Friday, February 22, 2013

Astragalomancy

Meaning: divination using the huckle-bones (a small bone around the ankle, I think) of sheep; apparently these days people have gone soft and use dice instead.

Usefulness: 3 (Unless you're on a sheep farm. Or in New Zealand.*)

Logofascination: 1 (The name comes from the Greek astragalus, their name for the bone, which also gives us astragaloid and astragalize, the latter meaning to play at dice.)

In the wild: It's possible that this is an ancestor of both knuckle-bones and dice games; there are some old bones held at Museum Victoria.

Degrees: 1

Connections: n/a

Which is used in: the -mancy chapter. I thought we were nearly done, but I missed a few.
By astragalomancy, whereof I have the plots and models all at hand ready for the purpose.
I think this means that Herr Trippa was either throwing the dice onto a document of some kind (a chart of the heavens, for instance) in order to see where they landed and divine accordingly, or required charts to interpret the results ("Let me see... big knobbly bit pointing west, two small knobbly bits covered in dust... you'll meet a tall dark stranger!").


*It's my duty as an Australian to slur the Kiwis at every opportunity. 

1 comment:

  1. It is the ilium. Much better for divination with largish bone than a tiddly bit from yhe ankle.

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