geomancy

ge•o•man•cy (JEE-uh-man-see)  n

Definition:
divination by geographic features or by figures or lines


geomancer noun; geomantic adjective


Origin:
late 14c.; from O.Fr. géomancie, from M.L. geomantia, from late Gk. *geomanteia, from geo-, comb. form of ge "earth" + manteia "divination" from mantis "seer, prophet, soothsayer," related to mania "madness, frenzy"

Related:
Related Words:
Divination:
by oracles, Theomancy;
by the Bible, Bibliomancy;
by ghosts, Psychomancy;
by crystal gazing, Crystallomancy;
by shadows or manes, Sciomancy;
by appearances in the air, Aeromancy, Chaomancy;
by the stars at birth, Genethliacs;
by meteors, Meteoromancy;
by winds, Austromancy;
by sacrificial appearances, Aruspicy, Haruspicy, Hieromancy, Hieroscopy;
by the entrails of animals sacrificed, Extispicy, Hieromancy;
by the entrails of a human sacrifice, Anthropomancy;
by the entrails of fishes, Ichthyomancy;
by sacrificial fire, Pyromancy;
by red-hot iron, Sideromancy;
by smoke from the altar, Capnomancy;
by mice, Myomancy;
by birds, Orniscopy, Ornithomancy;
by a cock picking up grains, Alectryomancy, Alectromancy;
by fishes, Ophiomancy;
by herbs, Botanomancy;
by water, Hydromancy;
by fountains, Pegomancy;
by a wand, Rhabdomancy;
by dough of cakes, Crithomancy;
by meal, Aleuromancy, Alphitomancy;
by salt, Halomancy;
by dice, Cleromancy;
by arrows, Belomancy;
by a balanced hatchet, Axinomancy;
by a balanced sieve, Coscinomancy;
by a suspended ring, Dactyliomancy;
by precious stones, Lithomancy;
by pebbles, Pessomancy;
by pebbles drawn from a heap, Psephomancy;
by mirrors, Catoptromancy;
by writings in ashes, Tephramancy;
by dreams, Oneiromancy;
by the hand, Palmistry, Chiromancy;
by nails reflecting the sun's rays, Onychomancy;
by finger rings, Dactylomancy;
by numbers, Arithmancy;
by drawing lots, Sortilege;
by passages in books, Stichomancy;
by the letters forming the name of the person, Onomancy, Nomancy;
by the features, Anthroposcopy;
by the mode of laughing, Geloscopy;
by ventriloquism, Gastromancy;
by walking in a circle, Gyromancy;
by dropping melted wax into water, Ceromancy;
by currents, Bletonism;
by the color and peculiarities of wine, Oenomancy.
Sentence Examples:
• From several hints which he threw out, I learned that he was no stranger to the science of geomancy; and he gave me to understand that he had cast the nativities of several individuals belonging to noble families; and that as their horoscopes portended, such invariably was their fate in after life. - Blackwood,  Various

• In tracing the career of the erring philosophers, or the wilful cheats, who have encouraged or preyed upon the credulity of mankind, it will simplify and elucidate the subject, if we divide it into three classes: the first comprising alchymists, or those in general who have devoted themselves to the discovering of the philosopher's stone and the water of life; the second comprising astrologers, necromancers, sorcerers, geomancers, and all those who pretended to discover futurity; and the third consisting of the dealers in charms, amulets, philters, universal-panacea mongers, touchers for the evil, seventh sons of a seventh son, sympathetic powder compounders, homoeopathists, animal magnetisers, and all the motley tribe of quacks, empirics, and charlatans. - Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Charles Mackay

• Systems of divination, from geomancy down to reading by tea-leaves, are merely so many methods of obscuring the outer vision, in order that the inner vision may become open. Once the method is mastered, no system is necessary at all.
Lords of the Housetops, Various

Wikipedia:

Geomancy is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand. The most prevalent form of divinatory geomancy involves interpreting a series of 16 figures formed by a randomized process that involves recursion followed by analyzing them, often augmented with astrological interpretations.

Once practiced by people from all social classes, it was one of the most popular forms of divination throughout Africa and Europe in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Books and treatises on geomancy were published up until the 17th century when most occult traditions fell out of popularity. Geomancy has recently seen a new interest through the works of John Michael Greer and other practitioners, with more mainstream occult circles practicing and teaching geomancy.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

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