I had an article published on the Halloween Artists website---yay! The theme for September was 'autumn, back to school, and leaves', so I thought the article would fit in well. You can read it below, or go see it at the new website.
Autumn Leaves Fortune
Telling
by
Read my leaves! That’s right - humans have been using leaves
to tell their fortunes for countless years.
Some of the rituals of ancient societies were silly, and some were
downright scary, but almost all of them were intriguing.
- Daphnomancy is fortune telling by the burning of
laurel leaves. Ancient Greeks would
ask a question, then listen to the sound as the pile burned. They believed that the louder the
crackle, the more positive the outcome.
- Sycomancy involved fortune telling or magic using
fig leaves. Ancient Greeks would
write messages or life options on large fig leaves, then place them
outside. The first leaves that blew
away or dried up were thought to represent things that would not come true,
or would have negative outcomes.
Today, people approximate this practice by writing on slips of
paper, then crumpling them up. They
are placed in a strainer or colander above boiling water. Whichever ones open first are thought to
contain writing that will come true and/or have a positive result.
- Pyromancy/causinomancy are the art of divination using
fire. Before lighting a fire,
people would concentrate on a question or topic. Some early practitioners believed that a
fire that was quick to start and consumed its fuel rapidly portended a
positive outcome. If the fire was
hard to start, and burned slowly, the result would be negative. Primitive tribes would also study
patterns and colors made by the fire.
Modern adaptations could include burning leaves, even writing
questions on individual leaves, then observing how they burn.
- Capnomancy is divination by reading smoke. Burning piles of leaves in the fall provided an easy opportunity for this practice. Thin smoke that went straight up into the sky was thought to be a good omen. Dark, thick smoke that wandered was thought to be unlucky.
- Tasseography is perhaps the best known means of using
leaves, specifically tea leaves, to tell the future. Originating in Celtic countries, the readers
would observe the dregs of a cup of tea and the patterns they formed. Sometimes special cups would be used
that were already covered in images and symbols.
- Xylomancy doesn’t pertain specifically to leaves,
but is autumn-like in nature. It
involves examining twigs and sticks that fall into your path. Reflecting on the patterns they make
during a fall walk in the woods is more of a philosophical exercise than a
scary one, but it’s still a fitting choice for the season.
There is a welcome chill in the air and
colorful leaves are skittering across our paths daily now. Most modern
folks don’t take much stock in these sorts of predictions. However, it might be fun to try some spooky
leaf readings at your next autumn gathering. So grab a basket full of autumn’s glory and let’s look into the future!
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Posted by: CitOricE | February 13, 2013 at 12:46 AM