We have all heard about fortune telling with cards or coffee grounds. But there are a huge number of other all kinds of divination methods, and sometimes very exotic … Let's talk about some of them.
Rooster
One of the most ancient methods of fortune-telling is called oomancy - that is, predicting the future from chicken eggs. To this day, fortune-telling has come down to drops of egg white, which are immersed in water. By the shape of the resulting figures, one can judge what awaits a person in the future.
In Russia, there was a rather bloodthirsty way of fortune-telling by eggs. A pregnant woman took out an egg from under a hen, broke it and thus determined the sex of her unborn child: if an unhatched chicken is a chicken, then there will be a girl, and if a cockerel, then a boy.
Roosters are the main characters of divination called electriomancy, which appeared in ancient Greece and later spread throughout the world. There were several methods of fortune-telling with the help of roosters, but in Russia the most common was the following: on the night before Christmas, fortune-telling girls took two plates - they poured grain or coins into one, and water was poured into the other. A mirror and a live chicken were placed next to the plates, and after that the rooster was launched. According to his behavior, it was determined what the future groom would be like: if the bird comes up to the mirror, then the betrothed will turn out to be beautiful and gentle; if to a plate with grain or money - rich; if the rooster starts drinking water, then the groom is a bitter drunkard, and if he approaches the chicken, then the future husband is a womanizer.
In principle, this fortune-telling can be attributed to apantomancy - fortune-telling by the behavior of animals, widespread since ancient times. For example, the Aztecs had a legend that the sun god Huitzilopochtli commanded them to build a city in such a place where they would see an eagle sitting on a cactus and tormenting a snake. So the city of Tenochtitlan - now Mexico City - was founded - the Aztecs saw a place where there were cacti and an eagle with a snake. And now the eagle with a snake in its beak is the coat of arms of modern Mexico.
A lot of Russian superstitions are also associated with apantomancy - for example, meeting a black cat … However, fortune-telling by cats has its own name - felinomancy. Many factors were determined by the behavior of these small predators - from the weather to the marriage of girls. In Russia, there are many signs associated with cats - "washing guests" among them is the most famous. And if the cat is lying on the table or at the head of someone's bed - this is a very bad omen: someone close to you may die.
Promotional video:
Not only cats, but also mice have mystical properties. There is such a section of magic as myomancy - fortune-telling by rats and mice, as well as by the sounds it makes. By the behavior of rodents, one can determine the impending famine, wars, plague epidemics and other disasters - remember the sign that rats flee from a sinking ship. There are other signs - mice running through the fields in early spring portend a bad harvest.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, hippomancy was extremely common - predictions about the gait of horses during ceremonial actions. It has been partially preserved to this day at hippodromes and other places where horse races are held.
Sometimes dead animals served as objects for fortune-telling. For example, in Europe in the Middle Ages, cephalomancy was widespread - the prediction of the future from a boiled donkey's head!
Princess Frog
We all remember the tale of the Frog Princess: three brothers-tsarevich fired an arrow in different directions to find their destiny. It is interesting that white mansion is described here - an old Babylonian method of fortune-telling that reached Ancient Russia. By launching arrows, they determined the direction in military campaigns and other important things.
There was also such a fortune-telling - the arrow was sent to the target, and if it hit the target exactly, then this meant that the future would be favorable, and if the arrow flew past with a sound, it means that soon the fortuneteller will hear unpleasant news. If the arrow flew past the target without a sound, it foreshadowed sadness. And if it broke, it spoke of an imminent death or serious illness.
To this day, bibliomancy is a very common form of fortune-telling. For this, a line and a page in the book are thought out, and the future is interpreted according to the dropped phrase. At one time, even special fortune-telling books were published for these purposes. Very often in this way they divine from the Bible, although many consider this to be too serious fortune-telling and try to avoid it.
Bibliomancy also includes fortune telling by rafl - a scrapped sheet of paper, where something is written or drawn in each cell. A pea or a grain of wheat was thrown onto a leaf, on which cell it stops, then it will come true. In the 19th century, similar raffles were sold at rural fairs under the name "Wheel of Fortune".
Quite an exotic way to find out the fate is daphnomancy - fortune telling by burning bay leaves. If the leaves burn with a loud crash, then this portends positive events, and if silently, then trouble awaits the person. It is not known only whether it is possible to guess by the laurel leaves bought in the store, for the ancient Greeks took the leaves from the sacred laurel grove of Apollo.
Fortune telling by bulbs, called chromium romance, is quite common in our time. Usually maidens guess in this way on the groom, but it can be used for other cases. Names are written on the bulbs, after which they are planted in the ground. Whose bulb sprouts first, she will marry before her friends.
Soul shadow
One of the most mystical fortune-telling is called sciomancy - it is a prediction of the future from the shadow of a person. In ancient times, the human shadow was often identified with his soul, and there was even a belief that, having attacked the shadow, one could harm a person and kill him.
Everyone knows palmistry - fortune telling by hand. One of the sections of this "science" is called dactylomancy and is devoted exclusively to fingers and nails, by which you can learn a lot about a person's character and his future. For example, smooth and even fingers - in people who have an extraordinary mind. Angry people usually have long and knobby fingers. If the thumb is small compared to the size of the entire hand, this is a sign of weakness. The average size of the thumb is a sign of moderate willpower and logic. A large thumb means tenacity.
Oinomancy, the art of fortune telling by wine, its color, appearance, and taste, has been very widespread since ancient times. This type of prediction is mainly characteristic of wine-growing regions and was little known in Russia.
A very interesting type of fortune-telling is transatumantia - a prediction based on what is seen or heard by chance. It is believed that sometimes in the crowd walking by you can hear a phrase that will predetermine your future. In the story of O. Henry "Green Door", a case of transatumantia, which changed the fate of a person, is figuratively described. On the street, the main character received a leaflet with a mysterious inscription "Green door". He immediately considered this a sign from above and rushed to look for this door. And he found a house in which there was a green door, and behind it a girl was dying of hunger. The man saved the unfortunate woman, and then fell in love and offered her a hand and a heart. True, later it turned out that the leaflet with the inscription had nothing to do with this girl and was just an advertisement, but nevertheless it played a fateful role …
After all, the main thing in life is to correctly unravel the signs that fate gives us …
Victor Nikolaev. Magazine "Secrets of the XX century" № 12 2010