The divinatory arts live up to their name very well, as they include a vast list of magical practices intended to recognize, read, understand, and translate subtle signs. And these signs can take many forms. Divination being a very ancient form of mancy (magic), it has had time over the centuries, even millennia, to structure itself and create precise methods. Divination is not limited to reading a crystal ball but to managing to detach from the physical plane and energetic disturbances to gain insights into what the future holds. Here is a "small" overview of the divinatory arts existing today.
This is a somewhat arbitrary classification by myself; you may find other versions elsewhere, but this one seems appropriate to me.
1. Divination by the elements
| Aeromancy | Aeromancy is a form of divination that uses air elements and atmospheric phenomena to predict the future or reveal hidden secrets. Specific aeromancy practices can include observing and interpreting the direction and strength of winds, the shape and movement of clouds, rainbows, storms, and other weather phenomena like halos around the sun or moon. |
| Aeroscopy | Aeroscopy is a form of divination that focuses on the observation and interpretation of atmospheric conditions and phenomena to predict the future or to obtain answers to specific questions. It is closely related to aeromancy, but while aeromancy can involve a broader range of divinatory methods related to air, such as listening to sounds carried by the wind or interpreting smoke patterns, aeroscopy focuses more directly on the visual observation of atmospheric elements. |
| Anemomancy | Anemomancy is a method of divination based on the observation and interpretation of winds. It is part of ancient divinatory practices where natural elements play a key role in predicting the future or revealing hidden information. By focusing specifically on the wind, its directions, its strengths, and sometimes even its sounds, practitioners of anemomancy seek to deduce messages or omens. |
| Bréchomancy | Bréchomancy is a form of divination that uses rain as a means to predict the future or to reveal answers to specific questions. This practice can include observing the fall of rain, its intensity, its direction, as well as how it interacts with water already present on the ground or other surfaces. |
| Brontomancy | Brontomancy is a divination practice that relies on observing and interpreting storms, particularly thunder, to predict the future or reveal secrets. It is part of ancient divinatory methods that consider natural phenomena as carriers of messages and meanings beyond their physical existence. |
| Nephomancy | Nephomancy is a divination method based on observing and interpreting clouds. Practitioners of this ancient technique scrutinize the shapes, sizes, colors, and speed of cloud movement to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. Nephomancy is based on the belief that clouds, as constantly changing natural elements in the sky, can reflect the dynamics of the earthly world and upcoming events. |
| Sideromancy | Sideromancy is a form of divination that uses heated iron or steel to predict the future or reveal hidden information. This practice may involve heating pieces of iron or steel until they become red or white hot, then either observing their cooling or quickly placing them in water and interpreting the shapes or sounds produced by this process. |
| Causinomancy | Causinomancy is a form of divination based on observing the burning of objects. This ancient method involves interpreting flames, smoke, and sometimes the residue left by the combustion of specific materials like plants, papers, or other substances. The process may include analyzing the direction of the smoke, the color and shape of the flames, the speed at which the object burns, and the figures or patterns formed by the ashes. |
| Hydromancy | Hydromancy is a form of divination that uses water to predict the future or reveal hidden information. This ancient and widespread practice can take several forms, each exploiting the unique properties of water as a medium of revelation. Hydromancy methods include observing reflections on the water, interpreting the movements or ripples of the water, and even studying the shapes taken by the water or substances dissolved in the water. |
| Lecanomancy | Lecanomancy is a divination method that uses water contained in a bowl or another type of container to predict the future or reveal hidden information. This practice is a specific form of hydromancy, focusing on observing reflections, patterns, or ripples on the water's surface, or interpreting shapes produced by substances poured in or objects dropped into the water. |
| Ovomancy | Ovomancy is a form of divination that uses eggs, particularly egg white, to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice, also known as oomancy, generally involves cracking an egg and pouring its contents into a container of water, then interpreting the shapes and patterns that the egg white forms as it coagulates or floats on the water's surface. |
| Capnomancy |
Capnomancy is a method of divination that focuses on the observation and interpretation of smoke to predict the future or provide answers to specific questions. This ancient practice involves analyzing the direction, density, color, and sometimes even the shape of the smoke produced by the combustion of various materials, such as herbs, incense, wood, or other substances. |
| Empyromancy | Empyromancy is a form of divination that uses fire to predict the future or reveal hidden information. More specifically, it focuses on observing the burning of sacrifices or specific offerings, such as animals, plants, or symbolic objects, to interpret the signs present in the flames, smoke, or remains of the burned object. |
| Pyromancy | Pyromancy is a form of divination based on the observation and interpretation of fire. This ancient practice involves studying the flames, their movement, their color, as well as the smoke produced by the combustion of various materials, such as wood, herbs, or incense, to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. |
| Sideromancy | Sideromancy, as mentioned earlier, is a form of divination that uses iron or steel, often heating them until they become incandescent, to predict the future or reveal hidden information. This practice may involve observing the sparks produced when an iron object is heated and struck, or interpreting the shapes and patterns formed by the heated metal when plunged into water. |
| Geomancy | Geomancy is a form of divination that uses the earth and figures formed from dots or lines drawn on the ground, in sand, or on other surfaces to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This ancient practice is based on the interpretation of sixteen geomantic figures, each composed of four lines of dots, which can be single or double. These figures are generated randomly, often by the practitioner themselves making marks at random, then counted to determine whether each line is even or odd. |
| Petromancy | Petromancy is a method of divination that uses stones or rocks to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice can include observing the color, shape, texture, and position of naturally found stones, or those thrown or arranged by the practitioner. |
| Xylomancy |
Xylomancy is a form of divination that uses wood, including branches, logs, or chips, to predict the future or to get answers to specific questions. This practice may involve observing the natural shapes of the wood, interpreting patterns formed by wood cuts, or even analyzing how the wood burns in a fire. |
2. Divination by living beings
| Aigomancy | Aigomancy is a form of divination that uses the behavior or appearance of goats to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice can include observing movements, eating habits, reactions to certain situations, or even patterns in their coat. |
| Ailuromancy | Ailuromancy is a form of divination that uses the behavior of cats to predict the future or to get answers to specific questions. This method can include observing movements, attitudes, meowing, and other cat behaviors, such as how they groom themselves, play, or interact with humans and their environment. |
| Arachnomancy | Arachnomancy is a form of divination that uses spiders or their webs to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice can include observing the behavior of spiders, how they weave their webs, the patterns of their webs, or even the sudden appearance of a spider in unusual circumstances. |
| Cynomancy | Cynomancy is a form of divination based on observing the behavior of dogs to predict the future or to get answers to specific questions. This practice can include interpreting barking, movements, attitudes, and other canine behaviors, such as how a dog greets a person, the direction it looks, or its behavior in certain situations or at certain times of the day. |
| Hippomancy | Hippomancy is a form of divination that uses the behavior of horses to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice may include observing various aspects of equine behavior, such as neighing, movements, the way they eat, rest, or react to certain people or situations. |
| Ichthyomancy | Ichthyomancy is a form of divination that uses fish to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice may involve observing the behavior of fish, their movement in the water, the way they are caught, or even interpreting the entrails of fish sacrificed for divinatory purposes. |
| Ornithomancy | Ornithomancy is a form of divination that uses the behavior of birds to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This ancient practice may include observing bird flights, their songs, the number of birds appearing in a certain area, as well as their behavior and interactions. The types of birds observed, the direction of their flight, and even the way they feed can be interpreted as signs or omens. |
| Ovomancy | Ovomancy is a form of divination that uses eggs, often by observing the egg white poured into water to predict the future or obtain answers to questions. By breaking an egg and pouring its contents into a container filled with water, practitioners study the shapes and figures formed by the egg white to interpret messages or signs. These figures can indicate omens concerning future events or provide answers to questions asked by the seeker. |
| Sauromancy | Sauromancy is a form of divination that uses the behavior of lizards to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice may include observing the movements, eating habits, and other behaviors of lizards, such as the direction of their flight, their posture, or the frequency and type of their movements in a natural environment or ritual setting. |
| Zoomancy |
Zoomancy is a method of divination that uses the behavior or physical characteristics of animals to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice can cover a wide range of animals, from domestic ones like cats and dogs to wild ones like birds and lizards, as well as insects like spiders. |
| Anthropomancy | Anthropomancy, a historically controversial and widely condemned divination practice, involved using human body parts or interpreting the entrails of a sacrificed human being to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This extreme form of divination is documented in some historical sources as having been practiced in various ancient cultures, though often surrounded by myths, misunderstandings, and strong moral condemnation over the centuries. |
| Chiromancy | Chiromancy, also known as palm reading, is a form of divination that interprets the lines, shapes, and other features of the hands, especially the palms, to predict the future or reveal information about a person's personality, life, and potential futures. The main lines examined in chiromancy include the life line, heart line, head line, and fate line, each believed to reflect different aspects of the individual's life and character. |
| Podomancy | Podomancy is a form of divination that focuses on interpreting the feet, including the shape, lines, and mounts on the soles, to predict the future or reveal information about a person's personality and life aspects. This practice can be seen as the equivalent of palmistry but applied to the feet instead of the hands. |
3. Divination by objects
| Acutomancy | Acutomancy is a form of divination that uses needles or pins. This practice may involve throwing needles into a container filled with water, observing their arrangement at rest, or even how they fall on a flat surface. The patterns, orientation, and proximity of the needles to each other are analyzed to interpret answers to questions asked or to predict the future. |
| Alomancy | Alomancy is a form of divination that uses salt. This practice may involve throwing grains of salt into the air, onto a flat surface, or into a fire, and interpreting the patterns, shapes, or sounds produced. Salt, being an essential element for life and traditionally associated with purification and protection in many cultures, is considered particularly powerful for revealing hidden information or predicting the future. |
| Axinomancy | Axinomancy is a form of divination that uses an axe or another type of blade in its rituals. This practice may involve heating an axe and placing it on a post or in the ground, then interpreting the patterns or directions of the crack in the wood caused by the heat, or observing the direction in which the axe falls or points after being set down or thrown. |
| Cléidomancy | Cléidomancy is a form of divination that uses keys as the main divinatory tool. Traditionally, it may involve using a key and a book, often the Bible, where the key is placed between the pages of a book. The book is then tightly tied with a ribbon or cord and hung on a nail or other support. People ask questions, and the book turns or opens to a specific page, the position or content of which is interpreted to provide answers. |
| Dactylomancy |
Dactylomancy is a form of divination that uses rings or bands, often suspended on a thread or chain, as a tool to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice may involve observing how the ring swings or spins when suspended over an object, surface, or even a person. |
| Kybomancy | Kybomancy is a form of divination that uses dice or similar objects to predict the future or answer specific questions. Practitioners throw the dice and interpret the numbers or symbols that appear, based on pre-established systems of meanings or personal symbolic associations. |
| Oomancy | Oomancy is a form of divination focused on interpreting eggs, often by observing the shapes formed by egg whites when poured into water or by other methods involving eggs. This practice can reveal information about the future or provide answers to specific questions based on patterns, figures, or bubbles that appear in the water. |
| Aspidomancy | Aspidomancy is a form of divination that involves the use of shields. In antiquity, this practice could include observing reflections on the surface of a shield or listening to sounds produced by objects striking the shield. Shields used for aspidomancy were often consecrated or specially prepared for divinatory rituals, and they could be made of metal, wood, or covered with animal hides. |
| Belomancy | Belomancy is a form of divination that uses arrows to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This ancient practice may involve inscribing specific messages or symbols on arrows, then shooting or throwing these arrows ritually to interpret the results. |
| Cartomancy | Cartomancy is a form of divination that uses cards, usually decks specially designed for this purpose, such as tarot cards or ordinary playing cards, to predict the future or provide insights on specific questions. This practice is based on the idea that cards, arranged in a specific way or interpreted according to symbolic systems, can reveal hidden information or messages from a divine or intuitive source. |
| Crystalomancy | Crystalomancy is a form of divination that uses crystals or precious stones to predict the future or provide insights on specific questions. This practice is based on the belief that crystals have a special energy or vibration that can be used to access intuitive or divine information. |
| Catoptromancy | Catoptromancy is a form of divination that involves the use of mirrors. In this practice, mirrors are used as portals to access visions or information about the future. Specific methods may vary, but they often involve the practitioner's concentration on the reflective surface of the mirror to induce a state of clairvoyance or receive visions. |
| Radiesthesia | Radiesthesia is a divinatory practice that uses instruments sensitive to radiation, such as a pendulum or a dowsing rod, to detect hidden elements or obtain information on specific questions. This practice is based on the idea that radiation emitted by objects, substances, or situations can be perceived by sensitive people or by radiesthetic instruments. |
| Taromancy | Taromancy is a form of divination that uses a specific deck of cards called tarot to predict the future or provide insights on specific questions. Tarot cards are adorned with symbolic patterns rich in meanings and esoteric associations, and they are arranged according to specific layouts during divination sessions. |
4. Divination by substances
| Aleuromancy | Aleuromancy is a form of divination that uses flour to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This ancient practice often involves writing messages or symbols on pieces of paper or parchment, which are then mixed with flour. The mixture is then kneaded to form small breads or biscuits, which are then baked. |
| Botanomancy | Botanomancy is a form of divination that uses plants, flowers, or leaves to predict the future or provide insights on specific questions. This practice can take various forms, including observing natural patterns or configurations of plants, selecting specific plants for rituals or draws, or interpreting responses obtained from plants in specific contexts. |
| Tyromancy | Tyromancy is a form of divination that uses cheese to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice, although less common than other forms of divination, is sometimes associated with folk traditions and regional divination practices. |
| Oenomancy |
Oenomancy is a form of divination that uses wine to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This practice can take various forms but generally involves observing physical characteristics such as the color, clarity, and consistency of the wine, as well as interpreting patterns or formations that appear when the wine is swirled or poured. |
5. Divination by Crystals
| Lithomancy | Lithomancy is a form of divination that uses stones or pebbles to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This ancient practice generally involves throwing or casting stones or pebbles onto a flat surface, such as the ground or a table, then interpreting the resulting patterns or formations. |
| Molybdomancy | Molybdomancy is a form of divination that uses molten lead to predict the future or provide insights on specific questions. This ancient practice generally involves heating lead until it melts, then pouring it into cold water or another substance to solidify it. |
| Spathomancy | Spathomancy is a form of divination that uses a sword blade to predict the future or gain insights on specific questions. This ancient practice is often associated with rituals or specific ceremonies in which a sword blade is used as a divinatory tool. |
6. Divination by Phenomena
| Causinomancy | Causinomancy is a form of divination that uses the burning of objects to predict the future or obtain answers to specific questions. This ancient practice generally involves burning objects such as branches, leaves, herbs, or other organic materials, and interpreting the patterns or formations resulting from the combustion. |
| Fulguration | Fulguration, also known as "fulgural science," is a method of divination practiced by the Etruscans and Romans in Antiquity. This form of divination involved observing lightning and flashes of lightning to predict the future or obtain divine guidance. |
| Halomancy | Halomancy is a form of divination that uses salt to predict the future on specific questions. This ancient practice is based on observing patterns, formations, or changes that occur when salt is scattered, spread, or used in different ways. |
| Bibliomancy | Bibliomancy is a form of divination that uses the random reading of sacred texts or books to obtain answers to specific questions or to predict the future. This ancient practice emphasizes that the words contained in a text can provide advice, answers, or divine signs when passages are selected randomly. |
| Graphomancy | Graphomancy is a form of divination that uses automatic writing to obtain answers to specific questions or to access knowledge supposedly of divine or spiritual origin. This practice often involves letting the hand write automatically, without conscious control from the person holding the pen or pencil. |
| Oniromancy | Oniromancy is a form of divination that consists of interpreting dreams to obtain answers to specific questions or to predict the future. This ancient practice is based on the belief that dreams contain messages or symbols that can provide indications about present or future situations. |
| Stichiomancy | Stichiomancy is a form of divination that involves randomly opening a book or randomly selecting a passage from a sacred text or book, followed by interpreting the selected passage to obtain answers to specific questions or to receive guidance. This practice is based on the belief that randomly chosen words can contain messages or relevant advice for the person performing the divination. |
| Thalassomancy | Thalassomancy is a form of divination that uses the observation of the sea and waves to obtain answers to specific questions or to predict the future. This ancient practice is based on the belief that the movements and characteristics of the sea can provide indications about future events or the wishes of gods or water spirits. |
| Vitromancy | Vitreomancy is a form of divination that uses sand to get answers to specific questions or to predict the future. This ancient practice is based on the belief that the patterns and shapes created by sand when spread or manipulated can provide indications about future events or the wishes of gods or spirits. |
7. Divination by the stars
| Astrology | Astrology is a complex system of divination that studies the position and movement of planets, stars, and other celestial objects to predict events, interpret personality traits, and provide guidance on daily life. It is based on the idea that the relative positions of celestial bodies at the time of a person's birth or an event can influence their destiny or character. |
| Nephelomancy | Nephelomancy is a form of divination that involves interpreting the shapes and movements of clouds to get answers to specific questions or to predict the future. This ancient practice is based on the belief that cloud formations can provide indications about future events or the desires of gods or celestial spirits. |
| Uranomancy | Uranomancy is a form of divination that uses the observation of the night sky, especially stars, planets, and astronomical phenomena, to get answers to specific questions or to predict the future. This ancient practice is based on the belief that celestial configurations can provide indications about future events or the desires of gods or cosmic forces. |
8. Divination by behaviors
| Cledonismancy | Cledonismancy is a form of divination that involves interpreting chance words or unexpected noises to get answers to specific questions or to predict the future. This practice is based on the belief that hidden messages or advice can be transmitted through words or sounds that seem to arise randomly. |
| Onomancy | Onomancy is a form of divination that involves interpreting names to gain information about a person's personality, destiny, or other aspects of their life. This practice is based on the belief that names carry symbolic or energetic meaning that can be revealed through analyzing their components and sound. |
| Necromancy | Necromancy is an occult practice that involves manipulating or communicating with the dead, often with the aim of predicting the future, obtaining advice, or controlling supernatural forces. |
