Divination Glossary

AEROMANCY 
divination from the air and sky, particularly concentrating on cloud shapes, comets, and other phenomena not normally visible in the heavens. 

ALCHEMY 
is the practice of transmutation of base metals into precious metals (e.g., gold or silver) with the aid of an esoteric substance called the “philosopher’s stone”. 

ALECTRYOMANCY 
is divination whereby a bird is allowed to pick corn grains from a circle of letters. A variation is to recite letters of the alphabet noting those at which a cock crows.

ALEUROMANCY 
is divination using “fortune cookies”; answers to questions are rolled into balls of dough and once baked are chosen at random. 

ALOMANCY 
is divination by table salt. 

ALPHITOMANCY 
uses special cakes that are digestible by persons with a clear conscience but are unpleasant to others. 

ANTHROPOMANCY 
is the long-outlawed means of divination by human sacrifice. 

APANTOMANCY 
is divination through chance meetings with animals (e.g., a black cat), birds, and other creatures. Mexico City is said to have been founded where Aztec soothsayers saw an eagle flying from a cactus carrying a live snake. 

ARITHMANCY or ARITHMOMANCY 
is an earlier form of NUMEROLOGY where divination is made through numbers and the number value of letters. 

ASTRAGLOMANCY or ASTRAGYROMANCY 
is a form of divination by dice where the faces of the dice bear numbers and letters. 

ASTROLOGY 
is divination using celestial bodies: the sun, moon, planets, and stars. 

AUGURY 
is the general term for the art of divination and is chiefly applied to interpretations of signs and omens. 

AUSTROMANCY 
is divination by the study of the winds. 

AXIOMANCY 
is divination through the observation of how an ax or hatchet quivers or points when driven into post. 

BELOMANCY 
is an ancient form of divination performed by tossing or balancing arrows. 

BIBLIOMANCY 
involves divination by books. 

BOTANOMANCY 
is divination from burning tree branches and leaves.

BUMPOLOGY 
strictly a modern term, a popular nickname for PHRENOLOGY 

CAPNOMANCY 
is the study of smoke rising from a fire. 

CARTOMANCY 
is fortune telling using cards such as the Tarot. 

CATOPTROMANCY 
is an early form of crystal gazing that utilizes a mirror turned to the moon to catch moonbeams. 

CAUSIMOMANCY
 is divination from behavior of objects placed in a fire. 

CEPHALOMANCY 
refers to divination with the skull or head of a donkey or goat. 

CERAUNOSCOPY 
seeks to draw omens from the study of thunder and lightning. 

CEROSCOPY, CEROMANCY 
is a form of fortune telling in which melted was is poured into cold water. 

CHIROMANCY 
is divination from the lines on people’s hands. 

CHIROGNOMY 
is the study of the general hand formation. 

CLAIRAUDIENCE
 is “clear hearing” of divinatory information. Parapsychologist generally regard as a form of extrasensory perception. 

CLAIRVOYANCE 
is “clear seeing” of divinatory information. Parapsychologist generally regard as a form of extrasensory perception. 

CLEROMANCY 
is divination by “casting lots”, similar to dice but with objects such as pebbles or sea shells. 

CLIDOMANCY or CLEIDOMANCY
 is divination using a dangling key. see RADIESTHESIA. 

COSCINOMANCY 
is divination using a hanging sieve. see RADIESTHESIA. 

CRITOMANCY 
is the study of barley cakes. 

CROMNIOMANCY 
is divination using onion sprouts. 

CRYSTALLOMANCY 
is divination through crystal gazing. 

CYCLOMANCY 
is the practice of divination from a turning wheel. 

DACTYLOMANCY 
is an early form of RADIESTHESIA using a dangling ring. 

DAPHNOMANCY 
requires one to listen to laurel branches crackling in an open fire. 

DEMONOMANCY
 is divination with the aid of demons. 

DENDROMANCY 
is divination with either oak or mistletoe. 

DOWSING or DIVINING RODS 
are methods of divination where a forked stick is used to locate water or precious minerals. 

GASTROMANCY
 is an ancient form of ventriloquism whereby the voice is lowered to a sepulchral tone and prophetic utterances are delivered in a trance state. 

GELOSCOPY 
is the divination from the tone of someone’s laughter. 

GENETHLIALOGY 
is divination by the influence of the stars at birth. 

GEOMANCY
 is the study of figures on the ground and the influence of the Earth’s “currents”. 

GRAPHOLOGY 
is the analysis of character through handwriting. 

GYROMANCY 
is a divination procedure where a person walks in a circle marked with letters until they become dizzy and stumble at different points, thus spelling out a prophesy. 

HALOLMANCY see ALOMANCY HARUSPICATION  
is fortune-telling by means of inspecting the entrails of animals, as practiced by priests in ancient Rome. 

HIEROMANCY or HIERSCOPY
is divination by observing object of ancient sacrifice. 

HIPPOMANCY 
is a form of divination from the stamping and neighing of horses. 

HOROSCOPY 
is the practice of casting of astrological horoscopes.

HYDROMANCY 
is divination by water including the color, ebb and flow, or ripples produced by pebbles dropped in a pool. 

ICHTHYOMANCY 
is divination using fish. 

LAMPADOMANCY 
is divination using lights or torches. 

LECANOMANCY 
uses a basin of water for divination. 

LIBANOMANCY
is the study of incense and its smoke. 

LITHOMANCY 
is divination using precious stones of various colors. 

MARGARITOMANCY 
is the procedure of using bouncing pearls. 

METAGNOMY 
is the divination using “visions” received in a trance state. 

METEOROMANCY 
is divination from meteors. 

METOPOSCOPY 
is the reading of character using the lines if the forehead. 

MOLEOSOPHY 
is the study of moles and indicators of a person’s character and future indications. 

MOLYBDOMANCY 
draws mystic inferences from the hissing of molten lead. 

MYOMANCY 
is the study of the prophetic meaning of behavior of rats and mice. 

NUMEROLOGY 
is the numerical interpretation of numbers, dates, and the number value of letters. 

OCULOMANCY
 is divination from a person’s eye. 

OINOMANCY 
is divination using wine. 

OMPHALOMANCY
 is counting the number of knots in the umbilical cord to predict how many more children the mother will have 

ONEIROMANCY  
is the interpretation of dreams and their prophetic nature. 

ONOMANCY 
is the study of the meaning of names. 

ONOMANTICS
is the application of ONOMANCY applied to personal names, particularly in the sense of occult interpretation. 

ONYCHOMANCY 
is the study of fingernails. 

OOMANTIA and OOSCOPY 
is the method of divination by eggs. 

OPHIOMANCY 
is divination from serpents. 

ORNISCOPY and ORINITHOMANCY
is the study of omens associated with birds, particularly birds in flight. see APANTOMANCY 

OVOMANCY 
is another type of egg divination. 

PALMISTRY 
is the broad field of divination and interpretation of the lines and structure of the hand. 

PEGOMANCY 
concerns itself with spring water and bubbling fountains and the omens contained therein. 

PHRENOLOGY 
is the long practiced study of head formations. 

PHYLLORHODOMANCY 
is a means of divination whereby one slaps a rose petal against the hand and judges the favorability of the omen by the loudness of the sound. 

PHYSIOGNOMY 
is the study of character analysis through physical features. 

PRECOGNITION 
is an inner knowledge or sense of future events. 

PSYCHOGRAPHY 
is a form of mysterious writing having a divinatory nature. 

PSYCHOMETRY 
is the faculty of gaining impressions from a physical object and its history. 

PYROMANCY and PYROSCOPY 
are forms of divination by fire or flame, often assisted by substances thrown onto the flames. 

RADIESTHESIA 
is the general term for divination using a device such as a divining rod or pendulum. Other forms include “table tipping” which was practiced at the White House in the 19th century, the Ouija board, automatic writing (or superconscious writing), and scrying. 

RHABDOMANCY 
is divination using a stick or wand. These methods were forerunners of the divining rod. 

RHAPSODOMANCY
is a means of divination using a book of poetry whereby the book is opened at random and a passage read. 

SCIOMANCY 
is divination using a spirit guide, a method generally employed by channelers.

SCRYING 
is a general term for divination using a crystal, mirrors, bowls of water, ink, or flames to induce visions. 

SIDEROMANCY 
is the burning of straws with a hot iron, the resulting figures having divinatory properties. 

SORTILEGE 
is the casting of lots and the assessment of omens indicated. 

SPODOMANCY
is divination using cinders or soot. 

STICHOMANCY 
is another form of throwing open a book and selecting a random passage for the purpose of divination. 

STOLISOMANCY 
draws omens from the way people dress. 

SYCOMANCY 
is performed by writing messages on tree leaves; the slower they dry, the more favourable the omen. A modern variation is to write on slips of paper (always including one blank) and rolling them up. They are then held in a strainer over a boiling pot; the first to unroll will be answered. 

TASSEOGRAPHY 
is the reading of tea leaves that remain in a tea cup once the beverage has been drunk. 

TEPHRAMANCY 
is divination by ashes obtained from the burning of tree bark. 

TIROMANCY 
is a type of divination using cheese. 

XYLOMANCY 
is divination from pieces of wood, either from their shape when collected or their appearance while burning.