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pyromancy

 
Dictionary: py·ro·man·cy   ('rə-măn') pronunciation
n.
Divination by fire or flames.

[Middle English piromance, from Old French pyromancie, from Late Latin pyromantīa, from Greek puromanteia : puro-, pyro- + manteia, divination; see -mancy.]

pyromantic py'ro·man'tic (-măn'tĭk) adj.

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Divination by fire, already alluded to in extispicy. The presage was good when the flame was vigorous and quickly consumed the sacrifice; when it was clear of all smoke, transparent, neither red nor dark in color; and when it did not crackle, but burnt silently in a pyramidal form. On the contrary, if it was difficult to kindle, if the wind disturbed it, or if it was slow to consume the victim, the presage was evil.

Besides the sacrificial fire, the ancients divined by observing the flames of torches and even by throwing powdered pitch into a fire; if it caught quickly, the omen was good. The flame of a torch was good if it formed one point, bad if it divided into two; but three was a better omen than one. Sickness for the healthy, and death for the sick, was foreshadowed by the bending of the flame and some frightful disaster by its sudden extinction.

The vestal virgins in the Temple of Minerva at Athens were charged to make particular observations on the light perpetually burning there.

WordNet: pyromancy
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: divination by fire or flames


Wikipedia: Pyromancy
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Pyromancy (from Greek 'pyros', fire, and 'manteia', divination) is the art of divination by means of fire.

Contents

History of pyromancy

Due to the importance of fire in society from the earliest of times, it is quite likely that pyromancy was one of the earlier forms of divination. It is said that in Greek society, virgins at the Temple of Athena in Athens, regularly practiced pyromancy. It is also possible that followers of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and the forge, practiced pyromancy. In ancient China, pyromancy was practiced in the Neolithic period and Shāng and Zhōu dynasties in the form of burning or heating oracle bones -- usually the scapulae (shoulder blades) of oxen or turtle shells -- to produce cracks which were then read as portents. Inscriptions on such oracle bones from the late 商 Shāng Dynasty are important, as the earliest significant corpus of written Chinese ever found.

Types of pyromancy

The most basic form of pyromancy is that in which the diviner observes flames, from a sacrificial fire, a candle, or another source of flame, and interprets the shapes that he or she sees within them. There are several variations on pyromancy, however, some of which are as follows:

  • Alomancy, divination by salt, one type of which involves casting salt into a fire
  • Botanomancy, divination by burning plants
  • Capnomancy, divination by smoke; light, thin smoke that rose straight up was a good omen; otherwise, a bad one.
  • Causinomancy, divination by burning (non-specific as to the object burned)
  • Daphnomancy (also, Empyromancy), divination by burning laurel leaves
  • Osteomancy, divination using bones, one type of which involves heating to produce cracks
  • Plastromancy, divination using turtle plastrons; in China, this was done by heating pits carved into them.
  • Scapulimancy, divination by scapulae; in Asia and North America, this was done pyromantically.
  • Sideromancy, divination by burning straw with an iron (Greek:Sideros)

Pyromancy in fiction

In fiction, "pyromancy" is often a malapropism for pyrokinesis, which is usually used for combat, not divination. Computer games such as Guild Wars, Heroes of Might and Magic, Titan Quest, and World of Warcraft use pyromancy as a name for fire-related magic.

Rei Hino uses pyromancy as divination in Sailor Moon. Her original name is a pun on that ("hi no rei", written with different kanji = "soul of fire"). She is pyrokinetic as well.

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pyromancy" Read more

 

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