THE MADAME.

ASTROLOGY is divination using celestial bodies: the sun, moon, planets, and stars.

CARTOMANCY is fortune telling using cards such as the Tarot.

CLAIRAUDIENCE is “clear hearing” of divinatory information. Parapsychologist generally regard as a form of extrasensory perception.

CLAIRVOYANCE is “clear seeing” of divinatory information. Parapsychologist generally regard as a form of extrasensory perception.

CRYSTALLOMANCY is divination through crystal gazing.

DOWSING or DIVINING RODS are methods of divination where a forked stick is used to locate water or precious minerals.

NUMEROLOGY is the numerical interpretation of numbers, dates, and the number value of letters.

OCULOMANCY is divination from a person’s eye.

PALMISTRY is the broad field of divination and interpretation of the lines and structure of the hand.

PRECOGNITION in an inner knowledge or sense of future events.

PSYCHOMETRY is the faculty of gaining impressions from a physical object and its history.

RADIESTHESIA is the general term for divination using a device such as a divining rod or pendulum. Other forms include “table tipping” which was practiced at the White House in the 19th century, the Ouija board, automatic writing (or superconscious writing), and scrying.

SCIOMANCY is divination using a spirit guide, a method generally employed by chanelers.

SCRYING is a general term for divination using a crystal, mirrors, bowls of water, ink, or flames to induce visions.

TASSEOGRAPHY is the reading of tea leaves that remain in a tea cup once the beverage has been drunk.

Uncommon Types of Divination

AEROMANCY divination from the air and sky, particularly concentrating on cloud shapes, comets, and other phenomena not normally visible in the heavens.

ALECTRYOMANCY is divination whereby a bird is allowed to pick corn grains from a circle of letters. A variation is to recite letters of the alphabet noting those at which a cock crows.

ALEUROMANCY is divination using “fortune cookies”; answers to questions are rolled into balls of dough and once baked are chosen at random.

ALOMANCY is divination by table salt.

ALPHITOMANCY uses special cakes that are digestible by persons with a clear conscience but are unpleasant to others.

ANTHROPOMANCY is the long-outlawed means of divination by human sacrifice.

APANTOMANCY is divination through chance meetings with animals (e.g., a black cat), birds, and other creatures. Mexico City is said to have been founded where Aztec soothsayers saw an eagle flying from a cactus carrying a live snake.

ARITHMANCY or ARITHMOMANCY is an earlier form of NUMEROLOGY where divination is made through numbers and the number value of letters.

ASTRAGLOMANCY or ASTRAGYROMANCY is a form of divination by dice where the faces of the dice bear numbers and letters.

AUGURY is the general term for the art of divination and is chiefly applied to interpretations of signs and omens.

AUSTROMANCY is divination by the study of the winds.

AXIOMANCY is divination through the observation of how an ax or hatchet quivers or points when driven into post.

BELOMANCY is an ancient form of divination performed by tossing or balancing arrows.

BIBLIOMANCY involves divination by books.

BOTANOMANCY is divination from burning tree branches and leaves.

BUMPOLOGY strictly a modern term, a popular nickname for PHRENOLOGY

CAPNOMANCY is the study of smoke rising from a fire.

CATOPTROMANCY is an early form of crystal gazing that utilizes a mirror turned to the moon to catch moonbeams.

CAUSIMOMANCY is divination from behavior of objects placed in a fire.

CEPHALOMANCY refers to divination with the skull or head of a donkey or goat.

CERAUNOSCOPY seeks to draw omens from the study of thunder and lightning.

CEROSCOPY, CEROMANCY is a form of fortune telling in which melted was is poured into cold water.

CHIROMANCY is divination from the lines on people’s hands.

CHIROGNOMY is the study of the general hand formation.

CLEROMANCY is divination by “casting lots”, similar to dice but with objects such as pebbles or sea shells.

CLIDOMANCY or CLEIDOMANCY is divination using a dangling key. see RADIESTHESIA.

COSCINOMANCY is divination using a hanging sieve. see RADIESTHESIA.

CRITOMANCY is the study of barley cakes.

CROMNIOMANCY is divination using onion sprouts.

CYCLOMANCY is the practice of divination from a turning wheel.

DACTYLOMANCY is an early form of RADIESTHESIA using a dangling ring.

DAPHNOMANCY requires one to listen to laurel branches crackling in an open fire.

DEMONOMANCY is divination with the aid of demons.

DENDROMANCY is divination with either oak or mistletoe.

GASTROMANCY is an ancient form of ventriloquism whereby the voice is lowered to a sepulchral tone and prophetic utterances are delivered in a trance state.

GELOSCOPY is the divination from the tone of someone’s laughter.

GENETHLIALOGY is divination by the influence of the stars at birth.

GEOMANCY is the study of figures on the ground and the influence of the Earth’s “currents”.

GRAPHOLOGY is the analysis of character through handwriting.

GYROMANCY is a divination procedure where a person walks in a circle marked with letters until they become dizzy and stumble at different points, thus spelling out a prophesy.

HALOLMANCY see ALOMANCY

HARUSPICATION is fortune-telling by means of inspecting the entrails of animals, as practiced by priests in ancient Rome.

HIEROMANCY or HIERSCOPY is divination by observing object of ancient sacrifice.

HIPPOMANCY is a form of divination from the stamping and neighing of horses.

HOROSCOPY is the practice of casting of astrological horoscopes.

HYDROMANCY is divination by water including the color, ebb and flow, or ripples produced by pebbles dropped in a pool.

ICHTHYOMANCY is divination using fish.

LAMPADOMANCY is divination using lights or torches.

LECANOMANCY uses a basin of water for divination.

LIBANOMANCY is the study of incense and its smoke.

LITHOMANCY is divination using precious stones of various colors.

MARGARITOMANCY is the procedure of using bouncing pearls.

METAGNOMY is the divination using “visions” received in a trance state.

METEOROMANCY is divination from meteors.

METOPOSCOPY is the reading of character using the lines if the forehead.

MOLEOSOPHY is the study of moles and indicators of a person’s character and future indications.

MOLYBDOMANCY draws mystic inferences from the hissing of molten lead.

MYOMANCY is the study of the prophetic meaning of behavior of rats and mice.

OINOMANCY is divination using wine.

OMPHALOMANCY is counting the number of knots in the umbilical cord to predict how many more children the mother will have.

ONEIROMANCY is the interpretation of dreams and their prophetic nature.

ONOMANCY is the study of the meaning of names.

ONOMANTICS is the application of ONOMANCY applied to personal names, particularly in the sense of occult interpretation.

ONYCHOMANCY is the study of fingernails.

OOMANTIA and OOSCOPY is the method of divination by eggs.

OPHIOMANCY is divination from serpents.

ORNISCOPY and ORINITHOMANCY is the study of omens associated with birds, particularly birds in flight. see APANTOMANCY

OVOMANCY is another type of egg divination.

PEGOMANCY concerns itself with spring water and bubbling fountains and the omens contained therein.

PHRENOLOGY is the long practiced study of head formations.

PHYLLORHODOMANCY is a means of divination whereby one slaps a rose petal against the hand and judges the favorability of the omen by the loudness of the sound.

PHYSIOGNOMY is the study of character analysis through physical features.

PSYCHOGRAPHY is a form of mysterious writing having a divinatory nature.

PYROMANCY and PYROSCOPY are forms of divination by fire or flame, often assisted by substances thrown onto the flames.

RHABDOMANCY is divination using a stick or wand. These methods were forerunners of the divining rod.

RHAPSODOMANCY is a means of divination using a book of poetry whereby the book is opened at random and a passage read.

SIDEROMANCY is the burning of straws with a hot iron, the resulting figures having divinatory properties.

SORTILEGE is the casting of lots and the assessment of omens indicated.

SPODOMANCY is divination using cinders or soot.

STICHOMANCY is another form of throwing open a book and selecting a random passage for the purpose of divination.

STOLISOMANCY draws omens from the way people dress.

SYCOMANCY is performed by writing messages on tree leaves; the slower they dry, the more favorable the omen. A modern variation is to write on slips of paper (always including one blank) and rolling them up. They are then held in a strainer over a boiling pot; the first to unroll will be answered.

TEPHRAMANCY is divination by ashes obtained from the burning of tree bark.

TIROMANCY is a type of divination using cheese.

      anyway, if you’re interested in any of these new muses of mine, give this post a like !   you’re also free to comment on specific ones that catch your eye or IM me for urls to any ( or all ) of them.

      ‘fairy-like’ wasn’t exactly how leota would describe present company.   better than attending alone, like a monkey with a tiny hat which dances to a worn-out music box.   party tricks.   ha !   rich men, fat as the happiest kings, would only be so lucky to witness such extravagance.   a ball will have to suffice, if only to pass time & to distance herself from her former residence.   finding customers elsewhere wasn’t hard.   coming naturally, like bees to flowers — only constance was a venus fly trap with every intention of snatching another fly tonight.

      someone ought to snip that woman’s stem.   but, not out of cruel sadism.   see, leota holds no grudge; she does, though, hold caution.   hatchaway is a true menace in silk.   the medium should only be so lucky to predict havoc before it’s wreaked & they’re both run off the grounds.   well-behaved upon arrival, the serial wedder seemed — though the carriage ride was nothing short of a gossip circle.

      “ reminds me, too, of fairytales — something so bright.   we can only hope you’ll find your next target by the end of the night. ”

      as gray a shade leota paints her own morals, it’s better to get on constance’s good side & do one’s best to stay there.   for better or worse — & till death do us party.

arms  settles  in  the  crook  of  leota’s  elbow  and  constance  SMILES  prettily  as  they  swan  across  the  room  fluidly;  a  well - practiced  dance,  steps  falling  in  synch  as  they  snake  away  from  the  other  women  and  their  sharp  ears.  constance  knows  how  quick  gossip  grows  in  the  corners  of  these  lovely  rooms,  well  decorated  nooks  designed  with  private  snatches  of  time  to  whisper  among  small  groups  in  mind.  “i’m TOUCHED  you  do  not  share  your  information  with  the  others.”

leota  melts  upon  the  couch  like  a  cat  sunning  herself  on  a  porch  in  high  july  sun.  constance  moves  carefully,  gracefully,  perching  herself  beside  leota  and  fanning  wan  face  with  a  languid  roll  of  the  wrist.  a DUKE!  how  delightful!  being  a  DUCHESS  would  be  lovely  -  how  constance  loves  titles.  perhaps  she  would  let  a  duke  as  a  husband  live  a  little  LONGER  than  his  contemporaries.  what  fine  parties  a  duke  must  be  invited  to,  what  fine  parties  she  could  attend  on  his  arm  in  lovely  new  dresses!  a  DUKE!  the  giddy  hunger  in  her  grin  must  be  evident,  especially  to  one  so  well  acquainted  with  constance’s  TASTES  as  leota.

“which  one  is  he  -  tell  me  subtly,  do  not  point,  i  don’t  want  him  to  think  i’m  PLANNING.”

      so eager, so excited — so impatient.   insatiable hunger stems from deep within, boiling like a hot kettle.   the tea to be served by constance was no doubt poisoned, & that would be a plausible means to an end.   well, it would, had the angel of death not found another ( & much more preferred ) method of execution.   beheading one’s husband.   a brutal practice, one that leota would rather not dirty her hands with.   still, she finds herself cleaning up the widow’s messes & making her a bride-to-be all over again.

      vicious cycle with vicious actions.   words sharp as thorns, throwing together an intricate bouquet.   poppies, for eternal slumber.   forget-me-nots, for the bride’s unforgettable impact & desire to be remembered.   black roses, which speak for themselves.   all the while with smoke arising from between ebony petals.

      blowing away a stray curl, pearly whites are bared.   engaging in homicidal plans brought a thrill she never thought she’d actively seek out.   if only to keep her own head attached.

      “ surrounded by the hosts, of course.   he was just bowed to, their smiles all beams.   now he’s adjusting his cuff links, boasting like a prized horse.   what a show-off, it seems. ”