“Pyromancy”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

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Pyromancy

释义

History of pyromancy
Types of pyromancy
References

Pyromancy (from Greek pyr, “fire,” and manteia, “divination”) is the art of divination by means of fire.

History of pyromancy

Due to the importance of fire in society from the earliest of times, it is quite likely that pyromancy was one of the earlier forms of divination. It is said that in Greek society, virgins at the Temple of Athena in Athens regularly practiced pyromancy. It is also possible that followers of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and the forge, practiced pyromancy.

In Renaissance magic, pyromancy was classified as one of the seven "forbidden arts," along with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, hydromancy, chiromancy (palmistry), and spatulamancy (scapulimancy).^[1]

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
Capnomancy, divination by smoke; light, thin smoke that rose straight up was a good omen; otherwise, a bad one.
Causinomancy, 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 with an iron.

References

1. ^Johannes Hartlieb (Munich, 1456) The Book of All Forbidden Arts; quoted in Láng, p. 124.

2 : Divination|Fire

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