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.
1908 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.: machairomancy..Divination by means of a sword or dagger.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict.:
machæromancy/machairomancy/macharomancy .. Divination by knives
or swords. [minor words list]
Derived from the ancient Greek makros large.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: macromancy, the largest thing near.
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 77:
Macromancy - The largest object naerby.
From Latin macula a spot, a stain.
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 416: Ex maculis corporis, divinatio]
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: maculomancy, spots. 1989 Max Maven Bk of Fortunetelling iii. 157: A far more benign body flaw that merited divinatory attention in both the Eastern and Western traditions is the shape, color, and location of moles and birthmarks... It has become known as maculomancy..or more commonly moleosophy...
The point Gaule is making with this word is that the concept of astrology as practised in his day involved a belief in magic.
This word, though magestically constructed, and powerfully scathing,
unfortunately did not find favour, and apart from being recorded
by a number of major lexicographers of late 19th and early 20th
centuries, has quite disappeared.
It did however find slightly greater acceptance than its nearby
companion magomancy.
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]
Not recorded by the OED, nor any other dictionary. Also, all-importantly, this word did not appear in the excerpts taken by Brand in his Popular Antiquities of 1777. This is because Brand only reproduced Gaule's actual list of -mancy words. Therefore magomancy was not introduced into the plethora of books on superstition, magic, divination, and the occult, of the following centuries. A beautiful word that died aborning.
Derived from mago-, representing the Latin magus magic.
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?
Derived from Latin margarita a pearl.
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 originally imprisoned. Whatever its origin, some form of deception must have been introduced to make it work.
1986 F. Gettings Encyc. Occult 1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 77: Margaritomancy - pearls.
Derived from a blend of mathe(matics) and -mancy, following orthography of arithmancy.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16:
mathemancy, quantity.
Derived from the ancient Greek mazos a breast.
Cf. 1979 B. Martin Dict. Occult: mammoscopy - a form
of divination which draws its deduction from an
examination of the female breasts.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.: mazomancy..fortunetelling by a nursing baby.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70: MAZOMANCY - a nursing baby.
Derived from the ancient Greek mekon a poppy.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16:
meconomancy, sleep, induced by drugs; poppies.
1973 Collier's Encyc. x. 211/1: Meilomancy...moles;
their location, size, and number.
1845 Smedley 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.
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.
1892 New Sydenham Society's Lexicon IV:
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. § 268.6: meteoromancy (meteors)
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 77:
Meteormancy - Thunder and lightning.
Meteoromancy - Observations of meteors.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211: meteoromancy a form of divination involving the
observation of meteors.
Also called metoposcopy:
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.
Derived from the ancient Greek metopon the forehead, originally the space between the eyes.
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.
Ibid. Metopomantie (Gr.) a divination by the face, or
forehead.
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.
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 75: Metopomancy - The forehead of face.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70. METOPOMANCY - examing
[sic] the face.
Derived from the ancient Greek mikros small.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: micromancy, the smallest thing near.
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 77:
Micromancy - The smallest object naerby.
Derived from a blend of minera(l) and -mancy.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 16: mineramancy, found minerals.
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 77: Mineramancy - Minerals.
The occurrence in Bailey's in 1727 pre-dates the OED's earliest citation.
1892 New Sydenham Society's Lexicon IV: 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 Archæologia Græca]
[1713 Fabricii Bibliographia Antiquaria xii. 416: Molybdomantia, ex plumbi liqvefacti divers motibus.]
1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp (OED): [molybdomantia]
1895 Elworthy 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
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French & Eng. Tongues Moromantie: f. Foolish diuination.]
1656 Blount Glossographia Moromantie (Gr.) foolish divination.
1908 OED [citing Blount]
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.
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
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x. 77: Myomancy - The movements of mice.
1993 McCormack Q&A 70: MYOMANCY - mice.
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.
1892 New Sydenham Society's Lexicon IV:
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. § 268.6: myomancy (mice)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies & -Isms (3rd ed.)
211: myomancy a form of divination through observation of
the movements of mice.