ALOMANCY or divination by salt, accounts for some of our modern superstitions. Alomancy (from Greek halo, ’salt’, and manteia, divination), also called Adromancy, ydromancie, idromancie, and halomancy, is an ancient form of divination. Similar to many other forms of divination, the diviner casts salt crystals into the air and interprets the patterns as it falls to the ground or travels through the air. The diviner can also interpret patterns formed from the residue of a salt solution as it evaporates in the bowl. The exact interpretations are unknown, but it probably follows a similar method to aleuromancy.
Salt itself is often intertwined with luck and some of this ancient tradition can be seen in the superstitions, such as perceived misfortune when the salt cellar is overturned and the custom of throwing salt over the left shoulder for good luck.
One form of Alomancy consists of the casting of salt into a fire, which is considered a type of Pyromancy.
Alphitomancy (from Greek alphito, ‘barley’, and manteia, ‘divination’) is a form of divination involving barley cakes or loaves of barley bread.
When someone in a group was suspected of a crime, the members of the group would be fed barley cakes or slices of barley bread. Supposedly, the guilty party would get indigestion, while all others would feel well. Some say that Alphitomancy is a form of divination using a barley leaf. It is used to identify a thief or criminal. Pieces of the leaf were given to a group of suspects. If you were innocent you would feel no effects, but if you were guilty you would become sick.
ANTHROPOMANCY is an ancient and long-outlawed form of human sacrifice. Anthropomancy was a barbaric form of divination that involved using
human entrails. These were usually those of a young virgin child.
The magician Julian the Apostate sacrificed young children during his rituals in order to evaluate their entrails. Anthropomancy was also practised in ancient Egypt.
APANTOMANCY covers forecasts from chance meetings with animals,
birds and other creatures, which can be updated to include modern
omens of the “black cat” variety. A classic case was the founding of Mexico City on the spot where AZTEC soothsayers saw an eagle flying from
a cactus, carrying a live snake; this represents the Mexican coat-of-arms even today. Apantomancy is divination using articles at hand or things that present themselves by chance. The diviner works him/herself into a state of trance until an object or event is perceived and a divination worked out.
ARITHMANCY or ARITHMOMANCY is the ancient form of NUMEROLOGY and applies chiefly to divination through numbers and letter values. Arithmancy is a method of divination by numbers first used by the ancient Greeks. They assigned values to the letters in the names of combatants to foretell the outcome of battles. Later, in the ninth century BC, the Chaldeans in Arabia (where our modern number system also comes from) practiced a form of arithmancy that divided their alphabet into three parts, each part composed of seven letters which they attributed to the then known seven planets. Wizards still use a similar system today, all these thousands of years later.
ASTRAGLOMANCY or ASTRAGYROMANCY was worked with crude dice bearing letters and later numbers. This, too, has developed into a modern diversion, art of Fortune Telling by Dice.
ASTROLOGY, as the ancient science of the stars, was basically a form of divination, as persons who could foretell changes in the heavens naturally felt capable of predicting the smaller affairs of mankind. Modern astrology makes no such extravagant claims, but has retained enough of the old tradition to become a fascinating subject in its own right. Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs in which knowledge of the relative positions of celestial bodies and related information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting, and organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial events. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer, or, less often, an astrologist.
Historically, the term mathematicus was used to denote a person proficient in astrology, astronomy, and mathematics. Although the two fields share a common origin, modern astronomy is entirely distinct from astrology. While astronomy is the scientific study of astronomical objects and phenomena, the practice of astrology is concerned with the correlation of heavenly bodies (which historically involved measurement of the celestial sphere) with earthly and human affairs. Astrology is variously considered by its proponents to be a symbolic language, a form of art, science, or divination. The scientific community generally considers astrology to be a pseudoscience or superstition as it has failed empirical tests in controlled studies.
AUGURY is the general art of divination, covering many forms included in this list, and applying chiefly to interpretations of the future based on signs and omens.
The Augur was a priest and official in ancient Rome. His main role was to take auspices: interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds (flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are), known as “taking the auspices.” The ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman society–public or private–including matters of war, commerce, and religion.
Consider the words of the Roman historian Livy, who writes (VI.41): “Who does not know that this city was founded only after taking the auspices? That everything in war and in peace, at home and abroad, was done only after taking the auspices?”
AUSTROMANCY refers to divination, by a study of the winds.
Axiomancy is a form of divination, in which the quivering of the blade of an axe that has been thrust into a wooden table is interpreted by the diviner.
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