This Treatise is part of a greater collection of works entitled "Magick – The Art of Science and the Science of Art". This Treatise has several objectives. First it attempts to create a system of classification through which various methods of divination can be grouped and compared. Secondly it attempts to catalogue applied mechanisms of Divination both modern and historic. In addition to its academic objectives it can also serve as a primer for those interested in the practical application of divination. Its catalogue contains Many applied techniques used for divination both historic and modern, and from a diverse range of cultures.
Literally meaning, divination through man, in historic contexts this term referred to study the bodies or entrails of sacrificed humans for means of divination. As this method of divination has become obsolete, at least we hope, the word has been reapplied to a new usage within the context of its literal meaning. Perhaps the most comon method of Anthropomancy is Chiromancy, Palmastry.
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Augury is the interpretation of Omens and Portents. Those that practice Augury are often referred to as Augurs or oracles. Generally Auguries classified as Portents are separated from Omens if they are based on "larger" natural events, not a single instance of an event. Cases such as hearing an owl or a black cat crossing your path are classified as omens. The direction that a flock of birds or several flocks of birds flew in would be classified as a Portent. Likewise a cloud that takes on a specific shape would be an omen, where as the study of the movement of the clouds and the general shape of the clouds in the sky would be classified as a Portent. Historically Portents where used in the prediction of the outcome of crops, the weather or the occurrence of natural disasters. They were also used to predict the prosperity of kings and nations and the outcomes of wars. These long term premonitions where usually based on astronomical events and this is where Augury begins to merge with Astrology and Horoscopy.
"A black cat crossing your path is a bad omen. A black cat traveling your path is a good omen." - Omen
"Red sky at night sailors delight. Red sky in the morning a sailors warning." - Portent
Portents are generally the result of sympathetic or Correspondent effect found in nature. This includes the behavior of groups of animals and geological, meteorological, or astronomical events. Historically portents where classified by the aspect of nature that was studied. This classification has perhaps the richest vocabulary of terms in divination. This vocabulary often reflects the vocabulary used to in science for the study of a topic. For example Ornithology is the study of birds, and Ornithomancy is divination through the study of the behavior of birds. A partial list of terms for various arts of Portent or Augury follows.
Portents enjoy perhaps the greatest acceptance by Orthodox science. Much of our knowledge in the fields of meteorology and geology is derived from the observations of oracles. Modern science has show that the many animals have the potential to predict weather patterns and natural disasters. When the animals sense these events they tend to respond in predictable patterns of behavior.
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Under Construction.
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| Aiq Bekar | Katapayadhi |
| Neo-Pythagorean | Pythagorean |
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Geomancy is a mantic art accomplished by constructing a geomantic symbol while focusing on a question or problem. Once the symbol is constructed its meaning is interpreted and used to form a forecast or prediction regarding the question. Geomancy is similar to the art of sortilege in many ways. Like Sortileges, geomancy is based on the interpretation of symbols selected through chance. And throughout history the devices used for the art of sortilege have been used in geomancy. The distinction between the two lies not in the device used by the art but rather how the symbols are interpreted. In a sortilege tokens are cast or draw and the meaning of the selected tokens are interpreted directly. In geomancy the meaning of the initial casting is not significant. These castings are simply used to construct the geomantic symbol. It is this geomantic symbol that is interpreted for meaning.
| Western Geomancy | Astrological Geomancy |
| I-ching | Tai Hsuan Ching |
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Under Construction.
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Under Construction.
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Sortilege encompasses all the Mantic arts that are based on castings; that is to cast, throw or draw a number of tokens at random from a set of special tokens. Though in this sense we do not mean to imply the “casting” of a spell, it should be noted that term comes from the use of Sortilege in magic. All forms of Sortilege rely on some for of device, a tool that is used by the Caster to generate signs which will be interpreted.
| Tarrot | Rune Casting |
| Cleromancy |
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Copyright IADI Software 2001.