-mancy, -mancer, -mantic, -mantical



—Artemus Ward (1834-1867)


—Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991),
Polish-born American journalist, writer.
Divination by observing the arrangement of sand, dust, or dirt.
ambulomancy (s) (noun), ambulomancies (pl)
Divination, or foretelling the future, by observing how someone walks.
Divination by the examination of the caul, or membrane, which sometimes envelopes the head of a child at birth; embryonic sac.

From an examination of the caul, there was a prediction about the baby’s future; if red, happy days; if lead-colored, the baby would have misfortunes.

Divination by studying and interpreting the direction of the winds.
Divination with flowers; such as, the removal of the petals from a daisy for a "she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not" type of prediction.
Fortunetelling by analyzing burning coals.
anthropomancy (s) (noun), anthropomancies (pl)
Divination or fortune telling by examining the entrails of a person during a sacrifice or slaughter, usually those of virgins or young children: With anthropomancy, the viscera (organs of the digestive, respiratory, urogenital, as well as the spleen, the heart, and great vessels) were used to read symbols of the future.

This form of anthropomancy was practiced in ancient Egypt; and Roman Emperor Heliogabalus is said to have done this, too.

Herodotus said that Menelaus, who was detained in Egypt by contrary winds, used anthropomancy by sacrificing two children of the country, and sought to discover his destiny by this method.

It is reported that in his magical operations of anthropomancy, Julian the Apostate, caused a large number of children to be killed, so that he might consult their entrails and a woman was found in the Temple of the Moon at Carra, in Mesopotamia, hanging by her hair with her liver torn out.

This type of anthropomancy divination continued through the period of the Roman Empire and it was believed to have been revived by notorious practitioners of the black arts during the Middle Ages.

—Partly compiled from The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination & Prophecy
by Walter B. Gibson and Litzka R. Gibson;
Souvenir Press Ltd.; London; 1973; page 312.
anthroposomancy (s) (noun), anthroposomancies (pl)
Divination or fortune telling by observing the facial features of a person.
A "typo error" for anthropomancy; said to be a "ghost word".
Divination by the examination of all kinds of objects that happen to present themselves; omens drawn from chance meetings with a rabbit, an eagle, etc.

The theory was that nothing happened by chance, including a bluebird that represented happiness and a black cat might bring bad luck (in some areas of the world, a black cat represents “good fortune”).

In ancient times such events were frequently interpreted by oracles, and their importance persisted through the Middle Ages, even up to modern times. From them have stemmed countless superstitions that many people still believe may bring them good or bad luck, though the interpretations may vary in different localities.

Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary by June Bletzer,
The Donning Company/Publishers;
Norfolk, Virgina; 1986
Divination by interpreting the appearance and behavior of spiders.
Divination by interpreting altars.


Divination by inspection of the shoulders to determine whether a victim was suitable for sacrifice to the gods.

Also defined as, “a manner of predicting the ability of mediumship by inspecting the shoulders of the prospective candidate.”

Divination with a shield by sitting on it within a magic circle and going into a trance; predictions from the devil.

In the East Indies, a type of ritual magic whereby the psychic draws a circle, sits in the middle, mutters incantations, falls into a trance state, and when back in a normal state knows the answers to the questions of the supplicants.

Another explanation states that it was a primitive form of divination in which an entranced sorcerer, seated in a magic circle, became inspired by the devil and upon awakening recounted the predictions revealed to him from that source.

