-mancy, -mancer, -mantic, -mantical
(Greek: used as a suffix; divination, prophecy, fortune telling; to interpret signs so “practical” decisions can be made [related to -mania])
It isn't so much the things we don't know that gets us into trouble. It's the things we know that aren't so.
If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
If the leaves crackled in the flames, the forecast would be favorable; if they burned quietly, the prophecy was negative.
2. A prophecy or prediction; soothsaying or the interpretation of omens or events: A divination is based on the belief in making events known to humans by the spirits and in supernatural forms of knowledge and so it attempts to make known those things that neither reason nor science can discover.
3. A premonition or feeling of apprehension about something that is going to happen: The system of divination takes for granted that spiritual beings exist, are approachable by humans, have access to the knowledge which people do not possess, and are willing, depending on certain conditions, to let supernatural beings communicate the special knowledge which they are believed to possess.


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2. Someone who searches for underground water, metal, or minerals using something such as a divining rod.

This diviner can't even see the present much less the future. The financial adviser was seeking guidance for future investments via the crystal ball and may now have just seen a prophecy of a "crash" in the stock market.
Eggs, flour, and incense were used for this purpose as well as shoulder blades of the sacrificed victim.
Stirrings on the surface would be regarded as a good omen.
Cross references of word families that are related directly, or indirectly, to: "divination, diviner; seer, soothsayer, prophecy, prophesy, prophet": augur-; auspic-; fa-, fate; Fates in action; futur-; omen; -phemia; sorc-, sorcery; vati-.
A cross reference of other word family units that are related directly, or indirectly, to: "chance, luck, fate": aleato-; auspic-; cad-; fortu-; serendipity; sorc; temer-; tycho-.