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Anthropomancy (Page 2)
The Druids, in peacetime, usually sacrificed
pairs of white bulls, but when at war, they dispatched captured enemies or
criminals. The hapless "offerings" were confined within gigantic wicker
sculptures, which were then burned. As the flames mounted, the priests would
calmly practice their Capnomancy,
Pyromancy and Anthropomancy, reading the
future in the smoke and flames, and in the desperate screams of their
victims.
Another type of Anthropomancy practiced by the Druids
consisted in striking a man who had been consecrated for sacrifice in the
back with a sword, and make prophecies based
on his death-spasms. Druids also consulted the gods in the palpitating
entrails of men. Human victims were cleaned, and libations were poured over
their bodies. The victims were then slain ― some shoot dead with arrows,
others impaled, and some simply had their throats slashed ― and omens were
drawn from the manner of their fall, the movements of their limbs, the
flowing of their blood, and from their insides.
Lewis Spence, in his
An Encyclopedia of
Occultism, wrote of Anthropomancy:
"Anthropomancy is divination by the entrails of men or women. This
horrible usage is very ancient. Herodotus said the Menelaus, detained in
Egypt by contrary winds, sacrificed to his barbarous curiosity, two children
of the country, and sought to discover his destiny by means of anthropomancy.
Heliogabalus practised this means of divination. Julian the Apostate, in his
magical operations, during his nocturnal sacrifices, cause, it is said, a
large number of children to be killed, so that he might consult their
entrails."
Gibson, in his
Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, said of Anthropomancy:
"A form of divination used by ancient Egyptians and Greeks, involving
human sacrifice and the dissection of bodies. It continued intermittently
through the period of the Roman Empire and was probably revived by notorious
practitioners of black arts during the Middle Ages."
Gilles de Rais (1404-1440), the
ill-famed French nobleman and soldier, was accused and ultimately convicted
of the murder, torturing and raping of countless children. It has been
speculated that he also performed Anthropomancy on his hapless victims.
Even the famous oracle at
Delphi at one time encouraged this
macabre practice, but by the 6th century BC the custom of human sacrifice had become
rare in the Greek world, and eventually was outlawed entirely.
Some variants of Anthropomancy do not
require an actual killing. For example, in Medieval Europe it was believed
that nosebleeds foretold bad luck. By some accounts, Anthropomancy was also divination by raising the dead (See Necromancy).
See Aeromancy,
Austromancy, Nephomancy,
The Tarot Store
and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1) Pickover, Clifford A.,
Dreaming the Future: The
Fantastic Story of Prediction, Prometheus Books;
(2) Dunwich, Gerina,
A Wiccan's Guide to Prophecy
and Divination, Carol Publishing Group; (3) Melton,
J. Gordon and Shepard, Leslie A.,
Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology,
Gale Group; (4) Gibson, Walter B.,
Complete Illustrated Book of Divination and Prophecy, Independent Publishers Group;
(5)
Spence, Lewis,
An Encyclopedia of
Occultism, Carol Publishing Group.
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