Alphitomancy

Alphitomancy

Alphitomancy (from Greek "alphito", 'barley', and "manteia", 'divination') is a form of divination involving barley cakes or loaves of barley bread.

When someone in a group was suspected of a crime, the members of the group would be fed barley cakes or slices of barley bread. Supposedly, the guilty party would get indigestion, while all others would feel well.

ee also

*corsned


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  • Alphitomancy — Al*phit o*man cy, n. [Gr. ? barley meal + mancy: cf. F. alphitomancie.] Divination by means of barley meal. Knowles. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • alphitomancy — /al fit euh man see/, n. the use of barley meal as a means of divination. [1645 55; < Gk álphito(n) barley + MANCY, prob. influenced by Gk alphitómantis one who divines from barley meal] * * * …   Universalium

  • alphitomancy — noun a) Ancient Greek method of divination using barley meal. b) A divination practise used to reveal guilty parties my feeding a person or group barley meal. The innocent, it is said, would feel no effects, but the guilty would feel indigestion …   Wiktionary

  • alphitomancy — divination using loaves of barley Divination and Fortune Telling …   Phrontistery dictionary

  • alphitomancy — Divination using barley meal …   Grandiloquent dictionary

  • alphitomancy — /ælˈfɪtəˌmænsi/ (say al fituh.mansee) noun a means of divination using special cakes that are said to have a pleasant taste only for persons with a clear conscience. {French alphitomantie, from Greek alphitomantis a diviner who used barley meal,… …  

  • alphitomancy — /al fit euh man see/, n. the use of barley meal as a means of divination. [1645 55; < Gk álphito(n) barley + MANCY, prob. influenced by Gk alphitómantis one who divines from barley meal] …   Useful english dictionary

  • Astrology — Not to be confused with Astronomy. ‹ The template below (Ast box) is being considered for merging. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. › …   Wikipedia

  • Divination — This article is about divination as a whole. For the numerous varieties of divination, see Methods of divination. For other uses, see Divination (disambiguation). This man in Rhumsiki, Cameroon, supposedly tells the future by interpreting the… …   Wikipedia

  • Numerology — is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs. Numerology and numerological divination by systems such as isopsephy were popular among early… …   Wikipedia

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