#lychnomancy

1.10.18 | an attempt at some simple lychnomancy 🔥

I’ve been wanting to make this brief introduction to lychnomancy ever since I made my first post about the different forms of Pyromancy and after reaching the 400 follower milestone, I figured it was about time!

Now, admittedly, lychnomancy is not a very complex practice. It is a very basic form of divination involving three identical candles arranged in a triangle; you ask a question, light the candles, then focus on your query as you or someone else interprets the candle’s flames. 

If one flame burns brighter than the others, the answer is a positive one. Wavering or flickering flames indicated a journey, or that you may encounter obstacles. If your flame spirals upward, enemies are plotting against you. An uneven flame indicates danger. If sparks occur, caution is advised. It is considered very bad luck if all flames are extinguished at once, but I have never personally seen this occur and consider it rare!

Despite being rather simplistic, I really do love this form of divination. It speaks to me on a level that I cannot describe and every time I read the flames to answer my own questions, it feels deeply personal. 

I’ve taken creative liberty with this practice to spice things up every once in a while. Sometimes I will take a crystal that represents my emotions, charge it with my thoughts and feelings, and place it in the center of the three candles just before lighting them, as a way of focusing. This way the fire is able to draw on the power of raw emotion. Other times I will include tarot, using a combination of a single card and the three flames to find the answer to my question. It feels more detailed and dynamic this way.

I love what fire represents. It is the energy of life. It is passionate, raw and untamed. Dangerous, necessary, creative, and destructive. It is the most lively of the elements, and it can do so much. It is no different in lychnomancy. When practicing, keep that in mind. A simple candle flame can be so many different things, and it’s important to be in touch with your emotions when you practice any sort of pyromancy. However, be sure to balance yourself out afterward. If you do get this involved with your divination you’ll start to feel burnt out, like a candle at the end of its wick. Take a moment, drink some water - to put out the flames inside, of course - and breathe. Use the other elements to ground yourself. Sit on the floor, breathe deeply, and have some water nearby.

 As a special gift to all of my followers, I will be keeping my divination requests open throughout the month of May starting today, April 30th! I will be answering questions using the very basic form of lychnomancy as not to exert myself with constant, draining sessions. Feel free to send me an ask at any time ( anon or not! ) with any questions you may have, and I will answer it as soon as I am able!

Hello! After receiving many questions about the topic, I thought it would be a good idea to take a moment and create a basic guide on pyromancy, my preferred methods of divination.

To start, you should know that pyromancy is the term used to describe any form of divination by means of fire; ‘pyro’ coming from the Greek word ‘pyros’ meaning fire. I consider pyromancy to be a blanket term for a variety of different fire-based divination practices. I.e., lychnomancy can be categorized as pyromancy.

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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 Renaissance magic, pyromancy was classified as one of the seven "forbidden arts," along with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, hydromancy, chiromancy (palmistry), and spatulamancy (scapulimancy)” - From the Wikipedia page on Pyromancy.

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Now, what exactly is pyromancy and how does one practice it? Well, the most basic form of pyromancy is done when the diviner observes flames from a sacrificial fire, a candle, or another source of flame, and interprets the shapes that they see within them. However, this is not the only way to practice pyromancy. 

In fact, there are several different kinds of divination that all stem from and fall under the category of pyromancy or use pyromancy. Such as:

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.

Lychnomancy: divination by reading the flames of three candles set in a triangular shape.

Osteomancy: divination using bones, one type of which involves heating to produce cracks.

Scapulimancy:, divination by scapulae; in Asia and North America, this was done pyromantically.

Sideromancy: divination by burning straw with an iron.

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I hope that this small introduction intro pyromancy was able to answer some of your burning questions! If you are still curious about anything or want to know more about something specific, please feel free to send me a message or to respond to this post. I don’t guarantee that I’ll have the exact answer, but creating a discussion and opening it up to my other followers might help you find one.

                                                                                       Practice safely!

Supporting my URL change from Witch-of-the--wilds to Lychnomancer, I will be opening up my ask box to followers, as well as anons, for one card tarot readings and lychnomancy divinations! 

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Come to my ask box with any of your questions and your preferred method of reading, and I will get to your question when I can!

Lychnomancy Set up 3 candles in a triangle, preferably in 3 identical candle holders. This should be done in a room with its doors and windows closed and no draughts to affect the burning flames. Turn off all other lights in the room and light the candles with the same match. Clues to the future can be read in the behavior of the flames.

If one candle seems to burn more brightly than the other two it means success and good fortune for you. If the end of any of the three wicks displays a brightly shining point it is a lucky omen. If a flame moves from side to side it indicates that you will soon travel. If there are sparks rising from a candle you will need to be cautious. If the flame of one of the candles seems to twist and spiral it means that your enemies are plotting against you. If a flames rises and falls it suggests there is approaching danger. If one of the candles is extinguished suddenly and without good reason it is a prediction of disaster.

Lithomancy Scatter a few precious or semi-precious stones on a flat surface – they must be a variety of colors. Light a candle and set it up in the middle of them. Turn off all other lights to aid your concentration and close your eyes. When you open them, note the color of the first stone which catches your eye by reflecting the candle light towards you.