-mancy, -mancer, -mantic, -mantical +

A divination practice which interprets patterns in dust or in the funerary ashes of the recently deceased to forecast future events.

Also known as amathomancy (from the Greek amathos, "sand"), it is the art and practice of foretelling future events by the observation of omens in patterns of dust, or in the dust, dirt, or sand. Sometimes the diviner would use the ashes of the recently deceased.

The precise origins and method for this type of divination have been lost in time, but it apparently is like most divination techniques, quite ancient.

A form of divination that uses pins.

Diviners use seven sharp objects which fall on a table and the patterns are read. Acutomanzia usually includes thirteen pins are used, ten of them are straight and the remainder bent. The pins (or needles) are shaken and when they fall on a table covered with a light film of talcum-powder, their formations in the powder and their positions are studied for possible revelations about the future.

The condition of being impervious to or unaffected by heat waves: "The man's aunt experienced adiathermancy and so she didn't find the heat of the desert all that uncomfortable."

A variant form of the word ydromancie and idromancie which are believed to come from Middle English hydromancy.

Divination or prophecy by observing a cat's manner of jumping.

Divination by observing substances in the air or wind; such as, cloud shapes, weather conditions, and atmospheric phenomena (comets, etc.).

Also this is divination that involves the direction of the wind as when throwing sand or dirt in the wind after asking a question, and receiving the answer in the form of the dust cloud; or throwing a handful of seeds into the air and receiving the answer to a question from the pattern created by the fallen seeds. Also known as austromancy.

For many centuries, humans believed that wind was actually the breath of their deities; alternately, some thought that specific types of winds, particularly hot winds, were the work of demons.

In medieval writings on divination, the term (usually spelled aerimancy) was expanded to include almost all phenomena occurring in the air.

Greek divination by examining and interpreting statues.

Divination or fortune-telling by using sharp-pointed objects; such as, pins, needles, knives, etc. for interpretations.

Divination as determined by the way a cat jumps.

A black cat crossing one’s path is a bad omen in the U.S. and Germany, although it is considered lucky in Britain. Owning a black cat is also considered to be lucky. It is a widespread belief that killing or mistreating a cat will bring ill fortune. This may arise from ancient religious beliefs as a sacred animal.

Divination by the observation of a rooster eating corn scattered on letters; crowing, etc.

In Africa, a black hen or a gamecock is used. An African diviner sprinkles grain on the ground and when the bird has finished eating, the seer interprets the designs or patterns left on the ground.

This type of divination has been attributed to the famous philosopher Iamblichus, who died about the year 330 A.D., after restoring various mystic rites dating back to the times of the ancient oracles.

His followers did quite well until Valens became roman emperor of the East and began a campaign to stamp out oracles, soothsayers, astrologers, and even philosophers, since their tendency was to favor those practitioners of the mystic arts.

The Roman mystics traced a large circle on the ground and divided it into sections bearing the letters of the Greek alphabet. Grains of wheat were sprinkled on the letters and a white rooster was placed in the center of the mystic circle.

From then on, the sponsoring seer, or seers, watched while the inspired fowl moved from one letter to another, spelling out a message as it pecked at the grains. That message was interpreted as the answer to the question mutually chosen by the observing seers.

Divination by means of a cock with grains of corn. One method included making a circle and dividing it equally into as many parts as there are letters in the alphabet.

A "wheat-corn" was placed on every letter, beginning with "A", during which the depositor must repeat a certain verse.

Additional esoteric steps were taken, then the rooster within the circle was watched to see which letters he pecked the grains from, and upon these additional grains must replace those taken by the rooster because some names and words might contain the same letters twice or more times.

Supposedly, the letters should be written down and put together, and they would infallibly reveal the name of the person about whom an inquiry was made.

In Africa, where this is practiced, the diviner sprinkles grain on the ground and allows the birds (a black hen or a gamecock) to peck at it. When the bird has finished, the seer interprets the patterns that remain on the ground.

Divination of meal or flour; predictions written on paper and baked in cakes or cookies; such as, “Chinese fortune cookies” [said to be an American invention, not Chinese] which are a form of this type of mancy.

The ancient Greeks wrote sentences on pieces of paper rolled up in balls of flour. The balls were mixed up nine times and distributed to those who wanted to know their future. Appollo was supposed to have presided over this form of divination.

This system has 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.

Divination by means of salt; today, some people still respond to spilt salt on the table by throwing some over the left shoulder so bad luck will go away (a variant of halomancy); the diviner interprets future events from the patterns made from the sprinkled salt.

The use of salt in various divinations, probably dated from its ancient use as an offering to pagan gods, because of its scarcity and necessity.

Divination with barley meal and honey loaves; once it was used as a method to determine if one were guilty of some crime by having the accused try to eat a barley cake and if he couldn’t swallow it, or if he got sick, he was considered guilty (this same method is said to have been used by the Chinese with rice cakes).

In some cases, before eating, each suspect was required to say, "If I am deceiving you, may this piece of bread choke me."

According to Walter Gibson and Litzka Gibson in their The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, in 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."

Another version explains, "The suspects were rounded up. Each was required to say, 'If I am deceiving you, may this bread act upon me foul.' A portion of barley or wheat bread was then served to each suspect.

Those innocent of the crime supposedly would suffer no ill effects, while the guilty person would experience an attack of indigestion so painful that it was impossible to conceal it."

Divination by observing the arrangement of sand, dust, or dirt.