-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.

—Artemus Ward (1834-1867)

If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.

—Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991),
Polish-born American journalist, writer.
odontomancy
Divination by interpreting aches and pains of the teeth or by other types of interpretations regarding the teeth.
oenomancy (ee nuh MAN see) (s) (noun); oenomancies (pl)
Divination or fortune telling by observing and analyzing patterns made by wine: A few ways to analyze fermented grape juice for oenomancy include:
  • Wine that is spilled on cloth or paper and the resulting stains studied.
  • Observing the sediment in the bottom of a glass or bottle of wine.
  • The examination of the physical characteristics (color, taste, etc.) of wine.
ololygmancy
Divination by interpreting the howling of dogs.
omphalomancy
Divination by contemplation of one’s own navel (as in yoga?) or by counting the knots in the umbilical cord of a mother’s first child to predict the number of children she will have.
oneiromancy (s) (noun), oneiromancies (pl)
Divination or fortune-telling by interpreting a person's dreams: Madeline went to see a clairvoyant to find out what the soothsayer would have to say and the results of the oneiromancy was that she would marry a handsome foreigner; however, this could not be true because she was already married.
An art claiming to reveal the future of someone's dreams.
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onimancy, onymancy, onyomancy
1. Divination of fingernails or the reflection of bright sunlight on a person’s fingernails and noting any symbols (real or imaginary) that might appear there.
2. Divination by observing fingernails or olive oil on the finger nails of an “unpolluted boy” or a young female virgin.

These symbols are interpreted in accordance with established rules, as with crystal gazing or teacup reading.

onomancy, onomomancy, onomantical
1. Divination or fortune telling with names.
2. Divination using proper names based on a subject's given name, popular in the Late Middle Ages.
onomatomancy
Divination by interpreting the names, or the number of vowels (even/odd) in a name, or the total number of letters, or the sum of the numerical values of the letters.
onychomancy, onycomancy
A specialized phase of onychomancy whereby a person’s future is determined by the appearance of the fingernails themselves.

This has become an aspect of cheiromancy.

oomancy, ovomancy
Divination with eggs, some methods date back to antiquity.

One modern method consists of dropping whites of eggs in water and noting the shapes or markings thus obtained. The custom of coloring eggs, so popular today, also stems from ancient traditions.

ophidiomancy
Divination by using snakes.
ophiomancy
1. The recognition of serpents as agents of divination or fortune telling by their manner of eating, or by their coils.

The first incident is mentioned in the Garden of Eden and has been known to be utilized in Egypt, Greece, Rome, and among the Aztecs of Mexico.

2. Divination by means of serpents or the use of serpents to foretell the future or to divine the past.
ophthalmomancy
Divination by interpreting reflections, colors, etc. of the eyes.
ornithomancy
Divination by means of birds, their flight, etc.

Such divination included birds' flights and songs; however, any action of the bird could have been interpreted as a method of foreseeing or foretelling, or could have been interpreted as a message from the gods.

oromancy
Divination by observing mountain shapes, etc.

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-.