Post by bluefedish on Mar 13, 2008 17:33:03 GMT -5
From Greek 'pyros', fire, and 'manteia', divination is the art of divination by means of fire.
Due to the importance of fire in society from the earliest of times, it's quite likely that pyromancy was one of the earlier forms of divination. It's said that in Greek society, virgins at the Temple of Athena in Athens, regularly practiced pyromancy. It's also possible that followers of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and the forge, practiced pyromancy. In ancient China, pyromancy was practiced in the Neolithic period and Shang and Zhou dynasties in the form of burning or heating oracle bones - usually the scapulae (shoulder blades) or oxen or turtle shells - to produce cracks which were then read as portents. Inscriptions on such oracle bones from the late Shang dynasty are important, as the earliest significant corpus of written Chinese ever found.
Types of Pyromancy
The most basic form of pyromancy is that in which the diviner observes flames, from a sacrificial fire, a candle, or another source of flame, and interprets the shapes that he or she sees within them. There are several variations on pyromancy, however, some of which are as follows:
* Alomancy: divination by salt, one type of which involves casting salt into a fire.
* Botanomancy: divination by burning plants.
* Capnomany: divination by smoke; light, thin smoke that rose straight up was a good omen; otherwise, a bad one.
* Causinomany: divination by burning (non-specific as to the object burned).
* Daphnomancy (also Empyromancy): divination by burning laurel leaves.
* Osteomancy: divination using bones, one type of which involves heating to produce cracks.
* Plastromancy: divination using turtle plastrons; in China, this was done by heating pits carved into them.
* Scapulimancy: divination by scapulae; in Asia and North America, this was done pyromantically.
* Sideromancy: divination by burning straw.
Selected Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyromancy
Due to the importance of fire in society from the earliest of times, it's quite likely that pyromancy was one of the earlier forms of divination. It's said that in Greek society, virgins at the Temple of Athena in Athens, regularly practiced pyromancy. It's also possible that followers of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and the forge, practiced pyromancy. In ancient China, pyromancy was practiced in the Neolithic period and Shang and Zhou dynasties in the form of burning or heating oracle bones - usually the scapulae (shoulder blades) or oxen or turtle shells - to produce cracks which were then read as portents. Inscriptions on such oracle bones from the late Shang dynasty are important, as the earliest significant corpus of written Chinese ever found.
Types of Pyromancy
The most basic form of pyromancy is that in which the diviner observes flames, from a sacrificial fire, a candle, or another source of flame, and interprets the shapes that he or she sees within them. There are several variations on pyromancy, however, some of which are as follows:
* Alomancy: divination by salt, one type of which involves casting salt into a fire.
* Botanomancy: divination by burning plants.
* Capnomany: divination by smoke; light, thin smoke that rose straight up was a good omen; otherwise, a bad one.
* Causinomany: divination by burning (non-specific as to the object burned).
* Daphnomancy (also Empyromancy): divination by burning laurel leaves.
* Osteomancy: divination using bones, one type of which involves heating to produce cracks.
* Plastromancy: divination using turtle plastrons; in China, this was done by heating pits carved into them.
* Scapulimancy: divination by scapulae; in Asia and North America, this was done pyromantically.
* Sideromancy: divination by burning straw.
Selected Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyromancy
