pyromancy

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Pyromancy (from Greek pyros, “fire,” and manteia, “divination”) is the art of divination by means of fire.

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 Shang and Zhou 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 dating from the late Shang Dynasty are the earliest significant archeological remains of written Chinese found.

In Renaissance magic, pyromancy was classified as one of the seven "forbidden arts," along with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, hydromancy, chiromancy (palmistry), and spatulamancy (scapulimancy).^[1]

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, Wizard101, Dark Souls, and World of Warcraft use pyromancy as a name for fire-related magic. In the anime and manga Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars practices pyromancy by searching for visions in a roaring fire.

References

External links

• Pyromancy