Once upon a time, the four elements formed the basis of four kinds of divinatory art. Besides pyromancy, aeromancy, geomancy and hydromancy, other interesting methods of divination were also developed.
Fortune tellers are associated with the crystal ball. This method of divination is called crystallomancy. Anyone wanting to show the particularly characteristic, bizarre and superstitious side of the art of prophecy will usually do so with the image of a fortune teller gazing into a crystal ball.
Reading a crystal ball has a lot in common with clairvoyance: by concentrating on the ball, the fortune teller is able to go deep into her subconscious.
The Church, of course, rejected crystallomancy, and the church authorities imposed severe penalties for it. Even so, priests blessed precious stones used for healing purposes.
Another method, once very well known and widespread, was divination with the help of the dead – necromancy.
Since the dawn of history, people believed that the souls of the dead possessed knowledge of the future. From this belief grew the divinatory method of necromancy. In Greece people would lie down beside graves, and soothsayers would try to make contact with the souls through incantations.
Some shamans sought to bring the dead back to life.
Another, more pleasant, method of divination was ornithomancy, based on observing birds. The behaviour of birds, their flight and the sounds they made were all used for this purpose.
Wax divination is especially popular on St Andrew’s Eve. Wax pouring originally came from Turkey. The symbol or sign formed by the wax is used to foretell future events.
Over time more elaborate divination systems were created, which are very familiar to us today – for example cartomancy (divination with cards), astrology, the I Ching, runes and numerology.
Above all, the countless mysterious practices show just how strong the human need to solve the riddles of the future is.
Any phenomenon that can be interpreted can serve as a way of connecting with subconscious knowledge. That is why so many divination methods could arise, each of them claiming to be the best.
First published (Polish original): 25 October 2011. Written by astrologers and esoteric specialists working with our editorial team; edited and translated for HOROSCOP.SPACE. © All rights reserved.
