1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &ast Prophecy (1989) 325. TASSEOMANCY: Divination by tea leaves or coffee grounds. See Chapter V.
1989 Guiley Encyc. Witches &ast Witchcraft 104.
PALMISTRY, the reading on [sic.] lines on the hand, and
TASSEOMANCY, the reading of tea leaves, are used by some Witches.
Ibid. 337. Also called tasseography, tasseomancy is the
divinatory art of reading tea leaves and coffee grounds.
Ibid.
Tasseomancy is still done in England, Ireland and Europe. In America,
it is done primarily in large cities, in "Gypsy tearooms" and restaurants
that have a back room for fortune-telling purposes.
1995 X-files:
NOTES: Not in OED. More often tasseography. ? cits.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
tephramanteia]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Tuphramancy, by ashes...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua &ast Pantagruel iii. xxv. 134: By Tephromancy, thou
wilt see the Ashes thus aloft dispersed, exhibiting the Wife in a fine
Posture.
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. Tephromancy, by ashes. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By tephromancy...
1903 Daniels &ast Stevans Encyc. Occult Sci.
(1971) III 1663. tephromancy - Divination by ashes after exposure to
the wind.
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &ast
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 154. By tephromancy...
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 408/2:
Tephramancy: A mode of divination in which use is made of the ashes
of the fire which had consumed the victims of a sacrifice.
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
tephromancy, thou wilt see the ashes thus aloft dispersed, exhibiting thy
wife in a fine posture.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 184:
Tephromancy: Divination by writing in ashes.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Tuphramancy, by ashes.
1970 Man, Myth &ast Magic v. 658: Tephromancy -
from sacrificial ashes.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient &ast Forbidden
Knowledge 470: TEPHRAMANCY: The seeking of messages in
ashes. Tree bark is often burned for this purpose, and the diviner looks
for symbols in the ashes as with tea leaves.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &ast
Prophecy (1989) 325. TEPHRAMANCY or TEPHROMANCY:
Akin to spodomancy, this is another mode of divination from the ashes
of a sacrificial fire.
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 143.
Tephromancy Predicting from the patterns in the ashes of
burnt offerings made to the gods.
1993 McCormack Q&astA 71. TEPHRAMANCY -
ashes from an altar.
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French &ast Eng.
Tongues Tephramantie: f. Diuination by ashes blowne, or cast, up
into the aire.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Tephramantie,
g. Divination by ashes thrown in the air.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
TEPHROMANCY [Tîípomanteia, of çîípà Ashes, and manteia,
Gr. Divination] Divination by Ashes, which was performed in
the following Manner: They wrote the Things they had a Mind to be
resovl'd about in Ashes upon a Plank, or any such Thing, and this they
expos'd to the open Air, where it was to continue for some Time, and
those Letters that remained whole, and were no Ways defaced by the
winds or other Accidents, were thought to contain in the a Solution of
the Question.
1852 Roget Thes. § 511. ..by writings in
ashes, Tehpramancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii.
tephramancy..Augury depending on the inspection of the ashes of a
holocaust.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
tephramancy..Divination by the ashes of a sacrifice.
Scott.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) VIII
tephromancy.. Augury depending on the inspection of the
ashes a sacrifice.
1908 Funk &ast Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
tephromancy..Folk-lore. Divination by inspection of
sacrificial ashes. tephramancy; tephromantia.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) VII
1911 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. tephramancy ..
Divination by the ashes of the altar on which a victim had been
consumed in sacrifice. [minor words list; labelled obsolete]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
tephromancy..Divination by the inspection of sacrificial ashes.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17.
tephramancy, tracings in ashes.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
tephramancy..fortunetelling with ashes from an altar.
1981 Macquarie Dict. (1st ed.)
tephramancy..divination by means of seeking messages in
ashes.
1984 Macquarie Thes. § 268.6 tephramancy
(ashes)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies &ast -Isms (3rd ed.)
212. tephramancy, tephromancy a form of divination
involving the examination of the ashes remaining after a sacrifice.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED Gaule, 1661 Blount (2nd ed.), Urq., then 1846
Worcester's Dict. OED normalises Gaule's spelling and notes that the
'u' spelling is a printing error. Classic eg. of using the non-sources.
Also hwd given is 'tephro-' and although 3 of 4 cits have 'tephra-' it is
labelled as erroneous.
NL Pictorius Vigillanus "Tephramantia... cinere ad auram exposito."
1651 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 ambiguous or senslesse
answers of the Priests at Delphi, Delos, Ammon, and other
famous Oracles; which answers, were made ambiguous by designe, to
own the event both wayes; or absurd by the intoxicating vapour of the
place, which is very frequent in sulphurous Cavernes: Sometimes in the
leaves of the Sibills; of whose Prophecyes (like those perhaps of
Nostradamus; for the fragments now extant seem to be the
invention of later times) there were some books in reputation in the
time of the Roman Republique: 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...
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Theomancy, pretending to divine by the revelation of the
Spirit, and by the Scriptures, or word of God...
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. Theomancy, pretending to divine by the
revelation of the Spirit, and by the Scriptures, or word of God. [citing
Hone citing Gaule]
1920 L. Spence Encyc. Occult 410/1: Theomancy:
The part of the Jewish Kabala which studies the mysteries of
the divine majesty and seeks the sacred names. He who possesses this
science knows the future, commands nature, has full power over angels
and demons, and can perform miracles. The Rabbis claimed that it was
by this means the Moses performed so many marvels; that Joshua was
able to stop the sun; that Elias caused fire to fall heaven, and raised the
dead; that Daniel closed the mouths of the lions; and that the three
youths were not consumed in the furnace. However, although very
expert in the divine names, the Jewish rabbis no longer perform any of
the wonders done by their fathers.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 185:
Theomancy: The general meaning of the word is: Divination by oracles
considered to be divinely inspired. The term is used also as the name of
that part of the Hebrew Kabalah devoted to the study of the Majesty of
God and to the mastery of the sacred names believed to be the key to
the power of divination and magical ability.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Theomancy, pretending to divine
by the revelation of the Spirit, and by the Scriptures, or Word of God.
1970 Man, Myth &ast Magic v. 658: Theomancy -
by oracles, and by persons inspired by a god.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &ast
Prophecy (1989) 325. THEOMANCY: Divination through direct
appeal, usually with special formula, to oracles that were supposed to
be divinely inspired.
1993 McCormack Q&astA 71. THEOMANCY -
oracles.
In Dictionaries
1656 Blount Glossographia Theomancy,
[theomantia] a kinde of divination or inchanting by abusive
calling upon the secret, farfetched mysterious and wrested names of
God. Florio.
1658 Phillips New World of Eng. Words:
Theomancy, (Greek) a divination by calling upon the names of
God.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Theomancy,
g. Divination by abusing the names of God.
1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
THEOMANCY [èîomanteia, Gr.] is different from artificial
Divination, which though, in some Sense, it may be said to be given by
the Gods, yet does not immediately proceed from them, being the
Effect of Experience and Observation. And by manteia is opposed to
Oracular Divination, i.e. that which is delivered by Interpreters,
as at Delphi, because that was confined usually to a fixed and
stated Time, and always to a certain Place; for the Pythia could
not be inspir'd in any Place but Apollo's Temple, and upon the
sacred Tripus, whereas the Theomantists were free and
unconfin'd, being able (after the Offering of Sacrifices and Performance
of the usual Rites) to prophesy at any Time or in any Part of the
World. It was a divine afflatus or Inspiration: The Manner of
receiving of which was, the Receivers of it were possessed with a
divine Fury, swelling with Rage, like Persons distracted and besides
themselves, foaming and making strange and terrible Noise, gnashing
with their Teeth, shivering and trembling, and making other antick
Motions. THEOMANTISTS [èîoæàvçîic, Gr.] were of three
Sorts. One Sort was possessed with prophesying Dæmons
which lodged within them, and dictated what they should answer to
those that enquired of them, or spoke out of the Bellies or Breasts of
the possessed Persons, they all the while remaining speechless, or not
so much as moving their Tongue or Lips. The second Sort were such
as pretended to what is commonly call'd Enthusiasm, and
different from the former, who contained the Deity himself; whereas
those were only govern'd, acted, or inspired by him, and instructed in
the Knowledge of what was to happen. The third Sort were those that
were cast into Trances or Estasies, in which they lay like dead Men, or
asleep, depriv'd of all Sense and Motion, but after some Time returning
to themselves, gave strange Relations of what they had seen or heard.
1755 Bailey An Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. (16th
ed.) THEOMANCY [èîomanteia, of èîioc, and manteia,
Divination, Gr.] a kind of Divination by calling on the Name of
God.
1852 Roget Thes. § 511. ..by oracles,
Theomancy...
1871 Ogilvie Imperial Dict. ii. theomancy..A
species of prophecy in which a god himself was believed to reveal
future events, as when anyone consulted an oracle, among the heathen
nations, the god himself was supposed to answer the inquirer.
1882 Worcester Dict. of the Eng. Lang.
theomancy..Divination drawn from the resources of oracles
among the heathen nations, in which a god was supposed to answer the
inquirer, or from prediction of Sibyls and others supposed to be
immediately inspired by some divinity. Brande.
1899 Century Dict. (1903) VIII
theomancy.. [citing Imperial Dict.]
1908 Funk &ast Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
theomancy..Folk-lore. Divination by interpretation of
prophecies, oralces, etc.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) VII
1912 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. theomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
theomancy..Divination.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17.
theomagic, theomancy, oracles, or calling on god.
1961 Webs. Third New Int. Dict. theomancy
1984 Macquarie Thes. § 268.6 theomancy
(oracles)
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies &ast -Isms (3rd ed.)
212. theomancy a form of divination involving the responses
of oracles or other soothsayers.
1988 Chambers Eng. Dict.
NOTES: OED 1651 Hobbes Lev.; 1807 Robinson 'Archae. Graeca';
1842 Brande 'Dict Sc.', then 'theomantic' 1620, 1684. Blount's def
'wrested' = with twisted meaning. Sometimes defined simply as
'divination' - where divination = prophecy.
[1727 Bailey The Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. i
THEONOMANTISTS [of éîoc ovoæà and manteia, Gr.
Divination] a Sort of Divination by invocating the Names of God.]
NOTES: Not in OED.
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 165.
..Theriomancy, by Beasts...
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. Theriomancy, by beasts. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule] Theriomancy, by beasts.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &ast
Prophecy (1989) 325. THERIOMANCY: Assorted omens drawn
from the actions or appearance of various beasts. Such sayings as, "A
barking dog never bites" might be traced back to that source.
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x.
In Dictionaries
1899 Century Dict. (1903) VIII
theriomancy.. Divination by observation of wild beasts.
1908 Funk &ast Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
theriomancy..Divination by observing animals.
1910 Encyc. Dict. (Cassell's) supp.
1912 OED
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. theriomancy [minor
words list]
c1920 Cassell's New Eng. Dict.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17.
theriomancy, by the movements of wild animals.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
theriomancy..fortunetelling by watching wild animals.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies &ast -Isms (3rd ed.)
212. theriomancy 1. a form of divination involving wild
beasts. 2. a form of divination based upon observation of the
movements of animals. Cf. zoomancy.
NOTES: OED Gaule only.
1651 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 ambiguous or senslesse
answers of the Priests at Delphi, Delos, Ammon, and other
famous Oracles; which answers, were made ambiguous by designe, to
own the event both wayes; or absurd by the intoxicating vapour of the
place, which is very frequent in sulphurous Cavernes: Sometimes in the
leaves of the Sibills; of whose Prophecyes (like those perhaps of
Nostradamus; for the fragments now extant seem to be the
invention of later times) there were some books in reputation in the
time of the Roman Republique: 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...
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Thymomancy,
g. a presaging from ones own hopes or fears.
1912 OED
NOTES: OED 1651. labelled Obs. rare-1. Gk. word appears in Aesch.
Pers. 224.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17.
topomancy, the shape of the terrain.
1974 Feuchtwang Anthrop. Analysis of Chinese
Geomancy 4. Topomancy may be a better word for feng-shui,
divination from the forms of the physical environment.
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x.
1993 McCormack Q&astA 71. TOPOMANCY - the
contour of the land.
NOTES: Not in OED.
1953 Gaynor (ed.) Dict. Mysticism (1974) 188:
Transataumancy: Divination on the basis of omens seen unexpectedly.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &ast
Prophecy (1989) 325. TRANSATAUMANCY: Divination based on
something seen or heard accidentally. Even trifling mistakes were
accepted as omens by the ancient Romans, and even today many people
are apt to attribute their good fortune to chance occurrence or
coincidence.
NOTES: Not in OED.
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17.
trochomancy, wheel tracks.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict.
theriomancy..fortunetelling by wheel tracks.
1993 McCormack Q&astA 71. TROCHOMANCY -
wheel tracks.
NOTES: Not in OED.
[1583 Weyer De praestigiis daemonum xii.:
tyromanteia]
1652 Gaule The Magastromancer xix. 166.
..Typomancy, [sic] by the coagulation of cheese...
a1660 (1693) Urquhart tr. Rabelais
Gargantua &ast Pantagruel iii. xxv. 133: By Tyromancy, whereof
we make some some Proof in a great Brehemont Cheese, which I here
keep by me.
1777 Brand Popular Antiquities (1844) iii. 330.
Typomancy [citing Gaule]
1832 Hone Year Bk 1517/2: Typomancy... [citing
Gaule (via Brand)]
1852 Mackay Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular
Delusions 252. Tyromancy, by cheese. [citing Hone citing
Gaule]
1897 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Works of Rabelais iii.
xxv. 162. By tiromancy...
1904 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua &ast
Pantagruel iii. xxv. 153. By tyromancy...
1951 Works of Rabelais III. xxv. 361 By
tyromancy, whereof we make some proof in a great Brehemont cheese,
which I here keep by me.
1959 Robbins Encyc. of Witchcraft and
Demonology 139. [citing Gaule; but fixing orthography]
Tyromancy, by the coagulation of cheese.
1970 Zolar Encyc. of Ancient &ast Forbidden
Knowledge 470: TIROMANCY: An odd form of divination
utilizing cheese.
1973 Gibson Complete Illust. Bk Div. &ast
Prophecy (1989) 325. TIROMANCY or TYROMANCY: A curious
form of divination based upon observation of the coagulation of cheese
and its results.
1973 L. Watson Supernature ix. 300: Precoginition means
"knowing in advance," and systems of knowing cover just about every
possible source of variation. They include..tiromancy (a system of
divination involving cheese)... None of these need be taken seriously...
1983 Complete Bk Predictions 140. ..tyromancy
was divination by cheese.
1986 P. Hellweg Insomniac's Dict. x.
1993 McCormack Q&astA 71. TYROMANCY -
watching cheese coagulate.
In Dictionaries
[1632 Cotgrave Dictionarie of French &ast Eng.
Tongues Tyromantie: f. Diuination by a cheese.]
1656 Blount Glossographia Tiromantie
(tiromantia) a kinde of divination by cheese. Flo.
1676 Coles An Eng. Dict.: Tiromancy, Tyr-,
g. Divination by Cheese.
1908 Funk &ast Wagnalls Standard Dict. ii.
tyromancy..Folk-lore. Divination by means of cheese.
1912 Webs. New Int. Dict. tyromancy [minor
words list; labelled obsolete]
1916 OED
1955 Shipley Dict. Early Eng. (1963) 17.
tyromancy, the coagulation of cheese.
1974 Mrs. Byrne's Dict. tyromancy..fortunetelling
by watching cheese coagulate.
1986 Urdang (ed.) -Ologies &ast -Isms (3rd ed.)
212. tyromancy a form of divination involving observation of
cheese, especially as it coagulates.
NOTES: OED Gaule, Blount, Urq. notes that Gaule's typo- is a typo.
In New Latin - Cælius Calcagninus, Compendium amatoriæ
magiæ (ed. Froben Bale, 1544) "Tyromantia, per casei compages
atque hiatus."
Mulder: And an amateur tasseographer. [looks of stupefaction
from all] She read tea leaves.
tephromancy
divination by ashes. [F
tephromancie, NL tephromantia, thephramantia
(Agrippa), from Gk çîípà (tephra) ashes] Variant Forms:
tephramancy, tephramanty, tuphramancy (Gaule and copyists),
tephromantia.
theomancy
1. (properly) In Greek
antiquity, the art of prophecy; oracular divination; divination gained
from a person inspired by some divinity. (NB - Bailey says opposite to
this) 2. (from a Christian viewpoint) a mode of
pretended divination by the revelation of the Spirit, or by the
Scriptures, or, by attempting to summons God by name. Gaule and
Blount are particularly scathing on this point. Compare
theonomancy.
[Gk éîomanteia (theomanteia) spirit of prophesy,
éîoæàvçic (theomantis) one inspired with the spirit of
prophecy, an oracle, from Gk éîoc (theos) god]
theonomancy
divination by the invocation of the
names of God. [Gk éîoc (theos) god + 'ovo-, 'ovoæà
(ono-, onoma) name]
theriomancy
divination by the movements of wild
animals. [Gk énpiov (therion) a wild animal]
thumomancy
divination by one's own soul. [Gk
évæoæàvçic (thumomantis) prophesying from one's own soul
(without special inspiration), endowed with a spirit of prophesy (the
opposite of éîoæàvçic (theomantis)), from évæoc
(thumos) the soul]
tiromancy
-> tyromancy
topomancy
divination by the contours of the land. [Gk
çoãoc (topos) place]
transataumancy
divination by things seen or heard
accidentally. [?]
trochomancy
divination by wheel tracks. [Gk çpoxoc
(trochos) a wheel]
tuphramancy
tephromancy.
[tylomancy]
a mistake in the first edition (1981) of
The Macquarie Dictionary for xylomancy. Corrected in second
edition (1991). The same error occurs in The Macquarie
Thesaurus (1984)]
tyromancy
divination by cheese. [F
tyromantie, NL tyromantia, from Gk çvpoc
(tyros) cheese; cf. çvpoæàvçic (tyromantis) one who
divines by cheese] (tiromancy, tiromantie)
Ibid. Tyromanty, divination by a cheese. Cot.
Ibid.: Tyromancy,
g. Cheese-divination.