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