Throw the Bones and Watch the Skies

Throw the Bones and Watch the Skies

As long as people have been aware that there was a tomorrow, they have hoped to find some way to discover the secrets of the future. Each of the following words is a method of fortune telling or seeking of foreknowledge. See if you can divine the definitions of the words below.

Aeromancy: (n) a) forecasting the fate of airplanes. b)weather forecasting/ reading fortunes by watching wind & air. c) bird watching for future profit. d) using arrows shot into the air to tell the future.

Aleuromancy: (n) a) fortunetelling with flour. b) being able to tell when a young woman will wed. c) divination using aluminum cans. d) flirting with danger when seeking one’s fate.

Cartomancy: (n) a) being able to tell when someone is “putting the cart before the horse.” b) mapping out one’s future. c) using the tracks of a cart to see one’s path. d) divination with cards

Catoptromancy: (n). a) learning one’s future from cats. b)fortune telling with mirrors.c) using the lines on the forehead to tell someone’s future. d) divination with hats.

Cleromancy: (n) a) divination with dice. b) the future of clerical workers. c) literally- “clear sight” into the future. d) divination with rain water.

Gyromancy: (n) a) spinning like a dervish to achieve a trance state for the purpose of fortunetelling. b) use of gyroscope to see the future . c) divination performed by walking around a circle d.) predicting the future of the planet by subtle changes in the electromagnetic field that surrounds the planet.

Hieromancy (n) a) predicting who will be the next king,
b) telling of fortunes by observing & interpreting sacrifices,
c) fortunetelling using hair, d) telling the fortunes of a person's children, not the person themselves.

Keraunoscopia: (n) a) fortunetelling by looking at solar flares and the corona of the sun, b) using small burning pools of kerosene to divine the future, c) telling the fortune of the blind, d) using thunder to tell fortunes

Lampadedromy: n. a) knowing which person at the party is most likely to dance on the table wearing only a lamp shade. b) fortune telling with the flame of a torch. c) using lampreys in predicting the future of the fish catch. d) divination using tea leaves.

Myomancy: (n) a) divination with mushrooms or fungus. b) divination by watching mice, c) telling your own fortune, d) using chanting to achieve a trance state to predict future events.

Necyomancy :(n) a) using the property of the dead to discern the fortunes of their children. b) tossing disc shaped candies onto a soft surface and reading the future in the pattern in which they land. c) divination by candlelight. d) fortunetelling by summoning the devil.

Omphalomancy: n. a) predicting the number of children a mother will bear by counting the knots on the umbilical chord of her first born. b) predicting the number of wives or sexual partners a man will have by marks or bumps on the phallus, c) divining the future by chanting "Om," d) predicting the numbers times someone will have to fail at something before they succeed.

Oenomancy:(n) a) fortune telling with wine. b) fortune telling where only the negative is emphasized. c) divination by burning cork. d) a fortune told for a child before it’s birth.

Palmistry: (n) a) divination using palm fronds from the date palm tree, common to Oceania b) divination by reading the lines on the hands. c) a trick practiced by some unscrupulous fortune tellers where by they distract the client and an accomplice steals money or jewelry. d) a way of telling who’s cheating at cards.

Pegomancy: (n) a) telling fortunes by reading the random pattern of pegs tossed into the air. b) fortunetelling by one legged pirates. c) knowing when tight legged pants will come back into vogue. d) divination by watching bubbles rise in a fountain