The Wiccan's Dictionary of Prophecy and Omens. Gerina Dunwich

      ABACOMANCY The art and practice of divination by reading omens in patterns of dust (possibly including the ashes of the dead).

      The origin and precise method of this unusual form of divination is unknown; however, like most of the divinatory methods covered in this book, abacomancy most likely dates back to ancient times.

      AERIMANCY (see AEROMANCY)

      AEROMANCY (also spelled aerimancy) The art and practice of divination by the air, the winds, and various atmospheric phenomena such as spectral formations, comets, the shapes of clouds, and so forth.

      This method of divination, which reaches beyond the scope of weather prognostication, dates back to the earliest of times and was practiced by diviners around the world in one form or another.

      Aeromancy, in the most precise sense of the word, covers mainly the art and practice of divination by a current of air; however, in medieval times, divination by nearly any phenomenon of the heavens became classified under the title of aeromancy. In modern times, it continues to be used for primitive weather forecasting, among other things.

      ALECTOROMANCY (see ALECTRYOMANCY)

      ALECTROMANCY (see ALECTRYOMANCY)

      ALECTRYOMANCY (also known as alectoromancy and alectromancy) The art and practice of divination involving a rooster or a black hen. A circle, which is divided into twenty-six equal pie-shaped parts, is drawn on the ground. Each part of the circle represents a different letter of the alphabet and contains a wheat seed or grain of corn. After the appropriate prayers and magickal incantations are recited, the rooster or hen (often with its claws cut off or tied together) is placed in the center of the circle and allowed to eat. The letter from each part of the circle where it picks up a seed or grain is recorded and then used to spell out a divinatory message.

      It is said that this method of divination works best when the Moon is positioned in the sign of the Ram (Aries) or the sign of the Lion (Leo).

      Another version of alectryomancy consists of reciting the letters of the alphabet at dawn and then writing down the ones that are said at the same time the crowing of a rooster is heard.

      These methods of divination are popular throughout Africa where they are believed to have originated.

      ALEUROMANCY The art and practice of divination by messages baked inside special cakes or cookies which are then selected at random.

      The origin of aleuromancy can be traced back to China, where it was performed in ancient times for men and women of great nobility. To gain a better understanding of what the future held in store, the diviner would choose from an assortment of special tea cakes into which tiny essays based on philosophical tenets were baked. Upon breaking open the tea cake, the message contained within would be revealed and interpreted.

      In Europe, aleuromancy is responsible for the old custom of baking a cake containing a coin of silver. According to the tradition, the person who receives the piece of cake with the coin is either blessed with an abundance of good luck throughout the ensuing year or entitled to have one secret wish granted.

      In ancient Greece, small pieces of paper containing various messages were rolled up in small balls of flour, mixed up nine times, and then given to those who desired to know their destiny.

      This particular form of divination was ruled by the god Apollo (one of the epithets of Apollo was aleuromancy).

      The ancient practice of divination by messages baked in small balls of flour continues to be practiced in modern times in the form of fortune cookies.

      ALOMANCY The art and practice of divining future events by interpreting the symbolic patterns made by the sprinkling of salt.

      Another method involves casting a handful of salt into a fire and then interpreting whatever omens may appear in the flames.

      The old and well-known superstition that spilling salt brings bad luck, and that a pinch of salt sprinkled over the left shoulder averts the misfortune, most likely stems from the ancient practice of alomancy, which is also known as “halomancy.”

      ALPHITOMANCY The ancient art and practice of divination to identify a guilty person by using a leaf of barley or a special barley cake that can be ingested only by persons who are innocent. If a man or woman accused of a particular crime falls ill in any way (or even if his or her stomach rumbles) after swallowing a bite of the barley cake, it is an indication of guilt.

      This old method of divination is also known as critomancy, and is similar to the art and practice of crithomancy, which is divination by grain or corn.

      AMNIOMANCY The art and practice of divination by observation of the caul on a child’s head at the time of birth. (A caul is a fetal membrane that covers the head of some infants at the time of their birth.)

      The ancient Romans believed that when a child was born with a caul, it was an omen of phenomenal good luck. In certain parts of the world, it was believed that a person born with a caul naturally possessed second sight, could never be bewitched, and would never die by drowning.

      A lead-colored caul is believed to be an omen of great misfortune for the child; a red one reveals that the child will grow to be strong and blessed with a life filled with joy.

      This method of divination gets its name from the Latin word amnion, which means a membrane.

      ANTHROPOMANCY An ancient and gruesome form of divination by means of interpreting the intestines of sacrificed children and women, much in the same fashion as haruspicy (divination by inspecting the entrails of slaughtered or sacrificed animals).

      This horrible method of divination was believed to have been practiced regularly by the Emperor Julian the Apostate, and was at one time encouraged by the oracle at Delphi. However, by the sixth century B.C., the custom of human sacrifice had become “rare and repellent to the conscience” in the Greek world and was eventually outlawed entirely.

      APANTOMANCY The art and practice of drawing omens from chance meetings with animals or birds. (The old superstition of the black cat bringing bad luck when it crosses a person’s path is one example of apantomancy which has survived to the present day.)

      In Yorkshire, England, nineteenth-century fishermen were convinced that if a four-legged animal (especially a dog) happened to cross their paths while they were on the way to their boats in the harbor, it was an ominous portent. So great was their fear that many believed the only way to avert the pending misfortune was to kill the animal harbinger.

      Meeting a rabbit or hare, according to the sixteenth century Gospelles of Dystaues, was an “evyll sygne.” By the nineteenth century, a magickal method of protection against the bad omen of the hare was devised. It consisted of spitting over the left shoulder and then reciting the following charm:

      “Hare before, trouble behind.

      Change ye, Cross, and free me.”

      It is said that if a hare crosses your path from right to left, it foretells a disastrous journey ahead. However, if it crosses from left to right, it means good luck will soon be coming your way.

      In some parts of England it was once believed that if a weasel crossed your path, it was an omen of treachery. In order to avert it, you were supposed to drop a coin on the road at the precise spot where the weasel crossed. The logic behind this was to avert the bad luck by transferring it to whomever found the coin and was unlucky enough to pick it up.

      Apantomancy has been practiced throughout the world, probably since prehistoric times. Nearly all animals known to man have been connected with the arts of divination, but it seems that in Europe, Great Britain, and the United States of America, cats, dogs, hares, bats, birds, and farm animals are the types of animals interpreted more often than others.

      ARITHMANCY (also known as arithmomancy) The art and practice of divination by interpretation of numbers and letter values. It was practiced mainly by the ancient Greeks and Chaldeans, and is the forerunner of numerology.