geomancy

Definition

A method of divination using earth or the ground, such as interpreting markings on the ground or how handfuls of dirt land when tossed.

Etymology

From Middle English geomancie, from Medieval Latin geomantia from late Ancient Greek γεωμαντεία (geōmanteía). Equivalent to geo- + -mancy.

Example Sentences

• "1660 Urquhart tr. Rabelais Gargantua & Pantagruel iii. xxv. Hard by here, in the Brown-wheat-Island, dwelleth Her Trippa; you know how by the Arts of Astrology, Geomancy, Chiromancy, Metopomancy, and others of a like stuff and nature, he foretelleth all things to come..."
• "The Arabian Geomancy, said to have been first practised by Almadul, was more recondite, being founded on the effects of motion under the crust of the earth, the chinks thus produced, and the noises or thunderings heard; its foundation was the dogma of Aristotle, that "the moving of the heaven is everlasting, and is the beginning and cause of all inferior movings.""
• "In geomancy, the enquirer himself was asked to stab the earth at random with a pointed stick. The soothsayer then read the dots."