colors. In its more modern form of divination, these are
scattered on a flat surface, and whichever reflects the light most fulfills
the omen. Blue means good luck soon. Green realization of a hope. Red
means happiness in love and or marriage. Yellow means disaster or
betrayal. Purple means a period of sadness. Black or gray means
misfortune. Coloured beads may be used instead of jewels for this
purpose.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iii. 41.
Lithomancy. Divination by the sound made when two stones
were struck together.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. LITHOMANCY: Divination by means of
stones of unusual origin or appearance, such as meteorites, which
inspire the diviner with visions, or issue sounds that he alone can hear
and interpret as words. Foretelling the future by observing the colors of
precious stones (as with lecanomancy) is often included under the
general head of lithomancy.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 138.
LITHOMANCY This divination using precious stones, one form of
which involves candlelight. Scatter gemstones of different colors around
a candle. Darken the room, light the candle, close your eyes, and clear
your mind of thoughts. When you open your eyes, notice which color
of stone first reflects the light back to you.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. LITHOMANCY -
stones or stone charms.
In Dictionaries
\CIT:[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Lithomantie: f. Diuination by the casting of pible stones.]
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..Lithomancy, by a stone.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Lithomancie, (lat.) A Divination, the casting of pebble stones.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Lithomancy,
g. Divination by casting pebble-stones, or by the load-stone.
1708 Kersey Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum:
Lithomancy...
1727 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
LITHOMANCY [^iéomanteia, Gr.] was a Sort of
Divination performed by a precious Stone called Siderites,
which they washed in Spring Water, in the Night by Candlelight; the
Person that consulted it, was to be purified from all Manner of
Pollution, and to have his Face covered; this being done, he repeated
divers Prayers, and placed certain Characters in an appointed Order,
and then the Stone moved of it self, and in a soft gentle murmur, or (as
some say) in a Voice like that of a Child returned an Answer.
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
lithomancy (s.) a pretended divination by the preciosu stone called
siderites, which was washed in spring-water in the night time by
candle-light; the consulter was to be thoroughly purified and hood-
winked, then he was to repeat certain prayers, and put particular
characters in a set order; and then it is pretended the stone moved of
itself, and in a small shrill voice gave an answer to the matter enquired
after.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) LITHOMANCY [^iéomanteia, of ^iéoc, a Stone, and
manteia, Divination, Gr.] a kind of Soothsaying by the
casting of Pebble Stones.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840)
Lithomancy.. Prediction by stones. [cites Browne]
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by precious
stones, Lithomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii.
lithomancy..Divination or prediction of events by means of stones.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
lithomancy..Divination or prediction by stones.
Browne.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) IV
lithomancy.. Divination or prediction by means of stones.
[cites Browne ii. 3]
1903 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
lithomancy..Divination by stones, practised by the ancients.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) IV
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. lithomancy ..
Divination by means of stones, as by meteorites. [minor words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
lithomancy, (precious) stones.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. lithomancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
lithomancy..fortunetelling by stones or stone charms.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
lithomancy..divination by means of stones, usually precious.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 lithomancy
(stones)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. lithomancy a form of divination involving rocks or
stones.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1646 Browne, Blount, 1895 Elworthy. During
proofreading of the bromides of Macquarie Dict. 2nd ed. it was noticed
by myself that the word 'lithium' was missing from the page - an error
arising from a coding error in the database in the headword field.
Naturally such an important word cannot be left out of a dictionary,
and to make space 'lithomancy', and some other word were deleted,
hence it does not appear in the 1991 edition.
livanomancy a mistake in Gaule for libanomancy.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Livanomancy, [sic] by burning of Frankincence...
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: [citing Gaule (via
Brand)]
1903 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. livanomancy .. erron.
form of... [minor words list]
1973 Gibson
NOTES: In OED, listed as 'erron. var.'
logarithmancy: divination by logarithms. [blend of
logarithm and arithmancy] (logarithmomancy)
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Logarithmancy, by Logarithmes...
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. Logarithmancy, by logarithms. [citing Hone
citing Gaule]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Logarithmancy, by logarithms.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. LOGARITHMANCY: A mathematical
method of divination performed with the ait of logarithms. Now
supplanted by modern computers.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
In Dictionaries
1903 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
logarithmomancy..Divination by means of numbers.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. logarithmomancy
[minor words list]
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. logarithmomancy a form of divination involving
logarithms.
NOTES: OED Gaule. Labells Obs. rare-1.
logomancy: divination by words and discourse. [Gk
^oyoc (logos) word]
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. logomancy ..
Divination by means of magical words or formul‘. [main words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
logomancy, words.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. logomancy a form of divination involving the observation
of words and discourse.
NOTES: Not in OED.
lychnomancy: divination using three candles forming a
triangle. [NL lynchnomantia, Gk ^vxvoc (lychnos)
lamp] Erroneous Form: eychnomancy.
[1696-9 Potter Arch‘ologia Gr‘ca]
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 415:
Lampadomantia, Lychnomantia]
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. Magic ii. 461:
Among the various other kinds of divination not here mentioned may
be enumerated Chilomancy performed with keys; Alphitomancy or
Aleuromancy, by flour; Keraunoscopia, by the consideration of thunder;
Eychnomancy, [sic] by lamps; Ooscopy, by eggs; Licanomancy
by a basin of water; Palpitatim, Salisatio, by the pulsation or motion of
some member etc.
[text copied in] 1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc.
Occult Sci. (1971) III 1662.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. LYCHNOMANCY: Divination from the
flames of three identical candles set in a triangle. There are lighted ant
their flames are interpreted as follows: If wavering back and forth, a
change of circumstance. If twisting, spiral fashion, beware of secret
plotters. Rising and falling flames, real danger. One flame brighter than
the others, good fortune. A sputtering flame, disappointment soon due.
A bright point at the tip of a wick, increasing success, but short-lived if
the point fades. For a candle to extinguish itself, severe loss or tragedy
for the consultant or others involved in that particular divination.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 138.
LYCHNOMANCY This is divination from the flames of three wax
candles. Arrange the three candles in an equilateral triangle, and light a
fourth candle some distance away to provide enough light for the
reading. Switch off all the other lights in the room, and light the three
candles from one match. Read the omens from the appearance of their
flames.
In Dictionaries
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. i.
lychnomancy..Divination by means of lamps.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. lychnomancy ..
Divination by lamps. [minor words list]
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. lychnomancy a form of divination involving lamps. Cf.
lampadomancy.
NOTES: Not in OED.
macharomancy: divination by swords, daggers and
knives. [Gk æàxàipà (machaira) a short sword, a
dagger]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Macharomancy, by knives or swords...
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. Macharomancy, by knives and swords.
[citing Hone citing Gaule]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Macharomancy, by knives or
swords.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. MACHAROMANCY: Use of swords,
daggers, and knives as instruments of divination. Presumably of ancient
origin.
In Dictionaries
1904 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
machairomancy..Divination by means of a sword or dagger.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.
mach‘romancy/machairomancy/ macharomancy .. Divination by knives
or swords. [minor words list]
NOTES: OED Gaule. Labels Obs.rare-1. Etymologically normalises
hwd to mach‘romancy.
macromancy: divination by the largest thing nearby.
[Gk æàkpoc (makros) large]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
macromancy, the largest thing near.
NOTES: Not in OED.
maculomancy: divination by spots. [L macula
spot, stain]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
maculomancy, spots.
NOTES: Not in OED. See 1713 Fabricii Bibliographia
Antiquaria xii. 416: Ex maculis corporis, divinatio.
magastromancy: (nonce) magical divination by the
stars; 'magical astrology'. [coined by Gaule from L mag-us
magic + astromancy]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165. What
difference betwixt Astromancy, Magomancy, or
Magastromancy (as touching a sorcerous both superstition, and
operation) and all these after-named? [
[1899 Century Dict. (1903) V
magastromancer.. An astrologist.]
1904 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.
magastromancy n. [See magic, astromancy]
Divination by magic and astrology. - magastromancer
n. - magastromantic, a. All Obs. [minor
words list]
NOTES: OED Gaule only.
magomancy: (nonce) magical divination. [coined by
Gaule from mago- representing L magus magic + -
mancy]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165. What
difference betwixt Astromancy, Magomancy, or
Magastromancy (as touching a sorcerous both superstition, and
operation) and all these after-named?
NOTES: Not in OED.
margaritomancy: divination by pearls. [L
margarita pearl]
In Dictionaries
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
margaritomancy..Divination by means of pearls.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. margaritomancy
[minor words list]
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. margaritomancy a form of divination involving the
examination of pearls.
In other texts
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 266/2:
Margaritomancy: Divination by pearls. A pearl was covered with a
vase, and placed near the fire, and the names of suspected persons
pronounced. When the name of the guilty one was uttered the pearl was
supposed to bound upwards and pierce the bottom of the vase.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Very curious was margaritomancy, or
divination by a pearl. "The pearl is to be enchanted," says de l'Ancre,
"and shut in a pot; then if it chance that the name of the thief be
pronounced the pearl will leap, striking against the pot."
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 108:
Margaritomancy: Divination by interpreting the relative positions of
pearls thrown on a flat surface.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: An exhaustive listing would become overwhelming. Let there be
mentioned hepatoscopy and critomancy, daphnomancy and
empyromancy, ichthyomancy and lampadomancy, margaritomancy and
molybdomancy.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iii. 41.
Margaritomancy. Divination by a pearl. It had to be placed in a
glass of water near a fire. The name of a person suspected of a crime
was then spoken aloud. If the pearl exploded, the suspect was guilty.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658:
Margaritomancy - by pearls.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: MARGARITOMANCY: A procedure utilizing
pearls which were supposed to bounce upward beneath an inverted pot
if a guilty person approached.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 320. MARGARITOMANCY: A singular
procedure requiring a charmed pearl that is placed in a pot and covered
with a lid. Names of persons suspected of theft or some other crime are
then recited, and at the right name the pearl leaps up and strikes the pot
lid. Choice of a pearl for this curious rite may stem from the fact that it
is the only gem created by a living organism and might thereby become
imbued with life as if to escape the oyster shell in which it was origi-
nally imprisoned. Whatever its origin, some form of deception must
have been introduced to make it work.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
NOTES: Not in OED.
mathemancy: divination by quantity. [mathe(matics)
+ -mancy, following orthography of arithmancy]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
mathemancy, quantity.
NOTES: Not in OED.
mazomancy: divination by the suckling of a baby. [Gk
æàzoc (mazos) breast]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
mazomancy, a suckling babe.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
mazomancy..fortunetelling by a nursing baby.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. MAZOMANCY - a
nursing baby.
NOTES: Not in OED. Cf. 1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult
mammoscopy - a form of divination which draws its deduction from an
examination of the female breasts.
meconomancy: (a) divination by drug induced sleep.
(b) divination by poppies. [Gk ænkwv (mekon) poppy]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
meconomancy, sleep, induced by drugs; poppies.
NOTES: Not in OED.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Meilomancy...moles;
their location, size, and number
1797 in OED.
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci.
333. The Romans are believed to have derived meteoromancy from
Etruria.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 467: METEOROMANCY: This lists the omens
dependent on meteors and similar phenomena.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. METEOROMANCY: A special branch of
astromancy dealing with omens that pertain to shooting stars. Ancient
Roman augurs included thunder, lightning, eclipses, ant other heavenly
phenomena in such divinations.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 148.
Meteoromancy Divination from meteors and shooting stars.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70.
METEOROMANCY - thunder, lightning, etc.
In Dictionaries
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by meteors,
Meteoromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii.
meteoromancy..A species of divination by meteors, chiefly by
thunder and lightning; held in high estimation by the Romans.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
meteoromancy..Divination by meteors. Smart.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) V
meteoromancy.. Divination by meteoric phenomena.
1906 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
meteoromancy..Divination by means of atmospheric
phenomena, especially thunder and lightning.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. meteoromancy ..
Divination by meteors, thunder and lightning, etc. [minor words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
meteoroscopy, meteoromancy, shooting stars.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
meteoromancy..fortunetelling by thunder, lightning, etc.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
meteoromancy..the study of omens dependent on meteors and
similar phenomena.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 meteoromancy
(meteors)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. meteoromancy a form of divination involving the
observation of meteors.
NOTES: OED 1797 Encyc. Brit. 3rd ed., 1845 Smedley (not as in my
cit. above)
metopomancy: divination by the face, specif. by
interpreting the lines of the forehead (and relating them to astrology).
[Gk ænçwãov (metopon) the forehead, originally the
space between the eyes]
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Metopomantie: f. Diuination by the face.
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..Metopomancy, by the face.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Metopomancy,
g. Divination by the face or forehead.
1906 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
metopomancy..[Rare] Divination by inspection of the
physiognomy.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. metopomancy ..
fortune telling by physiognomy. [minor words list]
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
metopomancy..fortunetelling by examining the face.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. metopomancy Rare. a form of divination
involving examination of facial features.
In other texts
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...
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 157. ..metopomancy...
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.
1971 K. Thomas Relig. & Decline of Magic viii.
283. These elaborate systems of divination, with their subdivisions,
such as divination by moles on the face, or lines on the forehead
(metopomancy), had been set out in many medieval treatises and from
Elizabethan times were widely disseminated in printed handbooks, often
illustrated with crude diagrams of sample hands and faces.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. METOPOMANCY: Predicting a person's
future by certain lines on his forehead. A restricted phase of the
broader subject of metoposcopy.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. METOPOMANCY -
examing [sic] the face.
NOTES: OED Blount, Urquhart. See 'metoposcopy' character analysis
by the face. = physiognomy.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Metoposcopy... 1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.:
Metoposcopy, g. telling mens Natures (and fortunes) by
looking on their faces.
micromancy: divination by the smallest thing nearby.
[Gk æikpoc (mikros) small]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
micromancy, the smallest thing near.
NOTES: Not in OED.
mineramancy: divination by found minerals.
[minera(l) + -mancy]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
mineramancy, found minerals.
NOTES: Not in OED.
molybdomancy: divination by molten lead (or tin),
sometimes dropped into water. [NL molybdomantia, Gk
æo^váëoc (molybdos) lead]
In Dictionaries
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
MOLUBDOMANCY [æo^váëomanteia of
æo^váëoc Lead, and manteia Divination,
Gr.] a divining, an observing the motions, Figures, &c.
of melted Lead.
1907 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
molybdomancy..Divination by means of molten lead, the
diviner basing his conclusions on the number, form, and motions of the
drops that float on the surface.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. molybdomancy [minor
words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
molybdomancy, motions and forms in molten lead.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
molybdomancy..fortunetelling by dropping molten lead on water.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. molybdomancy Rare. a form of divination by
studying the motion of molten lead.
In other texts
[1696-9 Potter Arch‘ologia Gr‘ca]
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 416:
Molybdomantia, ex plumbi liqvefacti divers motibus.]
1753 in OED.
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1663. molybdomancy - By noting motions and figures in
molten lead.
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 303: Molybdomancy was divination by melted
lead; drops of it were allowed to fall into water, and the resulting
noises and hissings listened to.
1961 H.E. Wedeck Treasury of Witchcraft xii.
220: An exhaustive listing would become overwhelming. Let there be
mentioned hepatoscopy and critomancy, daphnomancy and
empyromancy, ichthyomancy and lampadomancy, margaritomancy and
molybdomancy.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 468: MOLYBDOMANCY: Draws mystic inferences
from the varied hissings of molten lead.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. MOLYBDOMANCY: Dropping hot lead on
a flat surface to divine the future by interpreting the shapes that result.
Hot lead may also be dropped in water and conclusions thrown from
the hissing sounds.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 154. Other
societies have used other methods to produce symbols similar to those
found in the tea-leaves. In medieval times, molten tin or lead was
dripped into cold water to produce the characteristic shapes. This
method, called molybdomancy, was a by-product of the alchemists'
attempts to transmute these base metals into gold...
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
NOTES: OED 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp 'molybdomantia', 1895
Elworthy. Bailey pre-dates!
moromancy: foolish divination. [F moromantie,
from Gk æwpoc (moros) silly, foolish] (moromantie)
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Moromantie: f. Foolish diuination.]
1656 Blount Glossographia Moromantie
(Gr.) foolish divination.
1908 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. moromancy ..
Divination by nonsense. Obs. [minor words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17. The
topic is capped with moromancy, foolish divination, a 17th
century term that covers them all.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. moromancy a form of divination that is flawed or
foolish.
NOTES: OED Blount, hwd 'moromantie'. No actual cit, uses Blount's
def. 'Foolish divination.' Both Webs and Urdang's re-definings are
misleading.
myomancy: divination by mice and rats. [Gk ævo-,
ævc (myo-, mys) mouse]
1727-52 in OED.
1855 Elihu Rich in Smedley et al. Occult Sci.
335. myomancy Was a method of divination by rats and mice, and is
supposed to be alluded to in Isaiah lxvi. 17. Their peculiar cries, or
some marked devastation committed by them, was taken for a
prognostic of evil. ’lian realtes that Fabius Maximus resigned the
dictatorship in consequence of a warning from these creatures; and
Cassius Flaminius, according to Varro, retired from command of the
cavalry for no greater reason.
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. myomancy - Made use of the sounds and damage
done by rats. The great Dictator Fabius Maximus renounced his throne
when warned by the squeal of a mouse and Cassius Flaminius threw up
his command of cavalry.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 281/1: [copying
Rich]
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 118:
Myomancy: Divination by observing rats or mice.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Myomancy -
from the movements of mice.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 468: MYOMANCY: Concerns rats and mice, the cries
they give, and the destruction they cause, all as prophetic omens.
1973 K. Ellis Prediction and Prophecy iii. 41.
Myomancy. Divination by mice or rats, for instance, rats
leaving a sinking ship.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. MYOMANCY: An ancient form of
divination based upon the activities or sudden appearance of rats or
mice, as well as the sounds they made. All sorts of prognostications
could be made, ranging from wars to famine and pestilence, by
comparing various occasions involving the behavior of such rodents.
Many omens resulted regarding rats and mice, persisting through the
centuries and forming the basis for various modern superstitions.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 142.
Myomancy Predicting from the color and movement of mice.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. MYOMANCY -
mice.
In Dictionaries
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by mice,
Myomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii. myomancy..A
kind of divination, or method of foretelling future events by means of
mice.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
myomancy..Divination with mice. Roget.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) V
myomancy.. A kind of divination or method of foretelling
future events by the movements of mice. [cites rees, Cyc.]
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
myomancy..The art of divining by the movements of mice.
1908 OED
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. myomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
myomancy, mice.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict. myomancy..fortunetelling
by watching mice.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
myomancy..the study or rats and mice, esp. the cries they give
and the destruction they cause, as prophetic tokens.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 myomancy (mice)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. myomancy a form of divination through observation of
the movements of mice.
NOTES: 1727-52 Chambers Cycl., 1855 Smedley.
nagomancy: a hapax legonenom occurring in Gaule
(see necromancy 1652; see also 1777, 1832, 1852). Here it is
synonymous with necromancy. Possibly it is a typographical
error for his own coinage magomancy. Perhaps, though much
less likely, nigromancy was originally intended. The
OED did not bother to record it.
necromancy: (a) divination through raising the spirits
the dead. (b) black magic; sorcery, witchcraft; magic in general,
conjuration. [adoption of a more etymologically correct form, from L
(and also NL) necromantia, from Gk vîkpomanteia
(nekromanteia), from vîkpov (nekros) dead;
replacing the ME form nigromancie, which see] (C16th -
nicromancy, nycromancie, nycromancy. C17th - necromancie,
necromanty, nycromansy. C18th necromancie, necromantie) See also
egromancy, igramancie, nigromancy.
1522 in OED.
1597 King James Daemonologie (1924) xii.
And for to make this treatise the more pleasaunt and facill, I have
put it in forme of a Dialogue, which I have diuided into three bookes:
The first speaking of Magie in general, and Necromancie in
special.
1610 Vives in J. Healey Saint Augustine of the Citie
of God 293. For Numa him-selfe, being not instructed by
any Prophet or Angell or God, was faine to fall to (d)
Hydromancie: making his gods (or rather deuills) to appeare in
water, and instruct him in his religious institutions. Which kinde of
diuination saith Varro, came from Persia, and was vsed
by Numa, and afterwards by (b) Pythagoras, wherein
the vsed bloud also, and called forth spirits infernall,
Necromancie the greekes call it, but Necromancie or
Hydromancie, whether ye like, there it is that the dead seem to
speake.
1618 B. Holyday Tîxvoyàæià, 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.
1624 G. Carleton, Aåçpo^oyomania: The Madnesse
of Astrologers 15. In the narration of Paulus Tertius..the
Knight doth not deale fairely, and Knight-like: For hee minceth the
Narration, and leaueth out a part of it, which if it had been fully
declared, would plainly open, that though the Starres are there
pretended; yet that prediction was done by Necromancy, or by
Familiarity with a Spirit.
1650 Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica (2nd ed.)
30. ..or that there is any thing but delusion in the practise of
*Necromancy and popular conception of Ghosts. [marginal note]
*Divination by the dead.
1650 French tr. Paracelsus Nine Books Of the Nature
of Things (1674) ix. 300: Necromancy draws forth its signs by the
Stars of Death, which we call \it Evestra\/\rm , which are prophetical
Spirits, signing the Body of the sick and dying man with red, blue and
purple spots, which are certain signs of Death in the third day of their
rising. They sign also the hands and fingers of men with a clay colour,
which are certain signs of change, either good or bad. When therefore
the Stars of Necromancy are moved, then the dead shew some
wonderful sign, as Bleeding, and voices are heard out of Graves:
tumults and tremblings arise in the places where Bones are laid, and
dead men appear in the form and habit of living men, and are seen in
Visions, in Looking-glasses, in Berils, in Stones and Waters and divers
shapes. \it Evestra\/\rm , \it i.e\/\rm . spirits give their signs by beating,
striking, knocking, falling, casting, \it\& \it c\/\rm . where there is a
great hurly burly and noise only heard, but nothing seen, all which are
certain signs of death, presaging it to him, in whose habit they appear,
or to some in what place they are heard.
1650 N. Homes Daemonologie and Theologie
viii. 51: Sixthly, Necromancie; that is..a Divining by the
dead; that is, making (as is pretended) the dead to rise, and declare
that which is desired; which we English men call the Black Art.
1651 Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (1968) I. xii. 56.
..the same authors of the Religion of the Gentiles, partly upon
pretended Experience, partly upon pretended Revelation, have added
innumerable other superstitious wayes of Divination; and made men
believe they should find their fortunes..Sometimes in the insignificant
Speeches of Mad-men, supposed to be possessed with a divine Spirit;
which Possession they called Enthusiasme; and these kinds of
foretelling events, were accounted Theomancy, or Prophecy: Sometimes
in the aspect of the Starres at their Nativity; which was called
Horoscopy, and esteemed part of judiciary Astrology: Sometimes in
their own hopes and feares, called Thumomancy, or Presage:
Sometimes in the Prediction of Witches, that pretended conference with
the dead; which is called Necromancy, conjuring, and Witchcraft; and
is but juggling and confederate knavery...
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166. ..And
in one word for all, Nagomancy, or Necromancy; by
inspecting, consulting, and divining by, with, or from the dead.
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.
1662 J. Chandler tr. Helmont Oriatrike cxii. 777:
What wonder is it, that the astral Spirits of carnal or animal men,
should as yet after their funerals, shew themselves as in a bravery,
wandering about their buried Treasure, whereunto the whole
Necromancy (or art of divination by the calling of the Spirits) of the
Antients hath enslaved it self?
1680 P.A tr Count of Gabalis iv. 114:
Zoroaster, (said I) why by report was the Author of
Necromancy?
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 329.
[citing Gaule] ..And in one word for all, Nagomancy, or
Necromancy; by inspecting, consulting, and divining by, with,
or from the dead.
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Nagomancy,
or Necromancy; by inspecting, consulting, and divining by,
with, or from the dead. [citing Gaule (via Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 250: \sc Necromancy\rm was, next to astrology, the
pretended science most resorted to, by those who wished to pry into the
future. The earliest instance upon record is that of the witch of Endor
and the spirit of Samuel.
1855 Henry Thompson in Smedley et al. Occult
Sci. 294. Necromancy and rhabdomancy are..prohibited in
Scripture.
1867 E. Rogers, quoted in K. Thomas Relig. &
Decline of Magic xvi. 622. ..the Devil did often tempt me to study
necromancy and nigromancy and to make use of magic, and to make a
league with him...
1868 Chambers's Encyc. VI 694. necromancy..a
mode of divination by the conjuring up of the dead to question them
concerning the future. It originated is the east, and in times of the most
remote antiquity. It is condemned in the Old Testament; and the story
of the witch of Endor affords a remarkable illustration of it, which has
not a little perplexed interpreters of Scripture. The eleventh book of
Homer's Odyssey bears the title Nîkpomanteia, and
in it the shade of Tiresias is represented as brought up and consulted by
Ulysses.In most parts of Greece, necromancy was practised by priests
or consecrated persons in temples; in Thessaly, it was the profession of
a distinct class of persons called Psychagogoi ('Evokers of Spirits').
The practice in that country was ultimately connected with many horrid
rites, in which human blood, half-burned portions of bodies from
funeral piles, the immature f§tus cut out of the womb, &c., were
employed, and sometimes human beings were slain, that their spirits
might be consulted ere they were finally passed into the lower world.
The establishment of Christianity under Constantine caused necromancy
to be placed under the ban of the church. There are evident traces of
necromancy in some of the older Norse and Teutonic poems. The
medieval belief in the evocation of spirits belongs rather to sorcery than
to necromancy.
1871 Tylor Primitive Culture (1891) i. iv. 143.
Necromancy is a religion, and the Chinese manes-worshipper may see
the outer barbarians come back, after a heretical interval of a few
centuries, into sympathy with his time-honoured creed.
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 B. Stoker Dracula xviii. 212: 'This vampire
which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men;
he is of cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of
ages; he have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology
imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come
nigh to are for him at command...'
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 163. Or yet by the mystery of necromancy?
1903 Daniels & Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1662. necromancy - The commonest of all the magic arts,
by which answers to matters relating to this life were obtained from the
dead. Closely allied, and belonging to this, was Psychomancy, by which
the dead were called up or made to appear in airy forms like shades or
ghosts. This was the art, however it may have been practised, of the
Witch of Endor.
1913 Halliday Greek Div. xi. 236. ..it is in the
days when black magic comes to the fore in the classical world that
necromancy assumes its most repellent forms and excites the maximum
of horror and interest. It figures repeatedly in the Roman poets, whose
accounts, though influenced by Homer, contain also elements derived
from the practices of the witches and magicians of their day.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 286/1: There is no
doubt..that necromancy is the touch-stone of occultism...
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 304: The use of the magic mirror is properly
the reverse operation to necromancy. Instead of evoking the dead,
mortals who are not yet in being are made to appear in the mirror...
1939 J. Trachtenberg Jewish Magic 223: The
Talmud knew two kinds of necromancy, one in which the dead is raised
by naming him, the other in which he is questioned by means of a
skull. During the Middle Ages these two types were often mentioned,
but it is questionable whether they were still employed. The references
to them do not carry conviction. Other methods seem to have been
more popular, such as the practice of two friends covenanting that the
first to die will return to reveal the secrets of the celestial realm to the
other.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] And in one word for all
nagomancy or necromancy, by inspecting, consulting and divining by,
with, or from the dead.
1969 T. Witton Davies Magic, Divination, &
Demonology ii. 78. The words which have to do with necromancy
will be dealt with last of all, as they relate to divination by means of
consultation with the dead.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. NECROMANCY: The raising of the spirits
of the dead for divinatory purposes. The biblical account of the Witch
of Endor is a good example of its practice in ancient times, and it rose
to formidable proportions during the Middle Ages, including all forms
of divination along with sorcery and witchcraft under the general head
of Black Art. Today, however, the term is applied chiefly in its original
sense.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 68. In the past,
necromancy was an unpleasant process that involved reanimating a
dead body and forcing it to answer the questions of the living.
1993 McCormack Q&A 71. NECROMANCY -
summoning up the dead, summoning the Devil.
In Dictionaries
1613 Robert Cawdrey A Table Alphabeticall (3rd
ed.). necromancie (g) blacke art, or conjuring by calling upon spirits.
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..Necromancy...
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Necromancy, Diuination by calling vp Deuils, or dead mens ghosts.
1650 French Chymical Dictionary (1674) 338:
Necromancy is an unlawful Art, which did in time of old work
with the dead, as when the stars were manifested with the dead. And he
is truly called a Necromancer, who can make the dead appear, and can
draw words and answers from them.
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..Necromancy, by calling up Devils,
or dead mens Ghosts.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Necromancy...
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Necromancy,
g. Conjuration by raising the dead, or the Devil in their
shape, also the black Art generally.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) NECROMANCER [necromancien, F.
necromanticus, L. vîkpoæàvçikoc, G.] a Conjurer, A
Magician, or Wizard. NECROMANCY [necromancie, F.
necromantia, L. of vîkpomanteia, of vîkpc
dead, and manteia, Divination, Gr.] a Divination by
calling up dead Mens Ghosts, or the Devil; also Conjuration in the
general. NECROMANTICK [necromanticus, L.
vîkpoæàvçikoc, G.] of Necromancy.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840)
Necromancy.. 1. The art of revealing future events, by communication
with the dead.
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii. necromancy..The
art of revealing future events by means of a pretended communication
with the dead. This imposture is prohibited; Deut. xviii.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
necromancy..The art of foretelling events by calling up the
dead and questioning them.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) V
necromancy.. Divination by calling up the spirits of the dead
and conversing with them; the pretended summoning of apparitions of
the dead in order that they may answer questions.
1906 OED
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. necromancy [main
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
1930 Winston Simplified Dict. s.v. ..the pretended
art of predicting future events by communication with the dead.
1932 Wyld Universal Dict. (See NOTES).
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
necromancy, (Greek nekros, corpse; Latin
nigrem, black), communicating with the dead;
sciomancy, shadows, or the shades of the dead.
necromancy is also the general term for illicit divination, black
magic; also nygromauncy, negromancy,
nycromancy, necromancy [sic],
necromonseys.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. necromancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
necromancy..2. the pretended art of divination
through communication with the dead; the black art.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 necromancy (the
dead)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. necromancy 1. the magic practiced by a witch or
sorcerer. 2. a form of divination through communication with the dead.
Also called nigromancy. - necromancer, necromant,
nigromancien, n. - necromantic. adj.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Conflates the two separate forms 'nigro-' and the later
'necro-'. The 'necro-' forms are from 1522-1864.
It seems that there is great confusion amongst lexicographers exactly
what this word refers to, and indeed the whole set of words to do with
magic, conjuration, witchcraft, sorcery, the black art, etc. If you look at
the way they are defined and cross-ref'd to one another as synonyms or
def paraphrases.
Macquarie gives 2 defs. (1. magic in general. 2. divination through
communication with the dead; the black art.) Wyld conversely gives the
defs (1. divination by communication with the spirits of the dead;
witchcraft, sorcery. 2. magic, esp. 'black magic; 'the black art'.) Yet
Wyld then defines 'black art' as 'necromancy, witchcraft, magic'.
Macquarie does not define 'black art'. Check other dicts.
In quote 1867 the two necro/nigro are used as though they have
different meanings! Is this the case? Does necro = raising the dead, and
nigro = black magic? Also, the word 'magic' is used separately.
Shipley's account is quite garbled, and even lists the normal form as
one of the variants.
Some editions of Urquhart alter nigromancy to necromancy.
necro-puro-geo-hydro-cheiro-coscino-mancy: (nonce)
divination utilising the raising of the dead, fire, earth, water, hands, and
sieves. [A blend of necromancy, pyromancy, geomancy, hydromancy,
cheiromancy and coscinomancy. Note puro- = pyro- ]
1615 Tomas Tomkis Albumazar ii. 3: 'Now then,
declining from Theourgia, Artenosoria Pharmacia rejecting, Necro-puro-
geo-hydro-cheiro-coscinomancy, With other vain and superstitious
sciences,'...
NOTES: Not in OED.
nectromantia - see cit.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
nectromantia..1. The same as necromancy.
2. The art of perceiving the inner or secret nature of things;
psychometry, so called. [Improp. NL., < L. necromantia
necromancy]
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 122:
Nectromancy: The perception of the inner essence of things.
NOTES: Not in OED. Not in other dicts?
necyomancy: divination through raising the spirits the
dead; necromancy. (b) ? by calling on the Devil. [NL, from L
necyomantia, Gk vîkvomanteia (nekyomanteia),
from vîkvc (nekys) corpse] (necyomancie, necyomantia,
necyomanty)
1626 Cockeram The English Dictionarie (2nd ed.)
Necyomantie, Diuination by calling vp damned spirits.
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Necyomantie: f. Diuination by conference with dead
bodies raised.]
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..Necyomancy, by conference with
dead bodies raised, &c. All which being by the pagans
themselves accounted deceitful and vain, it remains that of Christians
they be utterly rejected and abhorred.
1901 A.W. Ward Marlowe's Faustus 128: As to
the necyomancy of the ancients, see Maury, La Magie et l'Astrologie
dans l'Antiquit\'e et au Moyen Age, 59-60.
1906 OED
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 122:
Necyomancy: Foretelling the future by examining the nerves of the
dead.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
necyomancy, necyomanty, calling up the devil or other
damned spirits.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
necyomancy..fortunetelling by summoning Lucifer.
NOTES: OED 1623 Cockeram, then Blount. Labels Obs. rare-0.
Etymologically, and in Ancient Greek (according to Liddle & Scott)
these two words are synonymous. Litterally they both mean 'divination
(through calling up) the dead'. Both 'nekys' and 'nekro' mean 'a dead
body'. I think the definitions in Shipley and Byrne derives mistakenly
from assuming 'devil' to mean '(the) Devil', instead of its earlier
meaning of, simply, 'spirit of a dead person, ghost'.
Though, with Cockeram there is still confusion as to this very point -
for in the second part of his book, a backwards dictionary, he defines
both 'Diuination by calling vp damned spirits' and 'D. by calling vp
deuills and ghostes' separately as 'Necromancy'. And 'necyomancy'
appears not in this section.
nephelomancy: divination by clouds. [Gk
vîíî^n (nephele) cloud]
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 123:
Nephelomancy: Foretelling the future by using the clouds as divinatory
signs.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Nephelomancy...clouds
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. NEPHELOMANCY: A study of the clouds
and their various formations, as a means of divining future events.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult 192/1:
Nephelomancy. Divination by interpreting the formation and direction
of clouds.
NOTES: Not in OED.
nephromancy: divination by kidneys. [Gk
vîípoc (nephros) kidney]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
nephromancy, the kidneys.
NOTES: Not in OED.
nigromancy the Middle English form of necromancy.
[ME from OF nygromancie, from medL nigromantia,
sorcery, magic, alteration L necromantia (from Medieval
confusion between L niger black, and Gk vîkpov
(nekros) dead)] (C14th - negremancie, negremaunce,
nigramace, nigramanci, nigramancie, nigramansi, nigramansy,
nigramauncie, nigramauncy, nigremansi, nigromance, nigromancie,
nigromaunc, nigromaunce, nygremancy, nygremauncy, nygremauncye,
nygremounchys, nygromancie, nygromancye, nygromaunce,
nygromaunci, nygromauncy, nygrymancy. C15th - neagromancye,
negramency, negremauncie, negremauncye, negremoncye, negromancy,
negromancye, nigermansye, nigramansy, nigremancye, nigremansy,
nigromance, nigromancie, nigromancy, nigromancye, nigromansy,
nigromaunsy, nigrymancye, nygomauncy, nygramance, nygramancie,
nygramancy, nygramancye, nygramansi, nygramansy, nygramansye,
nygramauncy, nygramencye, nygremansye, nygremoncye, nygromancy,
nygromancye, nygromansy, nygromansye, nygromantsye,
nygromauncye, nygrymancye.
C16th - nagramisse, negromancie, negromancy, nicromansie,
nigomancy, nigramansy, nigromance, nigromansie, nygramyce,
nygramyssy, nygromansie.
C17th - negromancy, nigromacie) See also egromancy,
igramancie, necromancy.
c1390 Chaucer Canterbury Tales: Parson's
Tale I 605 (MED) Hem that bileeuen on dyuynailes as by
flight, or by noyse of briddes or of beestes, or by sort, by
nygromancye, by dremes...
c1400 (a1376) Piers the
Plowman A(1) (Trin-C) 11.161 (MED) Experimentis of
alkenemye of albertis makyng, Nigromancie & permansie [vrr.
perimansie, pernirancy] pe pouke to reisen.
?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.
a1475 Ludus C 178/19 (MED) Of
calculacion and negremauncye, Also of Augrym and of asmatryk, O
lynyacion Pat longyth to jematrye..In all pis scyens is non us lyke.
c1500 (?a1475) Lydgate
Assembly of the Gods 869 (MED) These folowyd
Konnyng &..came..offryng her seruyce To Vertew..but..Som he
refusyd..These were her names: fyrst, Nygromansy, Geomansy, Magyk,
and Glotony, Adryomancy, Ornomancy, with Pyromancy.
1594 Greene Frier Bacon & Frier Bongay: (ii.
Bacon. And therefore will I turne my Magicke bookes, And
straine out Nigromancie to the deepe, I haue contrivd and framde a
head of brasse...
1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 70: But if by
Incantations the Deuill seems to rise and answer to Questions
propounded to them, then it is called Negramancie.
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. 135: Or for the more
certainty, will you have trial of your Fortune by the Art of Aruspiciny?
by Augury? or by Extispicine? By Turdispicine, quoth Panurge; or yet
by the Mystery of Negromancy? I will, if you please, suddenly set up
again, and revive some one lately deceased, as Apollonius of Tyan did
to Achilles, and the Pythoniss in the Presence of Saul; which Body so
raised up, and requickened, will tell us the Sum of all you shall require
of him; no more or less than at the Invocation of Erictho, a certain
defunct Person, foretold to Pompey the whole Progress and Issue of the
fatal Battle fought in the Pharsalian Fields? Or if you be afraid of the
Dead, as commonly all Cuckolds are, I will make use of the Faculty of
Sciomancy.
1867 E. Rogers, quoted in K. Thomas Relig. &
Decline of Magic xvi. 622. ..the Devil did often tempt me to study
necromancy and nigromancy and to make use of magic, and to make a
league with him...
1913 Halliday Greek Div. xi. 236. In the Middle
Ages nigromancy or negromancy came to be little more than a
synonym for the Black Art, a result due in part to mistaken etymology,
but in great measure to the late classical belief in the effectiveness of
repellent rites of divination said to be practised by the professors of
witchcraft.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng.
Tongues Nigromance: f. Nigromancie, coniuring, the black art.]
1650 French Chymical Dictionary (1674) 338:
Nigromancy is a wicked and execrable Art, whereby Devils and
wicked Spirits suffer themselves to be commanded by man and obey
them, but only to their hurt.
1656 Blount Glossographia
Nigromancy. See Necromancy.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Nigromancy,
as Necro-
1907 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
nigromancie..necromancy. [marked obsolete]
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. nigromancy [minor
words list; various forms given]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) See
necromancy.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. necromancy 1. the magic practiced by a witch or
sorcerer. 2. a form of divination through communication with the dead.
Also called nigromancy. - necromancer, necromant,
nigromancien, n. - necromantic. adj.
NOTES: OED, under hwd 'necromancy', 1300-1862.
nomancy: divination by names. [F nomancie,
aphetic variant of onomancie, onomancy, influence by F
nom name] (nomency)
1727-37 in OED.
1866 in OED.
In Dictionaries
1740 Dyche & Pardon New General Eng. Dict.:
nomancy (s.) a pretended divination or foretune-telling, by the
disposition of letters that form a person's name.
1755 Johnson Dict. of the Eng. Lang. (1840)
Nomancy. n.s. [nomance, nomancie, Fr.
nomen, Lat. and manteia, Gr.] The art of divining the
fates of persons by the letters that form their names. Dict.
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by the letters
forming the name of a person, Onomancy, Nomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii. nomancy..The art
or practice of divining the destiny of persons by the letters which form
their names.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
nomancy..Divination by the letters of a name; onomancy. [r.]
Johnson.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) V nomancy..
The art or practice of divining the destiny of persons by the letters
which form their names. Johnson. [marked obsolete]
1902 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
nomancy..Folk-lore. Divination by means of the letters
of one's name.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. nomancy [minor
words list]
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. nomancy
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict. nomancy..fortunetelling
by letters.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. nomancy a form of divination involving the examination
of letters, possibly from a graphological point of view. Cf.
onomancy.
NOTES: OED 1727-37 Chambers, 1866. Labelled rare. From here on
F&W label most of the terms 'Folk-lore'. Johnson says he took it from
Bailey - but not my editions.
numeromancy: divination by numbers. [L
numerus number]
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 117. Numerology,
which was also known as numeromancy or arithomancy, used to be
practiced as a form of general divination; today its practitioners are
mainly concerned with character analysis and potential.
NOTES: Not in OED. The usual word 'numerology' is first recorded by
OED in 1912.
oculomancy: divination by inspection of the eye. [L
oculus eye]
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 468: OCULOMANCY: A form of divination from the
eyes.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. OCULOMANCY: Divination dependent upon
a study of a person's eyes. Akin to hypnotism in a primitive form.
NOTES: Not in OED.
odontomancy: divination by the teeth. [Gk
'oëovç-, 'oëovc (odont-, odoys) tooth]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
odontomancy, the teeth.
NOTES: Not in OED.
oenomancy oinomancy
oil-onomancy onimancy
1990 Raffel tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel
xxv. 308: 'And there's oil-onomancy: all we need is oil and wax.
NOTES: a new form, invented by Raffel to translate Rabelais'
'onimancy'. It appears to be based on a mistake, for the basic sense of
the original French word is divination by fingernails, albeit oil is used
in the process.
oinomancy: divination by wine, esp. when poured our in
libations. [Gk 'oivoc (oinos) wine] Variant Forms:
§nomancy, oenomancy. NL oenomantia.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166.
..Oinomancy, by Wine...
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 417:
Oenomantia, s[ive] divinatio ex vino libato.]
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. Oinomancy, by the lees of wine. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1931 Lock tr. de Givry Picture Museum of
Sorcery (1963) viii. 307: The procedure known as the 'three vases
of Artephius' is a divinatory method related to the magic mirror,
hydromancy, and oinomancy, and summarizes them all.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Oinomancy, by wine.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Oenomancy -
from the apperance of wine poured in libation.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 468: OLINOMANCY: Utilizes wine in determining
omens.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. OINOMANCY: The art of divination through
a study of wines, including their color, their appearance, and their taste.
This dates from ancient Greece and Rome, when wine was poured as a
libation to the gods, in hope that they would ensure a prosperous future.
Drinking to someone's health is a modern survival of such customs.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 143.
Oenomancy Predicting from the patterns made by wine poured
out as an offering to the gods.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 71. OENOMANCY -
wine.
In Dictionaries
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
OINOMANCY [oivomanteia Gr.] Divination by
Wine, when conjectures were made from the Colour, Motion, Noise,
and other Accidents of the Wine of the Libation.
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii. §nomancy..A
mode of divination among the Greeks, from the color, sound, &c. of
wine poured out in libations.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) V
§nomancy.. A mode of divination among the ancient Greeks,
from the color, sound, and other peculiarities of wine when poured out
in libations.
1902 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
§nomancy..The art of divining by the color or other
peculiarities of wine.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. §nomancy ..
Divination by the color or other peculiarities of wine. [main words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
oenomancy, oinomancy, wine.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
oenomancy..fortunetelling with wine.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
oenomancy..the use of wine in determining omens.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 oenomancy (wine)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. oenomancy, oinomancy a form of divination involving
observation of the colors and other features of wine.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict. oenomancy
NOTES: OED Gaule, then 1842 Brande 'Dict Sc.' Why do I have
1415-25 in the etym. field?
oinomancy - see §nomancy
ololygomancy: divination by barking dogs. [Gk
'o^o^vywv (ololygon) the croak of a male frog]
NOTES: Not in OED.
omphalomancy: (a) divination of the future number of
children by counting the number of knots in the umbilical cord. (b)
divination through contemplating one's navel. [Gk 'oæíà^oc
(omphalos) navel] (omphelomancy, omphilomancy)
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Omphelomancy, by the navell...
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 417:
Omphalomantia, obstetricum ex infantum umbilicus.]
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. Omphalomancy, by the naval. [citing Hone
citing Gaule]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Omphilomancy, [sic] by
the navel.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. OMPHALOMANCY: Contemplation of
one's own navel as a mystical procedure that promises divinatory
results. Often recommended in connection with yoga exercises.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 71.
OMPHALOMANCY - predicting the number of children a woman will
bear by counting the number of knots in the umbilical cord of the first
born.
In Dictionaries
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
omphalomancy..Divination by means of the number of knots
in the navel string of a child. Crabb.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) V
omphalomancy.. Divination by means of the number of knots
in the navel-string of a child - a fancied indication as to how many
more children its mother will have. Dunglison.
1902 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
omphalomancy..Folk-lore. Divination from the
number of knots in a new-born child's navel string to ascertain how
many more children its mother will bear.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. omphalomancy ..
Divination by means of a child's navel, to learn how many children the
mother may have. [minor words list]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
omphalomancy, by the navel.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
omphalomancy..predicting the number of children a mother will bear by
counting the knots in her first-born's umbilical cord.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. omphalomancy a form of divination in which the number
of knots in a newborn's umbilical cord.are counted to foretell the
number of children the mother will have later.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Gaule. Cent. cites Dunglison 'Dict. Med. Sci.' 1874 ed.
oneiromancy: divination by dreams. [Gk 'ovîipoc
(oneiros) dream; cf Gk 'ovîipoæàvçic
(oneiromantis) foreboding from dreamsn, an interpreter of
dreams] (oniromancy)
1650 N. Homes Daemonologie and Theologie
viii. 52: Seventhly, Oneiromancie, or Oneirologie; that is
'ovîipoæàvçià, seu ^oyoc, a divining by a judgement given upon
dreames.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Oniromancy, by dreams...
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. Oneiromancy, by dreams. [citing Hone
(citing Gaule)]
1868 Chambers's Encyc. III 599.
..Oneiromancy, (see Dreams)
1871 Tylor Primitive Culture (1891) i. iv. 121.
Oneiromancy, thus symbolically interpreting the things seen in dreams,
is not unknown to the lower races. A whole Australian tribe has been
known to decamp because one of them dreamt of a certain kind of owl,
which dream the wise men declared to forebode an attack from a
certain other tribe.
1899 Cheyne & Black Encyclop‘dia Biblica i.
1117/2. The [divinatory] method of dreams
(oneiromancy). [heading]
1911 Encyc. of Religion & Ethics (1967) iv.
819/1: The regular forms of divination among the Iranians were
astrology, oneiromancy, cylicomancy, and rhabdomancy.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 130:
Oniromancy: The study of dreams (oniroscopy) and their
interpretation (onirocritics).
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Oniromancy, by dreams.
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Oneiromancy -
by dreams.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient & Forbidden
Knowledge 468: ONEIROMANCY: The interpretation of dreams.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &
Prophecy (1989) 321. ONEIROMANCY or ONIROMANCY: The
interpretation of dreams to divine the future. A vast subject in itself,
ranging from consulting the time-honored references found in various
"dream dictionaries" to the modern symbolism endorsed by
psychoanalysts. One special phase is that of "dreaming true," in which
coming events unfold in the dreamer's mind with such exactitude that
the dream can later be corroborated by an actual occurrence.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 52.
Oneiromancy..is known everywhere in the world. No-one knows when
it began, but records of prophetic dreams and their interpretations
survive from the most ancient cultures. The oldest surviving book of
dreams and their meanings was compiled by Artemidorus of Ephesus in
the second century: it was translated into English in the seventeenth
century, reprint 32 times before 1800, used by Freud in his researches,
and still influences the dream dictionaries available today.
1985 N. Drury Dict. Mysticism & Occult
1993 McCormack Q&A 71. ONCIROMANCY
[sic] - dreams.
In Dictionaries
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511. ..by dreams,
Oneiromancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii.
oneiromancy..Divination by dreams.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
oneiromancy..Divination by dreams; the interpretation of
dreams as presages of coming events. Spenser.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) V
oneiromancy.. Divination through dreams; the art of taking
omens from dreams.
1902 OED
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
oneiromancy..Folk-lore. Divination by means of
dreams.
1909 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) V
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. oneiromancy [main
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
1932 Wyld Universal Dict. Divination, prophecy,
by interpretation of dreams.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16.
oneiromancy, dreams.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. oneiromancy
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
oneiromancy..divination through dreams.
1984 Macquarie Thes. sect. 268.6 oneiromancy
(dreams)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211. oneiromancy a form of divination involving dreams. -
oneiromancer, n.
1987 Random House Dict.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Gaule, 1663 J. Spencer 'Prodigies', 1871 Tylor. Plus
1653 R Sanders 'Physiogn.' -mancer, -mantist. Here pre-dated.
onimancy onymancy.
oniromancy oneiromancy
onomamancy onomancy See cits 1855, 1880, 1903.
onomancy: divination by the letters of names. [NL
onomantia, F onomancie, medL onomantia,
shortening of medL onomatomantia, from Gk
'ovoæàçoc (onomatos) name] Variant Forms:
onomam
Variant Forms: anthropomancia,
anthropomancie, (erroneous) antinopomancy.
Ibid. 330. In Holiday's Marriage
of the Arts, 4to., is introduced a species of divination not in the above
ample list of them, entitled Anthropomancie.
Ibid. 420
[index] "Anthropomancia," iii, 300.
Ibid. 330. In Holiday's Marriage of the Arts,
4to., is introduced a species of divination not in the above ample list of
them, entitled Anthropomancie.
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 28/2:
Apantomancy: Divination by means of any objects which happen to
present themselves. To this class belong the omens drawn from chance
meetings with a hare, an eagle, etc.
Ibid.
142. Arachnomancy Predicting from the appearance and
behavior of spiders.
NOTES: Not in OED.
arithmancy: divination by numbers; numerology.
1577 in OED.
1621 in OED.armomancy
A method of divination employing the shoulder blades of animals. The
shoulder blade was taken from the dead beast and thrown into a fire,
the cracks appearing in the bone were interpreted as indicative
of future events, a course of action, or whether or not something
was true.
Citations
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..Armomancy, by the shoulders of
beasts.
Ibid.: Armomancy (armomancia)
Divination by the shoulders of beasts.
Note
ash-onomancy
A poorly concocted translation of the French word tephramantie
occuring in Raffel's 1990 translation of Rabelais, chapter xxv., page 360.
aspidomancy
A method of divination in which the diviner sits on a shield and
goes into a state of altered consciousness to gain prophetic
knowledge. The word first appears in the New Latin form aspidomantia,
and is derived from the Greek 'aspid-, the combining form of
'aspis a shield.Citations
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 411:
Aspidomantia, per clypeum.]
astragalomancy: 1. a. (literally)
divination by huckle-bones. The Greek word 'àpçpàyà^oi
(astragaloi) (plural) referred to a type of dice, which were
originally made from the knuckle-bones or huckle-bones of sheep.
These 'àpçpàyà^oi actually only had four flat sides which were
marked (the other two being rounded), as distinguised from the six-
sided kváoi (kuboi) - see cubomancy. b. a specific
type of divination in which 'àpçpàyà^oi were tossed onto the pages
of a picture book. This is what is being referred to by Rabelais, who
got his information from C‘lius Calcagninus, Compendium
amatori‘ magi‘ (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Astragalomantia, ex
astragalorum jactu in picturarum libellum, qua imprimis nostrates
f§min‘ uti solent."
2. (hence) divination by dice.
astromancy
Divination by the stars; what is now generally called astrology.
The word astromancy enters 17th century English from the
medieval Latin astromantia, which comes from the Greek
(Siculus Diodorus) 'astromanteia, derived from
'astron a star. In earilest example of its use in English
it occurs in the New Latin form astromantia. Another, more
recent, form is the rare astronomancy, which shows influence
from the word astronomy.
Citations
1624 G. Carleton, Astrolgomania: The Madnesse
of Astrologers (Epistle Dedicatory) 3: But take Astrologie for
Astromantia or Genesiologia, as the Knight doth in his
Book, and then we are right when we call it an Imposture, Iugling,
Superstition, Vanity.
Thy spirit's restlesse, Now thy busie fancy
Diverts it self in th' Art of Astromancy.
In Dictionaries
Although this word is well aatested in the 17th century, it did
not appear in any of the early hard word dictionaries.
austromancy
Divination by a study of the winds; presages taken from the wind. Cf.
aeromancy, chaomancy. Derived
from austro-, combining form of Latin auster the south
wind. New Latin form austromantia.
Citations
1650 French Chymical Dictionary (1674) 313:
Austromantia is a certain kind of Superstition invented
concerning the observations of Winds, as when the Stars of the Winds
break forth into great vehemency, contrary to their custom, whence men
that are more idle that rational, pronounce a presage of something to
come.
axinomancy: 1. any divination employing an
axe or hatchet, various methods including a. (1727) by their
movement when balanced on a post. b. (a1660)
placing an agate stone, piece of jet, or some other precious or semi-
precious stone upon the axe-head and heating the metal, the signs being
read from the movement of the agate. See quot. 1973 for more
methods. 2. (Gaule, and copyists, only) divination by saws.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[L
axinomantia, Gk 'àîivomanteia (axinomanteia),
from Gk 'àîivn (axine) axe] Variant forms: axiomancy
(Blount, cf. Agrippa axiomantia), axionomancy (Urquhart,
following Cotgrave), ax-onomancy (Raffel). NL - axinomantia.
Ibid. Axiomancy (axiomantia)
divination or witchcraft done by Hatchets.
[LGk
áî^oæàvçià (belomantia), from áî^oc (belos)
arrow, dart] Variant Forms: bellomancy, (?) bolomancy. NL belomantia.
Ibid., 330 The methods of using the lots have been very
numerous, such as Rhabdomancy, Clidomancy, and the Sortes
Sagittari‘, otherwise Belomancy, and the common casting of dice.
Ibid. 79. In Hosea iv. 12 we read of
divination by arrows or rods..It is almost certain that rabdomancy or
belomancy is what Hosea refers to, and what Ezekiel (xxi. 21 ff.)
describes.
Ibid.
Belomancy (Gr. ) a Divination by Arrows. Vul.Er.
[Gk áiá^iov (biblion) a book; def.
1.b. arising from an association with bible]
[F botanomancie, NL botanomantia,
botonomantia, Gk áoçàvo-, áoçàvn (botano-,
botane) plant] Variant Forms: batanomancy, botomancy,
botonomancy, botono-nomancy.
[NL capnomantia, from Gk kàãvoc
(kapnos) smoke; cf. F capnomantie (Cotgrave), Sp, Pg
capnomancia] Variant Forms: capnomancie, kapnomancy.
Ibid. Capnomancy (capnomantia) a
divination by smoke arising from an Altar, whereon Incense or Poppy-
seed is burned. Cotgr.
[cf. F cartomancie,
Sp, Pg cartomancia, from ML carta card]
[?? NL
catoptromantia (Agrippa), F catoptromancie, from Gk
kàçoãçpov (katoptron) mirror (kàçoã- (katop-) stem
of the future of kàéopàv (kathoran) look down, look upon,
from kàçà (kata) down + 'opàv (oran) see)]
(cataptromancy, catopromancy, catoptromancie, catoxtromancy,
catoptiomancy)
Ibid. [misplaced between 'cataphor' and 'catapult']
Catoptromantie (catoptromantia) divination by
looking in a glass.
Ibid. Catoptiomancy
(catoptiomantia) divination by vision in a glass.
cattabomancy
A term used by Gaule for the ancient Greek divinatory game of 'kottabos'.
The game originated in Sicily, but became popular among young men in
Athens. The "simplest mode was when each threw the wine left in his
cup, so as to strike smartly in a metal basin, at the same time
invoking his mistress' name; if all fell in the basin, and the
sound was clear, it was a sign he stood well with her. ..The game
soon became more complicated, and was played in various ways."
(Liddle and Scott) See also, chalcomancy.
causimomancy
Divination from objects placed in a fire. See
empyromancy, pyromancy.Citations
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 95/2:
Causimomancy: Divination by fire. It is a happy presage when
combustible objects cast into the fire do not burn.
ceneromancy
A rare term for divination by ashes, the more common term being
tephramancy.
cephaleonomancy
divination by broiling an ass's head
on hot coals.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[Gk kîíà^oc (kephalos) head + 'ovoc
(onos) ass] (cephalonomancy)
Ibid. Cephaleonomancy (Gr.)
divination by an Asses head broiled on coals. Cotgr.
[Gk kîíà^oc (kephalos) head] Variant Forms:
kephalomancy; NL cephalomantia.
[NL
c‘romantia, caeromantia, F ceromancie, medL
ceromantia, from Gk kîpoc (keros) wax] Variant
Forms: Gaule and copyists - carromancy, (carramancy - Brand typo.
err.); following French - ceromantie, ceromanty.
erroneous - ciromancy
Ibid. Ceromanty (ceromantia) divination or
soothsaying by wax put into water.
[NL chaomantia, from Gk (Paracelsian)
xàoc (chaos) atmosphere] Variant forms: chaomantia, (?
erroneous) chaomandy.cheromancy
A variant of cheromomancy.
cheromomancy
Clearly a mistake in Urquhart for cleromancy,
however it is unclear how such a gross error could have
eventuated. It could cetainly not have arisen from a misreading of
a handwritten manuscript by the typesetter nor from a simple
typographical mistake.
"Par cleromantie, comme l'on trouve la febve on guasteau
la vigile de l'Epiphanie."
The practice referred to is one found various European countries
where a nomial King or Queen is chosen on the night of the Feast of
the Epiphany (ie Twelth Night) by dividing up a cake that has had a
bean baked in it. The person to get the bean is accordingly the King or
Queen, and has to shout the rest of the company for the evening. The
fact that this custom relies on a 'random' selection makes it a form of
cleromancy.
Sir Thomas Urquhart, of Cromarty, in his curious work,
entitled The Discovery of a most exquiste jewel, found
in the kennel of Worcester streets, the day after the
fight, 1651, says, p. 237, "Verily, I think they make use
of Kings - as the French on the Epiphany-day use their Roy
de la fehve, or King of the Bean; whom after they have
honoured with drinking of his health, and shouting aloud,
'Le Roy boit, Le Roy boit,' they make pay for all the
reckoning; not leaving him sometimes one peny, rather than
exorbitancie of their debosh should not be satisfied to
the full."
Citations
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By
Cheromomancy, as the Bean is found in the Cake at the Epiphany
Vigil.
chilomancy
An error for clidomancy, apparently arising
from an error in transcribing handwritten text.Citations
1893 Howitt tr. Ennemoser Hist. Magic ii. 461:
Among the various other kinds of divination not here mentioned may
be enumerated Chilomancy performed with keys; Alphitomancy or
Aleuromancy, by flour; Keraunoscopia, by the consideration of thunder;
Eychnomancy, by lamps; Ooscopy, by eggs; Licanomancy by a basin of
water; Palpitatim, Salisatio, by the pulsation or motion of some member
etc.
chiromancy: divination by the lines of the hands;
palmistry.
Etymology
Variant Forms
Citations
In Dictionaries
[prob. from MF chiromancie, cyromancie, from ML
chiromantia, from Gk xîip (cheir) the hand. cf Gk
xîipoæàvçic (cheiromantis) palm-reader] Variant Forms:
ME - chiromanty, chiromantie, chyromancie, ciromanci, ciromancie,
cyromancy, cyromancye. Surviving in Early modE - cheiromancy,
chiromancie, chyromancia, chyromancie, chyromancy. NL -
chiromantia, chyromantia (Agrippa).
Ibid. For neither
Aristotle nor Plinie were counterfeits: yet these held a
better opinion of Chyromancie, then M. Chamber in his
deeper learning, and wisdom doeth.
Ibid. 85: Chiromancy hath these aphorisms to
foretell melancholy. Tasnier, lib. 5. cap. 2. (who hath
comprehended the summ of John de Ingdine, Tricassus, Corvinus, and
others, in his book) thus hath it: The Saturnine line going from the
rascetta through the hand, to Saturns mount, and there intersected by
certain little lines, argues melancholy; so if the vital and natural make
an acute angle. Aphorism 100: The Saturnine, epatick, and
natural lines, making a gross triangle in the hand, argue as much...
Ibid. 278: But that we may at length
proceed to the Practice of the Art of Chiromancy, and briefly declare
our opinion; I would have you know, that I will indeed change nothing
of what concerns the hands, but acquiesce, and be satisfied with the
observations and descriptions of the Ancients. Yet I purpose in this
practice of Chiromancy to write of those things, of which the Ancients
have made no mention, as of the Chiromancy of Herbs, Woods, Stones,
and the like. And it must first be noted, that all Herbs which are of
one kind must be of one and the same Chiromancy. But if their Lines
be unlike, and appear greater or lesser in some of them: that is, by
reason of their age. We do therefore clearly profess, that the
Chiromancy of Herbs conduceth to nothing else but to know and
understand the age of any Herb or Root.
Ibid. B1v: And
now I return to the rules of Chyromancie.
Ibid.
Chiromancy (chiromantia) or Palmestry, a kind of
divination practised by looking on the lines or marks of the fingers and
hands; an Art still in use, among fortune-tellers, Egyptians and Juglers.
And is (according to my L. Bacon) a meer imposture.
Chiromancy according to Paracelsus, treats not of the
lineaments of the hands only, but also of the whole body, and not onely
of men, but of all natural things. Chym.Dict. Of which you may
read Dr. Rothmans Treatise translated into English by Mr.
Wharton. 1652.
choiramancy
A method of divination using a pig's bladder. To what particular
practice this word refers is unknown. Potter in his Archaeologia
Graeca mentions:
Sometimes, when the entrails foretold nothing certain by
dissection, the priest made observations from them in a
fire: in order hereto he took the bladder, and binding the
neck of it with wool (for which reason Sophocles calls the
bladders mallodetous kysteis), put it into the fire,
to observe in what place it would break, and which way it
would dart the urine.
Though this doesn't specifically refer to pigs.
Etymology
This word comes into English through Thomas Urquhart's translation
of Rabelais. In the French text it appears as choeromantie,
and is derived from the Greek choiros a small pig, a pig.
chresmomancy
Defined by Gibson as "divination from the utterances of a
person in a frenzy".
chronomancy
Divination to determine the precise time for action. Derived from
the Greek word chronos time. An uncommon term.
chrystallomancy crystallomancy. NOTES: Not in
OED.
ciromancy Middle English var. of chiromancy.
NOTES: Not in OED.
cledonismancy: divination by first words
uttered upon meeting friends, after salutations. [Gk k^nëoviåæà
(kledonisma) a sign or omen] (cledonismantia)
Ibid. 370.
The great Napoleon was a firm believer in various modes of
superstition, particularly in Cleromancy.
Ibid. Cleromancy (cleromantia) a
divination by lots.coscinomancy
A method of divination employing a sieve and a pair of shears.
Divinations were taken from the movement of the sieve upon the
saying of a person's name, a word, etc.
This word and method of divination come
to us from ancient Greece,
and a cetain passage from Theocritus (floruit 272 B.C.) is
often quoted as a reference to this type of divination (see cit.
1616, 1722,
1755, 1893), though a
number of other Greek authors have spoken of it (Philippides,
Pollux, Lucianus).
Variant Forms
The variant forms may be categorised as follows:
1. those arising from different transliterations of the
Greek letter kappa (K):
choschinomancy, choschinomancie
(prob. from misreading Greek kappa (K) as chi (ch)
coskinomancy
koskinomancy
2. Erroneous forms showing elision:
cosinomancy
coskiomancy (Brand, OED - see below),
cosnomancy
3. Erroneous form showing transposition of letters:
coskniomancy (Athenian Oracle)
4 Transcription error in typesetting:
coseinomancy
Coscinomancy, as practised in medieval
times, is clearly outlined in Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia,
1533, chapter xxi. This text provides the basis of
Holyday's satire, which I have reproduced
in extensio.
Citations
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
koskinomanteia]
Ibid. 357: And as for
Hydromancie, and Choschinomancie, they could vanish as superfluous,
as were evident and ridiculous even to the ignorant.
Geom. But can you by your Art, tell mee whether or no
I shall have Astronomia?
Magus. Any thing.
Geom. How!
Magus. Why, I can doe it by Coscinomancie.
Geom. What's that?
Magus. By the turning of a Sive.
Geom. But I have heard, that's only for things stolen.
Magus. Ah, 'tis more generall, and that you shall see,
stay here, Ile but step forth. Exit Magus.
Geom. Well, this is the man whom the Heavens
have ordained to make me happie; O Venus, be
favourable unto me, and Ile build thee a fayrer
Temple then ever the Ephesians directed to
Diana. Magus enter.
Magus. Come Sir, here are Sheeres and a Sive;
I must fasten the Sheeres? now doe as I bid you;
Hold up the side of the sheeres with your finger
(he puts the wrong finger) Nay, come, your
middle-finger: So, now must I say a mysticall forme
of powerfull words, and the name those that wee
suspect shall have her; and amongst them name you
also; and at whose name the Sive tunes, he shall
have her.
Geom. If it do's not turne at mine, I shall die:
'pray make it turne at mine.
Magus. Nay, then must it goe for nothing, for it
must turne of its owne accord. Be silent now.
Dies mies, Ieschet, bene doefet, Dowima, Enitemous.
Who shall have Astronomia? Shall Poeta?
(It stands still.) Who shall have Astronomia?
Shall Logicus?
Geom. Hee's not in love with her, sir; pray doe not you
put him in too.
Magus. O vile! peace; now must I begin again.
Dies mies, Ieschet, bene doefet, Dowima, Enitemous.
Who shall have Astronomia? Shall Poeta?
(It stands still.)
Who shall have Astronomia? Shall Logicus?
(It stands still.)
Who shall have Astronomia? Shall Geographus?
(It moves a little.)
Who shall have Astronomia? Shall Geometres?
(It turnes round.)
Shall he obtaine her by Coniurations? (It stands still.)
Shall hee obtaine her by Medicine? (It moves a little.)
Shall he obtaine her by fascination? (It turnes round.)
Geom. Magus, what's mine is yours, goods, life, soule,
and all: Venus, thy temple shall be a mile in length;
thy Image dain'd to make me happie; O Venus, be
favourable vnto me, andIl'e build thee a fayrer Temple than
ever the Ephesians directed to Diana.
In Dictionaries
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..Coscinomancie...
Ibid. Coscinomancie is a ridiculous kinde of diuination
made with a sieue; which at this day is vsed by some simple women,
and appeareth to bee of antiquitie, for in the third Idylle of
Theocritus there is mention made hereof.
Ibid. (reverse dictionary)
Diuination by a Sieue, Cosnomancy.
Ibid. Coscinomancy (coscinomantia) a
divining by a Sieve.
cosnomancy: a mistake in Cockeram for coscinomancy.
cristallomantia crystallomancy.
crithomancy: divination by meal or grain, often by
strewing it over sacrificed animals. [Gk kpiéomanteia
(krithomanteia) divination by barley, from kpiéo-, kpié^
(kritho-, krithe) barley] Variant Forms: critomancy,
krithomancy. NL crithomantia.
Ibid.
820/1: Cylicomancy. - Divination by cups is mentioned among the
Persians both by Athan‘us, on authority of Hermippos, and by Sah-
namah.
NOTES: Not in OED.
cyromancy Middle English var. of chiromancy.
dactyliomancy: divination by means of a suspended
ring. [F dactyliomancie, from Gk ëàkçv^ioc
(daktylios) finger-ring] Variant Forms: dactalomancy,
dactylomancy; NL dactylomantia.
Ibid. dactylomancy Dactyliomancy.
Brande.
Ibid. Daphnomancy (from the Gr. ëàívn i.
laurus and manteia i. Divinatio) divination by a
Lawrel Tree.
dririmancy
According to Shipley: divination by "dripping blood".
Citations
1861 Reade The Cloister and
the Hearth (1902) xxvi 150: 'My whole life has been given to
this art [sc. medicine], I studied at Montpelier; the
first school in France, and by consequence in Europe. There
learned I Dririmancy, Scatomancy, Pathology, Therapeusis, and
greater than them all, anatomy. For there we disciples of
Hippocrates and Galen had opportunities those greater ancients
never knew.'
drymimancie
The meaning of this word is a mystery. Possibly it refers to a
medical diagnosis through examination of the bile or vomit, or,
perhaps, sweat. The term comes into English in Sanford's 16th
century translation of Agrippa, where it appears in New Latin
as drimimantia, but the origin and exact meaning of the
first element of the compound, i.e. drimi-, is unknown.
Perhaps it is meant to represent the Greek drimys sharp,
acrid, pungent. See Greek drimyphageo to live on acrid
food.
1530 Agrippa De incertitudine & vanitate
scientiarum atque artium: Hinc Scatomantia, Oromantia,
Drimimantia, dicuntur divinationes seu prognostica medicorum ex
stercoribus & vrinis deprompta.
egromancy
A modern form used by Sir Richard Burton, based on a Middle
English form of nigromancy meaning "magic";
not actually referring to a species of divination.Middle English citations
?a1475 Gregory's Chron. 183 (MED): In
the same yere there were take certayne traytourys, the whyche purposyd
to slee oure lege lorde the kyng by crafte of egremauncey.
Ibid. 508: She...lerned so moche of egremauncye
that the peple cleped hir afterward Morgain le fee.Modern citations
1885 Burton Bk. of Thousand Nights i. 28: `But
the daughter of my uncle (this gazelle) had learned gramarye and
egromancy and clerkly craft from her childhood...'
Ibid. 76:
Then she stood up; and, pronouncing some word to me unintelligible,
she said:---By virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half
man; whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or sit, and
neither dead nor alive.
Ibid. 305, footnote: ..the Ilm al-Ruh\'ani
which I would translate "Spiritualism,"..is divided into two great
branches, "Ilw\'\i or Rahm\'ani" (the high or related to the Deity) and
Sifl\'\i or Shayt\'ani (low, Satanic). To the latter belongs Al-Sahr,
magic or the black art proper, gramarye, egromancy, while Al-Simiy\'a
is white magic, electro-biology, a kind of natural and deceptive magic,
in which drugs and perfumes exercise an important action.
[
Ibid. i. 133: `O my dear papa, there was with me in my
childhood an old woman, a wily one and a wise and a witch to boot,
and she taught me the theory of magic and its practice; and I took notes
in writing and therein waxed perfect, and have committed to memory
an hundred and seventy chapters of egromantic formulas, by the least
of which I could transport the stones of thy city behind the Mountain
Kaf and the circumambient Main, or make its site an abyss of the sea
and its people fishes swimming in the midst of it.']In Dictionaries
1891 OED. Note
eleaomancy
Accord to Wedeck: divination "by observation of liquid surfaces".
A rare word, the more common term being
lecanomancy. Not recorded in OED, nor
any other dictionaries.
electromancy alectoromancy
NOTES: Not in OED.
empyromancy
Divination by fire and smoke.
medL empyreus, from Gk empyros burning,
fiery.
Ibid. xiv.: gastrimanteia]
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.
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.
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.
Ibid. Geomancy is
no longer practised on mainland China, except in Hong Kong and the
New Territories.
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.
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.
Ibid. Geomancy shared with traditional
Chinese medicine a concern with maintaining a harmonious
yinyang equilibrium in the midst of constant change.
Ibid.
This concept reflects the principle of the five sacred mountains in
feng shui (Chinese geomancy).
Dictionaries
Ibid. Geomancie, is a kinde of diuination practised by
making prickes and lines in the earth; as the name in Greeke signifieth.
Ibid. (reverse
dictionary) Diuination by making of prickes and holes in the earth,
Geomancy.
Ibid. Geomantie
(geomantia) divination by points and Circles made on the earth,
or by opening of the earth.
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.halomancy
Divination by salt. What particular method of divination this word
originally was applied to is unknown, however, in Frazer's Golden
Bough (x. 244) we find that in the Isle of Man on Halloween
the housewife fills a thimble full of salt for each
member of the family and each guest; the contents of
the thimblefuls are emptied out in as many neat piles
on a plate, and left there over night. Next morning
the piles are examined, and if any of them has fallen
down, he or she whom it represents will die within
the year.
This, of course, is in the days when salt did not come with an
anti-caking agent added.Etymology
Clearly a modern word, as the first element is the New Latin combining
form halo-. This is normally used to form scientific words to
do with either "salt" or "the sea", and in chemistry siginifies the
presence of "halogen". It is not to be found in any word
before the early 19th century (the earliest being halogen and
haloid dating from the 1840s).
The New Latin halo- comes from the ancient Greek combining
form of hals salt. The word also appears in French as
halomancie. In dictionaries
1852 Roget Thes. sect. 511: ..by salt,
Halomancy...
In other texts
1970 Man, Myth & Magic v. 658: Halomancy - by salt.
hematomancy
Divination by blood. Not in OED or other dictionaries.
From Greek haimato-, combining form of haima blood.hepatomancy
A rare word for divination by the liver of an animal or bird
sacrificed for the purpose.
The usual term for this is hepatoscopy which ultimately comes
from the ancient Greek hepatoskopia. Here the author has
taken the first element hepato- and grafted it onto -mancy
in order to get the new form. The putative hepatomanteia never
existed in Greek.
heromancy
An early variant of aeromancy.
NOTES: OED 1546.
hidromancy: divination by sweat. [Gk `iëpwc
(hidros) sweat]hippomancy
Divination by horses, especially by taking note of their neighing,
stamping, etc., even their sweating.Citations
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 415:
Hippomantia ex hinnitu, fremitu, sudore &c.]
hydromancy: divination by means of water. [OF
ydromancie, from LL hydromantia, from Gk
*`vëpomanteia (hydromanteia), from `vëpo- (hydro-
), combining form of `vëwp (hydor) water. cf Gk
`vëpoæàvçic (hydromantis) diviner by water] Variant Forms:
ME - adryomancy, hydromance, hidromancy, idromance, idromancie,
ydromance, ydromaunce. Surviving in modE - hydromancie,
hydromantie, hydromanty, ydromancy. NL hydomantia.
Ibid. 357. And as for
Hydromancie, and Choschinomancie, they could vanish as superfluous,
as were evident and ridiculous even to the ignorant.
Ibid. 294: Diuination generally was done by
diuers means..Hydromancy I haue kept vnto last: because it is
my theame: It is many-fold: done either in a glasse bottle full of water,
wherein a Childe must looke, (and this is called, Gastromancy
of the glasses belly) or in a basen of water, which is called
Lecanomancie, in which Strabo sayth the Asians are singular.
Ibid. 317. hydromancy. Divination
by water, is said by Natalis Comes (ii. 6), to have been the invention of
Nereus, and according to Delrio, a most respectable authority in these
matters, it is a method of divination, than which nulla f§cundior
imposturis. Jamblichus, he says, mentions one kind of hydromancy
to which the Emperor Andronicus Comnenus had recourse; not in
person, for regard for his character (a character richly demanding such
caution!) forbade this humiliation; ipse quidem iis nocturnis sacris
interesse noluit, metu fam§ ut arbitror, sed illud
Hagiochristophorit§ Stephano mandat. This worthy applied to
Sethos, a diviner, who from his youth upward had been addicted to
magic, and on that account had been deprived of sight by the Emperor
Manuel. The question proposed by hydromancy was, who was to be the
successor of Andronicus, a doubt which grievously perplexed the
superstitious tyrant, and left him in hesitation as to the fittest victim
whom his suspicious vengeance might first sacrifice. The evil spirit
when summoned, showed upon the water the letters S I, and upon
being asked at what time the person so designated should succeed, he
replied, before the feast of the exaltation of the Cross. His prediction
was verified, for, within the time named, Isaac Angelus had thrown
Andronicus to be torn to pieces by the infuriated populace of
Constantinople. It should be remembered here that the devil spells, as
he repeats the Lord's Prayer, not in a natural order, but backwards. S I
when inverted, would fairly enough represent Isaac according to all
laws of magic. The same story is related with great spirit by Nicetas
('Andron. Comn.' II. 9). The arts with which the tempter cheats the ear
of his votary are vividly displayed, and there is one very picturesque
touch, when the fiend is asked respecting time, which we are surprised
should have escaped Delrio, who evidently borrows from this source,
though he refers to Jamblichus. The annalist has already remarked, that
he neither knows, nor indeed wishes to know, the method of practising
hydromancy, but Delrio, on the contrary, describes several kinds. In
one, a ring was suspended by a thread in a vessel of water, and this
being shaken, a judgement was formed according to the strokes of the
ring against the side of the vessel. In a second, three pebbles were
thrown into standing water, and observations were drawn from the
circles they formed. A third depended upon the agitations of the sea;
whence the learned Jesuit deduces a custom prevalent among the
Oriental Christians of annually baptising that element... A fourth
divination was taken from the colour of water, and certain figures
appearing in it, which Varro (according to Apuleus in his 'Apologia')
says afforded numerous prognostics of the event of the Mithridatic
War. But this branch was of sufficient importance to deserve a separate
name, and we read accordingly of ãà^omanteia, divination by
fountains, these being the waters most frequently consulted.
Ibid. 319. Hydromancy is, in principle, the
same thing as divination by the crystal or mirror, and in ancient times a
natural basin of rock kept constantly full by a running stream, was a
favourite medium. The double meaning of the word reflection
ought here to be considered; and how, gazing down into clear water,
the mind is disposed to self-retirement and to contemplation, deeply
tinctured with melancholy.
Ibid. 308: We still have to
consider, as a variant of hydromancy, the celebrated process of
divination by coffee-grounds. This was already in existence in the
eighteenth century, but naturally cannot have been anterior to the
introduction of this beverage into Europe. The treatise regarding the
process published by Tomaso Tomponelli gave reason for thinking that
it was first conceived in Italy. Our modern pythonesses all employ it;
they pour some coffee-dregs on a white unglazed plate, allow them to
settle, and then carefully drain off the water. The particles of coffee-
grounds left on the plate form a multitude of patterns which can be
interpreted in various ways...
Ibid. (reverse dictionary) Diuination by calling hags to
appeare in the water, Hydromancy.
Ibid. Hydromantie (hydromantia)
divination by causing Spirits to appear in the water.
kypomancy
A rare word for tasseomancy.
labiomancy: lip-reading. [L labium lip]
Ibid. 160. In many of the examples of lekanomancy which have
been given, and many more might be quoted, there is to be observed
this use of the small boy or the virgin.
Ibid. Libanomancy
(libanomantia) Divination by Incense or Frankincense.
Ibid. The Rabbis have attributed Lev. xxvi. 1. to
Lithomancy; but the prohibition of stones there given is most probably
directed against idolatry in general.
Ibid. 316. Photius, in his
abstract of the life of Isodorus by Damascius, a credulous physician of
the age of Justinian, speaks of an oracular stone, the b‘tulum, to which
Lithomancy was attributed.
Ibid. Lithomancy (lithomantia) divination by
casting Pibble stones, or by the Load-stone, whereby Tretzes in
his Chiliads, delivers, Helenus the Prophet foretold the
destruction of Troy.
Ibid. xxvii 376. And then
should we have the Magastromancers posed and puzzel'd indeed, that
is, not onely confuted, but confounded.]
In Dictionaries
meilomancy
A rare word for divination by a person's moles.
meteoromancy: divination by meteorological
phenomena, such as thunder, comets, meteors. [Gk æîçîwpoc
(meteoros) things in the air, aerial phenomena, as meteors,
comets, heavenly bodies]
Ibid. Metopomantie (Gr.) a divination by the face, or
forehead.
Ibid. 9. And this word Necromancie is a
Greek word, compounded of Nîkpov & manteia,
which is to say, the Prophecie by the dead. This last name givin, to this
black & vnlawfull science by the figure of Syndoche, because it
is a principle part of that art, to serue them selues with dead carcages
in their diuinations.
Ibid. 294. Diuination generally was done by diuers
means..by dead bodies, Necromancy...
Ibid. 237. Cicero's superstitious friend Appius apparently
practised necromancy...
Ibid. Necromancie, the worst of all others, is that
diuination, which is practised by conjuration, and calling vp Diuels or
dead mens Ghosts. Which manner of diuination we read practised by
King Saul (i. Reg. cap. 23.) when he required a
Sorceresse to call vp the spirit of Samuell to him.
Ibid. 316:
Cabela..Now after a while superstitious men, a kind of Apes,
began to spatter it [sc. the Qabbala] with their Pen, so that at
last it is degenerated into monstrous superstition; by which means also
Magick, which is the true Wisdom that is received by Divine
Inspiration, is accounted in these times Necromancy, and Nigromancy,
so that it is an offence to be a wise man...
Ibid. Necromancy
(necromantia) a divination practized by conjuration and calling
up Devils or dead mens ghosts; which we read practized by King
Saul (i Reg. cap. 28.) when he required a Sorceress to
call the Spirit of Samuel to him.
Ibid.
Necyomancie, the same with Necromancy.
Ibid. 50: These kinde of visions are certain and
true; to which more faith is to be given, then to all the precepts in
Nigromancy by looking-Glasses, Christals, Beryls, nailes of the fingers,
stones, waters, and the like; for all these are false and fallacious...