Jump to content

Cephalonomancy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SimLibrarian (talk | contribs) at 05:48, 5 December 2022 (Adding local short description: "Form of divination", overriding Wikidata description "ancient form of divination"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Cephalonomancy (also known as cephaleonomancy or kephalonomancy) is an ancient form of divination which used two different methods; one was concerned with the shape of the skull, somewhat like extispicy or phrenology the other involved heating the skull of a donkey[1] or goat[2] while reciting various phrases, often the names of criminal suspects.[3] If the skull crackled or the jaw moved while a name was spoken, this was taken to identify the guilty party.[3]

References

  1. ^ Bennett, Catherine (February 16, 1995). "Well, you can never tell". The Guardian. pp. T2.
  2. ^ Kelly, Stuart (July 29, 2007). "Words of wisdom". Scotland on Sunday. p. 4.
  3. ^ a b "Kephalonomancy". The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Vol. 10. Harper Collins. p. 357.