Pyromancy from Greek language Greek pyros, 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 Ancient Greece Greek society, virgin s at the Parthenon Temple of Athena in Athens , regularly practiced pyromancy. It is also possible that followers of Hephaestus , the Greek god of fire and forge ry, practiced pyromancy. In ancient China , pyromancy was practiced in the Neolithic period and Shang Dynasty Shang and Zhou Dynasty Zhou dynasties in the form of burning or heating oracle bone s usually the scapula e shoulder blades of ox en or turtle shells to produce cracks which were then read as portents. Inscriptions on such oracle bones dating from the late Shang Dynasty are the earliest significant archeological remains of written Chinese 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 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 ... Pyromancy in fiction In fiction, pyromancy is often a malapropism for pyrokinesis , which is usually ... , Titan Quest , Wizard101 , and World of Warcraft use pyromancy as a name for fire related magic. External links http www.occultopedia.com p pyromancy.htm Pyromancy Divination Category Divination et ... more details
Mergeto Oracle bone date January 2010 Unreferenced date February 2007 Image OracleShell.JPG thumbnail right Replica of an oracle turtle shell Plastromancy from plastron Greek , divination is a form of pyromancy pyromantic divination using the plastron , or undershell of a turtle. It was mainly used in ancient China , especially the Shang dynasty Sh ng dynasty . This gradually fell out of use during the Han Dynasty Later or Eastern H n dynasty . The plastrons were first prepared through the boring of shallow pits partway through the interior flesh side surface. During the divination session, the diviner then applied a heat source to the pits, causing cracks to appear on the exterior surface. These cracks were then read as portents or answers to the topic of divination at hand. During the Sh ng dynasty, the date, diviner s name and topic of divination were generally written on the plastron, sometimes along with prognostications. Occasionally, verifications about the event or day in question were later added as well. This record was then usually incised into the plastron s surface. The scapula e of ox en and other animals, and sometimes other bones, and even animal or human skulls were used for such osteomancy divination using bones . Over a hundred thousand fragments of such oracle bone s have been found in archaeological sites in China, particularly from the Sh ng dynasty. The inscriptions on the fragments have taught scholars much about the early development of Chinese written language Chinese writing . See also Oracle bone Oracle bone script Scapulomancy Pyromancy Haruspex Extispicy Category Archaeology of China Category Divination china stub Occult stub fi Oraakkeliluuennustus ... more details
File forcas.jpg frame right Image of Furcas from Collin de Plancy s Dictionnaire Infernal Portal Occult In demonology , Furcas or Forcas is a Knight of Hell the rank of Knight is unique to him , and rules 20 wikt Legion legions of demon s. ref name esoteric http www.esotericarchives.com solomon goetia.htm foras Foras Esoteric Archives ref He teaches Philosophy , Astronomy Astrology to some authors , Rhetoric , Logic , Chiromancy and Pyromancy . Furcas is depicted as a strong old man with white hair and long white beard, who rides a horse while holding a sharp weapon pitch fork . quotation Furcas is a knight and commeth foorth in the similitude of a cruell man, with a long beard and a hoarie head, he sitteth on a pale horsse, carrieng in his hand a sharpe weapon, he perfectlie teacheth practike philosophie, rhetorike, logike, astronomie, chiromancie, pyromancie, and their parts there obeie him twentie legions. Johann Weyer 1583 ref http www.deliriumsrealm.com delirium articleview.asp?Post 154 Article view DileriumRealm.com ref The etymology of his name may be derived from the Latin word furca , meaning fork, ref http www.perseus.tufts.edu cgi bin morphindex?lang la&lookup furca&bytepos 44411783&wordcount 2&embed 2&doc Perseus 3Atext 3A1999.04.0059 Furca Latin fork ref or from Greco Roman also meaning a sepulchre tomb . ref http ancientlibrary.com smith dgra 0569.html Furca from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities AncientLibrary.com ref References Reflist Sources S. L. MacGregor Mathers, A. Crowley, The Goetia The Goetia The Lesser Key of Solomon the King 1904 . 1995 reprint ISBN 0 87728 847 X. Category Goetic demons occult stub es Furcas it Furcas ja pl Furkas pt Furcas zh ... more details
File SeaSalt.JPG thumb Sea salt crystals which may be used in Alomancy Portal Occult Alomancy from Greek language Greek halo , salt , and manteia , divination , also called Adromancy, ydromancie, idromancie, and halomancy, is an ancient form of divination . Similar to many other forms of divination, the diviner casts salt crystals into the air and interprets the patterns as it falls to the ground or travels through the air. ref cite news author Sara Sklaroff title Stolen babies, a lost ship and a new kind of alchemy. By Sara Sklaroff quote publisher The Washington Post date July 30, 2006 url accessdate January 26, 2011 ref ref cite news author Ron Wolfe title Entry level instructions for wizards quote publisher Arkansas Democrat Gazette date August 13, 2003 url accessdate January 26, 2011 ref The diviner can also interpret patterns formed from the residue of a salt solution as it evaporates in the bowl. The exact interpretations are unknown, but it probably follows a similar method to aleuromancy . citation needed date January 2011 Salt itself is often intertwined with luck and some of this ancient tradition can be seen in the superstition s, such as perceived misfortune when the salt cellar is overturned and the custom of throwing salt over the left shoulder for good luck. ref name book Cite encyclopedia title Alomancy encyclopedia The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World volume pages 17 publisher Harper Element year 2006 id accessdate January 26, 2011 ref One form of Alomancy consists of the casting of salt into a fire, which is considered a type of Pyromancy . References reflist Category Divination occult stub it Alomanzia sv Alomanti ... more details
Renaissance humanism 15th and 16th century saw a resurgence in hermeticism and Neo Platonic varieties of ceremonial magic . The Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution , on the other hand, saw the rise of scientism , in such forms as the substitution of chemistry for alchemy, the dethronement of the Ptolemaic theory of the universe assumed by astrology, the development of the germ theory of disease, that restricted the scope of applied magic and threatened the belief systems it relied on. Artes magicae The seven artes magicae or artes prohibitae , arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456, their sevenfold partition reflecting that of the artes liberales and artes mechanicae , were nigromancy black magic , demonology , by popular etymology, from necromancy geomancy hydromancy aeromancy pyromancy chiromancy scapulimancy The division between the four elemental disciplines viz., geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy is somewhat contrived. Chiromancy is the divination from a subject s palms as practiced by the Romani people gypsies at the time recently arrived in Europe , and scapulimancy is the divination from animal bones, in particular shoulder blades as practiced in peasant superstition. Nigromancy contrasts with this as scholarly high magic derived from High Medieval grimoire s such as the Picatrix or the Liber Rasielis . Renaissance occultism Both bourgeoisie and nobility in the 15th and 16th century showed great fascination with these arts, which exerted an exotic charm by their ascription to Arabic, Jewish, Gypsy and Egyptian sources. There was great uncertainty in distinguishing practices of vain superstition, blasphemous occultism, and perfectly sound scholarly knowledge or pious ritual. The intellectual and spiritual tensions erupted in the Early Modern witch hunt witch craze , further re inforced by the turmoils of the Protestantism Protestant Protestant Reformation Reformation , especially in Germany , England , and Scotl ... more details
and most often on plastrons or scapulae, the terms pyromancy , plastromancy ref According to Keightley ... p.32 ref Mythical origins of pyromancy A mythical account published in the Ming dynasty M ng dynasty ... of pre Anyang pyromancy While the use of bones in divination has been practiced almost globally, such divination ..., pigs and deer used in pyromancy have been found, ref Keightley 1978, p.3 p.6, n.16 ref and the practice ... Sh ng oracle bones After the Zh u conquest, the Sh ng practices of bronze casting, pyromancy and writing ... methods of divination supplanted pyromancy, such as numerological divination using Achillea ... more details
Most sources places xylomancy under pyromancy divination by observing flame, coals, and or embers or by burning .... 171. ref Spodomancy is distinguishable from capnomancy , which is divination by observing smoke, and pyromancy ... more details
also possesses a certain amount of psychic ability, and is able to do pyromancy fire readings , sense ... about the impending Death Busters Silence . ref Rei is able to do pyromancy fire readings and to dispel ... more details
Table Hanzi All Chinese character s are logogram s, but there are several derivative types. These include a handful which derive from pictogram s pinyin xi ngx ng and a number which are ideogram ideographic zh sh in origin, but the vast majority originated as phonetic complement phono Determinative semantic compounds x ngsh ng . In older literature, Chinese characters in general may be referred to as ideograms, due to the misconception that characters represented ideas directly, whereas in fact they do so only through association with the spoken word. ref Hansen 1993 ref This article therefore covers the origin of these logographic characters, not their current function in the Chinese writing system. Traditional classification Traditional Chinese lexicography divided characters into six categories li sh Six Writings , which are described below. This classification is often attributed to Xu Shen s second century dictionary Shuowen Jiezi , but it has been dated earlier. The first mention is in the work Zhou Li of the late Zhou dynasty , and the six types are listed in the Hanshu of the first century CE, and in Zheng Zhong quoted by Zheng Xuan in his first century commentary of Zhou Li, although the details vary. The traditional classification is still taught but is no longer the focus of modern lexicographic practice. Some categories are not clearly defined, nor are they mutually exclusive the first four refer to structural composition, while the last two refer to usage. For this reason, some modern scholars view them as six principles of character formation rather than six types of characters. The earliest significant, extant corpus of Chinese characters is found on turtle shells and the bones of livestock, chiefly the scapula of oxen, for use in pyromancy , a form of divination. These ancient characters are called oracle bone script . Roughly a quarter of these characters are pictograms while the rest are either phono semantic compounds or compou ... more details
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