Pyromancy

From ArticleWorld

Pyromancy refers to the art of divining the future using fire as its medium. The word pyromancy is derived from the Greek words pyros meaning fire and manteia, meaning divination.

Types

Foretelling future occurrences by observation of flames (their color, speed, direction etc.) is the primal form of pyromancy. The flames may be those of a candle, a sacrificial fire or of any other source. The shapes seen by the diviner within the flames is interpreted.

Over centuries, pyromancy has undergone subtle variations and different cultures practice slightly different forms of this art.

• Capnomancy : This involves foretelling by observing smoke and its forms as opposed to observation of the flames itself.
• Causinomancy : This is the art of divination by burning. The object being burnt is of no signifance.
• Daphnomancy : Laurel leaves are burnt for purposes of fortune telling under this art. It is sometimes also known as Empyromancy.
• Botanomancy : Burning of plants and interpretation of the results is called Botanomancy.
• Sideromancy : Under this method, divination is done by burning straw.
• Alomancy : Divination through salt. It involves casting salt into the fire and observing the resultant color and direction of flames.

History

Fire was worshipped by the ancestors of mankind. Hence, it is possible that pyromancy is one of the initial methods of fortune telling. Virgins were believed to have practiced pyromancy at the Temple of Athena in Athens during the era of the Greeks. The Greeks who worshipped Hephaestus, the God of fire and the forge, may also have been practitioners of this method of divination.